Chapter 20
POPE
Istand against the wall behind Stone’s chair in his office, under his law school diploma and bar awards, staring at Satriano. He sits opposite us, casually reclined, one ankle propped up on the other knee, waiting for us to start as if this meeting isn’t going to end up with someone getting fucked—likely us.
The longer this stare-down goes on, the thicker the tension in the room becomes, and given the number of angry people crammed in here, no one wants anyone to detonate.
There would be far too much shrapnel for anyone to survive it.
And after what we just went through, none of us wants any new trouble.
Especially me.
All I’ve wanted since the moment I left Allie’s side this morning was to get back to her—and sitting here, letting the minutes tick by, only makes that prospect seem less and less likely.
Savage scowls from beside his brother, his frustration growing, and Isaac leans against the wall near the window, jaw locked, his hatred for the man responsible for Kennedy’s, his father’s, and his own injuries rolling off him in waves strong enough to knock someone over and drown them.
No one can blame him for his ire.
Damiano Satriano is no friend of the Hawkes—the man is a menace, just like his brother was before him.
Only he lurks in the shadows, showing himself when it pleases and benefits him. Usually when it hurts us, too.
Last night was no different.
It may have looked like he helped and came to the rescue, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Which is why Gabe, Dad, and Luca all mill about the room, keeping a close eye on Satriano, fully strapped, while everyone else is rotating spending time at the hospital with Astrid and Atlas.
Which is where I should be, since Allie and Benjamin are there right now.
Fuck.
I thought getting rid of Daniele would make this ache go away, this longing need to always be with them, to ensure they’re okay with my own two eyes, but if anything, it’s only grown.
But today’s meeting wasn’t optional after what happened last night.
After a stony silence that goes on for far too long, neither side wanting to cross the battle line first, Satriano finally raises a brow as a sign of his impatience.
Stone scowls at him. “You are the one who wanted this meeting, so why don’t you get down to it and tell us why?”
The silver-haired don grins. “I just thought after all the hustle and bustle of last evening and my having to rush out before the paramedics and police arrived that there were some loose ends and items we need to discuss.”
Shit.
Everyone knew it was coming, that there were going to be consequences to Satriano’s involvement, but none of us wanted to deal with it last night.
Not with Atlas and Astrid’s lives hanging in the balance.
Now that they’re stable, though, it’s impossible to ignore the man sitting in front of us or the fact that he is now the head of the largest crime organization on the Gulf Coast.
He isn’t just going to go away, no matter how much we might wish he would.
Savage stares down Satriano—the head of the Hawke family and the don of the Satriano family—each refusing to break. “Damiano, you already told us you would want a favor if you helped us find Roselli, but we found him without you.”
Luca nods, crossing his arms over his chest. “I did.”
Satriano chuckles. “I knew you’d try to weasel your way out of the agreement, claiming semantics, but you didn’t stand a chance of getting all of them out alive last night, including your pretty little girlfriend and her baby.” He looks at me pointedly. “If I hadn’t shown up, Roselli’s men outnumbered you three to one, and they would’ve taken out your family members before you ever got all of them.”
Given Gabe’s snarl, I don’t think he agrees with Satriano’s assessment of the situation, but I don’t know that we’re really in a position to argue with him.
We hold a lot of power in this city, but Satriano’s family goes back generations in Italy, a powerhouse member of the founding group that still controls much of the organized crime there and in the United States.
Now that he’s resurfaced and claimed both his brother’s network there and Roselli’s here, his influence has spread far wider than our wings.
And if we’re not careful, they’ll be clipped.
Satriano drops his foot to the floor and leans forward slightly. “Now that Luca has so graciously removed Roselli’s competition, and I took out Roselli himself—”
Gabe snorts. “You mean I took him out.”
The man we once knew as Damon smirks at him. “I guess I owe the Hawkes a debt of gratitude. You’ve made my position here much easier to claim.”
Savage raises a dark brow. “Does that mean we’re even?”
Like it would ever be that easy.
Satriano’s low chuckle fills the space. “We will never be even, Mr. Hawke. Lest you forget how your family member murdered my brother in cold blood.”
He looks at Isaac, who remains motionless against the window.
Isaac’s icy blue gaze locks with Satriano’s. “It wasn’t in cold blood; it was for a very good reason.”
No one in this room would disagree with his description of the situation—except Damiano himself. When a mafia don threatens your child and kidnaps your girlfriend to force her into marriage, the only way to end things is permanently.
All Isaac did was what any of us would do to protect our family.
If Gabe hadn’t pulled that trigger and taken out Dan last night, I would have done it myself gladly.
Satriano snickers at Isaac’s assessment. “Ah, yes. Love makes us all fools, doesn’t it?” He pushes to his feet. “I’ll make this quick so you can get back to your injured family members. I’ve decided what my first favor is going to be.”
First favor?
Of how many?
We all exchange looks, and then his hard gaze lands on me. “Dr. Clarke. I’ve been studying you for a while now. You’re quite impressive. Almost as impressive as Dr. Hawke.” He glances at Stone, who appears about ready to launch himself across the desk and strangle the man for mentioning his wife. “But I doubt Nora would be very agreeable to helping me, whereas you”—he gives me a sinister grin—“you have that girlfriend and baby to protect, which makes me think you’ll be a lot more compliant.”
Jesus Christ.
He isn’t above threatening the very people he just swore to help us protect only six weeks ago—including an innocent child.
That means he’s truly capable of anything.
Swallowing through my dry throat, I try not to let my voice waver. “With what?”
“From time to time, I’ve run into situations where one of my men is injured and, for various legal reasons, can’t be taken to a hospital.”
Shit.
I should have seen this coming after he called me out last night at the warehouse and emphasized my ability to care for Atlas and Astrid.
It was a fucking test.
One I apparently passed with flying colors.
A slow smile spreads across his face. “And lucky me, I hear the Hawke Enterprises clinic is very well-equipped. Plus, I’m more than willing to provide additional funding for more equipment. Whatever you might need that isn’t already there in order to assist my men, should they need it.”
The man wants me to treat his men off the books…
He’s insane.
Shaking my head, I find the strength to stand up to him and voice my concern. “I could lose my license.”
His unnerving eyes darken to an almost black. “That isn’t my problem.”
“I’m not a surgeon.”
The corners of his lips twitch. “No, you’re not, but Dr. Hawke is. She may be spending her time in the ER now, but I looked into her background. She did work as a trauma surgeon for a number of years before going back to emergency medicine. I’m sure if you get in over your head, she can step in and help, even if reluctantly.”
Stone clenches his jaw, a muscle there ticcing. “So, you want them to be your on-call doctors? Is that it?”
A grin spreads across Damiano’s mouth, and he nods. “I’m glad you’re following along.” He moves around the chair, makes his way to the door, and then turns back. “Make sure you leave your phones on in case I need you in the future.” His gaze drifts to me. “And I look forward to our working relationship.”
He opens the door, but before he can step out, Isaac pushes off the wall.
Oh, shit.
I want to scream at him to shut up and let Satriano go, to not poke the bear, but it wouldn’t do any good if I did.
“And what about the truce? What about the promise you made to get back at us for what I did to your brother?”
Satriano turns around slowly and faces Isaac. “Consider the truce…”—he raises a hand and rocks it back and forth—“hanging on by a thread. I’ve discovered you Hawkes can actually be quite useful at times.” His gaze cuts to me, again. “Like Dr. Clarke…”
Goosebumps break out across my skin, and I shiver as he walks from the room, leaving all of us stunned and silent.
After a minute, Gabe closes the door and turns back to face everybody. “Well, fuck.”
Stone mutters a litany of curses under his breath and looks at Isaac. “Are you all right?”
Isaac gives a sharp nod and cuts his gaze to me. “I’m more worried about Pope.”
I scrub a hand over my face as I pace the small portion of the office not occupied by one of the Hawke men. “Jesus. He wants me to be his mob doctor.” I scan the faces of the men in the room, the ones who lead this family. “Do I have a fucking choice?”
Dad exchanges a look with Savage, then approaches me, grabbing my shoulders and stopping my frantic movement. “You always have a choice, son, but if you say no, it could mean we’ll stay at war with Satriano for God knows how long.”
“And if I say yes, I risk my whole fucking career.”
A sad smile pulls at his lips. “Is it worth it to protect Allie and Benjamin?”
Fucking hell.
Their faces flash before my eyes, and it’s all it takes to know the answer will always be yes.
Anything is worth it to protect them.
I give him a sharp nod, and he pulls me into a hug and claps me on the back.
“I’m proud of you, kid. This has been a rough couple of months, but you have done everything asked of you and gone above and beyond for Allie and Benjamin. I can see how much you love them.”
Pulling back, I nod and lock eyes with him. “I do.”
More than I ever knew possible.
I thought what Allie and I shared all those years ago was it, but it was truly only the tip of an iceberg when it comes to my feelings for that woman…and now, her son, too.
Dad raises a brow, smacking me lightly on the shoulder. “So, why don’t you go and tell them that?”
* * *
ALESSANDRA
I adjustthe blanket around Astrid for the hundredth time, making sure it’s just right and she won’t be cold in this hospital room with the air blowing right on her like I was when I spent time here.
She smacks my hand away. “Will you stop hovering?”
Crap.
I was hovering, wasn’t I?
Dropping back into the chair beside her bed, I hold up my hands and sigh. “Sorry. Habit.”
A smile plays on her lips. “The whole mothering instinct thing is hard to turn off, isn’t it?”
I laugh and turn to check on Benjamin, where he sleeps in his car seat on the floor beside me. “You have no idea.”
Even knowing he’s safe now, that Dan is dead and isn’t coming for him, I can’t shake these nerves.
The uneasiness.
The desire to keep my eye on him constantly, even when he’s right by my side.
Atlas turns from his bed on the other half of the room. “Will you two stop arguing? I’m trying to watch this.”
I crane my neck to see what’s on his TV, and it appears to be some shoot-‘em-up action movie. “Really? That’s what you want to watch when you and your sister just had major surgery after being shot?”
He shrugs and immediately winces, placing his hand over his bandaged shoulder. “Shit. I have to stop doing that.” Gritting his teeth, he inhales a few times before he opens his eyes and glares at me. “And for the record, yes, this is what I want to watch. It’s mindless action and enjoyable. So, can you two keep it down?”
Astrid scowls at him and tosses an empty cup off the table beside her at him.
Atlas dodges it easily, grinning. “I guess my reflexes are still good.”
A low growl slips from her lips. “We’ll see about that when we get out of these beds.”
The playful yet tense banter between the twins isn’t anything new, but I chew on my lip, not wanting to bring up the elephant in the room—we don’t know if Atlas is ever going to be back to a hundred percent.
His fighting career might be over all because he took a bullet for me to draw the shooter away so we could get to the door and Bishop could try to locate him.
I swipe under my eyes and try to turn away before Astrid can see me crying, but she narrows her gaze on me.
“Oh, here come the tears again.” She grabs a tissue from the box on the other side of her bed and hands it to me. “You need to stop crying.”
“I know.” I dab at my eyes, trying to get my breathing and the tightening in my chest under control. “Believe me, I’ve been trying, but”—I shrug—“you know.”
She nods. “I do know, but everything’s okay now.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Is it? Do we really know that? The guys are all meeting with Satriano, and who knows what the hell he’s demanding of them?”
Likely nothing good.
When Pope told me where they were off to this morning, it felt like another blow I wasn’t prepared to take. Only a few hours of feeling like things were settled, and we’re right back where we started months ago—with Satriano thinking he owns us.
All because we had to make a deal with him to save Benjamin.
The door opens, and Nora and Caroline enter, carrying huge gift baskets with Ang and Jude trailing behind them.
“Oh, my God.” I push up out of my chair and race over, throwing my arms around Jude. “You came.”
He wraps me up and hugs me tightly, burying his face against my neck. His familiar, comforting scent wraps around me. “I did.”
Those damn tears return, flowing freely down my cheeks and onto his shirt. “I didn’t think you would make it.”
Leaving his place to come to a busy hospital is torture for Jude, and Ang and I weren’t sure he was going to be able to handle it. I had planned to head over to their place to see him since all we’ve been able to do is chat on the phone since everything went down.
But he’s here.
He pulls back and takes my face between his palms. “I told you I would try.” A little shudder rolls through him. “Though I don’t know how long I’m going to stay.”
Angie reaches over and squeezes his arm, offering him support. “We’ll get out of here quickly. I just wanted to check in on everybody.”
Caroline smiles brightly, setting one of the baskets overflowing with fresh fruit onto the table along the wall while Nora sets the other at the foot of Astrid’s bed. “Hello, everyone!”
Atlas barely acknowledges her arrival, waving his good hand at her half-heartedly without even looking at her.
Astrid rolls her eyes at him and grins at Pope’s mom, examining the goodies. “Hi, Aunt Care, that looks amazing!”
Nora moves to stand beside Astrid. “How are you feeling?”
She bobs her head. “Decent. At least they’re giving me the good stuff.” She motions toward her IV drip. “But I would love some of that fruit tower thing.”
Caroline grins and starts unraveling the cellophane from around it. “You got it, kid.”
Nora smirks and pats Astrid on the leg. “Yeah. Well, thankfully, you only had some minor damage to repair, so I imagine you’ll be feeling better quickly—even without the good stuff.” She glances over at Atlas. “Your brother, on the other hand…”
Atlas tosses her a dirty look. “Do we need to talk about me like I’m not here?”
She moves over to his bed and leans in to speak with him privately, trying to maneuver around the landmine his prognosis seems to be.
No matter how many times anyone tries to speak with him about it or how he’s feeling, he shuts down completely—much like I did when people were trying to get me to talk about Benjamin’s father and I wasn’t ready to face the truth.
So, I don’t blame him for needing time to process what’s happening.
I’ve been there.
Ang greets Astrid and sits on the edge of the bed while Caroline wrangles with the fruit display and manages to get several strawberries off and onto a plate for Astrid.
Jude squats down by the car seat, pulling back the blanket tucked around Benjamin to see him better. “There’s my favorite guy.” He looks up at me. “How is he doing?”
I shrug. “As well as can be expected, I guess. He seems fine today. You know, Pope and Nora kept me overnight to make sure that my heart was good, and they checked him out, too, said he’s completely healthy. The shock of what we went through yesterday doesn’t appear to be affecting him very much.”
And I wish it were that easy for me.
No matter how many times I tell myself it’s over, it never really feels over.
Too many things are left up in the air.
So much is still uncertain.
Jude climbs to his feet and wraps his arm around my shoulder. “And how is it affecting you?”
That’s a tougher question to answer, and he knows it.
He reads me far too well.
And so does my sister.
Ang gives me a tight smile, knowing full well that I’m on the edge of losing all control of my emotions again. “I’m just so glad everybody’s okay. This could have been a lot worse.”
I nod, remembering that terror of the bullets flying past us in the condo, of Roselli’s men pointing their guns at us and ordering us out of the SUV, of the shots at the warehouse echoing around us while we cowered against the wall. “It could have.” And there’s still a chance it could get worse. “Have you guys heard from anyone at the meeting?”
Jude presses his lips together, and he shakes his head. “Not yet. Though I imagine Luca will call me when they’re done. I told him he needs to come over, and we need to talk.”
No doubt they do.
When Jude learned what Luca has been up to the last few months and what he did to facilitate the meeting with Roselli, he was livid.
And I can’t blame him.
I look up at him, searching his face for an answer I don’t think even he knows. “Are you still pissed at him?”
Jude runs his free hand back through his blond hair, and it flops right back over his forehead. “Of course I’m pissed. First, he disappeared, barely around for two months, and then, he was willing to sacrifice himself without even giving me or Byron any warning. So, yeah, I’m mad, and so is Byron.”
Their feelings are completely valid.
If Pope did the same, I would be furious at him for keeping me in the dark. Still, Luca did what he thought was right to protect us, and I don’t see how else it could have gone. “Would it have made a difference if he had told you? What would you have done? Try to talk him out of it?”
He gives me a sympathetic look. “No, of course not. Not if it was the best way to get rid of Roselli and make sure you and Benjamin were safe. I just…” He releases a heavy sigh. “Wish he would’ve told me. That’s all. So I could have been prepared for it instead of getting a fucking call from him letting me know what happened, all after the fact.”
Ang gives him a tight smile. “I don’t like that they kept it from us, either, but they had their reasons.”
Caroline finally chimes in, resting her hip against the edge of Astrid’s bed on the opposite side of Ang. “You know, when it comes to this family, there are always going to be secrets, even though we strive to always be honest with each other.”
A knot forms in my throat at her words, and I think about the look Pope gave me in that warehouse last night.
There were things there in his cognac eyes.
Things that weren’t said.
Things that need to be.
But we haven’t really had a chance to talk after we rushed everyone here last night. Then he headed off to the meeting this morning.
Jude rubs my arm. “Are you good, Allie Cat?”
I nod. “Yeah, I’m just eager to get—” I stop myself. “I was going to say home, but shit.” I release a sardonic laugh. “I guess I don’t really have one. My apartment will never feel safe again, Pope’s condo was destroyed, and now, Isaac and Jack’s place is, too.”
Caroline takes a bite of one of Astrid’s strawberries and chews. “You could always come to our place. Saint and I would love to have you. I imagine Pope will be coming home…”
She trails off, likely as unsure as I am about what’s really going on now that this ordeal is supposedly over.
We’ve spent so much time trying to make it through today and tomorrow that we haven’t been able to think or plan for the extended future.
I imagine one in my head, with Pope, Benjamin, and me…
But it’s hazy.
Unclear.
So, Caroline isn’t the only one slightly unsure what to say about her son’s situation with me.
I smile at her. “Thank you for the offer, Care. I’ll just go to my parents’ house. They went over this morning and got all our stuff from Isaac and Jack’s, anyway, and I’m too tired to think about trying to move anywhere else.” Turning to Astrid, I raise a brow. “I’m going to head out, if you’re good.”
She nods. “Don’t worry. I have this guy”—she tosses a thumb toward Atlas—“and his pleasantness to keep me company.”
He growls and turns back to his movie, ignoring Nora and whatever she said to him, not interested in conversation with anyone.
His life, his career could be over because of what happened.
Everything he has worked so hard for could disappear in an instant.
And that guilt sits squarely on my chest, weighing me down when I should feel like it’s been lifted by finally being free of Dan.
Jude grabs Benjamin’s car seat from the floor. “We’ll walk out with you. We just wanted to say hi.”
He leans down and gives Astrid a kiss on the cheek, and Ang hugs her gently before we pile out of the room. Nora and Caroline trail behind and close the door, leaving the twins to themselves for the first time since they came out of surgery.
Nora and Care step to the side, deeply engaged in a conversation clearly not meant for our ears, and we wave and head down to the elevator slowly, in absolutely no rush.
For the first time in what feels like forever, we’re not running from something, not being chased or shot at.
We’re just…living.
And, hopefully, the meeting with Satriano isn’t going to change any of that.
Jude punches the button, and the doors slide open right away. We step in, and I immediately lean back against the metal wall, dropping my head to it, letting the exhaustion I’ve been fighting finally overtake me.
The memory of seeing Pope that morning of my last doctor’s appointment here flashes through my head, and I can almost see him.
Those doors parting.
His dark eyes meeting mine.
All that tension.
All that animosity I still had for him.
God, it was so stupid.
Given everything that’s happened since that day, it all seems so futile.
All those things that kept us apart dissolved away so quickly when the world outside forced us together.
I just hope nothing will ever be able to pull us apart again.