19. Carter
Roman tries to follow his friend out of the room, worry clear on his face, but I place a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
He slumps in his chair for a moment before straightening, letting his mask of Boss fall back into place.
David’s lips twitch. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold this,” he gestures to the still-bleeding gash in his arm, “against the Council. I am guessing Sarah’s…employment status came as a surprise to the young Boss.”
“We should go down to the medical suite so I can patch you up. You need a few stitches so this doesn’t scar too badly,” Dr. Ranlen says.
David shrugs. “What’s one more scar? Besides, do you know the shit I’m going to get from both my cousins and my ex for this? Have you ever been on the other end of a lecture from a five-foot-three Russian triplet? I can tell you, they’re not fun.”
The look Dr. Ranlen gives David is one that makes mafia Bosses crumple, and it seems the Bratva heir isn’t immune because he sighs. “Fine. But after I get answers.”
Roman and I exchange a look before turning to face David again. “We’re…working on the problem. You can tell your father that. Though, if you were hoping that we could reassure you that the Bratva would be out of the line of fire from now on, we can’t.”
Fire burns in David’s light blue gaze, and I raise my chin, refusing to let him see the nerves living beneath my skin.
“We agreed to help because you have been good allies and business partners over the years, and joining with the Martellis had promise. The combination of your weapons supply would have been a force to be reckoned with, but if you’re unable to get yourself back to the standards one expects in this business, we will have no other choice than to look further afield.
I’m sure I could convince my father that the extra shipping fees will be worth it. ”
“We have cleaned up one of the problems we had in-house,” Roman says slowly, flicking his gaze to David’s guards before continuing. “But there are still one or two we haven’t taken care of yet.”
David goes rigid, and, despite Dr. Ranlen’s protests, raises his hands to sign, “You allowed moles to live?”
“For a reason,” Roman replies. “They’re being monitored by our security and hacker teams, but for now, they’re staying where they are.”
“You think they’ll lead them to your enemy?” David asks.
None of us reply, knowing better than to give anyone—even someone as trusted as David—a concrete answer.
His connection to Doc, Soren, and the trips may mean he’s someone we value as more than an ally, but we’re all well aware of where his loyalties lie.
Fuck, I understand why Lio freaked out over Dr. Ranlen’s change of position.
“Very well. See that you end this farce soon, gentlemen, or my father and I will need to have a very…uncomfortable conversation.”
“We understand. Please, let Dr. Ranlen help get you sorted. We will…of course, help with anything you need to recover from what happened.”
David’s jaw clicks as he stands. “No need. We have it well in hand, but make sure you end this—now. I don’t think you need us to tell you how precarious your position is.
You have the entire world looking at you, waiting to see if this new order, this Council, will thrive or fail. Prove us all wrong.”
With that, David allows himself to be escorted out of the room by Dr. Ranlen, his guards following in their wake.
When the door closes behind them, I let out a breath. “Fuck! That…is not good.”
“The Senator is going after our allies now…” Roman muses.
He pulls out his phone. “I’m going to ask Javi to check on Ely and her people.
We know they already had to deal with their own set of traitors.
We don’t need that fuckface trying to capitalize on their rebuild—especially as they’re smaller than the Bratva. ”
“We need to up the timeline on getting our suppliers back in line, and prove we’re still the only ones worth making deals with,” Jude says. “Also, put an alert on our dealers and the whorehouse, so no one is taken by surprise—again. Antonio will lose his shit if his people are targets.”
“I’ll lose my shit if anyone gets hurt because of that fucker,” Roman growls without looking up from his phone.
“We’re all in agreement that this needs to end. If he has enough balls to go after people only loosely connected to us…” I trail off, grimacing at the implications.
“You think he knows Soren and David are related?” Jude asks.
“I hope not, but we can’t rule it out. He was at the charity dinner they both attended, and while they’re nothing alike in looks, that doesn’t mean someone didn’t clue him in on their connection.
“We can’t take anything at face value anymore. Everything needs to be questioned and taken into consideration. Leandro either needs to pull a miracle out of his ass or let us take care of the last moles. We cannot be walking on this tightrope anymore.”
Roman looks up at me, his eyes full of pain and determination. As a father, I hate placing such decisions and problems on Roman’s shoulders, but I am also so very grateful to have him and Lio by my side, so none of us have to face the weight of expectation alone.
“I’ll make it clear that if he can’t use them to get the Senator his way, we will do ours. It’s time we end this.”
Beyond time. No one is safe with the Senator walking free. He’s made that clear. It’s time for our Family to get some peace, by any means necessary.