My knuckles are raw and my wrist is sore, but I’m far from done.
Felix has chosen the hard way to die, and I’m eager to give it to him. So is everyone else.
“Last chance before I bring out the jumper cables,” Niall pokes the sharp end of his knife into Felix’s chest. “I’ll ask you one more time. What were you doing in the hills?”
“Isn’t it fucking obvious?” Shane shouts. He’s losing it. So is Nolan. I don’t blame them. They’re both ready to explode after I told them what happened to Dad. I’m not far behind. “He was after Elisa!’
Together we watch the Bulldog circle his pray. We’ve all already gotten our fair share of punches in, but it’s not enough. Poor Felix here isn’t just a source of information, he’s a punching bag for all of our rage. Dad is dead. Felix has been working for the people who killed him. Either he tells us what we need to know, or we rip him to shreds, slowly.
“Eyes on me, big boy,” Niall says, sliding the blade of his knife under Felix’s chin. The big Italian is bleeding pretty bad, and he’s teetering on the edge of unconsciousness. Niall raises his lowered head and smacks him back awake with the backside of his hand.
I’ll give the Italian credit. He’s tough and he’s barely said a word since we brought him here.
“He’s not going to talk,” Shane grumbles. “Let me at him!” My youngest brother paces back and forth, seething to jump back in and pummel our captive.
Nolan, on the other hand, just silently fumes.
While Shane has been throwing himself head first into the nitty gritty aspects of our world, Nolan, for the most part, has stayed in his office. The moment he heard about Dad’s death, though, he went berserk.
Blood still drips from his knuckles. Felix’s breaths are short and raggedy because of the blows that he landed before I could pull him back.
Felix is no good to me dead. Not yet. He needs to speak first. In my back pocket, I have a final threat to get him talking. Elisa. He’ll do whatever I ask him to do if he thinks I might hurt her.
The problem is, I haven’t yet been able to bring myself to utter such threats. I’ll have to be convincing, if I’m not, Felix will call my bluff and die with honor. But every time I think of even saying something vile about my princess, I have a visceral reaction. No harm will ever befall her. I won’t allow it.
And I think Felix already recognizes that.
Still, it will be my last-ditch effort. If Shane doesn’t kill him first. “Just say it!’ my youngest brother bursts. Blind with rage, Shane jumps past Niall and starts wringing Felix’s neck. “Just say you were there to steal Elisa!” The Bulldog steps backwards and lets the scene unfold, but I step forward and tug my brother away.
“Enough. Niall. Get the jumper cables.”
“You’re in trouble now!” Shane yells. His furious words are marked with tears of frustration and sorrow. We’re all devastated. “You’re in a lot of fucking trouble.”
I hold onto my brother with a tight embrace that’s something between a restraint and a hug. His body is ready to crumble. I think every last one of us is ready to implode. It’s up to me to keep our heads together.
In my pocket, I feel my phone vibrating. It’s been ringing off the hook for the past few minutes, but I haven’t been able to pull myself away from my own thoughts long enough to actually answer.
With Niall preparing the jumper cables, I finally have a moment to breathe. I gently let Shane go and rip my phone out.
To my surprise, Tara’s name is up on the screen.
What the hell could she want?
The phone stops ringing before I can answer. When it does, I see that I have a bevy of missed calls. Some are from the man I tasked with leading the mission to go check up on Ciro at Calligastaro’s. Some are from the man I tasked with leading the backup security forces that should soon be arriving at the manor in the Catskills. But the most missed calls, by far, are from Tara.
Dread catches in my throat. Something must be wrong with Elisa. I’m about to phone her back when another call pops up on my screen. Again, it’s Tara.
“What’s wrong!?”
But it’s not Tara who answers. “Please don’t hurt him!” Elisa’s shaky voice creaks through the receiver.
“What the fuck…”
“What?” Nolan’s eyes are on me.
I raise my index finger and turn away from my brother. “Elisa?”
“Aiden, please don’t hurt him. He was only trying to help me.” She’s talking about Felix.
Sharp tendrils of envy wrap around my chest. Elisa is calling to save this bastard!? “How the fuck do you know that I have Felix?” She must have overheard it from a guard… or, more likely, Tara did. And then Tara told her. “Let me speak to Tara,” I growl. She’s going to have to answer for this.
“Tara has nothing to do with it!” Elisa pleads. “She doesn’t even know why I’m calling you.”
That’s a lie, I can just sense it. “Then why did she give you her phone? She’s under strict orders to never give you a fucking phone.”
Behind me, the air crackles as the jumper cables are charged. I storm away from the sound, down the hallway to my bedroom. Elisa is begging for this man’s life. No one needs to hear this but me.
“… Please, Aiden. Don’t hurt him…”
“It’s too late for that,” I hiss, slamming the bedroom door shut behind me.
“You monster.” Elisa’s words are like a blade to my heart. I thought we were past that. But no, she’s risking all we’ve built together for this asshole. Why? Because she loves him.
The son of a bitch.
“That’s right, Elisa. I’m a fucking monster. Nice fucking observation. Want a medal?”
“You’re an asshole too!”
“I’ve never hidden that from you,” I bark. “I’ve never hidden anything from you, unlike your father. This Felix motherfucker wants to drag you back to the devil who sold you for scraps. Do you really want that?” I hate how it feels like I’m negotiating with her. That shouldn’t be the case. She’s my property, my spoils of war, she should do as I say when I say it or be punished. But part of me needs to convince her that I’m in the right. It’s that same part of me that she melted. The part of me that has been hidden away beneath a cold stone cage for so long that it hurts just to think about how she’s uncovered it again.
“Felix only wants what’s best for me…” she sobs.
“And it appears that he thinks stealing you away from me is what’s best. Do you agree with that?” My heart clenches as I wait for a response. There’s only one thing I want to hear.
“Maybe he’s right…”
It’s not that.
“Where are you?” Suddenly, the thought that she might not be at the manor hits me. Would she be so foolish as to try and run into the woods at night?
“I’m right where I’ve always been. Trapped in your home!”
“Our home,” I snap.
“No,” she cries. “Clearly it’s not. This proves that.”
Without thinking, I make a fist and punch a hole through my bedroom wall. A sharp pain erupts down my already damaged wrist, but the fumes coming out of my ears keeps me from yelling out in frustrated pain. “You have a lot to learn, princess,” I growl. “I’ll have to teach you a lesson when I get home.”
The sounds of Elisa’s sniffles aren’t nearly as delicious as they once were to me. In my mind, she’s no longer Ciro’s daughter. She’s just Elisa. My Elisa. “Aiden, please. Felix can help you… I think my father has escaped again.”
That’s another gut punch. They just keep on coming today. “How do you figure that?” I’m ready to set my phone on fucking fire.
Then my thoughts go back to my missed calls. There were at least two from the men I sent over to Calligastaro’s. How recent were they? If something was seriously wrong, they probably would have called Nolan next, then Shane and Niall. But we’ve all been so focused on Felix and our grief that I don’t remember any of us checking our phones since we arrived here.
“I… I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.” She’s lying again, of course. It breaks my fucking heart.
“I’ve never lied to you, Elisa,” I say. “What I don’t want to tell you, I stay silent about. Do not lie to me. This won’t work if you dare lie to me.”
For a moment, I’m met only with silence on the other end of the line. Then, “He sent me a message,” she whispers, before clarifying. “At least, I think he did. There was a phone hidden on the property. Last night, he told me where to find it.”
I’m about to punch the wall again before I think better of it. Still, a blinding rage pulls out my trigger finger. “And your friend Felix must have put it there,” I hiss.
“Maybe,” I can practically hear Elisa hang her head in shame. “But you have to believe me. He’s not like Father. Felix didn’t do it for any selfish reason. He just wants me to be safe.”
Safe.
I want her to be safe too. But by bypassing my security and planting a phone on my property, Felix has made Elisa more vulnerable than ever. “Then he’s either an idiot or he’s just as selfish as your father,” I say, heartlessly. “Go to bed, Elisa. When you wake up, this will all be over. I’ll check up on your father now. And I’ll make sure it’s the last time I ever have to check up on him. Same goes for Felix. In the morning, I’m the only person you’ll have left in this world, and it will be for the better.”
“No, Aiden—”
I hang up.
Blood rushes through my ears as I march out of the bedroom, down the hall, and straight up to Felix. Niall is about to hook him up to the cables, but I push the Bulldog aside and lay a vicious punch to Felix’s temple.
Something cracks, but it could just as well be one of my bones.
My throat burns as I heave over the wounded man. Elisa cares for him. And if she’s to be believed, he cares for her too. Without him, this would all become a lot less complicated.
But killing him could also mean losing Elisa forever.
“Do you care what happens to her?” I ask, swaying on my feet, half lost to my own exhaustion. I’ve been bombarded by so much today, and something tells me it’s not over yet.
“Yes,” Felix mutters, blood dripping from his lips. It’s maybe the first time we’ve gotten a direct response out of him.
“Who told you to hide that phone for her to find?”
No answer.
“Felix, I’m offering you a fucking olive branch. I couldn’t give two shits about you, but I’m willing to let you talk your way out of this. Tell me what I need to know to keep her safe.”
Safe.
That word seems to snatch the Italian out of his daze. His glassy eyes pull up to mine. He studies me carefully, as though the character of my soul rests on my pupils.
“What is she to you?” he asks.
I can feel my brothers glaring through my back. Part of me wants to end this whole charade right now. Put a bullet through this fucker’s skull. But another part of is stronger. That part wants me to lay the truth bare.
“Everything,” I whisper.
For a second, no one moves, then Felix’s head sways, as if he’s about to lose consciousness again.
I slap his cheek, trying to bring him back to the land of the living. “We need your help, Felix. Her father’s intentions aren’t pure. She’s in more danger with him.”
Felix takes a deep painful breath and snaps his neck backwards. “She’s in danger no matter what,” he gargles. “They all want her.”
A heavy stone drops in my gut. “Who does? Who wants her?”
“Ciro. Dmitry Gazin. The Black Delphi. They want to set up a new world order. But they need her first. They need Elisa. I was just working with them so that I could get to her before anyone else did. But I wasn’t going to let them have her. You have to believe me…”
My mind snaps back to the words I tore out of Vladimir Stanislav’s dying throat.
He wants what you stole from him.
He was talking about Elisa. Dmitry Gazin and the Black Delphi want Elisa. My Elisa.
But why?
I have no control as my hand closes around Felix’s throat. “Why do they need her?”
“I don’t know. I swear, I don’t know…” Felix chokes.
When I realize what I’m doing, I release him.
Suddenly, everything comes rushing back. The missed calls. Calligastaro’s. The manor.
“Nolan,” I say, turning to my brother. There’s a shocked look plastered on his face, but the sharpness of my voice calls him back to attention. “Call the men we sent to Calligastaro’s asap. Figure out what’s happening there. Ciro might have escaped. Make sure they double check his cell. If he’s there, I want fucking video proof of it.”
“Yes, boss.”
Just like that, we’re back in business mode. It’s a stark reminder that I’m the mood setter. If I’m out of control, my whole operation is. For a moment, I lost myself. But now I’ve returned. There’s chaos that needs to be wrangled, and I’m not going to spare a single part of my empire to get it done.
I’m back in control.
“Shane, you and Niall take whatever men remain at your disposal and pay a visit to the Gallis, the Sabatinos, and the Camporese family. I’m sure they’re grieving right now, but stoke some fucking anger in them. They all have sons. And I’m sure they all feel like we do now. They’ll want revenge. Promise them a place in my new empire if they join us in our fight against those responsible. Ciro D’Ignoti. Manuel Vignotto. Traitors. They betrayed us all for the Black Delphi. Now it’s time to make sure they pay. Understand?”
“Yes, boss.” Shane nods.
Niall still holds the jumper cables. “What about him?” he asks, pointing towards Felix.
I begin to untie the Italian’s restraints. “Are you strong enough to help?” I ask, doubting that he will be.
Felix coughs, but doesn’t answer right away.
When he’s free, Niall drops the jumper cables and cautiously takes out his gun. I don’t reach for my weapon. Instead, I reach out a hand.
“If you can help, then you are welcome to join me.”
For a moment, Felix stays seated. Then, with great effort, he pushes himself up onto his feet. “I—” He doesn’t have the strength to finish. The big Italian collapses on the spot. Instinctively, I reach out and grab him, saving him from a hard fall.
Gently, I lay him to the floor. “Call a doctor and have four guards stand watch,” I order Niall. “He’s staying here.”
“Where are you going?” the Bulldog asks.
Now it’s my turn to take my gun out. I check to make sure it’s loaded, then I text my pilot, telling him to get ready for takeoff.
“I’m going home,” I say. I’m going to get my fucking girl.
It’s like riding in a submarine, deep beneath the ocean waves, where no light dares venture.
Tonight, clouds cover most of the stars. There is little moonlight. Despite my pilot’s objections, I insisted we leave immediately for the manor.
According to Nolan, my men at Calligastaro’s weren’t answering their phones, so he immediately took off with a crew of his own to check out what’s happening there. Shane and Niall waited behind until the doctor showed up, then they left Felix to go check up on what remains of The Family. The last I heard, the big Italian had regained consciousness. He was asking about Elisa. Is she safe?
I’m going to make sure of it.
But I’ve got a bad feeling about everything. I’ve tried calling Elisa back on Tara’s phone, to no avail. I’ve tried contacting the security forces I sent over to provide her with extra protection, but they aren’t answering either. Despite my clear mind, everything is still foggy. I can only hope that there’s simply a communication problem, but that’s far too optimistic for me. I’m preparing for war.
First and foremost, though, is Elisa. Her safety comes before everything else.
Eventually, the city lights disappear behind us completely. We’re surrounded by blackness. A million thoughts fill my head, but I let each one drift off into the void. I need to stay focused.
Then, one of those thoughts latches onto my brain stem.
“What’s our ETA?” I ask the pilot.
“Ten minutes.”
It’s enough time. I take my phone out and text one of the men tasked with guarding Felix at my penthouse.
Ask him who Sergey Barinov is.
The name stings.
Sergey Barinov sends his regards.
Those were the last words my father ever heard. He must be involved with the Black Delphi, but in what capacity? And what was his problem with my father?
I’d never heard the name before, but now, it’s all I can think about. I’d asked Felix about it early on in the interrogation, but, like with everything else, he had kept his mouth shut, so I forgot about it for more pertinent matters.
Now, though, we have his cooperation.
My phone buzzes with a new text.
Shadow leader of the Black Delphi. Apparently, he pulls the strings from somewhere deep in Russia. That’s all he knows.
Fuck.
That means this shit with Ciro and Dmitry only scratches the surface of what’s happening. They may want my Elisa, but Sergey Barinov also wanted my dad dead. Why? It hardly matters. He got his wish. And I’m not going to rest until I pay him back for it.
My phone buzzes again. Another text. This time, from Nolan.
There’s a riot happening at Calligastaro’s. I’ve got no visual on Ciro, but I’m going in to find him. We’ll quell this shit asap. I’ll text you with an update when I have one.
I know there’s no point in stopping him.
Be safe.
A fucking riot. This was all planned. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ciro and his allies decided to sacrifice Felix to distract us for a while.
Felix. The foolish bastard. He played right into their hand. It was all to protect Elisa, but it may have doomed us.
I stare out into the darkness and try to think.
Suddenly, a bright flash cuts through the impenetrable night. For a moment, all is quiet and dark, but then, a whistling roar grows and a muted fireball of light breaks through the black air.
It takes me a second to realize what’s happening. When I do, I hardly have time to panic before the missile hits the helicopter’s rotor blades and we go plummeting down into the blackness.
