The sickness rolling around in my stomach didn’t subside as I left Rome without looking back. I was destroying the bridge that connected us, burning it up and watching it disintegrate into ashes. The dizziness that overcame me had me leaning against a wall.
My adrenaline was subsiding. I’d watched a man close to me murdered by the one man I thought loved me. We were causing more destruction instead of building a foundation.
I pushed off the wall and righted myself before I walked back out. “Bastian!” His dark head of hair snapped toward me, and he nodded as I walked over. “We need to talk.”
“That we do.” He didn’t raise his voice, but his words were measured. He didn’t relax when he looked at me now. I wasn’t just his friend anymore, he didn’t have power over me like he did the family, and suddenly I realized the fear my shift had brought.
I glanced around at all the faces who’d once joked around me, who’d come in for hugs and kisses on the cheek. They all looked at me with caution now. The men cleaning up Mario didn’t try to say hello, Dante didn’t pick me up off the ground in a bear hug, and Cade didn’t throw out a smart remark. They were all coiled to react instead, like we’d never been family at all.
“It’s probably best to do this with everyone,” I said. “I can bring Ivan in too. I’m voting for transparency rather than secrets and deals behind doors.”
“Should I call the Stonewoods too, then?” Bastian chuckled as if what I was saying was a joke.
I stood taller. “Bastian, we’ve had men like your father leading since the beginning of time. And”—I motioned toward him—“do you think his secrets did him any good?”
“Katie.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “More hands in the cookie jar make for a mess, no?”
“Allies are better prepared to go to war with you when they know what they’re going to war for, right? We build this based on trust. Dante and Cade want to hear what we have to say, huh?”
Dante didn’t say a word, but the smirk on his face told me all I needed to know.
The low voice from behind me was the only one that answered, though. “I’m not sure I want to hear it, but I intend to either which way.”
“Let’s just invite the damn government too,” Bastian grumbled.
Three men stood and carried Mario’s body out in plastic. I winced at the scene.
“Better get used to that and more, Cleo,” Rome warned.
“I’m used to it already from being around you,” I snapped back.
“Now, now, lovebirds.” Cade looked up from his phone at the most ridiculous time to say, “I think it’s best we schedule a time for the meeting. Your bratva is getting antsy outside.”
“How would you know—”
Cade held up his phone. “Tapped their text messages. Some of the guys are asking Ivan what’s taking you so long. We’ll need to work on their tech privacy if we go into business with them… Or should I say you now?” He winked and dropped his head back into his device.
Dante chuckled, but Rome and Bastian’s silence rattled the room with tension.
“I have a new phone,” I whispered, not sure how to navigate not really being a part of them anymore. It was my choice, it was my calling, but it still felt foreign. I was suddenly a fish very much out of the sea I’d always swam in. “You’ll text me your availability if I text you my number, Bastian?”
“Sure.” He breathed in once, then twice. Before the conversation went any further, he strode toward me with purpose. I didn’t pull a weapon, didn’t even think to.
Maybe it was my love for him or my pride that kept me from cowering. Either way, he wrapped me in his arms tight and hugged me like a man hugging a puppy he’d lost. “I’m happy you’re alright, Katie. You scared the shit out of us.”
I squeezed my eyes shut and gripped his shirt. Cade and Dante were suddenly behind me too, arms wrapped around me, squeezing me tight.
“Don’t ask us not to follow you again. Watching from afar was fucking painful,” Dante grumbled.
“You can’t follow the bratva. I’m a different breed now.” I poked at him and laughed through a sniffle.
“All we do is follow the bratva,” Cade joked, but there was truth in his words. “I’ll have more eyes on you than I ever did before, woman. Just you wait.”
We all laughed at that, and then Rome killed our moment. “I’m happy you’re all having this Kumbaya time but we have enemies to make alliances with. Hugging it out won’t do that. Ivan’s been a thorn in our side for a very long time.”
“Give us a break.” Dante rolled his eyes as he stepped away from the group hug. We followed his lead and rolled our eyes at Rome too.
“I’ll text you, Bast,” I said.
“See that you do. We’ll make it work, huh?”
“That’s all I can hope for now.” I shrugged and began my walk back to the SUV that would be deemed as mine.
Suddenly, a world I never knew existed was my own.
I didn’t know how to be happy and sad and scared at the same time. More emotions flew through me than ever before. I just had to find a way not to drown in all of them.
