Chapter 27 Falco
FALCO
The following days are the best of my life.
Recovery is slow but easy with Pidge, Rex, and Bullet nearby. I thank them the best I can for turning up when they did, knowing full well that they helped Aerin save my life. Without them, I dread to think what would have happened to her.
The stab wound to my gut is an old, familiar pain.
It’s not the first time I’ve been stabbed and likely won’t be the last. My arm is another matter.
After Aerin calls home to extend the cabin stay for another week, much to her mother’s horror, Bullet spends two full days working on my arm.
The razor wire cut deep, tearing into skin and muscle like a hot knife through butter, and there’s a chilling moment when my fingers don’t move the way I need them to.
That moment thankfully passes, the lack of movement being attributed to stiffness.
Bullet completes his test of my arm and hand multiple times until he’s satisfied.
By a sheer stroke of luck, I haven’t lost any motor function or important sensation other than some faint numbness near my elbow.
Recovery will be slow but I’m already on the mend.
By the time we finally depart the cabin, parting ways with Pidge and his friends, I’m able to do most of what I need to with that arm.
Including holding Aerin’s hand.
I’ve broken the rules now. If Guido ever finds out, I’m dead.
But I couldn’t resist.
She saved my life. She nursed me back to health and she was there telling me she cared about me.
I should have kept strong and refused, but in that moment all I wanted was her love and affection.
I had nearly died and all I craved was pretending I was normal and able to spend intimate time with the woman I loved.
It might end up being the worst mistake of my life, but it’s worth it.
If Pidge or any of the others worked out what we did, they respectfully never said anything. And after a short discussion, Aerin understood the severity of the consequences if anyone ever found out. But she’s happy.
It’s all over her face when we return to the estate and her mother sweeps away, convinced that the new light inside her daughter is because of two weeks spent in nature. I’d follow, but I have to give the breakdown to Guido of the assassination attempt.
“Does it hurt?” Guido stands over me, glass in hand, and stares down at the healing wounds on my arm.
“I have strong painkillers, sir.” It’s strange to look at him, knowing I’ve fucked his daughter. The secret nestles in my heart like a whisper that I’m cradling as gently as possible.
“Thank you for saving my daughter again, Falco. You’ve done more for me than you could ever know.”
He has no idea.
“It’s my job, sir.”
“I know. But you’re giving a lot to keep her alive. I’m grateful.” He sighs deeply and drags a hand down his face. “How did they find you?”
“I have no idea, sir. I searched their bodies after I woke up but I found nothing.” Pidge and Rex collected DNA, fingerprints, and more but couldn’t find the men in any system, nor any tattoos that would identify them to any family. They were, essentially, ghosts.
But Pidge is determined to get to the bottom of it.
“It must be the Italians,” Guido mutters, draining his glass as he turns away from me and walks toward the drink cabinet.
“The Italians, sir?”
“My deal with them is in its closing act, Falco. You have no idea how important it is. Once Aerin is married to that little Irish rat, we’ll be the most powerful family in New York. Everyone wants a piece. That has to be the reason she’s being targeted.”
Shit.
I forgot all about the Irish and Aerin’s upcoming nuptials to that Irish bastard. Men who only care that she’s an untouched virgin, as if that has any contribution to her value as a person.
Only, she isn’t that anymore.
She’s mine.
I was her first. No one will ever be able to take that away from us.
“You suspect sabotage, sir?” I ask, cautiously keeping my voice level.
“It has to be. Why else would it be her? I subtly checked with the Irish captain and no one has been trying to slaughter his son. Only my daughter. And the rape… Well, the rape that didn’t happen.
Bastards are trying to ruin her. We’re the target here, don’t you see?
” He turns back to me with a fresh drink in hand then offers it to me, but I decline.
“I’ll have Giacomo start looking into the Italians.
Those fucks never could let someone else deal without trying to snag a piece. ”
“Are they in the same market?”
“No,” Guido scoffs, drinking deeply. “But that’s never stopped them before.
” He moves to the window and gazes out over the gardens, shaking his head.
“I’m old, Falco. My health is…” He trails off and glances back at me.
“Aerin is my future, you understand? She’s this family’s future. I can’t have anything happen to her.”
“Nothing will, sir,” I say while I stand. “You have my word.”
“Aye,” he nods. “And your oath.”
That oath will be the death of me.
The next few weeks pass in a blur. Aerin is swept into wedding planning with her mother while I focus on recovery and trying to find a connection between all the attacks on Aerin’s life.
A few secret calls to Pidge inform me that they’re not having any luck either.
Each group of men can be traced back, carefully, to hired mercenaries, which supports my growing theory that it isn’t another family trying to sabotage Aerin but someone on the inside.
Someone who knows her movements and her value.
Someone who knows not only how to get to her but also my level of skill, because the men who came to the cabin were exceptionally trained.
Everyone becomes a suspect, from the night guards to the chef.
Everyone Aerin interacts with, everyone who pays me a second of attention that lingers for too long… I suspect them all.
The days trickle by and the investigation is soothed, as always, by Aerin.
Lingering looks here and there, close contact while we train and spar in the gym, stolen kisses in the dead of night in a pitch black room hidden under her covers so no one can see us, even on the CCTV.
Every touch is a risk, every kiss is a death sentence, but I’m powerless to resist.
The hold she has over me is unlike anything I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
I love her.
And I will easily give my life to save her.
One day, while buried in GPS data and the history of every driver the estate has ever had, something finally catches my eye.
There’s one person with motive, one person deep within the estate who not only has the means but the reason and the ability to not only target Aerin in all the places she was attacked but also lure her out from inside the estate and into any situation where her life ends up on the line.
One person who goes under everyone’s radar because he’s viewed either as a useless disgrace or an interchangeable pawn.
One person Aerin trusts more than anyone else.
Giacomo.
Her brother’s face stares up at me from the bar CCTV footage, and my stomach flips.
He was at the restaurant the first time she was attacked.
They didn’t make their move until he was there, which easily makes him look like a potential target.
He took her to the nightclub and abandoned her on the night she was so desperate for attention.
He even lured her to lunch and tried to get rid of me before going to the bar she was snatched from.
And he gave her the keys to the cabin.
There are a handful of guards who also fit the criteria of knowledge, but none of them have the motivation Giacomo has. After all, he used to be the heir to the estate until Guido grew sick of his shit and named Aerin in his place. He claims not to care, but maybe it’s a facade.
Dragging myself from the desk, I pull my second phone out of my boot and read a coded text from Pidge. He found something. I dial Pidge’s number, but before it connects a shriek cuts through the air and my heart stalls in my chest.
Aerin!
Abandoning my phone, I dart from the office and into the living room where Aerin is on the floor, huddled against the wall with tears pouring down her face while her mother stands over her, a stricken look of shock on her face.
“Aerin, what’s the matter?” she demands, her voice trembling while she clutches a tape measure in her hand. Several other guards pour into the room, weapons raised, but upon seeing no threat, they lower them.
I reach Aerin’s side in seconds and crash to my knees. “Aerin? What’s wrong? What happened?”