Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
J ames
Sheriff Udovich walks into my office, his steely gaze meeting mine, and then Tobias, who is sitting across from me. He called me this morning, telling me he had news. The only time he calls with news is when it’s likely bad news, or else he wouldn’t bother me.
“Let’s get this over with, shall we?” I say, wanting to get to the point.
Sheriff Udovich drops into the chair beside Tobias. “So, I’ve been out patrolling and keeping an eye on Hodge and Chuck like you asked, and I finally got a lead.” He opens his phone, handing it to me, and I take it, scrolling through the pictures.
“Damn it,” I ground out, tossing the phone to Tobias, who immediately caught it and looked now too. “I fucking knew it.”
His eyes bounce up to mine, and then he looks at the Sheriff. “Chuck and Dante Amato?”
Sheriff Udovich nods. “They’ve met together four times in the last two weeks, and I’ve been able to tap some of their calls.” He looks directly at me now. “Your name has come up quite a bit in their conversations as well as mine.”
“Those idiots don’t scare me,” I spit out. “They’re nothing but a bunch of greedy goblins trying to take what they can. I have more power than they’d ever know what to do with, that combined with Stef. But they can certainly try and take it if they’d like.”
“You know that’s been Dante’s plan all along,” Sheriff Udovich says. “That’s exactly why Chuck has turned to him. Dante has more power than him but no more than you and Stef. This is where things get ugly.”
“Chuck’s getting desperate if he’s turning to Dante,” Tobias points out.
“Anyone stupid enough to partner with Chuck is an absolute fool themselves,” I add. I rub my temples, feeling a migraine coming on as I think about the war that Chuck has waged against me over something as petty as control of the police force.
“He’s gearing up, that’s for sure. First Hodge, who wants to take over the crystal industry, and now Dante, who is Stef’s number one enemy. He’s making it personal,” Tobias says.
“In situations like this, low totem families such as Dante’s will try to bribe politicians, and with someone like Chuck, who would normally have sway over the NYPD, it would be beneficial to have that leverage as a way to one-up others, such as Luccio. It’s textbook methods, and they're being sloppy about it,” Udovich says.
“But Chuck doesn’t have sway,” Tobias adds.
I sigh irritably. “But they think they can get it. They think they’ll win.”
“Every move they make against you will get harder and harder. Keep a close eye on everyone and everything,” Udovich says.
“Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see their next move.”
Sheriff Udovich nods as he stands from his seat. “I’ll get going and leave the plans up to you. I’ve already spoken with Stefano, so let me know when you need me to make a move.”
“Will do. Thank you.” He nods and leaves, and I look back at Tobias, a new sinking feeling slamming into my gut as I remember his sister and her visit from the mayor, as well as Dante and Hodge. As much as I tried to avoid discussing Cecilia with him, this wasn’t something I couldn’t keep from him.
“We have another problem,” I tell him, and his brows furrow deeper as he looks back at me.
“Such as?” I flick Chuck’s library card from Stone Corridor to him with his name written on it. The one he left here that he not so subtly threatened me with. Tobias holds it up in front of him, and his face hardens to rough stone, one carved in fury as he crumples it in his hand, his fiery gaze meeting mine again. “Why the fuck do you have this, and why does it say Chuck’s name on it?”
“Because he paid a visit to your sister to threaten me. Now that we know he and Dante are directly involved, we can’t rule out them endangering her.”
“Why would it be a threat to you? I don’t understand why she’s still part of this.” His voice is guttural, and he speaks in a tone he’s never used with me. If he were anyone else talking to me like this, I’d think about cutting his tongue out, but since it’s him, I try to refrain.
“He suspects we’re close. She worked for me, and she is your sister. They know you and I are close. It makes sense they’d target her.” I lie through my teeth, choosing to leave out all the personal time I’ve spent with her and how I’ve held her in my arms, tasted her lips, and was always…always counting down the seconds until I could taste her again. He didn’t need to hear that bit. He didn’t need to know that going after Cecilia was more of a direct threat to me because the damned girl was thawing my icy heart. He also wasn’t going to like the next bit that I was going to tell him either, but this was a particular secret that I could no longer keep from him since it was detrimental to Cecilia’s safety. “There was also another incident with Hodge and Cecilia.”
“What incident?”
I sigh. “Hodge forced your sister into a meeting to threaten you over the ledger mishap. Dante and his men visited Hodge, and Cecilia got caught in the crossfire.”
“You're telling me Cecilia got herself involved with Dante now?”
I honestly wanted to laugh at his incredulous tone and shock over the idea that his sister somehow got herself mixed up with a mafia family outside of myself. It wasn’t necessarily funny, but the girl had a way of getting herself into questionable situations. But I could see Tobias was close to having an aneurysm, so I held in my amusement. Also, the fact that he’s been burying himself at work since their dad died made this situation less funny. I could see how tired and stressed he was. His eyes were heavier lately, and he was easily irritated more than usual.
“Yes, but I handled the situation, and Hodge was hung up with Dante, so that’s why it never got back to you. I made sure she was alright, and Stefano tied up any loose ends. Cecilia’s okay too…well, besides watching me kill a man, but she’s been okay since then…I think.”
Tobias’s mouth is hanging open, and he blinks slowly at me. “Are you fucking with me?”
I press my lips together hard before speaking. “I’m afraid not.”
Tobias drags a hand through his hair, roughing it up as he heaves a monstrous sigh. “Perfect. Just when I think I didn’t have to worry about my sister as much, I find out she’s also living this whole secret life, and she has trust issues with me ?”
“Yes, well…you two seem to have a lot of secrets. It's best you get everything out in the open to avoid these complications in the future. She knows enough at this point already.”
“Fuck, apparently.” He drags his hand over his mouth now in frustration, and I sit silently, unsure of what to say at this point. Family affairs were far out of my comfort zone, and despite caring deeply for both him and his sister, their specific dynamic between each other wasn’t my expertise. Tobias looks up at me again, tilting his head to the side and watching me curiously. “Why didn’t you tell me about this before? And why did Cecilia call you for help and not me?”
“Probably because she was scared of how you’d react to the situation, and I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to distract you from your work. Then everything happened with your father. I handled it and made sure she was okay.”
“You killed someone? In front of her?”
“He was touching her. If I hadn’t gotten there…I know what he would have done.” I felt sick at the thought of his hand going a fucking centimeter higher up her thigh. I should have tortured him a little before killing him, but the rage I felt at that moment wasn’t easily controlled. I wanted him dead, and so he was.
Tobias nods, although he doesn’t look happy about it. “Thanks, I guess. In the future, though, I’d appreciate it if you would not keep secrets about my sister from me. This is the second time now,” he says suspiciously. “I don’t want to think I couldn’t trust you when you’re the only person I do.”
“I understand, but let me remind you that if I choose to keep something from you, it will never be to betray you.” I felt like a liar telling him that because my feelings for his sister were starting to feel like a betrayal. I could see his apparent disapproval of my having anything to do with Cecilia. I know how separate he wants to keep her from his life, which means keeping her separate from me. I would never in a million years betray Tobias except for only one thing. His sister. She was my damnation and saving grace wrapped in a seductively lethal bow. I couldn’t resist her if I tried, and trust me, I’ve tried.
“Speaking of, I think I’ll call my sister now and check in on her,” Tobias says, standing from the chair and pulling his cell phone out from his pocket.
“Good idea,” I murmur nonchalantly, although I also wanted to know if she was okay. I hadn’t spoken to her in weeks, and it was killing me.
She was obviously avoiding me, and I was letting her. I wouldn’t try to push her into something or overwhelm her with my feelings after going through a loss. But having no contact at all was starting to wear on me, and she was looking at a very unexpected visit from me in the near future if she didn’t cut it out. All my texts to her have gone unanswered as well, and when I saw her at the funeral, she pretended as if she didn’t know who I was.
It was a fucking shitty situation, and I was just about over it. It’s been nearly four weeks since I’d seen her, and I wasn’t okay.
An idea pops into my head, and like always when it comes to Cecilia, I feel impulsive and possessive. Cecilia was a target now, and I’m sure Tobias would agree that her safety was now the most important thing. This might even take some stress off his plate.
I glance at him as he stands in the corner of my office, finishing his phone conversation with Cecilia. I tried to hear her voice to see how she sounded today, but I couldn’t hear her. He finally hangs up the phone and sits back down, looking more tired than before, like he’d just fought a grizzly bear.
“That girl stresses me the fuck out,” he exhales.
“I have a thought,” I tell him, still unsure about it myself.
He sighs tiredly. “The last time you had a thought, we almost ended up victims of an Irish gang.”
“They’re dear friends now, though, are they not?”
He sighs again. “What’s your thought?”
“I have my house in Boston. Your sister lives in Boston. Why don’t we have her stay there for a while so we can keep a better eye on her while this whole ordeal plays out?”
He does that slow blinking thing again as he stares back at me. “You want my sister to live with you?”
Fuck yes, I do. But I don’t tell him that. “I’ll hardly be there, and I have a full security team. The house is more secure than the White House itself. She’d be safe there, just in case.”
He’s silent momentarily, his face frozen, which I recognize as his thinking face. It’s almost as if his mind leaves his body and goes to another place to think, leaving him physically catatonic. Then he blinks, and he’s back. “It’s actually not a bad idea.”
“She’ll never go for it, though.” I could already foresee the fit she’d throw over it. I couldn’t wait to banter with her again. It had me clenching my hands in anticipation under my desk like some anxious teenager talking to a girl for the first time.
“She’ll do it. I’ll throw her over my shoulder if I have to,” Tobias vows.
I grin at the idea. “Why don’t we sit her down and discuss everything? I think she’ll appreciate the transparency. It might make her more compliant.”
He pulls out his phone again, grinning at me. “I’ll make dinner reservations tonight.”
I match his expression. “Perfect.”
Later that night, I watched Tobias check his watch for the fourth time since he was seated at the restaurant. Cecilia was nearly twenty minutes late, and I could tell that it had stressed him out. I couldn’t call him on it, though, because I was beginning to become a little worried myself.
We were at the finest dining restaurant in Boston, which was less than thirty minutes away from where she lives, so unless traffic is horrific or she sucks at time management, I didn’t see the hold-up.
“Maybe I should call her again,” Tobias gripes, his gaze glancing every two seconds to the entrance. “I knew we should have just picked her up.”
“She told you no.”
“That doesn’t mean I have to listen.”
“Apparently, it does.”
He looks from the entrance back to me, a scowl marking his face now. He’s about to say something, but an approaching figure snags both of our attention. While Tobias looks relieved, I’m too busy picking my jaw up off the floor and thinking about ripping the ones off of every other man in the room, who are also gawking at her.
My Cecilia.
She’s in a fitted satin dark red dress with the thinnest straps I’d ever seen. I couldn’t stop staring at them over her bare shoulders, just waiting for one to snap. Her hair was in a messy updo, with just the slightest curls springing down and framing her face. Big shining diamond earrings dangle from her ears, drawing my attention from her shoulders to her collarbone and neck. She looked painfully beautiful tonight as if the air around her was different. She seemed different, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was, except that I had never seen her dressed so elegantly before.
Either way, I knew keeping my eyes off her all night would be hard.
“Sorry I’m late,” she rushes out as Tobias stands up to hug her. “My hair wasn’t cooperating.”
“Really? You were late because of your hair?” Tobias gripes.
“Yes. You sprung a last-minute dinner on me at a fancy restaurant, and you think I’m going to show up with a lion's mane?”
“What's wrong with a lion's mane?” I interject. I particularly liked it when her hair was down and crazy.
She glanced at me, seeming annoyed by my input. “Oh, hi, Mr. Kingston. It's nice to see you again,” she mutters politely.
I grin at her professional use of my name, leaning back into my seat. “The pleasure is all mine,” I say darkly. She quickly averted her gaze, and I realized that she was trying to put on an act tonight. One that apparently meant giving me more of the cold shoulder, but that was fine. It wouldn’t last long once Tobias and I made our proposal.
She slides into the booth next to Tobias and keeps her gaze directed at the table beneath her. She only looks at Tobias when she decides to glance elsewhere. “So fancy,” she mentions again, folding her napkin onto her lap.
The waiter comes by, and I watch her as she stares at her brother, who has entered into a conversation with the waiter about their specials and what wine would pair best with them. She looked perplexed, watching him speak, and it made me wonder more about their relationship before he changed and became a better man. She always seemed so at odds with him whenever they were together.
“I thought you didn’t have your ears pierced?” I ask her, observing the glitzy earrings hanging from her lobes.
Her gaze flicks to mine for only a second before looking away, and she holds her glass of water to her mouth as if to distract herself with something. “My friends convinced me to pierce them.”
“What friends?” Tobias interjects.
“Ambrose and Marlin from my book club. They’ve been really great since… well…you know,” she answers sadly.
“Oh,” Tobias says shortly. “That’s nice of them.”
“You said you didn’t like jewelry?” I ask curiously.
She folds her napkin for a second time on her lap. “Things change.”
“Indeed, they do,” I mutter as I lean in, careful to keep my voice low, as Tobias continues to talk to the waiter. “Mine would look immaculate touching your skin.” I rest back in my seat, smirking as she fights to keep her now flushed gaze from mine.
Tobias looks down at her from his conversation with the waiter. “Are you doing one of the specials as well?”
“What specials?” she asks, looking over to him.
He laughs awkwardly. “The ones I just had the waiter tell us.”
“Oh…right…those specials.” She tightened her lips together as if trying to remember, and I couldn’t help but chuckle because it was apparent she hadn’t heard a single thing the waiter had said. I didn’t either, to be fair, but I think I was the only one willing to admit between me and her that she was the reason I didn’t hear a single damn thing. “I’ll have whatever you’re having,” she says to Tobias.
“I’ll have the same,” I added, handing the waiter back my menu. The waiter nodded and finally left the table. I glanced over at Tobias, who shot me an unsure glare.
“So, how have things been?” Tobias begins, looking at Cecilia with an overly nice smile.
She raises one eyebrow at him, skeptical of his sudden sweetness. “They’ve been alright…considering.”
“How is work?” I ask. “I’m sure it’s dreadfully boring compared to being at Labyrinth headquarters.”
She looks into her water glass again as she speaks to me. “It’s actually been great. I’ve been meeting weekly with my new book club, and that’s been helping me a lot. We also recently signed a contract with the local preschool, so it will be fun to bring some books to the children.”
“Sounds great. I’m happy for you,” Tobias says. She smiles back at him, full of pure love and adoration, and once again, I find myself entranced by their dynamic and feeling wholly on the outside of it at the same time. I cared deeply for both of them, except one was in secret, and it made me feel like a third wheel, and I found myself not caring for that feeling at all. I never had much of a family besides Stefano and his father, who is passed on now, but even then, it was nothing affectionate or warm. It was loyal, but with Tobias and Cecilia, I was beginning to crave that warmth from both of them. I looked at Tobias like more than a friend, possibly a brother, and I was starting to look at Cecilia with an intense, heart-aching obsession. It made me want to tangle myself up in the dynamic between them if only to be considered as important to them as they are to each other.
For the first time, I think I found two people I’d want…or choose to call family.
Our food arrives pretty quickly, and it’s obvious Tobias is nervous. He hardly touched his food, and I found it quite amusing how nervous he gets around his sister. For all his hard talk and being the older sibling, it seems as though Cecilia holds most of the power in her hands.
“Okay,” Cecilia snaps out, dropping her fork with a rather loud clink onto her plate. She stares daggers at Tobias. “What is going on? You’ve barely touched your food, and you,” she grounds out, turning her sharp stare to me as I point at myself with an amused expression. “You keep watching Tobias like he’s a ticking time bomb. What is it?”
“Let me,” I say to Tobias just before he speaks and ends up rambling to death. “Do you recall the night Hodge kidnapped you?”
Cecilia’s nervous gaze slowly drags from me to Tobias. “What… no… what are you talking?—”
“Jiggs up, Lia. I know everything,” Tobias tells her. “By the way, we’ll be discussing that later.
“You told him?” she shouts at me. “I thought we were keeping that a secret.”
“Don’t worry, little owl, we have others.” I couldn’t help myself even though my words now had Tobias glaring at me.
“What secrets? And why the hell are you calling her little owl?”
“Because he’s deranged,” Cecilia groans, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Anyways,” I interject quickly. “As I’m sure you know, our little friend Hodge has been in cahoots with Mayor Fireux, who is now in cahoots with Dante, who is head of the Amato’s, the men who tried to hurt you. Another mafia family.”
Her eyes widened, and the information instantly took her aback. “Wait, Chuck Fireux is working with…he was just?—”
“At your library,” I finish for her. “That’s a problem.”
“What kind of problem?” Her eyes shift worriedly now between me and Tobias. “I knew it wasn’t a coincidence,” she grumbles to herself.
“The kind of problem where you are now a target to help them get what they want.”
She gasps softly. “Which is what?”
“More power.”
She shakes her head. “Let me get this right. Chuck is angry because you are bribing the police, who are also working with your brother, in turn making him look weak and irresponsible. Hodge wants to expose your illegal market dealings to get ahead in business, and Dante is…I don’t know what he wants.”
“Okay, little mastermind, keep your voice down,” Tobias says lowly.
“Dante wants control of the city entirely, control that my brother Luccio has. I have sway with the police, which is what Chuck is after from me, which, in turn, would boost Dante’s family.”
Cecilia slumps back against the booth. “It all sounds so petty out loud.”
I chuckle. “It is, but at the end of the day, it’s a power grab, and these men will do anything for more power.”
“You’ve put yourself in the middle of some dangerous men, Lia. This is why I told you to stay out of things,” Tobias grouses.
“Well, maybe I wouldn’t put myself in the middle of dangerous men if you wouldn’t put yourself in the middle of dangerous men,” she fires back.
“Well, now we’re all in the middle, so guess what? You’re being put on house arrest,” Tobias says.
She scoffs. “House arrest? Seriously? You’re going to lock me up in my apartment?”
“Nope,” Tobias says with a bit of extra pop to his lips. “We have arranged somewhat of a safe house for you.”
“A safe house? What safe house?”
I smirk at her, resting my elbows on the table. “You’re coming home with me, babe.”