Chapter 6
6
ACE
The one where all you have are secrets, cigars, whiskey, and blood.
S he was throwing attitude again, but this time she was doing it in an exhausted way I couldn’t ignore.
She needed sleep more than she needed food or anger, and I’d already gotten a few bites down her.
Without asking permission—not that I thought she would at any point do so—she stared at the stairway and then got up and slowly started walking.
I followed silently behind her.
When we stopped at the door, she rested her head against it.
“I don’t need help sleeping, and I don’t like drugs.”
She needed to sleep deeply so she wouldn’t get sick and so she could stay on alert.
She didn’t know it and she never would, but she just became my greatest fear and I’d stop at nothing to keep her safe even if it meant I’d be keeping her safe from herself and her own lack of self-preservation.
I opened my mouth but before I got any words out, a throat cleared behind me.
“Boss wants you.”
It was Ivan.
I released a rough exhale.
“Which one?”
“Did I say boss? I meant all of them, well most of them, we have too many bosses and underbosses to count. Thank God most of them are in Seattle with the Russians for the next month while we monitor things here.”
It really was a true skeleton crew.
The Alfero boss was here.
Serena and Junior were here representing the Abandonatos.
Phoenix was standing watch and communicating with everyone else and keeping a close eye on Ivan while he stepped into his new role, and while we had a lot of men present, that was basically it.
I couldn’t even begin to imagine how crazy it was when the entire Cosa Nostra plus half the Russians and some of the families from Sicily got together.
The only sane reason the FBI looked the other way was because half of the family actively worked for them and kept Fentanyl off the streets and put an end to so much sex trafficking they would get awards—then again they fought fire with fire and took lives in order to do so.
“Yeah,” I rasped. “Coming.”
Raven chose that moment to escape into her room and shut the door in my face.
I turned to Ivan.
He was still in his suit, though his black tie was long gone and the tattoos on his chest were on pure display while he stared at the solid blue door.
“She’ll get there, it’s still raw.”
I made a non-committal noise.
“She needs to get there faster. Whoever killed Louis is still on the loose, and we both know who did it.”
“We have no proof. Don’t let your past affect your future when you’re finally out of that shit hole.”
Venice wasn’t a shit hole.
It was one of my only good memories of this life.
The five families took me in, they trained me to be the best, then sent me away to help strengthen the De Lange name in Sicily—they were the reason I was in Venice, the reason I finally fell into darkness, mistaking it for light.
Mistaking it for hope.
"Let’s go.” I breezed past him, my footsteps creating a heavy clicking noise as I got closer and closer to Dante’s study.
The wooden doors had the Alfero crest on them. The entrance was intimidating the first time I saw it. With twelve foot doors and two metal daggers sticking out of the front that you twisted and pulled—still stained in De Lange blood to remind everyone who joined the five families what would happen if one branch turned against the rest.
When I was younger I imagined the blood of my family still cried out from those handles. And now? Now, it was just an entrance, a means to an end. Just like this job.
I jerked open both doors and stepped inside. Cigar smoke plumed and twisted in the air, the aromas of expensive whiskey and cologne mixed with it. A few men sat in the corner playing chess and discussing something about a shipment in low voices.
Dante sat at his desk, hands behind his neck, as he stared up at Phoenix, who was leaning against the door and looking in a black folder. “Could be worse.”
"Is she still ignoring you?
” Dante asked, not looking up from the folder on the desk in front of him.
"Naturally.” I imagined he was addressing me. “She hates everyone and everything, but she’ll eventually break and things will go back to normal.”
Ivan moved behind me. “She’s still crying.”
A snort escaped before I could stop it. “She’s dangerous no matter what emotion, believe me.”
Dangerously tempting.
Dangerously stupid at times.
Doesn’t allow her feelings to be felt.
Talked too much even during her sadness.
Dangerous.
Terrifyingly so.
Dante leaned forward, pressing his hands against the oak surface of his desk. “This should’ve been simple, and now we have one dead infiltrator. One grieving girl. It’s messier than it needs to be, and now my little girl’s caught up in it. I should have seen the signs, should have—” He shoves the black folder away. “I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
Phoenix reached out and snatched the folder, adding it to the one he was holding. “Stay close.”
Dante’s head jerked up, making me jump back. “Not too close, remember what I said.”
"She’s a job,” I deadpanned reminding myself and him.
“And I don’t get close.” Not anymore.
“Remember?” I took a long scan around the room.
“Besides, you have to actually be in possession of a heart for it to break, right gentleman?” And I’d lost mine long ago, but could you really say it was lost if it was taken from you without your permission?
I turned to leave. “I know what my job entails.”
Dante cleared his throat.
“Remember what happens should you forget.”
He didn’t need to say much more.
“My ghosts are buried right along with my heart; they fed on what was left of it long ago.”
"Good.” Phoenix moved up next to me and slapped a hand on my shoulder. “We don’t need a repeat of Vienna.”
Just hearing the name of the city spoken out loud sent a chill down my spine hard enough to make my stomach drop. “I hardly remember.”
Lie.
Phoenix knew it too. “Alright, let us know if anything changes, we’ll keep watch on our end, business as usual, act as normal as possible, and let us know if she gives you any information we can use.”
Typical. “Yup."
I walked away before I accidentally choked on more memories and headed out of the office and back down the hall toward Raven’s room.
I raised my hand to knock on her door when I heard it.
Puking.
It jarred my memory in the absolute worst way.
The sudden smell of fresh flowers, the feel of the cool breeze on my face, and hearing the vomiting all over again while the smell of dinner wafted past me. “You okay?” I knocked on the bathroom door a second time then let myself in.
Her beautiful black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and she was sitting next to the toilet looking helpless. “Do you want the good news or bad news?”
“Always lead with the bad.” I joined her on the floor and grabbed her hand.
She laid her head on my shoulder. “I think I pulled a rib.”
I smirked. “I’ll patch you up, what’s the good news?”
“You’re stuck with me.” She grinned down at our joined hands. “My wish came true. We’re pregnant.”
My body gave an involuntary shudder.
We’re pregnant.
We’re pregnant.
We’re pregnant.
Everything about those two words set my world on fire—how could I have possibly known that she would use those flames to burn our entire existence down?
“Raven?” I knocked harder. “I’m coming in.”
I ignored the whimpering and let myself into the dark room. The covers on the bed were on the floor like she got in a fight with the sheets and decided to add some extra kicks.
The lights were dim, and the sound of puking coming from the bathroom didn’t stop. I stepped through the door. She leaned over the toilet and held her hair back with one hand while tears streamed down her face dropping into the toilet. “Fucking sandwich!”
I said nothing. What could I really say? She needed food even if it didn’t stay in her system that long. I gently shoved her hand away and gathered her hair. She didn’t fight me, but her posture went so stiff I almost checked to see if she was still breathing.
“Please,” she rasped. “Don’t.”
I ignored her.
She leaned back and elbowed me in the ribs. “I’m done for now, but if you keep touching me I really will puke all over you.”
I didn’t doubt it. I just wasn’t sure whether it was from the fact that I was repulsive to her or because her stomach was weak from the food.
The sandwich shouldn’t have done anything to make her stomach upset, but I knew that she was still dealing with all the emotional aftermath of the day.
I stood to my full height and held out my hand. “Let’s get you to bed.”
She swatted my hand away. “I can manage on my own. The last thing I need is a babysitter. I just want to be alone.”
“In the dark with your feelings?” I offered. “You do realize that immediate isolation during grief accounts for at least twenty percent of?—”
“I don’t want stats,” she interrupted and stood. “I know my own body and I know my mind, furthermore, I have a broken heart, so give me a little grace before you continue to chastise me like a child.” She forced a pretty smile. “You can kindly shove your stats up your ass and see yourself out.”
I almost smiled. Almost. “I’ll check on you later. Do you need the ketamine or do you think you can sleep?”
She crossed her arms. “Are you giving me an option now?”
"It was a very convincing lecture.” I leaned in.
Her eyes were so uncertain, so lost, I knew I needed to give her the semblance of control even though it was a complete falsehood. She wanted something to hold onto, let her think that she had a right to that, when the truth was she’d lost every right the minute she was put in harm’s way.
Her life was no longer her own.
It was mine.
And it would be until the threat was gone—she just didn’t know it yet.