Chapter 30 Bruno
brUNO
Why is she so frustrating?
I didn’t fully think showing Saoirse that Cian is alive would magically fix everything but I hoped it would earn me a little more good faith.
I’m still shaken that they even tried to kill him and he only lives because my father wants the leverage of both twins should he need it.
I hold myself back from snapping and try to put myself in Saoirse’s shoes.
Of course she doesn’t trust me and maybe she shouldn’t. After all, I’m the reason she’s here in the first place.
“Okay.” Taking a deep breath, I move closer to the bed. “But you have to trust me.”
Her eyes narrow immediately but she doesn’t shrink back when I approach, nor does she make any comment when I rip off my shirt and slide into bed with her.
Being this close to her after so long twists my insides into knots, like a snake is writhing through my gut and churning up everything as it goes.
Underneath the mildewy scent of this room, I can still smell her.
Soft. Warm.
If I close my eyes, it’s like nothing has changed for a few seconds.
“I want them to think we’re… y’know,” I murmur.
Her eyes flicker faintly as my breath ghosts over her face and she nods. “I understand.”
“Please know that I never, ever meant for this to happen. I fucked up. I know it. I was blinded by the decades-old urge to be accepted by my father, and I was greedy. I thought I could have you and my family back all at the same time if I just showed Domenico that I was trustworthy, but he’s…
” My head dips slightly and I close my eyes. “He’s not who I thought he was.”
Saoirse doesn’t speak but her hand rests on my bicep and the heat radiating from her touch is like a furnace.
“After you left me for dead in the street, my father at least saw that as a show of loyalty.”
“What?” Her strained voice cuts through me and my eyes snap open.
“Huh?”
“What— I didn’t leave you for dead in the street.” My confusion must have been visible because she continues after a second’s pause. “I took you to the hospital after the gun went off. I was so worried I’d killed you because… don’t get me wrong, I wanted to but I didn’t want to.”
“Shooting me twice hardly seems like an accident,” I joke, not that I blame her.
“What? Bruno, I shot you once.”
Leaning up, I take her other hand and guide it up my chest to the two fresh bullet scars just under my pecs. “Twice.”
Her eyes widen to saucers. “Bruno, I swear I only shot you once and it was an accident! I tripped and the gun went off. You went down so fast I did think you were dead, but after stemming the bleeding, I took you to the hospital. Bruno, I swear. I wasn’t actually trying to kill you.”
This doesn’t make sense. Who the hell shot me again? And why did my father act like Saoirse had left me dead in the gutter like an unwanted dog? All the anger I felt toward her for treating me like that, as quiet as it was, suddenly melts away.
“I don’t understand,” she whispers, repeatedly running her fingertips over the new scars.
“I… don’t either.” With limited time, we don’t have the space to unpack what happened right now so I continue.
“After I recovered, he had me running deliveries from the city to the docks. Containers mainly. I believed them to be weapons and a lot of drugs, considering how our family relations were falling apart. But one night I heard something. It sounded like a wounded animal but…”
My heart rate increases and Saoirse’s hand moves over my chest as her brows twist in concern.
“It wasn’t. It was a woman. Do you remember the blonde woman from the hospital? With the tattoos?”
Saoirse nods.
“I-It was her. She was drugged out of her mind but it was her and she… she didn’t recognize me. Looking back, I was so thick for not working it out but I thought the person trying to frame my father was taking this a step further, so I reported it and he…”
Why is it so difficult to admit how wrong I was? Taking a deeper breath, I hold it for a few long seconds before I surge on.
“It was him. It was always him. He took me aside and admitted everything. In his words, he said it was because Matteo is old, what happened with Noah showed such weakness in the family leadership and now Rocky is married to a cop which is all kinds of fucked up. So he’s breaking out on his own and making sure he gets rich for his trouble.
Him and the Triad are two-thirds of the organization that formed when the Russian Godmother completely reworked her entire family.
And I… I swear, as he was talking it was like my father was melting away and he was suddenly replaced by this… this monster.”
Anger flares in Saoirse’s eyes and I can tell she wants to tell me she told me so, but thankfully she says nothing.
“My first thought was to warn you but he was praising me for how many people I’d helped drive across the city and then in the same breath, he told me he’d sent Mary away on a holiday.
And that she would remain there, safe, so long as I stayed in my lane.
I… I didn’t know what to do, I’m so sorry.
All I could think about was finding a way to locate Mary and then I was going to fix things but I couldn’t.
And I couldn’t have her death on my conscience because she’s my sister and the only family I have.
The only person who cared about me, before I met you. ”
Saoirse’s eyes close. “Fuck,” she whispers. “I hate how much I understand you.”
“Why?”
Her eyes open and tears shine up at me. “Because I wanted you to be an asshole. An actual asshole because it would make it easier to hate you. I wanted you to be as twisted as your father but you’re just trying to save your sister and I…. I hate how I understand that.”
“He was forcing me to get my hands dirty the night you were sold. I think he wants me so deeply embroiled in this that I’m just as guilty and I’m fine with that.
I just knew I had to buy you because all the other buyers were overseas.
And if you were lost then any chance of repairing the Irish/Italian treaty would be up in smoke. ”
She scoffs softly. “First Noah, now this? I’m sorry, I don’t think there’s ever going to be another peace treaty.”
Her words, while painful, are true. No Irish blood will ever trust an Italian ever again. But that’s not important right now.
“Ever since your disappearance, things have been tense. And Matteo is still out of the country, and Rocky… I’m not sure what’s happening there.
He left on his honeymoon and they came back last week but Rocky has been absent.
If he was dead, I’m sure my father would be in full control but he’s still following Rocky’s order of only reacting defensively to any Irish pressure. ”
Saoirse nods slowly. “I need to think.”
“Right now?”
“I can’t think that fast.”
“Right. Of course.” After shuffling about under the covers for a few more minutes, I climb off her and make a show of adjusting my belt for the cameras.
“I’ll do everything I can to find out more about Cian’s condition,” I say while moving my mouth as little as I can.
“And I’ll keep you safe, Saoirse. I promise. ”
My word carries little weight so for the next few days, I focus on proving it.
I bring her all her favorite foods, I make sure no other guards go into her cell and when I’m resting in my own room, I’m researching.
Everything rides on whether Saoirse agrees to help me or not, but I need a plan in case she decides it’s not worth it.
If she sees no way out of this then it’s down to me to find it.
And I will.
Rigging the cameras should be easy if I can get into the security room.
Getting her and Cian out will be the most challenging task since she’s weak and Cian is fucked up.
I can barely stomach thinking about what they’ve done to him, and the spare rib he has for a leg after they hit him with the car is horrific.
He’ll be lucky to regain mobility after what they’ve put him through. Even more reason to fix this quickly.
I could stage a fire. That would take the attention of most of the guards here.
Taking them all out by myself is an impossible task and if I end up dead, then there’s no one to help either of the twins.
Getting a message to the Irish is also difficult with how closely I’m being watched.
Hazel of the Black Ox might be my only hope.
If I can get the twins to her then she’d surely do the rest.
It’s the bare bones of a plan but it’s a start, and when I return to Saoirse’s cell two days later, she has the perfect addition.
“Have you seen Cian?” Her hands wrap around her cup and she clutches it tightly. “Is he okay?”
“He’s alive.” It’s the only information I have. “As far as I understand, they have been treating him. I don’t fully know why he’s been kept alive. Perhaps my father understands how fucked he would be if anything happened to you so he’s holding Cian as some kind of extra bargaining chip.”
She nods quickly and tucks a strand of her straggly hair behind her ear. “He must need something. Or want something. Keeping witnesses alive like this only spells danger and he’s been so smart to stay hidden until now.”
“More power, maybe? I’m sure in his eyes he’s on a winning streak so maybe he’s getting greedy.”
Her eyes dart up to me. “How so?”
“Well…” I lower to my haunches. “He has you and Cian. He has Mary and he has me where he wants me. Matteo is out of the country and I still can’t track down Rocky, although my methods of communication are limited when I have a tail on me the entire time. Maybe he’s changed his goal.”
“You think he’ll make a play for control?”
“I think so. Before, he was doing all this because he saw the family heading for destruction or irrelevance. Now he’s got so many wins under his belt I bet he thinks he can change that and make himself the leader.
Even if the human trafficking goes public, if he has enough money and power to weather the hatred it will earn him, then he’ll be fine. ”
Her attention drops back to her cup of water. “The Russians were open about it for years,” she agrees. “But to brag about being involved in something so sickening… he must have powerful backing. Or he’s been doing this long enough that he thinks he’s untouchable.”
“I think it’s the third leader.” Running my hand back and forth through my hair, my gut twists again. I’m going to need a lifetime supply of antacids at this point. “We know there are three leaders, but the third is a mystery so far. I haven’t seen a single mention of anyone else.”
“A silent backer?”
“Maybe. This shit had to start somewhere, right? It can’t be easy to just break into the skin trade especially when the Russians made sure to destroy everything. But he kept talking about a gap in the market that he filled. Demand didn’t stop just because supply did.”
Saoirse’s mouth twists briefly. “I’m too tired to analyze it all but I think you might be right. And… I have a plan.”
Our eyes meet. “A plan?”
“Mmhmm. You need to talk to Sarah.”
“Rocky’s wife?”
“Yup.”
“But… I don’t understand.”
Saoirse rolls her eyes a little. “Listen. With everything Domenico has done and Rocky apparently missing, we had to assume the worst. Either he’s dead or he’s on board with Domenico and I know that’s highly unlikely, but lets face it, we can’t trust anyone.
Sarah though? She’s still a cop and I know what went down with her and Rocky.
She would never abandon her morals. So you need to get to her and tell her the truth.
She’s the only one shrewd enough to take a chance at believing you.
I know her. She won’t immediately brush you off. ”
Talk to Sarah. How the fuck am I going to get near her to do that?
“And then…” Saoirse’s hand suddenly shoots out and she grasps my wrist. “You have to promise me something.”
“Anything,” I say immediately.
“Save Cian. Please. I don’t care about anything or anyone else. But I saw what they did to him and I was killing myself thinking he was dead because of me. You have to save him before anyone else.”
“But Saoirse—”
“Promise me!” She snaps, tightening her grip. “I’ve already lost one brother, I can’t lose another. Please, promise me you will save him before me!”
It’s an impossible promise to make but her grip is so strong that it reminds me who she was before all this. “Okay,” I say, as much as I don’t want to. “I promise.”