Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
Joey
My phone buzzed me awake entirely too early this morning.
Normally, I would jump out of bed and be in the shower in under two minutes.
But today, the idea of leaving the bed felt like a monumental effort that would gain me very little reward.
I was warm and comfortable with Jenny on one side of me and Kingston on the other.
I haven’t slept like that in… weeks? Months? Years? Ever?
Yeah, all the events of last night need to happen again. And maybe a few more times in a row.
Don’t think too hard about it.
No, I need to focus on the text message Alana sent this morning. The one that woke me.
Alana: Meet up. don’t miss it.
Apparently the whole Four Families will be there.
The front seat of my car has dog hair on it, and Nonna’s spider plant is still in the back seat. If it’s survived fifty years in her place, it can last a little longer in my car.
There’s a long list of things I need to get done before the meeting. Like checking on the club. New supplies came in yesterday, and I think Jenny might want to try some out.
I head into the club and type in my code. I’m the only one here. No music, no glasses clinking, no distant moans of pain and pleasure. Nope. Only my heartbeat. The silence is unnerving, so I quickly throw some sexy time items into a duffle bag and return to my car.
This time the family is meeting at one of Duncan’s places. Duncan always pays extra for more security and soundproofing. Most of our places are secure, but the Irish strongholds make Fort Knox look like a local bank, but with better seating.
This location was designed for family meetings like the one we’re about to have. The room is full of my family, all with the same grave expressions. But unlike last time when we met up, the women are here. Their presence in business meetings means everything is amplified—tensions and danger.
The aunts huddle together in a corner sharing their cellphone screens.
Izzy, Katya, and Lance are all here too.
The lines get blurred with them, are they Four Families, or are they Mastodon?
But it’s Waverly that really confuses me.
Technically speaking, while her father runs the Irish Mafia, she’s been kept from the family business.
It’s hard to figure out where she fits in, and that’s always been her problem.
Alana clears her throat and says, “You’re in danger.” Several sets of eyes silently blink at her. “More than normal,” she amends. “I’m gonna need you to not do anything stupid.”
I raise my hand. “Donny might need a definition for stupid. That wasn’t covered in his folklore classes.” Pain explodes in my arm where Donny punches it.
“For once, it’s not your cousin who needs the situation explained to him.” Alana cocks an eyebrow, her attention like a laser on me. “Don’t do anything stupid like, gee, I don’t know, maybe don’t fall in love with your soulmate and fuck her all night after going to a very public club opening.”
I laugh, but the way Alana slowly blinks, and her lips turn downward into a deeper frown than normal makes me stop.
“Wait, me?” I wave my hands around and almost hit Uri standing next to me.
“No. First of all, there’s no such thing as soulmates.
Second, I’m not in love. And lastly, I didn’t spend all night fucking someone. And if I did, how would you know?”
“I know everything.” Alana juts her chin out at me. “Besides, you’ve got a hickey on your neck.”
Wait, did she kiss my neck last night? My fingers brush against my throat. Uri starts snickering as I say, “No I don’t.”
But I’ve already given it away, and everyone knows. “Shit,” I whisper, and see a room of shaking heads and disapproving glances. “Is it so wrong to have a life outside the family business?”
Alana throws her arms up in the air and does a little pace back and forth to harness her anger.
“It’s perfectly fine, encouraged even.” See problem solved.
Then she continues, louder and slower. “But not when the family is under attack. What if Jenny was a spy?” She adds quickly, “She’s not, but still.
You’re putting her in danger right now, and that should've been enough to make you stop.”
Dammit, she’s right. About all of it. I took Jenny out, surrounded by various criminal elements.
I don't know who’s on what side, not yet, it’s still too early in this attack to know what alliances have been formed.
But I wanted to spend more time with her, impress her, make her scream my name. What have I done?
Izzy doesn’t hold back her rage. “You fucked the dog walker? Damn, Joey, I like her!”
Me too, I want to scream, but the words die. “She’s not a dog walker. She runs the largest pet care company in the city.”
Waverly rolls her eyes at me. She’s always been the smartest. I'm used to feeling dumb around her. But when Donny gives me the same expression of annoyance, it guts me. Wave sighs. “Yes, everyone here knows that. It’s you who’s late to the party.”
Alana claps her hands, and the group turns their attention back to her. “You are under attack, and we need to make plans.” She steps back, and Aunt Dawn steps in.
“From what we can tell, Rita and her sons have launched an attack on us. We are officially at war.”
Rita. Fuck. I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m not. Why would I be? The deadliest attacks always come from within. A new sense of dread hit me. Terk Henderson is one of Rita’s kids. I walked us right into a trap.
No. It wasn’t a trap, of course he would be there, celebrities and crime- that’s his scene. It’s all just a coincidence.
“Wars can last years.” Waverly huffs.
But Alana steps forward and says, “Yes, but they don’t have the resources for years.
Even with funding from the Deviant, all they can do is a few quick attacks.
Right now, they’re testing the walls to see where the defenses are weakest.” No one in the room likes this.
“The kids are being moved to a safe house, off the grid and not connected to the Four Families. It’s one of mine, and it’s a fortress. ”
“Does it have a rocket launcher?” Waverly asks. I think she’s only half joking.
Alana nods. “Yes, the same one you and the aunts are familiar with.”
Wait, what? She has a fucking rocket launcher, and the women were trained on it. Did I miss some elite weapons meeting? The side glances across the room and the raised eyebrows tell me none of the men knew anything about it.
Alana continues, “The aunts and the kids will be heading out that way now. Waverly, you have three hours to get the hotel in order, and then I’m moving you to the safe house.”
Izzy steps in. “I’ll go tomorrow.”
Lance’s tone rips through the air. “The fuck you will, you’ll go right now.”
Izzy pushes her hair off her shoulder and squares up against Lance. “I can’t. We’re short-staffed, and we have half our VIP clients at the Aurora Awards. I need to be at the office.”
Lance shakes his head and starts pacing.
“You don’t need to be there.” For the first time, I see genuine anger in Lance’s eyes as he turns to speak to Alana.
He points his finger like a gun. “You put a laser scope on this family when you pissed off the Deviant.” He takes a breath and goes for the jugular.
“There were other ways you could’ve handled it, but instead you nuked everything he had and made him more dangerous. ”
“You aren’t Four Families. You’re one of mine,” Alana says. Hmm. I can’t think of a single time Alana has made him choose sides. Maybe until now it’s never been a problem.
He laces his fingers with Izzy. “I’m close enough to be family.” Us. Shit, he picked us over her.
Does she feel betrayed? I’d feel betrayed if my best friend and partner picked his fiancée over me. Lance and Alana have literally battled side by side, been by each other’s bedside when healing. Ouch.
Alana crosses her arms and says, “I need her. But I promise you, I will personally drive her to the safe house as soon as everything is set.” She compromised, interesting tactic.
I mean if I was in Lance’s shoes, would I pick Jenny over Donny?
Yes. Uri and Thiago, I might pause a little bit before making my choice. But I think Jenny might still win.
“I hate this.” He turns away.
“Noted.” She turns her head to face the rest of the group. “Uri and Dimitri, you’re with me tonight too.”
There’s an uneasiness in the group. Aunt Dawn raises her eyebrow. “You aren’t going to tell them why?”
“It’s not necessary,” Alana responds. But the mounting tension in the air says otherwise.
Gio flexes his fingers in and out, his knuckles cracking with early arthritis.
Carlos chews on his cheek, and Duncan’s chest puffs out for five seconds and slowly releases—deep breathing to calm his nerves.
The old guard of the Four Families knows something.
But it’s the quiet rage of the aunts. Those glares that mean ‘Oh shit, you’re in trouble.
’ And it’s the kind that could take years to repair.
Donny got those glares when he stole Aunt Dawn’s car and wrapped it around a tree.
It wasn’t the car that hurt her, or the theft, or even the stupidity of driving drunk.
In the trunk of the car was a box of crystal sent from Italy that belonged to her great grandmother.
It had been passed down to every woman in the family.
Izzy would never get her piece. It was the breaking of tradition that was the biggest crime of all.
It took Aunt Dawn almost five years to be able to look Donny in the eyes again.
“Alana, you’re far more loyal to this family than most of its members,” Dawn says, and locks eyes with Uri. “You work for her full time now. She bought you.”
The tension tightens around the room as all eyes shift to Alana.