19. Lachlan
LACHLAN
Icall Declan first thing in the morning, after reluctantly leaving Adriana asleep in our bed. I wanted to stay there, wake her up slowly with my mouth between her thighs and then my cock, have sleepy, lazy orgasms before spending all day together.
But that comes later. When I know we can be safe.
Declan answers on the second ring. "Lachlan?"
Within a few minutes, I fill him in on what happened at the bar. He whistles under his breath. "Shit, man. What are you going to do?"
"You know exactly what I'm going to do. But I need your help."
He pauses. "I'm in, Lachlan. Whatever you need."
"You mean that? Enough to take your guys and go up against Gio for me?"
Another pause. "Lachlan, you're my best friend. It's been years, but I don't forget we grew up together. Gio is an asshole, and what he did to your girl… she didn't deserve that, and you didn't deserve what that family did to you, either. I'm with you, brother."
"You know how Gio thinks—you worked for him long enough. You know his patterns, his security protocols, the way he positions his men. I need someone I trust running point on this. Someone who can get my team in position while I go after Gio directly."
"You're going in alone?"
"Not alone. I'll have men with me. But the main assault needs to be a distraction—draw Gio's men away from the mansion so I can get to him. That's where you come in."
"That sounds like a hell of a plan." Declan pauses. "Alright. I'm in. But we do this smart. No cowboy shit, no charging in blind. We plan every detail, every contingency."
"Agreed."
We spend the next two hours going over every detail of the plan. By the time we're done, my head is pounding, and my throat is raw from talking, but I feel better. More in control.
This is going to work. It has to.
"When do we move?" Declan asks.
"I'll fly in early tomorrow morning. I want us to go in when it's dark, if we can. Broad daylight is no time for this kind of shit."
"Agreed. For what it's worth, I think you're doing the right thing. Gio's not going to stop. Not until one of you is dead."
"I know."
"And I'll be there to make sure you don't get yourself killed."
I manage a smile at that. "Counting on it."
When I hang up, any levity that there was drains out of me, though. Tomorrow morning, I'm going to walk into hell. I'm going to face the man whose family has tormented Adriana for ten years, who helped take my son from me, and tried to destroy everything I've built.
And I'm going to kill him.
That night, when I go to my bedroom after my post-dinner work, I find Adriana already there, to my surprise. She's wearing one of my shirts, the fabric hanging loose on her frame, and her hair is still damp from the shower. She looks so beautiful it hurts.
"Hey," I say softly, and she turns, her expression softening when she sees me.
"Hey, yourself." She walks toward me, straight into my arms, and when I pull her close and hold her tight, she leans her head back, her expression suddenly concerned.
"What's going on?"
I press my face into her hair. I want to tell her nothing, but I made her a promise.
"I'm going to New York. I talked to Declan, and we made a plan. He and his guys are going to help. I'm going to kill Gio, Adri, and I'm going to end this. No more waiting for him to make a move, no more war. I'm finishing it."
Her entire body goes stiff, and she pulls back. "What? When… when are you doing this?"
"I'm leaving in a few hours. Around eleven."
Her eyes go wide, shocked and a little hurt. "That soon?"
"The longer we wait, the more time Gio has to plan something else." I cup her face in my hands, tilting her head up so she has to look at me. "I'm going to end this, Adriana."
"And what if you don't come back?" Her voice is small, tears welling in her eyes. "What if something goes wrong?"
"Nothing's going to go wrong."
"You can't promise that." She pulls away from me, wrapping her arms around herself. "You're walking into a trap, Lachlan. You know that's what this is. Gio wants you to come after him."
"He doesn't expect me to come to New York. I'm going to take my core guys with me, Adri. I'll leave the rest of security here to watch you and Matteo. Everything will be fine. And when I come back, we'll have a fresh start."
Her throat moves as she swallows, her eyes glittering in the dim light. "Why are you doing this, Lachlan? Why would you risk—"
"Because I don't have a choice." I move toward her, but she backs away, shaking her head. "Adriana—"
"There's always a choice." Her voice is rising now, edged with panic. "We could run. We could take Matteo and disappear. Go somewhere Gio can't find us."
"He'll always find us. You know that."
"Then we keep running. We run until he gives up, until he forgets about us, until—"
"He's never going to give up." I close the distance between us, gripping her shoulders. "He's never going to forget. And I'm not spending the rest of my life looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to catch up to us."
"So you'd rather die?"
"I'd rather end this. I'd rather kill him and be done with it. So we can have a life. So we can be free."
"Free?" She laughs brokenly. "You think killing him is going to make us free? You think that's going to erase everything that's happened?"
"No. But it's a start."
She stares at me for a long moment, and I can see the fear and the hope and the desperate, aching need to believe that this can work. That we can survive this. "I can't lose you again," she whispers. "I can't, Lachlan. I barely survived it the first time."
"You're not going to lose me." I pull her close, and this time she doesn't resist. "I'm coming back to you. I promise."
"You can't promise that."
"I can. And I am." I tilt her chin up, forcing her to meet my eyes. "I didn't survive ten years in this world just to die now. Not when I finally have you back. Not when we finally have a chance."
She's trembling in my arms, and I can feel her tears soaking into my shirt. "I'm so scared."
"I know." I press a kiss to her forehead, her temple, the corner of her mouth. "I know. But I need you to trust me. One more time, okay?"
She doesn't answer. Instead, she kisses me, hard and desperate, her hands fisting in my shirt. I kiss her back, pouring everything I feel into it. I pick her up, carrying her to the bed, and I lay her back gently on the sheets.
She's still wearing my shirt, and I take my time unbuttoning it, revealing her body inch by inch.
"Remember the garden?" I ask, my voice rough as I trail my fingers down her stomach. "That night at your birthday party? The good part, before it all went bad."
"Of course I remember." Her voice is breathless, her eyes dark with desire. "I think about it all the time, even though it hurts. It was so good… before…"
"I was so fucking nervous." I lean down, pressing a kiss to her collarbone. "I thought you were going to change your mind. Thought you were going to realize you were too good for me."
"I never thought that." She threads her fingers through my hair, pulling me closer. "I thought you were everything."
I kiss lower, between her breasts, feeling her heart racing beneath my lips.
"I couldn't stop staring at you all night.
Couldn't stop thinking about how I was going to get to touch you later.
" Her breath hitches as I take her nipple in my mouth, teasing it with my tongue.
"I was hard the whole fucking night. All those guys dancing with you, and none of them knew I was going to be the one inside you later. And when I was…"
I move lower, kissing down her stomach, her hips, the inside of her thighs. "Every time I touch you, it's like the first time. Like I'm twenty again, and you're the only thing that matters."
"Lachlan—" She gasps as I spread her legs, settling between them. "Please—"
"I've got you." I look up at her, holding her gaze. "I've always got you, Adriana. From the moment I met you, you've been mine."
I lower my mouth to her, and she cries out, her hips arching off the bed.
She tastes like everything I've ever wanted.
I take my time, worshipping her with my tongue, making her come apart beneath me.
When she finally shatters, my name on her lips, I'm aching for her, desperate to be as close to her as I can possibly be.
I move back up her body, kissing her deeply, letting her taste herself on my tongue.
She moans into my mouth, her hands fumbling with my belt, my zipper.
I help her, stripping off my clothes until there's nothing between us.
"I love you," I whisper as I push inside her, both of us groaning at the sensation.
"I've loved you since before I knew what love was. "
"I love you too." She wraps her legs around my waist, pulling me deeper. "God, Lachlan… if it kills me, I'll never stop loving you."
I start to move, slow and deep, savoring every sound she makes, every clench of her body around mine. "Do you remember what we used to talk about?" I ask, my voice rough as I thrust into her. "All those plans we made?"
Her eyes go glossy again. "We wanted a house. Somewhere tucked away, where we'd be safe. A garden, and a porch swing… all the little things."
"And the kids." I lean down, kissing her softly. "You wanted three. I wanted four."
She moans as I hit that spot inside her that makes her see stars. "God, Lachlan—what if you get me pregnant tonight? We keep not being careful… what if…"
"I don't care. Give me another baby, Adri. Give me everything." I thrust into her harder, feeling myself throb at the thought of filling her up, getting her pregnant with my child again. "I can give you everything we dreamed about. The house, the garden, the life. All of it."
Her chin tips up, and a tear rolls down her cheek as I sink into her all the way. "I want it," she whispers. "But—"
"Then trust me." I capture her mouth in a bruising kiss. "Trust me to come back to you. Trust me to end this."
She comes with a cry, her body clenching around mine, and I follow her over the edge, burying myself deep as I empty inside her. For a moment, we just lie there, tangled together, holding on like we're afraid to let go.
Eventually, I roll onto my side, pulling her with me so we're facing each other. Her face is flushed.
"I've spent ten years with part of me in that garden waiting for you," I whisper. "Now that you're here, I can be him again. As much as I can be, now."
"I know." She presses her hand to my chest, over my heart where her name is inked into my skin. "I can feel him. Sometimes. In moments like this."
"He's going to come back to you." I cover her hand with mine. "After tomorrow night, after this is over, I'm going to be that man again. The one who deserves you."
"How?" she whispers, her eyes meeting mine. "We're so far away from that…"
"Adri."
She swallows hard. "I know. You want me to trust you. But—"
A moment of silence falls, and I hold her gaze, brushing her damp hair away from her cheek. "Don't go," she whispers, her voice breaking. "Please, Lachlan. Don't do this."
"I have to."
"No, you don't." She sits up, pulling away from me, and I can see the panic rising in her eyes again. "Let someone else kill him. Let another family, let anyone but you—"
"It has to be me. It has to be me, Adriana. Because he took you from me. Because he hurt you. Because your family is the reason we lost ten years, and he's the only one left besides you."
"This isn't about me." Her voice sharpens. "This is about you. About your need to kill the past. To erase what happened."
"That's not—"
"Isn't it?" She pulls away from me, wrapping her arms around herself. "You're not doing this to protect me. You're doing this because you can't let go. Because you need to be the one who ends it."
"I'm doing this because I love you."
"And then what? The cycle continues?" She looks at me sharply. "You kill Gio, and then what? Someone else comes after you. Someone else tries to take what's yours. And you kill them too. And it never ends, Lachlan. It never fucking ends."
She rolls over, pulling the sheet over herself, and I can hear her softly crying.
"Adri…" I reach out, touching her arm, and I feel her go stiff.
"You're not going to change your mind," she whispers. "At the end of the day, you're going to do what you think is right. And there are things we haven't worked out, Lachlan. We don't know what our future looks like, and you're going to walk into this—"
"We can't figure that out until he's gone."
"That's what you believe. I think there's another way."
"You're wrong." I drop my hand. "You'll see, Adri. When he's gone, when this is over, and we can finally breathe again, you'll see that this was the only way."
She sniffs back tears. "It'll never be over."
I let out a long breath. Silence falls over the room. "You're not going to lose me," I say quietly.
"You can't promise that." She looks at me one last time, and the pain in her eyes is almost unbearable. "And that's what scares me most. That you actually believe you can."