2. Lachlan #2
I turn back to the window, taking a deep breath to try to calm down.
The city blurs in front of me, the lights bleeding together into a wash of color that makes my eyes burn.
All I can think of is that night… that one night that started out so perfectly—Adriana in that silk dress, her hair falling loose when I ran my hands through it, begging me to take what she wanted to give me.
A night when I foolishly, childishly let myself believe, even though I was fucking old enough to know better, that we could be together and have everything.
That we'd run away and build a life somewhere her father would never find us.
That night, it seems, we made a child. And she's been raising him alone, in that house, with Gio Santoro, who's apparently worse than his father.
My son has been living in that place for nine years, and I didn't know. I didn't… I couldn't protect either of them.
I feel sick just thinking about it.
"Boss?" Tommy's voice is cautious. "What do you want us to do?"
What do I want them to do? I want to burn the Santoro estate to the ground. I want to kill Gio with my bare hands, slowly, the way his father wanted to kill me. I want to take Adriana and my son and disappear somewhere her family will never find us.
I can't disappear. I've worked too hard to build this, and this empire, these connections and this money and security will be the only thing that prevents Gio Santoro from coming after his sister if I follow through on the thought in my head right now.
But I can take her back. I can finally make her mine, the way I wanted to all those years ago.
But I need information. I need to know exactly what I'm dealing with—how many men Gio has, what his security looks like, what the weak points are in it, and how I can extract Adriana and our son without them getting hurt.
What if she doesn't want to go with you?
The thought hits me before I can vocalize what I'm thinking, and I feel ice in my veins.
She's had ten years to think about what happened.
What if she convinced herself that what we had wasn't real, that it was just teenage infatuation—a moment of rebellion that cost her everything?
She could hate me for leaving her, even though she's the one who made me go.
"I want everything," I say, turning back to Tommy. My voice is steady now. "Everything you can find out about the Santoro estate. Security, routines, who comes and goes."
"That's going to take time. And money."
"I don't care. Use whatever resources you need. Call in every favor we have. Bribe whoever you need to bribe. I want this information yesterday."
Tommy nods slowly. "You're going after her."
It's not a question. "Yes."
"Boss, the Santoros—they're not going to just let you walk in and take her. This could start a war."
"Then we'll have a war." I meet his eyes, letting him see exactly how serious I am. "She's mine. That child is mine. And I'm taking them back."
"Even if she doesn't want to come?"
Tommy is probably the only man who could ask me that question and live, but he's not wrong to ask it.
I think about that night. The way she looked at me, the way she touched me.
The look on her face when I told her she couldn't come with me, that the only way for her to be safe was to stay in the hell I had to leave her in.
She loved me. She said so, and I said it to her, too. It wasn't enough back then, but now… now I think it can be.
"She'll want to come." I have to believe it—that what we had was real, that it's survived ten years of separation and pain and whatever hell she's been living through.
Because if she looks at me with indifference or hatred or fear—I don't know what I'll do.
Tommy exchanges another glance with the brothers, then nods.
"Alright. We'll get you the information.
But Lachlan..." He pauses. "Be careful. The Santoros aren't like the crews we've been dealing with.
They're old money, old power. They have connections everywhere—politicians, judges, cops.
If you go after them, you need to be smart about it. "
"Trust me, I know who the fuck they are." My jaw tightens. "We have history."
Tommy winces. "That doesn't make me feel better about this, boss. Just be clear-headed. That's all I'm asking."
"I always am."
He looks like he accepts that answer, but the truth is, it's hard for me to be clear-headed when it comes to Adriana. She's my weakness, and she always has been. For ten years she's been there, a ghost in the back of my mind.
And now I find out she's been trapped in that house, raising our son alone. I can't help but feel that I should have gone back for her sooner, fought my way to the top faster… should have been strong enough to protect her years ago. But I wasn't.
I was twenty years old and half-dead, with nothing but the clothes on my back and a burning need for revenge. It's taken me ten years to become the kind of man who can stand against the Santoros. Ten years to build the power and resources I need to take her back.
I just hope I'm not too late.