Chapter Fourteen, Family
The gravel crunched beneath Atlas’s tires as his car rolled away, the faint glow of taillights fading into the dense wall of pines that bordered my home.
I stood with my arms crossed, my bare feet resting on the cool, uneven ground, and watched until the car vanished completely, swallowed up by the shadows of the woods.
Atlas was such an infuriating bastard. I liked him, sure. He was funny, and he had saved my life. But I also wanted to shoot him in the head once or twice. Just to see if there was anything left of his inky soul after the devil had taken him away.
My oversized T-shirt fluttered against my thighs as a light breeze whispered through the trees. It belonged to Price, so fit me more like a dress. But it was still a little chilly in the way too early morning breeze.
So was Lincoln.
“You’re really going to help him?” His voice broke through the stillness.
He wasn’t standing far away—leaning against the hood of the black sports car he’d been working on earlier.
After yet another sleepless night. He’d crossed his arms, his tattooed forearms flexing slightly as he stared at me, waiting for an answer.
His pretty hazel eyes were filled with doubt and just a hint of annoyance.
It seemed my bunny didn’t agree with my deal, which didn’t shock me. He wanted nothing to do with Silver or anyone close to her. As though pretending she didn’t exist would help hide the truth of who she was.
As though it would help us both forget all the shit that her bloodline had caused.
I didn’t answer right away. I was still watching the empty road, even though I knew Atlas was long gone.
“I said I would, pendejo. Do you think I lie now just for fun?” My eyes narrowed as I tugged on my lip piercing.
Lincoln’s voice softened just slightly, though the edge of it remained. “We’ve just finished one war, Saph. Are we really ready to dive into another one? For a fucking O’Malley, of all things.”
His hatred and anger were valid. It was a trauma response. A physical representation of the shitstorm of feelings he had in his brain that he could not deal with just yet. I agreed with his sentiment and once again knew that helping someone who shared that family’s blood was horrid to me.
It felt like a sin. The worst kind. The sort of thing my mama would roll in her grave for, as she once again wondered if I forgot her. The way she died. Her screams and pain and the horror that was carved into my soul.
All because of John O’Malley.
“Silver has been ruined by that man just as much as me. I can’t hold it against her.” I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to sting, my jaw tightening.
Lincoln was right. The last war had nearly destroyed us. For months, we’d been caught in the middle of blood feuds, alliances breaking and reforming, every gang in the area testing the limits of the Red Diamonds’ power. Testing my control.
I’d spent years before that dealing with the worst monster of all, whose name none in my household could even speak without all of our souls breaking a little more.
Mental trauma aside, I carried the scars of that war—on my face, on my throat, on the parts of me no one else could see.
The people I loved were scarred too. Some worse than others.
Some were no longer with me at all.
But this wasn’t about whether we were ready. It wasn’t about what we wanted. It was simply part of my job. A thing I had to do as the queen of the gang my daddy had left me. A thing I would do to make sure he was still proud.
I exhaled through my nose and finally turned to look at Lincoln. “It doesn’t matter if we’re ready,” I said, my voice firm but quiet. “I have to help them, and I said I would do it.”
He tilted his head, his expression tightening. “Why?”
“Because family is everything,” I said simply, my gaze steady.
“It’s all we have. If we don’t help them, if we just let them burn, then everything I’ve fought for—everything I stand for—means nothing.
” I sighed. “Plus, bigger gangs mean danger. And what kind of woman would I be if I did not deal with potential dangers for my new sisters? To make sure they never come close to the horrors they have already faced. If there are bad men coming, then I will keep them away from Diamond, Yeva, all the others. I will make sure nobody can hurt them again.”
The De Luca family, at least one or two members of it, were involved in the Persephone Group.
I knew that for a fact; their names were on a list of people that my beautiful tech genius boyfriend had provided me.
A few dozen names of men, and a handful of women, who dealt in stolen people and horrific violence.
A list I’d handed over to one of my younger sisters, with a promise that I would help her slaughter them all for what they did to her and Diamond one day. Even if they’d never laid a finger on Yeva themselves.
A list I knew my tío was working on too. Even if he pretended Ruby meant nothing to him. That she was just an annoyance.
He was torturing anyone who’d hurt her. Who’d given her more pain than anyone ought to have faced.
I was just doing the same as Beau.
Lincoln was quiet for a long moment, his brows furrowed as he studied me. I could tell he wanted to argue. He wasn’t the kind of person who believed in unnecessary risks, especially when it came to me. But he also wasn’t the kind of person to argue with something he knew I wouldn’t budge on.
It had taken us a long time to get to where we were. But we understood each other now. We knew how to actually talk, rather than fight.
He pushed off the hood of the car, taking a slow step toward me.
“Sure,” he said, his voice measured. “But you’re going to include Silver in that list?
She hasn’t even bothered to contact you.
Not once. Why would we fight for her?” He ran a hand over his face.
“I don’t want anything to do with her, Saph.
I can’t stomach the idea of even looking at her. ”
The words hit harder than I expected, like a knife sliding between my ribs. He wasn’t wrong. Silver hadn’t reached out. Not once. Not even a phone call.
He also wasn’t wrong to want to hate her.
I bit my lip, my eyes falling to the gravel beneath my feet.
The silence stretched between us until I finally spoke.
“Because despite that,” I said, my voice soft but steady, “despite who her father is, despite who her mother is, she’s still family, pendejo.
She is still someone with my mama’s blood, and that means something to me.
” I lifted my gaze back to Lincoln, the sharp sting in my chest hardening into something resolute.
“And I will protect her if I have to. No matter what. If you do not want to see her, that is fine. I will respect it. But I will not abandon her.”
His jaw ticked as he stared at me, his frustration flickering just beneath the surface. But he didn’t push. He just let out a quiet exhale, his shoulders dropping slightly as he closed the small distance between us.
“You’re too good for this world, you know that?” he muttered, his voice gruff as he reached out to brush his knuckles against my cheek. “Even though you are a brat.”
I huffed a laugh, shaking my head. “Don’t start with that. You know I’m not.”
“You are,” he said firmly, his hand lingering against my skin before dropping back to his side.
I tilted my head, a faint smile tugging at the corner of my lips. “Well, if I’m too good for the world, what does that make you, bunny?”
“Lucky,” he said simply, and the earnestness in his tone made my stomach twist in a way I wasn’t ready for.
I stepped back slightly, brushing a hand through my hair as I tried to shake the tension creeping into my chest. “Plus,” I said, my tone lightening as I smirked at him, “what kind of stepdaughter would I be if I let my future mommy’s best friend get hurt?
Heather is important now, too. She is Ruby’s friend. ”
Lincoln blinked, caught off guard by the shift in conversation. “Your future mommy?” he echoed, his lips twitching like he was trying not to laugh. “You’re unbelievable.”
I shrugged, grinning. “Am I wrong?”
“No,” he admitted, still chuckling. “You’re not.”
The tension between us eased, replaced by a quiet warmth that only one of my men could bring out of me. They had a way of grounding me, of making the world feel a little less sharp, a little less heavy, even when everything was about to fall apart.
He reached for me again, this time sliding his hand around my waist as he pulled me closer. “So,” he murmured, his voice softening, “shall we get ready for war then, baby? You’ll need to wake Price up now if you want him to take part.”
I nodded, leaning up to press a soft kiss to his lips. The kiss lingered, a quiet promise shared in the early morning stillness, before I pulled back just enough to meet his gaze.
“Let’s tell the boys,” I said quietly. “Our vacation is officially over. It’s time to get ready.”
Lincoln nodded, his hand tightening around mine as he glanced toward the shop. “They’re not going to be happy about this either. They’re still in vacation mode.”
“I’m sure I can think of incentives to make them happy.” I teased. “Your brother especially. I think there would be so many ways that I could-”
Lincoln shoved his hand over my mouth, his glare getting violent. I couldn’t help but laugh as he hoisted me over his shoulder and stomped back upstairs.
The weight of the coming battle pressed heavily against my chest, but I didn’t falter. This was what I did. What I was meant to do. When the De Luca family came, the Red Diamonds would be ready.
And if they dared to try a single thing, I would end them like I had all the other monsters who’d tried to best me.