Chapter Fifty-Two #2
My wife looked disoriented and exhausted. The collar of her shirt was bloodstained. I slammed my teeth to stop myself from cursing. I was pissed at myself for giving Tierney my jacket. What she deserved was to nurse a month-long bout of pneumonia.
Gia was tied by the wrists, just like Tierney, but unlike the Irish banshee, her clothes were torn, and it was obvious she had put up a fight.
Tiernan had his arm wrapped around Gia’s throat as he led her in front of him, holding the muzzle of his gun to her temple as he prowled over to us, her body shielding his.
I tugged Tierney up to her feet by her hair. She groaned but kept her composure.
“What, no gun?” Tiernan elevated a mocking eyebrow when I lassoed my arm around his sister’s neck.
I couldn’t see past the red mist of fury covering my vision.
“I’ll break her neck with my bare hands.” I shrugged. “And I’ll make it slow, so don’t try me.”
“All right, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Let’s get this show on the road.” Tiernan yawned provocatively, settling himself and Gia on the edge of the cliff.
I had so many things I wanted to tell her. So many things I wanted to do.
“You lay your asks, I’ll do the same, and we’ll see where we land.”
“I’ll let your sister go if you let Gia go first as an act of goodwill, since you shat all over your word to me.
You’re not to pursue revenge on us. You are not to contact us.
You will not touch us, follow us, or make any claim of compensation toward me at any point in the future,” I warned.
“This ends here. And all this is contingent and subject to change if I find out Gia was harmed in any way. Your turn.”
“I’d slow clap if I wasn’t holding such a hefty prize.” Tiernan chuckled deviously.
Gia’s head bobbed in his headlock, and I wanted to kill him so much my bones actually hurt. I despised a lot of people, but not half as much as I did Tiernan Callaghan.
“Who would’ve thought? Neither money nor power could bring the great Tatum Blackthorn down in the end but merely delicious pussy.”
“Your terms,” Achilles enunciated to Tiernan. He wasn’t in the mood for laughter after losing Filippo. “Before I put a bullet between your bitch sister’s eyes. I’m not Blackthorn. I don’t give a shit if you feed Gia to the sharks.”
“Cheers,” Gia muttered sarcastically.
“Sharks in the Hudson?” Tierney screwed her nose. “You dumb fuck.”
“First things first—sorry, darlin’ sister, I swear you’re next in my priorities—I want the Ferrantes’ word that offing their little errand boy, Philip, is not going to be retaliated against.” Tiernan rightened his hold on Gia’s neck.
“It’s Filippo,” Achilles spat out. “And I’m not—”
“We won’t kill you,” Luca cut into his speech. I noticed he didn’t say they wouldn’t retaliate.
Achilles threw his brother a heated look.
Luca shrugged. “He’s unhinged. He’ll do something else to piss us off and get himself killed. Give it a few weeks.”
“There’s no fucking way—” Achilles burst out, but Enzo put his hand on his shoulder.
“Respectfully—and I have no fucking respect for you after what happened with Alianna—you have no say in this. Luca is second to the don. You can bitch about it when we get home.”
“Good, good. Second, I want Tierney returned to me safely.”
“It’d be my pleasure,” I said sincerely. “The woman is a pest. Next.”
“I want you , Blackthorn, to promise me you won’t go after my throat. We start a blank page, right here, right now.”
“This’ll never be a blank page,” Achilles announced. “Too much blood has run through the streets of New York for peace. But I do have a contingency.”
“Of course you do.” Callaghan smiled. “What is it?”
“Your sister,” Achilles said. “I choose who she marries.”
“I’m never going to marr—” Tierney erupted like a volcano, writhing and pulling out of my headlock. I squeezed her neck, crushing her windpipe to shut her up.
“Quiet.” Tiernan raised his palm in annoyance, a deep frown engraved on his face.
I wasn’t particularly hot on the idea of linking this tit-for-tat deal to Achilles’s idiotic whim, but if he wanted to play with her, he damn fucking could. Tiernan made too many mistakes along the way, and it was time he paid for them.
“Tiernan, no ,” Tierney growled heatedly, clawing me as she tried to pry my hands off. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
Tiernan turned to Achilles. “First, you tell me why.”
“I don’t owe you an explanation.” Achilles laughed metallically. “You burned too many bridges. Take it or leave it, but if you leave it, beware, because the entire Camorra is after you, and I’ll do what I please with this mouthy little thing anyway.”
Tiernan’s nostrils flared. “If you’re going to do with my sister as you please, why are you asking for my permission?”
“Oh, that’s simple. Because by saving your ass, you will have to betray her. You’ll never come back from that.”
Tierney let out a feral string of profanity. I laughed.
Tiernan turned to Achilles. “Whoever you choose to be her husband won’t be violent toward her.”
Achilles jerked his chin in a nod.
“And he won’t be beneath her in rank. You’re not handing her off to one of your errand boys.”
“Fine.”
“She’s an expensive habit.”
Achilles smiled calmly. “Her groom can handle it.”
“And another thing.” Tiernan’s nostrils flared. “It can’t be you .”
Achilles grinned from ear to ear. “She’s not up to my standard. She definitely won’t do. I might take her as a mistress for those hard, long days I want it rough and dirty. But it won’t be me. Now, release Blackthorn’s missus.”
Tierney sounded like an injured animal, her tears flying in the wind, her fingernails desperately trying to claw away my hold. She broke a couple of them in the process. Gia, on the other hand, remained stoic and patient, stood tall, and managed not to cry.
I was going to save her.
To wrap her in something warm.
To lick the tears that’d come away.
And to make it all up to her.
“ Tiernan ,” Tierney cried. “I’ll never forgive you.”
He ignored her. “Promise me that no matter what, if I release Gia, no harm will come to my sister.”
“Promise,” I said, almost too eagerly.
“Promise,” Enzo said.
“Promise,” said Luca.
Achilles took a second, mulling it over. He loved keeping people on their toes. “I guess.”
Tiernan released Gia. She staggered to me, silent tears running down her cheeks.
I immediately tossed Tierney into Achilles’s hold and bundled Gia in my arms, kissing her tears, the tip of her nose. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
She nodded, unable to produce words.
My stomach rumbled with rage. She was far from okay, and recovering from this experience was going to take time.
I turned to yank the coat from Tierney’s shoulders and wrap it around my wife.
I buried her head in my chest and praised her in hushed, gentle whispers.
Telling her how brave she was, how strong, how graceful.
“Now, may I please have my sister?” Tiernan opened his arms wide, smiling.
“No need,” Tierney said coldly, slapping away Achilles’s hold but standing by his side. “You already gave up my right to choose. I have nothing to gain under your protection. I’m staying with the Ferrantes.”
Achilles snorted. “Hadn’t realized we offered to house you.”
Tiernan’s expression thundered. “Cut the bullshit, Tier.”
“Do as he says,” I instructed. “I don’t have time for these theatrics. I need to take Gia home.”
They could all die on the spot, and I wouldn’t even attend their goddamn funerals. All I wanted was to take care of the woman who almost paid for my mistakes with her life.
“No.” Tierney folded her arms. “I’m not coming.”
“We’ll see about that,” Achilles muttered. He was fucking with her. If he was smart, he wouldn’t fuck her , though. She seemed like a headache no Advil could fix.
“Fine.” Tiernan tossed a careless hand. “As you wish.”
He was about to turn around and make his way back to the Mercedes when Achilles gave Tierney a push forward, making her stumble all the way to her brother’s arms.
“I’ve no use for her now.” Achilles shrugged. “She’s another mouth to feed. Keep her safe and those legs closed. If I hear she’s been fucked, I’ll chop off the guy’s cock. Pass it on. I’ll find her an appropriate match when I feel like it.”
The heartfelt union came to an abrupt end when Tierney punched her brother’s face, giving him a prominent shiner. She stomped to the car, cursing up and down the entire Callaghan ancestry.
I turned to the Ferrante brothers. “Ride with your soldiers.” It was an order, not a request. “I’m taking my wife home.”
“Hey, Gia, you good?” Enzo’s eyes were soft.
She nodded, trying to smile.
I crouched down to pick Gia up and carried her to the Escalade. The journey home was quiet. I didn’t dare speak. I didn’t dare breathe . She warned me this could happen. I failed to protect her. No matter what happened from this point forward, I would always remember this failure.
She stared straight ahead, her jaw tipped up regally, her eyes heavy-lidded.
“They tried to drug me when they caught me.” Her sweet, soft voice pierced through the condensed silence.
“When they thought I was knocked out, I heard them talking. They’re planning a bloodbath.
Killing the Russians, up and down the ranks, and taking over. ”
I was so wrapped up in her I couldn’t even give a shit. If the Irish wanted to start shit, this was Achilles and Luca’s problem. As far as I was concerned, I was done with this world.
When we reached the first traffic light in Manhattan, I turned to look at her fully. The back of her head continued to bleed. It trickled down in a steady stream, running down the seat all the way into her lap. She didn’t even notice.
“Apricity.” I tried to sound calm. “You’re bleeding.”
“I am?” She reached to the back of her head. Her fingers shook when she brought them in front of her face and noticed how bloodied they were. Her mouth dropped open.
“I’m taking you to the hospital.” I made an illegal sharp turn south and floored it all the way there.