Chapter 33
Leo
“You nervous about the gala?” Gage asks. We came back to the living room after the display between Alessa and Ryder. She’s now in her office, still pissed, and I’m not sure where Ryder has disappeared to.
“Yeah, a little bit,” I admit. “Not about going but about being presented as a freaking heir.”
Gage shrugs. “The name comes with respect, but it also comes with enemies. But you have us now too.”
“Do I?” I ask the question that’s been plaguing me without thinking. Gage’s brows furrow. “I just mean you and Ryder have a lot of memories with her, Dex too. Holden might be new, but he’s been here too. I haven’t.”
“That doesn’t make us see you any different. Les accepted you into this family, so you are family.”
“He’s right,” Dex rumbles, walking into the living room.
He plops down in his favorite chair. “Once you’re in, you’re in. No matter how long you’ve been here.”
“You guys don’t know me,” I argue. I’m not sure why I’m arguing, but I haven’t been here long.
Dex shrugs. “Les does.”
“So, she says so, and you agree?” I ask.
Dex chuckles. “She’s the Boss.”
It still amazes me that these guys never bat an eye about taking orders from her. Ryder may question it, but he still respects her decisions most of the time. I thought for sure she was going to kill his ass today, though.
“Her and Micah still in the office?” Gage asks.
“Yeah,” Dex nods. “They’re putting everyone on high alert.”
“Is this going to happen?” Gage asks Dex, and it’s the first time he’s looked uneasy about all of this, which doesn’t sit well with me.
“It has to. Viktor has been trying to make her look weak since she took over, and she has to prove that she isn’t.”
“This is the Russians, bro,” Gage argues. “This isn’t some small-time family like the Moretto’s.”
“That’s why she’s calling in all favors,” Ryder answers, striding into the living room and sitting on the loveseat. “See where the alliances really lie.”
“Viktor forgot Les’ army reaches worldwide,” Dex soothes.
“She’s made sure to keep old alliances and made new ones. We’ve got this.”
“You know that includes your brothers, right?” Ryder asks, cracking open a bottle of water.
I frown. “Includes my brothers? How?”
He drains the entire bottle before answering. “They’re now an ally.”
Does that mean Evander and Mateo will go to war with her?
What will happen if they don’t? I don’t understand any of this shit, and it’s not like anyone took the time to explain it; they shouldn’t have to.
I’m the outside man; I don’t know how a war with another family goes besides people can die. It’s never said, but it’s implied.
“Our main priority is protecting Les,” Dex shrugs. “We took an oath when we became her inner circle.”
“What the hell are we going to do about this stalker problem?” Ryder asks since it’s on the subject of protecting her.
“What are we supposed to do?” Gage asks with a snort. “The more we fight to protect her, the harder she’ll push back against us.”
“Then we don’t fight her. We just do it,” Ryder argues.
“She almost choked your ass out in the hallway,” Gage chuckles, “Even though you fucking liked it.”
“Leo.” I look up at the sound of my name and see Micah standing just inside the living room; he jerks his head and disappears back toward her office.
I stand up from the couch and follow him.
Evander and Mateo are both sitting there when I push open the office door, much to my surprise.
I didn’t even hear them come in. Alessa smiles softly and gestures to a chair in front of the desk; I sit beside Evander with Mateo at his other side.
She’s handling all this in stride, but I can see the stress in her tight shoulders.
I hate that she even has to deal with this.
She has a war breathing down her neck and a stalker.
“What’s up?” I ask, looking at everyone’s grim faces.
“We want to give you a chance to bow out of being a Perez heir,” Evander says quietly.
“You don’t want me to be?”
Alessa shakes her head. “That’s not what he means.” She leans her arms on the desk. “What happens next puts everyone’s ass on the line.”
“So, you’re going to war with her?” I ask Evander.
He nods. “We are.”
I look at Alessa. “You’re pulling out all cards, huh?” I ask angrily. “Using this newfound alliance to get them killed too?”
“She gave us a choice,” Mateo answers, leaning forward. “It’s the least we can do after what Father did to her.”
“That I still don’t know about.” I swipe my hand through my hair, pissed. “I don’t know about any of this because no one will fucking tell me.”
“We don’t either, Leo,” Evander says evenly, leveling me with a look to shut up. “This is what alliances do. We don’t need to know everything.”
“So, you just trust her at her word? This is a death sentence.” I don’t know why I’m getting so worked up.
I guess everything from the past week is just to a boiling point.
I’m scared to death for my brothers and my newfound family that I can’t process this.
I also can’t help but be pissed at Alessa for involving them.
“I called them here to protect you, Leo, not to go to war with me,” Alessa says in a deadly tone that I know too well.“This was their decision. You can either sit there and blame me or shut up and listen.”
I take a long look at her after she delivers that ultimatum, knowing I have to make a decision that could make or break what I’m building with her.
The decision she’s telling me to make means either in or out; there’s no in-between.
It’s either stay and potentially watch them all die or run back to North Carolina.
I look into her blue eyes and make my decision. “I’m listening.”
She rolls her shoulders back, trying to relieve some tension.
I can’t tell if that was the answer she wanted or not.
“I'm not going to bore you with all the history, so I’ll give you as much as I can.” I nod.
“The Italians and the Russians have a long-standing feud that goes back for generations ever since Italians took over their power here. My dad kept the peace by allowing them certain avenues for illegal cash; theirs was heroin. He even allowed them to use our port to bring the product in.” She rubs her temples, and that’s when I realize how exhausted she looks.
“Viktor’s mindset is a woman should never hold any power, so when I was named Dad’s successor instead of Micah, he made it his mission to make me look weak in front of the other families at every opportunity. ”
“By stepping in to take over the cocaine game from you was his way of saying he was done following you,” I summarize for her. I might not know everything, but I’m not stupid.
“Exactly,” Micah breaks in, leaning against the table behind Alessa. “He knew what he was doing.”
“If I don’t do something, he will work to tear down everything my father and many generations before him worked so hard to build here.
I can’t allow that.” She crosses her arms back on the desk.
“I would never put your brothers in danger on purpose, Leo. Or you,” she finishes softly, and I can see how much it’s wearing on her that I’ll be in the middle.
“I’m not going anywhere, Alessa,” I assure her.
“I don’t want you to, but Leo, you need to understand people will die, and there’s no way to avoid it.” And there it is. The implication that people will die is finally said out loud. I look at her and realize one of those people could be her, Gage, or one of my brothers.
“We’re giving you an option.” Evander finally looks at me, and I can see this is tearing him up too. “Stay with us or go back home to your mom without a mention of you to put a target on your back.”
“You want me to run?” I ask, looking between Evander, Mateo, and Alessa. “Just forget everything that I’ve found here?”
“We want you to make it out of this alive,” Alessa says vehemently. “We grew up knowing this was the direction our lives were going to take. Your life can take a different direction, where you stay alive.”
I can’t imagine a life where you knew at a young age you would probably die bloody in a war that started long before you were born.
Even though it was just mom and me, I had a damn good childhood filled with love and laughter.
Evander and Mateo grew up with a tyrant as a father and a spineless mother that wouldn’t stand up for them.
Alessa’s dad seemed to do everything he could for her, but he still raised her as a criminal. A criminal that is now
pleading with me to save my ass. No way in hell I’m leaving.
“I’m not fucking running,” I say, looking around the room at all their faces. Everyone holds the same sadness in Alessa’s eyes except Micah. I can never get a read on him, and I’m not even sure he’s happy I’m around.
Alessa straightens up, and I can see the mask slamming into place.
“Okay,” she nods, “then you need to be prepared. I know you know how to shoot, but Gage will show you how to use all the weapons at our disposal. Over the next several days, this place will be crawling with more guards.” She turns to Micah. “Can you bring the other guys in?”
Micah squeezes her shoulder before doing as she asks.
She doesn’t even look at me when we’re waiting for them to pile in.
Ryder and Dex take up their spots at her back; Gage, Holden, and Micah sit on the couch she has set to the side of the desk.
She’s squared her shoulders, and all trace of sadness in her eyes is gone, and I realize this is the ice queen they joke about.
One where she has to hide her emotions, so she doesn’t look weak, even in front of us.
Something tells me I’ll see her more than ever instead of the soft Alessa I’ve gotten used to.
“Tell us the plan, Boss,” Ryder says, crossing his arms over his chest. I realize every single one of them has that same mask in place.
This isn’t the girl they’re in a relationship with anymore; this is their boss. I envy them the ability to shut everything down.
“We need Spinner.” She looks at Holden. “Find him. We grab him and get him to talk. That’s how I get the proof I need to wage war against Viktor.
” Holden nods, and I see he can’t hide behind a mask, either.
She smiles, but it’s strained. “I’ve called Aldo in New York and Romeo in Chicago. They’re on standby for my word.”
“What about Carlo?” Micah asks.
Alessa shakes her head. “We don’t need the Italy family. Yet.”
“What about the gala?” Mateo asks, and it’s the most serious I’ve ever seen him.
“We go as planned, but we’re all going now. Dex and Ryder will be the security of sorts. I need all the eyes I can get because Viktor will be there,” she answers. “I need to find out what Alexey and Dmitri need to talk to me about.”
“I don’t like that, Boss,” Gage speaks up. “Viktor makes a move, and suddenly, his sons need a meeting that can’t be done over the phone?”
“I would be worried if they asked to meet in private. They’re aware I won’t be alone,” she sighs. “They’ve never liked the way their father runs things.”
“Potential allies?” Evander asks.
“Possibly.” She shrugs. “I won’t ask them to go against him, but I won’t turn down an offer to have people on the inside.”
“Viktor doesn’t share much with them,” Ryder points out.
I can’t wrap my head around how they’re all casually sitting around talking about a war, a nuclear bomb getting ready to explode within these families.
“We will cross that bridge when we come to it. Until then, we find Spinner and someone else to lead the Vipers. Who was his second in command?” Alessa turns and asks Ryder.
“Ghost,” he answers. “We need a meeting?”
“Yeah. We need to find out if he knew what his leader was doing. Something tells me he doesn’t.” She turns back to Evander and Mateo. “How deep are you guys willing to go?”
“Tell us what you need.” Evander shrugs. “We’ll be there.”
She tilts her head to the side. “Forgive me for being suspicious, but why? You haven’t been an ally long enough to throw in everything already.”
Evander clears his throat. “We may not know what Frankie did, but we know it isn’t good. We need you to know that we aren’t him.”
“I do know that, though, and as far as I’m concerned, you weren’t involved either since you were around the same age as me.” She swallows, and her mask slips a little. “What he did was worse than bad, but I can’t hold that against you.”
“Doesn’t matter.” Mateo shrugs. “We’re in.”
“Alright.” She nods. “Our first order of business is Ghost.”