Chapter 38
LUCA
I sat in a chair by the fireplace, resting my wingtip on my knee. All the local members of The Devil’s Knights surrounded me on the couches in my office. Marcello was the only one missing. He was dealing with Alex and her nightmares.
The two of them had grown closer in my absence, and I hated to admit I was a little jealous. Marcello was better with her than I was. He wasn’t soft by any means. But with Alex, he was not the cold, calculated killer I knew.
“Where are Arlo and Carl?” Sonny tipped a glass of Irish whiskey to his lips. “I got shit to do.”
It was nine o’clock in the fucking morning. I had a lot of vices, but even I didn’t drink this early.
“Yeah, looks like it,” I shot back. “Busy day on the yacht, Cormac?”
Sonny rolled his eyes and sipped his drink.
What the hell did he know about real responsibilities? The shipping heir spent most days fucking women and drinking. Occasionally, he worked when we needed his help to move containers with illegal shit between ports. Not like he needed the money.
“My father is coming.” I pushed up my jacket sleeve and checked my watch. “So is Wellington. They should be here any minute.”
As one of The Founders Society Elders, Carl Wellington could speak on their behalf. He was a high-ranking member of the organization that oversaw the secret societies in the United States. Every group beneath The Founders Society had a specific purpose.
There was a hierarchy.
The Devil’s Knights answered directly to the Founders. Smaller groups like The Serpents worked for us, handling corporate espionage and fixing scandals. The Knights were the bankers of the criminal underworld. Giving loans to unsavory people was the reason we were meeting today.
One of our clients in Albania had defaulted on a fifty-million-dollar loan, so we took something from him. They tried to steal Alex as retribution, but Marcello was better than them.
I glanced over at Damian, who had dark circles beneath his eyes. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Bastian looked equally tired. Kali must have kept them up late again.
Drake Battle leaned forward, propping his elbows on his thighs as he pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.
I tapped the ash of my cigar in the tray. “Rough night, Battle?”
“Yeah.” He sighed as our eyes met. “I was doing coding sprints all night. The board wants to see a working demo of my AI software on Monday.”
“Tell them to fuck off.” I leaned back and blew out a puff of smoke. “It’s your tech.”
He snorted. “I’m not a dick like you. Battle Industries is spending nearly a billion dollars on developing the technology.”
I rolled my shoulders against the leather chair. “I just threaten our board if they get out of hand.”
A smirk tugged at his mouth. “The shit you get away with, Salvatore.” He shook his head. “No, it doesn’t work like that at my company. I respect my board.”
“Fuck them.” I took another puff of my cigar, and the smoke gathered above his head. “Stop letting them dictate what you do. It’s your company. My last name is on the fucking building. Not theirs. And I remind them every day.”
Drake howled with laughter. “Asshole.”
“Hold secrets over their heads,” Bastian chimed. “That’s what Damian and I do with the Atlantic Airlines board.”
“Because you learned from the master,” Drake quipped with eyes on me.
We had a saying in Devil’s Creek. Secrets are commodities . I collected secrets as if they were money, because they were more valuable.
My father cleared his throat as he entered the room with Carl Wellington III. Carl looked like a Founder, dressed in a six-thousand-dollar suit, and he had an air of entitlement surrounding him.
He tipped his head to the group. “Gentleman,” he said as he sat in the chair beside me. “I have no time to waste. So let’s make this fast.”
“We have a problem,” my dad said, dropping into the armchair on my right. “The Albanians stole from one of our containers.”
“Fuck,” I groaned. “Which one?”
He ran a hand across the dark stubble along his jaw with his cold, hard stare fixed on me. “One of the Basiles’ orders.”
“I’ve been tracking the shipment,” Sonny interjected. “I checked the video feeds on the ship. Nothing looks out of the ordinary.”
Dad cleared his throat. “I believe they stole from the container after the harbormaster signed off on it.”
I stamped my cigar in the tray, breathing through my nose to contain my rage. “What about the other containers?”
“Untouched,” my father said. “As far as we can tell. After a full inventory, we’ll know more in the next few hours.”
“What is The Founders Society doing about it?” Drake asked, his focus on Carl.
“We have teams looking for the Albanians,” Carl said with authority. “Let us handle them. Your job is to keep my granddaughter safe. Alex is your primary focus.”
“No one will touch her,” I assured him. “You have my word.”
His expression darkened. “If anything were to happen to Alex, things would get worse for The Devil’s Knights.”
I nodded. “I understand.”
“And for your family,” Carl added with a bite to his tone.
“No harm will come to Alex while she’s in our home,” my father said. “We have guards, motion sensors, and cameras watching her twenty-four hours a day. Marcello is with her right now. He’s hardly slept since he arrived home with Alex.”
Carl pressed his lips together. “She needs to know the truth about Aiden. This has gone on long enough, Arlo.”
Dad gritted his teeth, then glanced over at me.
“Give us more time,” I said. “We’ve made a breakthrough with Alex. She remembers stabbing me. What happened to Aiden will come back to her.”
“You agreed to my terms, Luca.” Carl sighed as he shoved a hand through his white hair in irritation. “Until Alex returns to her old self, you don’t have my permission to marry my granddaughter. So I hope you know what you’re doing for your sake.”
I had to marry Alex for the Salvatores to rise within the ranks. My dad would have accomplished this over thirty years ago if Alex’s mom hadn’t run away. Her bloodline could be traced to Alexander Hamilton, whom her grandfather named her after. And our children would solidify both of our futures.
“Alex is making progress,” I told Carl. “It’s only a matter of time before she comes to terms with everything.”
“The doctors warned you,” he challenged. “Exposure therapy can be dangerous for someone in her condition. It can have the opposite effect.” He pointed a long, bony finger at me. “You did this to her. And you better fix what you broke.”
“Carl.” My dad threw out his hand to interrupt him. “Alex played her part. You can’t blame my son for everything.”
“What about her brother?” Carl ticked his jaw. “Losing Aiden triggered a series of events none of us could have predicted. I tried to stop Aiden from getting involved with The Serpents. He didn’t belong with them.”
“And I agreed with you,” Dad said. “All of us did. Even Alex tried to talk Aiden out of it.”
“I’m partly responsible,” I said to Carl. “I will admit to that. But my father is right. You can’t pass all the blame to me.”
Carl blew out a deep breath. “She needs closure. That’s how you help her. Without Aiden, she will never return to normal.”
Fuck normal.
I sure as hell wasn’t what medical doctors would call sane. Maybe I needed a little craziness in my life. I didn’t know how to survive without the chaos.
Carl rose from his chair and straightened his lapels. “If she shows any improvements, let me know.” Then he glanced at my father. “Arlo, I’ll speak with the Elders about the Albanians and inform you of their movements.”
As Carl walked toward the door, a loud boom sounded. The silent alarm on the wall flashed red, illuminating the wood panels in my office. Then, all of our cell phones dinged at once.
The Knights checked their phones as I glanced over at the wall of flat screens.
I shot up from the armchair, scanning the security feeds.
The men at the front door took heavy fire from a small army dressed in camouflage from head to toe.
We were also getting hit from the back, with a sniper taking out the guards posted at the cliff’s edge.
My men dropped to the ground, one after the other.
Armed and ready to fight, the Knights approached the door, awaiting my orders. Checking the cameras, I found Alex and Marcello in her bedroom, so close they could have kissed.
They sure looked fucking cozy.
A strange emotion stirred in my gut. Was it jealousy? No, it couldn’t be. I had never been jealous of anyone, let alone my younger brother.
My father stood at my side, his hand on my shoulder. “Every war has casualties, son.” He tapped his long fingers on my upper back, his heavy serpent ring hitting my shoulder blade. “Go protect our legacy.”
I dialed Marcello and raised the phone to my ear. He answered on the first ring.
“Put Roman on Alex’s door and meet us downstairs,” I ordered.
I hung up and shoved the phone into my pocket. Then, another loud bang, followed by a ripple of gunfire, rang through the air.
“Let’s go,” I told the Knights.
I led the pack out of my office and down the hallway, leaving Carl and my father behind. With our guns raised, we kept our backs against the wall as we crept down the stairs to the second floor. Alex’s bedroom was at the far end. I poked my head into the hallway and saw Roman outside Alex’s room.
Marcello ran toward us, meeting us at the top of the landing.
He took control, guiding the group downstairs.
My younger brother was better at tactical planning.
He was the muscle, and I was the brain. We ascended the stairs to the first floor.
In his element, Marcello issued orders under his breath.
He tipped his head, telling Sonny and Drake to head toward the back of the house.
It sounded like our men were doing their best to eliminate the threat. Everyone in Devil’s Creek would hear the gunshots. It was a good thing the cops were in our pockets. Our connections saved my life last year and kept Alex out of jail.
We moved as a unit down the main hallway, and as we passed one of the smaller formal dining rooms, glass shattered. Entering cautiously, we surveyed the room. Glass and burnt fabric scraps were scattered across the hardwood floor. Dark smoke clung to the air, sweeping across the room like fog.
I grabbed my jacket and covered my mouth.
Marcello turned to me. “Looks like a homemade bomb.”
“We haven’t had our enemies bring the fight to us in a long time,” Damian said with an evil grin.
I could see the wheels turning in his sick head. He was looking forward to making these assholes bleed. But so was I. There was something magical about taking a life and holding it in your hands. For a few seconds, it gave me the power of a fucking god.
“It has to be the Albanians,” I pointed out. “They stole from us and obviously have a death wish. And they’re still trying to list Alex for auction at Il Circo .”
Why would they attack us at home, where we could see them coming? We had the advantage on our turf. This was a distraction, a ruse to get us away from the real prize. My heart thudded in my chest, racing so fast my pulse clawed at my neck.
I grabbed Marcello’s shoulder, and he turned to face me. “How many men are on Alex?”
“Just Roman,” he said with a hint of confusion. “Why?”
“Because they’re here for our queen.”