Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
LEO
I stared into my whiskey, letting the guilt wash over me. Not for being with Meredith – no, that wasn't a mistake. I'd never regret the way she felt in my arms, the way she'd trusted me completely. The guilt came from hurting Gray, from knowing that by claiming her, I'd painted a target on her back.
"What the hell happened?" Gray's voice was tight with controlled anger. "We had a pact, Leo. Keep her in the dark, keep her safe."
I took a slow sip of my drink. "I held that pact for years, despite how I felt about her."
"So you really feel for her?" Gray's frown deepened when I scoffed.
"For a best friend, you're quite blind." The words came out harsher than intended, but the whiskey and the events of the past few days had stripped away my usual restraint.
Gray leaned against the window, his reflection ghostly in the glass. "Maybe I didn't want to see it. Maybe I turned a blind eye deliberately." He turned to face me. "I had my suspicions sometimes, but you never overstepped. Until now. Leo… this…"
"She's too soft for this world," I agreed, my eyes drifting to the door she'd left through. Every instinct screamed at me to follow her, to keep her safe. But this conversation needed to happen, and I couldn't have it with her here. "Too sweet to be involved in any of this."
"Who initiated it?"
I swirled the amber liquid in my glass. "Neither of us, really. It just... happened." The memory of her in that bathroom, demanding answers, needing me – it was still vivid, still burning under my skin.
"This can't become anything," Gray said, his words landing like bullets. "But it also can't be undone."
The pain that shot through me was unexpected in its intensity. I'd known this would be his reaction, but hearing it... I kept my face carefully blank as I set my glass down. I didn't want to just forget tonight, to sweep it under the rug like it meant nothing. I wanted Meredith – not just for tonight, but for keeps. I wanted to find a way to have her, to be with her, to make this work despite everything.
It had always been Meredith. Even when I filled the void and my bed with other women, she was the face that haunted my dreams.
The one I wasn't supposed to want, the one I couldn't have.
But I said none of this to Gray.
He sighed, shaking his head before nodding, more to himself than anything. "One problem at a time. The Palter situation is handled, right?"
"Yes." I was grateful for the change of topic. My nose ached, but it was nothing to me. I'd had much worse.
"The entire crew?"
I nodded, remembering the satisfaction of dragging out the death of the man who'd been the active shooter. The man who'd unknowingly shot at Meredith. He'd sealed his fate the moment he'd fired that gun. "Wiped out. It was a small operation – I took out the key players myself. Have a team cleaning up any loose ends."
Gray nodded, and I couldn't help but notice how he shifted slightly at the mention of violence. That was the difference between us – always had been. While Gray understood our world, participated in the business side, he preferred to keep his hands clean. He'd done what was necessary over the years for our partnership, for the family, but he avoided bloodshed when possible.
Not like me. Not like the monster who'd earned his place through violence and death.
The same monster his sister had kissed like she wasn't afraid of the blood on his hands.
"What about the other situation?" Gray's question made me tense.
I sighed, staring down at my whiskey glass in annoyance. "Having trouble tracking the source. The Donati family has no shortage of enemies." The anonymous threats, the files that had appeared on my desk – someone was playing a dangerous game. A game they shouldn't have started, because there was only one way this could end. "But I'll get to the bottom of it. I'll handle it."
"Right." Gray hesitated, watching me closely before his expression hardened. "I think it's best you stay away from Meredith."
The suggestion felt like acid in my veins, but I kept my expression neutral.
"I'm checking out the Morrison place tomorrow," he continued. "Your team is still assessing it?"
"They'll have a full report by morning." I knocked back the rest of my whiskey, needing the burn. "Every detail, every weakness, every possible security measure needed. So far, it's a good spot. Gated, fenced."
Gray nodded, his shoulders relaxing slightly. "Good. I'll take Meredith there, or leave her with Sofia for now. With Roman watching her, she'll be safe." A slight smile touched his lips. "Not to mention Sofia will be on guard."
"Sofia has been invaluable as her best friend." Sofia was indeed an asset we hadn't even known we had until now. but the idea of staying away from Meredith while others protected her...
"It was a happy coincidence, them becoming friends," Gray mused.
I thought back to when I'd first discovered their friendship, how I'd vetted Sofia thoroughly before allowing it to continue. "Happy coincidence," I agreed. One of the only times life had actually thrown us a coincidence. Nothing in our world happened by chance.
The same way tonight with Meredith hadn't been just chance. It had been inevitable, like a bullet finding its target.
"If you touch her again," Gray's voice cut through my thoughts, "in any way that isn't to protect her, I'll break your face."
We both knew I could take him down in seconds. Years of violence had honed me into something deadly, while Gray had always preferred boardrooms to battlefields. But I wouldn't jeopardize our friendship like that – not over this, not over anything.
Still, the threat grated against something primitive inside me. I was caught between loyalty to my best friend and this burning need for his sister. Between honor and desire. Between past promises and future possibilities.
I'd told Meredith she was mine, whispered it against her skin as I'd claimed her. And I'd meant it – meant it with every dark, possessive fiber of my being.
For now, though, I'd let Gray cool off. We had more pressing matters to handle – whoever was threatening us, targeting our operations. One catastrophe at a time.
I'd find a way to have what I wanted without destroying this brotherhood we'd built. But as I stared out at the city lights, the question that had haunted me for years resurfaced: How could I bring Meredith into my world of shadows and blood? How could I be both the monster I needed to be and the man she deserved?
The man who'd held her through nightmares wasn't the same one who'd executed several men tonight. The hands that had touched her so gently were the same ones that dealt death in dark alleys.
Could she really accept both versions of me? Or would the darkness eventually consume whatever light she saw in me?