37. Chapter 37
Rory
Orla set the table and prepared a traditional corned beef meal. My stomach was in knots, sitting at the table waiting for Elio to arrive. Cal had been in a rage in the two hours since Tommy told us Fern had been the one asking about Jimsonweed. We’d known it hadn’t been Elio, but I don’t think any of us had actually expected it to be Fern, either.
I’ve been bouncing between anger and surprise and, surprisingly, really upset that she would do this. She’d been treating me like shit my whole life, and yet I was still surprised and overwhelmingly sad that she could do something like this to me.
After his revelation, we’d told Tommy about Cal’s paternity and our plans to go before the Concordia with complaints against Elio, and now Fern had been added to the mix. Then, with a promise from Cal that he would be freed from any contractual obligations once he took over the NYC Cosa and a promise of his own to help in any way he could, Tommy had left.
My mind spun with anxiety, knowing Elio was on his way here, to my home. My sanctuary. The one place in the world where I had no doubts that I was safe. That was about to change. Depending on how many men he brought with him, we could all be in danger. Connor, Carson, Finn, Dario from the warehouse, the man that had come into the bathroom when Cal thought I’d been missing, and several other men I hadn’t met were gathered around the dining room. Cal said there were others stationed in the rooms nearby, waiting to come in at the first sign that something was amiss. I felt safe, but anxiety still buzzed behind my breastbone.
Cal and I waited in the study, knowing it would irritate Elio if we didn’t greet him at the door and made him wait in the dining room alone. It would be seen as a disrespect, and ultimately, our goal was to get him agitated enough to tell us about Cesare’s murder and his plans for Cal once the contract had been completed.
“Once the questioning starts, I want you to take the lead, solas. If you need me to step in, you can either send a signal or we can pick a certain word to use. But it will irritate him further if you’re leading the questioning. If he doesn’t tell us what we want to know, maybe we can irritate him enough into making a move against us. If he attacked us in our own home, we’d have solid proof to take before the Concordia.”
“What if I mess up?” I asked him, my voice trembling behind the force of my nerves.
“You won’t. Not that you need my help, but if you do, I’ll be there. You can do this, but more importantly, we can do it together. He needs to see you as you are, powerful and strong. He needs to know he can’t feck with us anymore.”
My water gaze bounced around his face until I nodded. “Okay,” I breathed. “If I ask for a coffee, you’ll step in?” My voice was small with insecurities. What if I couldn’t handle this? What if I messed everything up and gave away our motives too soon?
“Of course,” Cal said, wrapping a hand around the back of my neck and pulling me in to press a kiss to my forehead just as the doorbell rang. My anxiety notched up again as my head spun towards the study door, as if I could see Elio standing at the front door, even though I was on the other side of the house, behind a closed door.
“Ebony will come get us when Elio is settled in the dining room. No matter what, solas, you do not leave my side. I will keep you safe,” he said, spreading his huge hand out over my belly, covering it almost entirely.
Moments later, Ebony knocked and opened the study door. “He’s here, sir.”
Cal nodded. “How many did he bring with him?”
Ebony’s mouth flattened. “There are three that stayed outside, and four in the dining room with him.”
“That’s all?” Cal asked, his brow furrowed. “That’s not very many men to bring to the house of a man you planned on murdering.” He looked at me, his eyebrow raised. “He doesn”t know we know. Which means Tommy was telling the truth and can be trusted.”
Cal led us to the dining room, Ebony announcing our arrival before we entered the room. Elio was standing by a chair, Marco and several of his men standing behind their own. When we entered, I was shocked to see a genuine smile on his face. But then again, he thought he was here to discuss a business arrangement that would make him money, so maybe I shouldn”t have been so surprised.
Cal didn’t say anything in greeting, and I squeezed his hand. He squeezed back and I took that to be my go ahead.
“Good evening, Elio. Thank you for coming tonight,” I said as Cal held my chair for me. He scooted it in behind me as I smiled at Elio.
Elio’s face fell just a tiny bit, but he quickly schooled his features. “It’s nice to see you again, Aurora. You look well, much better than the last time I saw you. Are you recovering well?”
My throat tried to tighten but I swallowed and laid my hand on Cal’s thigh next to me. “Yes, thank you, I’ve been recovering much more quickly these last few weeks.
“That’s wonderful news,” he said, his eyes tracking Orla as she sat several bottles of wine on the table. She laid a sealed bottle of expensive water in front of me and Cal immediately reached for it, twisting the cap off, and pouring a small into my glass before sipping it and setting it back in front of me.
Elio watched with interest before clearing his throat. “And you, Callahan? How have you been?”
Cal smiled at him and squeezed my thigh. “Doing well, thank you. We’ve just been so busy trying to straighten out the plans for this venture that we’ve barely had time to ourselves, so this dinner is a welcome reprieve.”
“Ah, yes, the business you wanted to discuss. Should we get that out of the way, or eat first?”
Cal looked at me, asking if I had the stomach to eat without asking. I eyed the food and when my stomach only turned a little, I nodded to Cal. “Let’s eat first and then we can retire to the den to discuss the business over drinks.”
Elio’s jaw tightened at my answer, his eyes flicking between me and Cal before his mouth curled into a tight smile. “Of course,” he said, his voice dripping with false politeness.
After Cal had served and tasted all my food, I took small bites, washing them down with my water. Cal drank water as well, but ate like a man starved. Cal and Elio made small talk with me interjecting only as needed for the conversation. My mind drifted, thinking about how lucky I was to have a man like Cal, a man who understood me so completely, down to the tiny details. He knew I’d be focusing on trying to finish as much of my meal as I could and took charge of this part of Elio’s visit so that I could do so.
I was finished long before the men, but when Elio and Cal had cleared their plates, we moved to the den, where the sheet presentation had taken place. When we were settled, I looked around at the men Elio had brought with him, once again noting Carlo’s absence. Marco stared at me but when he noticed I’d caught him, he quickly looked away.
I kicked off my heels and pulled my feet up on the couch, tucking my toes under the edge of Cal’s thigh, trying to appear relaxed and non-threatening so Elio wouldn’t suspect anything. Cal wrapped his arm around my legs, his hand resting on my thigh. I pressed a kiss to his bicep and leaned my head against his shoulder, rubbing my nose in his shirt.
“Carlo’s not here,”I whispered quietly. Cal hummed in acknowledgment.
“You didn’t bring Carlo with you tonight?” Cal asked. “I thought he was your personal guard?”
Elio’s jaw tightened, his neck turning a little red. “Let’s just say Carlo has been…” Elio’s head moved side to side while he thought. “Removed from my organization.”
My fingers dug into Cal’s bicep where I gripped it, smashed between my thighs and my chest. He killed him. His fingers squeezed my thigh again. I know.
Elio took a sip of the scotch he’d pretentiously asked for and settled the glass on his folded knee before clearing his throat. “Not to rush things along, but I’m very curious why I’m here,” Elio says, going for polite but clearly impatient.
Cal’s fingers tightened on my thigh, a signal that it was my turn. I rubbed my cheek against his shoulder, reminding myself that he was here, beside me, that I was safe, that I could do this. I took a deep breath, his scent flooding my senses and filling me with confidence. I pasted on the smile I had perfected since being with Cal, the child-like, angelic one that made me seem sweet and harmless.
“We asked you to come today because there’s been some movement against us. Someone has been targeting some of Cal’s businesses and a few of his shipments. We know who it is and we’d like to put a stop to it, but his organization is bigger than ours. We need help from another syndicate if we’re going to be successful.”
Elio’s face turned beet red when I started talking but paled the more I spoke. He cleared his throat. “And um, who-who is it that you suspect?”
“Mikhail Ivanov. He and Cal have been friends since college, but he’s the only one that makes sense. Nobody else would have motive to move against Cal, much less the soldiers to back the war it would cause. There’s a peace treaty in effect between us,” I waved a hand between myself and Elio, intentionally leaving Cal out of it. “So it can’t be you. Plus, one of our men reported seeing Mikhail in the area of one of our locations moments before a break-in that resulted in a fire.”
“And you want me to- what? Help you attack Mikahil Ivanov? Even I’m not that crazy, Callahan. You’re on a suicide mission, and I won’t be involved.”
Elio put his tumbler on the table in front of him with a solid thunk and stood to leave. I didn’t move, just rubbed my nose in Cal’s shirt again as I said, “Sit down, Elio,” in my most authoritative voice.
“You do not give me orders, girl,” he sneered. “I’ll be leaving now. Cal, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll put a leash on your bitch.” He stormed towards the door, stopping short when the twins and Finn blocked it, standing shoulder to shoulder with their arms crossed. Carson looked ready maim, Connor was flushed, his eyes gleaming, and Finn was his usual stoic, stone-faced.
“No, you aren’t,” I said, my voice sugary. “We haven’t had coffee yet.”
Cal tensed beside me before standing to his impressive height. I moved to curl my feet under me, but didn’t stand.
“Sit,” Cal said menacingly. Elio swallowed heavily, pale faced as he made his way back to the couch he’d been on.
Cal sat back down, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pressing a kiss to my temple. His fingers stroked my skin as he breathed me in at my hairline.
“Speaking of suicide missions, Elio. What did you think you were starting when you killed my father?”
I had never seen Elio’s olive skin so pale, his body so still. It didn’t even look like he was breathing. He swallowed heaving and pulled at his tie and the collar of his shirt. “Wh-what do you mean, Callahan? I don’t know who your father is. You don’t even know who your father is. Your mother was a whore, son. You-”
“Do not call me son. My mother was not a whore and you know it.” Cal’s brogue was thick and his fingers tightened on my skin as he calmed himself. “Mo solas, would you go get my tablet and the file I prepared from the study, please? Connor will go with you.”
I glanced around the room, at Elio’s men, who were all tense and ready to strike. I hesitantly nodded. As I passed Finn, I whispered, “Don’t let him out of your sight. If he dies, I will murder you myself.”
He didn’t acknowledge me other than a small huff of air through his nose and a slight crinkling at the corners of his eyes. Connor and I quickly made our way to the study and I snagged Cal’s tablet and file off his desk. Knowing that he was going to confront Elio with the photos of the file from his desk, I opened the photo app as we walked back to the den.
Just as we entered the room, I stopped, my heart stuttering and then galloping away, hammering in my chest. A riot of butterflies took up in my chest and my skin flushed from my neck all the way to my hairline, the tips of my ears burning with the heat in them.
Out of the fourty or so thumbnails of pictures, every single one was me. Full body candids, close ups, several of me sleeping, one very close up of my eyes, closed in sleep, my lashes fanned across my cheek. Several of me dancing, a couple screenshots of what I’m pretty sure was the camera feed from Primo, with me stretching on the floor, my legs split wide and my body bowed over my right leg, me spinning in a pirouette.
One in particular caught my eye and I clicked on it.
He’d taken it through the shower door. My arms were raised, pushing my hair back under the spray, my head leaned back and my eyes closed as water droplets clung to my eyelashes. I blinked at the beauty of the image and then clicked back out to the album.
“Rory? Are you alright?” I heard Cal, but I was too busy scrolling through his camera roll to answer.
So much of my face.
“Baby, what is it?” Cal’s voice came from right in front of me, his voice tense and worried. My eyes blurred with tears as I raised them to look into his eyes. When he saw the tablet screen, his cheeks colored and he wrapped a hand around the back of his neck.
“Uh- it’s just-” I threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and gripping his hair tight with the fingers of one hand.
“I love you so much,” I whispered into his neck. His arms held me tight, his hands splayed wide across my back.