Chapter 10 #2
“The one in the corner of the couch is my uncle Stone. The blonde beside him is his wife, Nora. Their sons are Isaac and Coen.” He motions toward two very similar looking dark-haired men standing in the corner with their arms protectively wrapped around two women.
“That’s Giacomina, but we call her Jack. ”
“We met at The Grind.”
Atlas nods. “Right, and Coen’s girlfriend is Allegra.
She also happens to be Satriano’s daughter.
” He skims over that fact like it isn’t probably the most important thing to know, moving right on to the others in the room.
“That’s my aunt, Storm, and her husband, Landon.
You met Angelina and Alessandra, their daughters. ”
I smile and nod.
He points to the man sitting beside Allie. “That’s Pope, Bishop’s little brother.”
Pope smirks at the description and gives me a little half-wave.
Atlas inclines his head toward a dark-haired man across the room. “Cass is the one beside Kennedy near the fireplace. This is their house. We chose to meet here because it has the biggest living room to cram all of us into.”
I snort. “That’s probably a good thing.”
“Yeah. Well, you’re about to learn that family meetings can get a little heated. It’s why we keep the littles out of the room when we’re doing this. All the kids are upstairs with Cass and Kennedy’s daughter’s nanny.”
Atlas does another scan of the room and stops at the only two people he hasn’t introduced. One man sits casually in an armchair, offering a soft smile while the second lingers in a shadowy corner with a glass of amber liquid in his hand.
A shiver rolls down my spine instantly, but Atlas doesn’t seem to notice.
“That’s Byron and Luca. And that’s everyone…except Jude, but he rarely comes to these things.”
He was the one behind the counter at the book store the other day—Angelina’s boyfriend…
Scanning each face in the room, I get a returned mix of interest and suspicion, but I couldn’t have expected anything else.
The Hawkes are notorious for closing rank and keeping their business dealings and family affairs very private.
To be let into the inner sanctum, especially on a day like today when they’ve just been confronted by a man who clearly screams danger to them is unusual and is bound to have people on edge.
All I can do is try to smooth out any feathers I may have ruffled by showing up here. “It’s nice to meet all of you. I’m sorry it isn’t under better circumstances, but I just want everyone to know that I’m here to help. Any way I can.”
Bishop continues to stare at me, her arms crossed over her chest in that defensive posture she loves to take up. Her eyes carry a mix of emotions so potent that diving into them would probably be toxic and deadly, but that doesn’t mean I won’t try to survive whatever she has worked up for me.
But we have to make it through this meeting first.
Savage clears his throat. “Since we’ve all had the introduction to Gage, I think it’s time we get started. We need to figure out what to do about Satriano…and fast.”
* * *
BISHOP
I can’t concentrate on coming up with any sort of intelligible plan with Gage standing so close to me.
That leather and spice scent of his seems to shift through the air and dive right into my lungs, and right now I need to be able to think without remembering what he tasted like when he kissed me in the park.
A damn Ranger?
It explains so much about him—the way he handled himself at the club, the vague statements he made that night in the park, his insistence that he could help us with security—but it also leaves me with so many more questions.
Ones I know won’t get answered while we’re here meeting with the family.
Or maybe ever.
He had every opportunity to tell me that night, to explain further some of his personal experience when he was talking about the stress and weight of protecting other people. But he didn’t.
There has to be a reason…
I walk away from him, making my way over toward the fireplace where I can lean against the mantle near Cass and Kennedy, putting the entire room between us and allowing me to watch him as he takes in the conversation happening around the room.
Dad crosses his arms over his chest, bracing his legs apart and looking every bit as intimidating as I’ve ever seen him.
The fact that Satriano got so close to all of us today rattled him.
Badly. “Our security at all the properties is locked down tight, so we don’t need to worry about anything with that regard. ”
I snort, shaking my head. “Yeah? Then how did he waltz right into The Grind the minute he got back into town?”
He glances over at me. “You were there. You would’ve protected the girls.”
“Of course, I would have. That isn’t the point, Dad. He just walked in. The men who brought the girls over weren’t even standing at the door, they were sitting in their cars until he was already inside.”
Angelina sighs. “I can’t have armed security standing at the door, Bishop. I wouldn’t have any customers. It’s bad enough the place has already been blown and shot up. No one’s going to come if they think they’re not safe.”
That’s fair.
And I truly do feel for her where her business is concerned.
It’s one of the main reasons I didn’t do more when Satriano appeared today, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do better in the future to ensure none of us ever find ourselves in that position again.
“Your business isn’t my top priority, Ang. I’m sorry to say that, but the security of everyone in this room is. And in order to do that, in order to keep everyone safe, we may have to make some sacrifices in some other areas.”
Savage presses his lips together tightly and glances at Gabe, then at everyone in the room.
“We know Satriano’s back, so that frees up some of the resources we’ve been expending trying to locate him, right?
” Everyone nods their agreement. “So, anyone we had on that, let’s put on trying to figure out what the fuck he’s doing back in town.
Where’s he staying? Who is he meeting with?
Every fucking breath that man takes, I want a record of it, and I want it reported to me. Immediately.”
Gabe nods. “He wouldn’t be back if he doesn’t want something, if he isn’t going to make a move.”
Coen issues a frustrated growl. “Do we really think that move would be anything other than coming for Allegra now that she’s pregnant with his grandchild?”
All eyes sweep over to the woman in question, and Coen wraps his arm around her as she trembles beside him.
Despite how upset she clearly is, she shakes her head. “He won’t hurt me.”
Coen presses a kiss to his temple. “That may be true, but he’s not going to just leave you to raise our baby with the Hawkes, cutting him off completely, either. You know that.”
Tears shimmer in her eyes, and she bites her quivering bottom lip and nods. She doesn’t want to see who and what her father really is, and the fact that she still loves him and believes he is a different person than the one we know is only going to hurt her in the end.
It will take time for her to come to terms with everything her father has done, what he continues to do, but each time he does something like his stunt today, it helps nudge her toward finally understanding what he’s capable of.
“Keep her locked up in the penthouse.” Gabe’s order floats through the air, leaving no room for argument. “She doesn’t leave. It’s the most secure property we have.”
Isaac scoffs. “That’s what we all believed before that fucker Dan Roselli had it shot up.”
Atlas winces, and Astrid suddenly goes very pale, curling in on herself slightly.
Gabe gives him a hard look. “Well, now it has bulletproof glass, and we’ve tripled the security in the lobby.
No one’s getting in or out. We’ve also installed a separate ventilation system to ensure that nothing like a fire or any gas put into the building vents can reach the penthouse.
It has its own exit stairwell. We’ve done everything we can to ensure it’s safe. ”
Isaac scowls. “Doesn’t make me feel any better about it.”
Which is one of the reasons he took Jack and their kids and moved into their house shortly after the shooting. The memories of what happened at the penthouse certainly played a role too, but ultimately, Isaac wanted a place his family could feel safe.
And that wasn’t it anymore.
Allie clings to Pope, resting her head against his chest. “What about the rest of us? What do we do? He brought up Pope and his agreement with him. He’s going to come calling at some point.”
Not only does Pope have his agreement with Satriano, but Coen agreed to play for him in any tournaments he demands to pay him back for the money lost due to Atlas’ fight.
Just because he hasn’t come to collect yet doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
Everyone knows it, too.
The reprieve we’ve had has come to an end.
Those vague threats we’ve been so worried about with Satriano MIA don’t feel so vague anymore, knowing the man is in town along with one of his henchmen.
An eerie silence settles over the room because it’s become very clear that we don’t really have a plan to deal with him.
Gage watches all of it, gathering what information he can, but without all the particulars of what’s gone down with that man over the years, there’s no way he can fully grasp the situation. Still, the gears are turning behind his blue eyes.
I look from him to Dad, then to Gabe, Stone, and Savage. The men who have always stood at the head of this family. Yet no one has offered any sort of solution that will end this, once and for all.
“What do we do?” It’s the question all of us are asking ourselves, but apparently, I’m the only one willing to voice it. “Do we take him out? Have we finally reached that point?”
They all look to me, and the man who’s been standing silently in the corner shakes his head.
Luca steps forward, one hand shoved in the pocket of his suit, the other holding a glass of bourbon.
“No. I’ve spoken with many of my contacts in Europe, where he was lurking before he moved over here, and if we take him out, his entire organization will come down on us with all the force they can muster.
It won’t be good, and they won’t stop until a river of blood runs through New Orleans. Hawke blood…”
Kennedy scowls at him. “Then what the hell do we do, Luca? We sit and wait for him to make a move? I feel like that’s all we’ve been doing for years.”
Me, too.
There has always been a reason to hold back, to allow that man to keep breathing when each breath he takes only causes us more pain, but we’ve reached a breaking point. Or at least, I have.
“We’re not just sitting.” Gabe pushes off the edge of the couch where he’s been leaning, making eye contact with everyone in the room. “We’ll get people trailing him, and we’re already looking into this McDonald guy. As soon as we know what they’re up to, we can move.”
I throw up my hands. “Move how? If we’re not going to kill Satriano, and we’re not going to partner with him, then what the fuck options do we have?”
“We find leverage.” Savage’s voice cuts through the tension, and his eyes zero in on Allegra. “You’re right about what you said, Coen. About him not just walking away from his grandchild. So, we use that.”
Coen snarls at him. “The fuck we do! You’re not using my baby to negotiate with a fucking monster!”
Allegra flinches, tears rolling down her cheeks.
Savage holds up his hand, and Stone looks from his brother to his son.
“He’s right, Coen.” Everyone looks at Stone and waits for him to expound upon what he just said.
He twirls his cane in his hand, staring at it.
“He won’t walk away from his child any more than any of us could, and now that he has a grandchild…
” He offers a slight shrug. “We need to meet with him. We need to figure out if there’s a way that we can get him to back off whatever plans he has.
And we use his access to Allegra and the baby as a means to negotiate. ”
“Dad”—Coen’s voice breaks—“you can’t be serious!”
Isaac looks to his younger brother. “The truth of the matter is, you have something he wants, and this might be the first time that’s ever happened since we’ve been facing him.
We have to seriously think about how to handle this, but from where I’m standing, I don’t see any way we make it through this without some sort of negotiation and concessions. ”
He flicks his gaze to me, then to Dad. “Until then, you keep the security tight. On everyone. And Allegra stays in the penthouse. We’ll figure out what he wants, beyond his grandchild, and we see what we can give him without any of us suffering.”
That’s the key that not everyone in this room seems to understand, or maybe they just don’t want to accept it because the reality is too painful.
Satriano lives to make the Hawkes suffer.
He likes to watch us squirm and bleed.
And he’s going to milk every fucking drop from us before this is all over.
It would be so easy to simply take the man out, to lie in wait and put a bullet in his fucking head and end all this.
It’s what I’ve wanted to do for a long fucking time.
The only thing preventing me from acting has been Luca’s insistence that Satriano’s organization would step up to avenge him in a way that would put us at just as much risk—if not more—as we already are under the man himself.
It’s all one giant quagmire there is no way out of.
And I feel like I’m drowning in quicksand…
My eyes drift to Gage, the only one in the room who hasn’t been affected by what Satriano has done. His tense gaze travels over all of us and then meets mine, and I see the resolve there.
He told me he couldn’t sit back when there was a threat, and now, I know he won’t walk away.
Even if I ask him to.
He isn’t going anywhere.