by Sarah Bailey
Her hand came up and curled in my hair, keeping me right there as she stared into my eyes.
“Yeah?” she whispered.
“I love you too.”
“E…”
“I mean it. You are the only person in this world I wish to have by my side… with the exception of Xav.”
“Mustn’t forget him.”
I grinned.
“He’d never let us forget. He might be loud, proud and ridiculous at times, but he’s our idiot.”
That made her smile properly and it warmed my fucking soul to see it. Then she closed the distance and kissed me. I pressed her closer, keeping her flush against my body. I needed to feel her. To know this was real and true.
“I really love you,” she mumbled against my lips before her tongue tangled with mine. I almost groaned and tried not to get aroused by her small but curvy frame rubbing against mine. Judging by the bite marks on her chest, Rory hadn’t held back last night so I could only imagine how she was feeling this morning.
Pulling away, I rested my forehead against hers.
“And you’re going to save us.”
“I will, I promise.
Her blue eyes were bright as she said it. Ash was the most determined woman I knew. She’d just been through too much emotionally over the past couple of days. Didn’t mean she wasn’t strong enough to fight this. She’d go to the ends of the earth just to keep us all safe, of that much, I was sure. Quinn would have to suck it up because this girl right here, she was in control of all of our fates now. Ash had the keys to our future.
“I know you will, my love, I know.”
Chapter 19
I was going to fucking tear this piece of shit a new one. Not only had I been blindsided last night with the knowledge Russo was trying to get the families involved with his war against me, but now I had these fucking roses to deal with. Forty-eight hours. What a fucking joke.
“What are we going to do?” Xav asked as he slumped in a chair in front of my desk.
I tapped my fingers against my phone, just about ready to fucking explode with anger. I needed to call Nate, but I also needed to get Xav on task.
“Has to be tomorrow night. We’ll do it at the casino. Get them together without Russo there and have Ash tell them she’s aligned with us. We might need to reveal her parentage to convince them of the truth so speaking to Viktor is imperative, but first, we need to make sure they attend.”
“That’s not going to stop Russo from coming after us.”
I knew that, but if he didn’t have the backing of the rest of the families, he’d have a harder time getting to us.
“I never said it would. It buys us time. He needs the backing of the rest of them to make a move against us. If he doesn’t have that, he’ll have to find another way.”
Xav rubbed the back of his neck.
“I don’t like this.”
We both looked at the roses I’d placed on my desk. They were like a fucking omen signalling our impending doom. Even if we gave Ash back to Russo, which wasn’t an option, he’d still come after us. We’d fucked with him and he wouldn’t let it go. Ever.
“What do you want me to do, Xav? We knew if he found out who we are, he’d want us dead. This isn’t exactly an unexpected outcome. We stole his heir and kept her as our own.”
Xav clenched his fist in his lap and shook his head.
“It’s still fucked up. What if this doesn’t work, huh?”
“We disappear.”
“We can’t disappear if we don’t have a way to get her out of the country.”
I almost cursed. Xav was right. We couldn’t take Ash away with us without a passport. Why the hell hadn’t I considered that? Probably because I never thought we’d have her with us nor be in a position where we had to disappear. It was a last resort. We didn’t want to leave. We’d built our home here. This was our fucking life and I wasn’t about to get driven out of it by a cunt like Russo.
“We’ll find a fucking way. I’m not leaving without her. Besides, I won’t let that piece of shit run us out of the country. He can fucking try to tear us down. If he wants a fucking war, he’s going to get one.”
I don’t know what was coming over me, but I was done with hiding away in the shadows. It was time to let the world see who Il Diavolo was. Who the four of us and our girl were. We weren’t going to bow to anyone else. We weren’t going to run. And by fuck, we were going to win one way or another.
A smile appeared on Xav’s face, his blue eyes twinkling.
“That’s the Quinn we know and… actually, I won’t say love since you might kick the shit out of me for being a sappy shit.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help smiling back.
“I’ll let you off this time.”
He put his hand up as if he wanted a high five.
“My man.”
“Don’t push your fucking luck.”
He let his hand fall, giving me a wink.
Idiot.
“I’ll make some calls then, shall I?”
I gave him a nod before looking down at my own phone. Time to ring that cunt up and get an explanation. It rang twice before he answered and even then, I didn’t allow him to speak.
“Where the fuck have you been and why the fuck was I just blindsided with death threats from him?”
“I can’t be talking to you right now,” came Nate’s hissed voice.
“Why the fuck not?”
“Everything has gone to shit. Speak to Fabio. I have to go.”
He hung up on me. I drew the phone away from my ear and stared down at it. What the actual fuck was that about?
“Is that dick trying to worm his way out of his duties?” Xav asked.
“He told me to call Fabio if I want to know what’s going on.”
Xav raised his eyebrow, fiddling with his phone.
“That’s not foreboding or anything.”
I wasn’t sure what it was, but it wasn’t fucking good. Not at all. I had Fabio’s number since Nate had given it to me after Fabio took Ash to Geoff’s cottage so I could get in contact with him. It was time to use it.
“Hello?”
“Fabio… it’s Quinn… Knox.”
“Oh. Oh, shit. Is Ash okay?”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, that’s why he thought I was calling. As much as I hated to admit it, I might actually have to send Ash to Viktor if things went wrong.
“She’s fine, that’s not exactly why I’m calling.”
Ash wasn’t fine but he didn’t need to know that. If I had my fucking way, he wouldn’t know anything about her ever again. Not when I knew he’d taken my little girl’s virginity. I might be cordial towards him, but there was no fucking doubt I wanted to throw both him and Nate off a bridge for touching her. Probably sounded completely irrational since I was no longer enraged by the thought of my best friends touching Ash. Hell, I’d fucked Ash with Xav at the same time. That was different.
“Then why are you calling?”
“Nate and Russo.”
“Oh… that. Right. Okay. Frank went completely batshit crazy at Nate over Isabella disappearing and he’s keeping an eye on him like a hawk.”
I’d forgotten about Viktor keeping Isabella away from Frank even though it was only yesterday we’d seen Viktor and Ash had spoken to her mother. Frank sending us roses seemed like a more pressing matter.
“Did you know Frank has been trying to get the families to declare war against me?”
Fabio was silent for a long moment.
“No… and now I’m wishing I’d actually asked my father what’s going on with Frank. He’s been keeping a lot to himself recently. Thinks he has a rat in his organisation, but he doesn’t suspect Nate. At least I think he doesn’t.”
Even if Russo didn’t suspect Nate, I was pretty sure I couldn’t rely on him any longer. Not if he wasn’t going to give me the fucking information I needed in advance. Ou
r situation was getting more precarious by the minute.
“I’m going to need you on standby tomorrow. If things go south, Ash needs to be taken as far away from this shit as possible. She’ll need Viktor to keep her safe.”
“What’s happening tomorrow?”
“The less you know, the better. She won’t be fucking happy about it, but it’s better than the alternative. Can I rely on you?”
“You can be assured I’d do anything to protect her.”
“Good.” I didn’t like it, but I had to fucking deal with it. We needed as many allies as we could get right now. “I’ll give you the details tomorrow.”
I hung up without letting him respond.
“Fuck.”
Xav looked up from his phone.
“What’s up?”
“I’m pretty sure we can’t rely on Nate any longer and Russo knows Isabella is gone. Things are getting more fucked up by the minute.”
I dropped my head in my hands and rubbed my temples. This whole thing was giving me a headache. And I really fucking hoped Eric had taken care of Ash.
“Do you think this going to work?”
“Who the fuck knows, but we have to try, don’t we?”
We had to do anything we could to prevent the impending disaster. I hoped we could cut Russo off before our time was up.
“I’m going to make the calls now,” Xav told me as he stood up. “I think you need to let Viktor know what’s happening. You know… because he cares about Ash and that.”
Yes, because of course I want to ring her father up and tell him we got sent death roses by Russo and Ash is next. That’s going to go so well. Not.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.
“I know.”
I heard Xav leave the room. If I couldn’t fix this, I’d be letting Ash and the boys down. That was not an option. So I sat up and dialled the number of the only other man in Ash’s life to give a fuck about her. And I was not looking forward to this conversation one bit.
Chapter 20
After an hour spent ringing around my contacts in the families, I’d managed to get an agreement for a meeting. I hadn’t told them who else would be there, just pressed the urgency of it home. And any of them who were being dicks about it, well I’d just threatened them. Blackmail was sometimes the only thing these pricks listened to. You just had to know what buttons to press and when. We had all their dirty secrets thanks to our girl. It hadn’t taken much to persuade them after that.
Quinn had been on the phone to Viktor and afterwards, Geoff, but I didn’t ask for details. He seemed incredibly agitated and quite frankly, pissing him off any further would be a bad idea. Also bringing up Julian might cause him to go off the deep end. I was already pissed off about the whole situation. There was no doubt in my mind Julian was involved, but I didn’t want to alert him to the fact I knew. So I hadn’t gone charging down to the hospital to demand he tell me why he hadn’t kept to his word. I’d have to play nice for a little while longer.
I made a tray up for Ash in the kitchen as I knew she’d not eaten today and took it upstairs. Figuring Eric had taken Ash, I went to his bedroom first. I found both of them curled up in bed together. Walking in, I popped the tray down on the bedside table. Eric raised his head and gave me a grateful smile.
“She’s sleeping” he whispered.
I came around the bed and got in the other side, curling myself around Ash’s back. She didn’t stir as I stroked her blonde hair back from her face. She looked so fucking peaceful and angelic. A far cry from the mess she’d been earlier. My poor angel.
“Is she okay?” I whispered.
“I think so. She’s scared of losing us but determined to fix this.”
“That’s our girl.”
I leant down and kissed her cheek. When I raised my head, I noticed the dreamy look in his eyes as he watched her sleeping.
“What’s up with the gooey eyes shit?” I hissed.
The goofy smile on his face grew wider.
“She loves me.”
“She tell you that?”
He stroked her cheek so reverently.
“Yeah.”
“You look like you won the fucking lottery right now.”
He shrugged a little, continuing to stroke her cheek like she was the most precious thing in the world and he couldn’t believe she was his.
“Guess I did.”
His verdant eyes met mine and the depth of emotion in them made me blink.
“You’re not getting jealous again, are you? You know I love you just as much as her.”
I raised my eyebrows.
Me? Jealous?
Okay, so maybe I had been a little before, over the sex stuff, but I knew his heart belonged to the both of us. I didn’t like the feeling. It wasn’t like me. The guy who couldn’t get over the fact his girlfriend and boyfriend were together as well. If Ash could love four people and me, two, then Eric could love us both. There was nothing to be jealous over. Nothing at all.
“And what if I am?”
He reached over and shoved my shoulder.
“Then I’d tell you to stop being an idiot and making this about you. Needing to be the centre of attention all the time isn’t endearing.”
“Hey!”
“Shh, don’t wake her.”
He cupped the back of Ash’s head, checking she was still sleeping. The care he was taking over her made my chest tighten. I was worried about her too, but I wasn’t coddling her like a small child.
“She’s not fragile, E. You don’t need to treat her like she’s made of glass.”
His eyes flicked up to me, irritation appearing in them which took me back a little.
“Me caring about her well-being is suddenly a bad thing, is it?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Are you two fighting over me?” came Ash’s voice between us.
We both looked down finding her blue eyes staring back at us with no small amount of amusement in them.
“No,” I ground out, feeling more than a little annoyed Eric had snapped at me.
“Yes,” Eric said.
“We aren’t fighting.”
“We are. You just told me off for trying to look out for her.”
“I wasn’t telling you off, for fuck’s sake. I was telling you not to treat her like a fucking child.”
“How is that not telling me off?”
Ash twisted and put her hands up, placing them on each of our mouths.
“Stop it. I don’t want you fighting about me. In fact, I don’t want you two fighting at all. Haven’t you already argued enough recently?”
I hated she was right. Eric and I had been getting into arguments more often and it wasn’t good for either of us. I just never expected to have to navigate this kind of relationship. It was easy when it’d been Ash and the rest of us. Loving two people at once had me feeling more than a little crazy.
“Now if you don’t kiss and make up right now, I’ll be hauling both of you over hot coals until you cut this shit out.”
Hearing Ash tell us off like we were little boys had me trying to not laugh. How this girl managed to deal with the four of us was beyond me at times. Especially being only twenty-one. If this girl had balls, they’d be made of steel.
She dropped her hands from our mouths. Eric looked sheepish and I felt like I’d been given a slap over the wrist.
“Jesus, angel, you’re a taskmaster today.”
“Xavier…” The warning note in her voice had me snapping my mouth shut on another dig.
I looked over at Eric.
“I’m sorry, E, I shouldn’t have said that shit. I know you care about her.”
“I’m sorry too,” he said, his green eyes sad.
Fuck, he’s doing that puppy dog thing and I can’t fucking stand it.
Ash looked at the both of us pointedly so I leant across her and kissed him. Pulling back, I gl
anced down at her.
“Happy now, angel?”
“I’ll be happy when you stop behaving like a pair of teenagers fighting over the girl they’re both into. You’re grown men. Act like it.”
“You’re insulting our manhood.”
She shoved me.
“And you’re being an idiot, tesoro. I wasn’t insulting your manhood. Why have you got to go make everything about your dick?”
I chuckled and wrapped a hand around her waist.
“It’s an important part of me needing servicing regularly.”
That made both Eric and Ash roll their eyes. She turned to him.
“Is he always like this?”
“Pretty much. Next, he’ll be trying to actively get in your pants since he apparently can’t go without for even a few hours before he gets all handsy.”
“Hey!” I interjected. “I do not need sex that often.”
“Your dick might fall off from all the self-loving it has to endure.”
Ash snorted and put her hand over her mouth, burying her face in Eric’s chest to stifle her amusement.
“You’ve turned into the cheekiest little fucker since she came along.”
His eyes sparkled and his mouth curved up into a bright smile.
“You love it.”
I wanted to glare at him, but I couldn’t. He was right. So fucking right. I loved it. Loved the way he’d let himself be free now. Considering he used to be as uptight as Quinn, it was a fucking blessing.
“You’re fucking lucky I do or I’d be taking it out on your arse.”
That made his cheeks flame.
“He would, you know… he’s done it to me,” Ash said, though her words were muffled against Eric’s jumper.
I bit my lip. I couldn’t forget how hard I’d fucked her tight little behind after I’d found out about Julian having cancer. Fuck, it’d been so hot. Just what I needed. I wouldn’t mind a repeat if I was honest.
“Watch yourself, angel, or I’ll be taking you to task again.”
Her head popped up out of Eric’s chest, eyes wide as she looked at me.