Chapter 30
VIKTOR
“What the fuck do you mean somebody’s accusing Marco of rape and murder?”
Dante steps closer immediately. “The precinct isn’t accusing him,” he says firmly. “One person is.”
My fists clench automatically at my sides. “Who?”
He shakes his head once. “It doesn’t matter. Just some civilian.”
“This is my fucking brother we’re talking about.”
“The Sidorovs fed him the information,” Dante cuts in sharply. “They’re stirring shit up. That’s all this is.” His jaw tightens. “I’ll handle the precinct side of it. I need you to get the crew together and hit that bar.”
A bitter laugh leaves me instantly.
“This is fucking unbelievable.”
The words leave me harsher than I intended.
I turn away from Dante before I end up putting my fist through something, dragging both hands down my face while I pace across the warehouse office.
I grab the whiskey bottle sitting on the desk and take a long swallow straight from it before finally looking back toward Dante.
“Can you just cover it up? Isn’t that your job?”
“Yeah, it is,” he says quietly. “But Faris said the guy’s been calling nonstop trying to push the precinct into investigating him. I can’t cover it up if every agent there knows about it.”
I let out another bitter laugh.
“Fucking Christ.”
The room falls quiet for a second, then another thought hits me. “Does Everleigh know?”
Something shifts across Dante’s face immediately.
“No.”
I narrow my eyes slightly. “You haven’t told her yet?”
His jaw tightens. “Not yet.”
“Why?”
Dante exhales sharply through his nose before looking away toward the warehouse floor.
Our men continue to pack crates into vehicles, completely unaware that the family’s about five seconds away from spiraling into another disaster.
“Because she’s already carrying enough shit right now,” he mutters.
I study him quietly for a second before scoffing under my breath. “You’re getting sloppy.”
His eyes immediately cut back toward mine. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you care about her too much,” I say bluntly.
“When Gabriel brought you into this family, it was because you didn’t have emotional attachments.
You were the guy who could make hard decisions without letting feelings get involved.
” My jaw tightens slightly. “You’re not doing that anymore.
Everleigh’s part of this family, Dante. She deserves to know what’s happening. ”
The tension in the room thickens instantly after that.
He drags a hand through his hair.
“She’s going to lose her shit over this.”
I lean back against the desk and cross my arms over my chest while watching him pace toward the warehouse windows.
For a second, neither of us says anything.
Then finally I say: “I know. But she needs to know so that way we can all figure this out together.”
Because Everleigh and Marco have always been different with each other.
Marco and me fought constantly growing up.
Multiple screaming matches and broken noses.
The occasional knife getting pulled during holidays.
But Everleigh?
Marco worships her in his own fucked up way.
Even completely strung out, he’d still crawl through broken glass if she asked him to.
“She’s going to blame herself,” Dante mutters while staring out across River Street. “Gabriel’s had her so focused on protecting the business that she never saw the Sidorovs moving against us personally too.”
“She blames herself for everything, even if she doesn’t admit it.”
“That’s because Gabriel taught her to.” He retorts.
He was right.
My father built Everleigh into something useful for this family.
I take another drink from the whiskey bottle before setting it back down harder than necessary.
“So tell her.”
Dante finally turns back toward me. “What?”
“You heard me.” My jaw tightens slightly. “Tell her before somebody else does.”
His expression hardens instantly. “I said I would.”
“Yeah,” I correct flatly. “But I also know that you like prolonging shit and if she finds out that you didn’t tell her something like this, she’ll blacklist your ass again.”
His eyes narrow slightly. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means Everleigh stopped being some girl we needed to keep away from family business a long fucking time ago.” I gesture vaguely toward the warehouse where our men continue loading weapons and product into SUVs. “She’s in this life just as deep as we are now.”
Dante’s jaw flexes.
“She deserves honesty,” I say bluntly. “Even if it hurts her.”
“You think I don’t know that?” he mutters finally.
“I think you’re scared she’ll stop looking at you the same way if this gets worse.” I grab my jacket off the chair nearby and shove my arms through it.
Dante slowly exhales before forcing himself back into business mode. “So what now?”
“The bar gets handled tonight. I’ll meet you there.”