Chapter 17 #2
Kennedy throws a frightened look to Stone and Isaac while everyone else looks to Savage for direction.
Should I get Coen out of the room before he says something stupid?
I start to move toward him, but Luca shakes his head, halting my steps.
Apparently, we’re going to let this play out.
“Who else is there with you?” Satriano laughs lightly. “The usual suspects, I presume? Gabe Anderson, Saint Clarke, Stone, my good friend Isaac, and the lovely Kennedy. How about the beautiful Bishop?”
It’s my turn to tense as my gaze locks on her. Hearing her name from his lips is enough to raise my hackles and make my protective instincts kick into full gear.
“And I would bet my old friend, Luca Abello is there as well…”
Luca’s jaw tenses.
Savage clears his throat. “Yes, they’re all here.”
“Wonderful. Then I’ll only have to say this once. If I thought any of my dealings would threaten my daughter’s life or that of my grandchild, I would let you know.”
“Would you?” Coen barely gets the words out through gritted teeth.
“You think so little of me—”
Coen sneers. “We have every reason to question every word that comes out of your mouth.”
“Not about this.” Satriano remains stone cold despite the heat and accusation in Coen’s voice. “I am glad you called though, because I was hoping we might be able to reopen our discussions about potentially working together.”
“That door is long closed.” Savage’s response leaves no room for argument. “Don’t try to reopen it.”
Satriano tsks. “Oh, well. That is unfortunate. And I do have to get going, but I appreciate the welcome home phone call. Ciao.”
He ends the call without another word, and Coen pushes off the desk, running his hands through his hair almost frantically.
Stone steps toward him, reaching out with the hand not resting on the cane at his side. “Son…”
“Don’t.” Coen holds up a hand, preventing his father from offering him any comfort. “I can’t right now. You all think he was full of shit, right? When he said this has nothing to do with him?”
Everyone nods.
Including me.
The way he said “complications” stays ringing in the back of my head.
Coen scans the faces of everyone in the room, his rising panic evident. “So where do we go from here?”
I don’t have a fucking clue.
And I’m not sure anyone else does, either.
* * *
BISHOP
Everyone begins to disperse from the meeting, Coen’s question still unanswered and undoubtedly lingering in the head of every single one of us, but we weren’t going to come to any conclusions when everyone was so worked up.
A cooling-off period was needed.
By all.
Even me.
I stay rooted in my position near the door, watching each and every one of them file out until the only ones left in Savage’s office are Gage and me.
He didn’t say a word the entire time. Not that I really expected him to. He’s new to all this. To all the drama, lies, and veiled threats that come with a man like Satriano.
His job right now is to take it all in, to assess, to back us up when needed, but until then, he knows his place. While I appreciated his attempt to help with Coen when he went off the deep end, I’m glad he didn’t intervene.
It only would have made things worse for my cousin, who has every right to be scared for Allegra and their child.
Because God knows I am…
Gage’s gaze stays locked on me while I stare out the window, watching the trees sway in the light breeze, the bright sunlight such a cheery taunt when inside here, in this room, everything feels so dark and murky.
A few moments of absolute silence pass before he finally takes the first step and approaches me.
He dips his head, inserting himself into my line of vision, forcing me to look at him. “Come on.”
“Where are we going?”
Sweeping a hand out to the empty room, he offers a half-smile. “Like everyone else, away from here. You need a break and some sleep.”
Gage’s idea of a “break” and “sleep” aren’t anything most people would consider relaxing or restful.
I narrow my gaze on him. “I’m not in the mood.”
He chuckles. “Not that I would say no, but that wasn’t what I had in mind.” His fingers slide under my chin, tilting my face up. “Let’s go get some lunch like everyone else. Some food might make you feel better. As would a nap. You didn’t sleep at all last night.”
I don’t want to eat.
I don’t want to sleep.
I want to track down Satriano and confront him in person.
Demand he tell us why he’s in town, why one of his men was shot, and who the fuck might’ve been lurking around our building.
I want to force him to come clean about Michael McDonald and any other “complications” that may be arising because of him, even if it means putting my gun to his temple to accomplish it.
But one thing Satriano is very good at is hiding.
His movements…
His plans…
All seem to remain in the shadows despite everything we do to shed light on it.
The man is basically a ghost. Appearing whenever it suits him to haunt us with traumatic memories of what he’s done in the past. Taunting us with the power he holds because he knows damn well we can’t act against him without bringing down the wrath of his entire network.
So, I don’t want to go sit and eat, or lie in bed with Gage and pretend none of this is happening…
I can’t.
That swirling storm of anger and uncertainty that threatened to suffocate me before Gage came into my life starts to swamp the edges of my vision, but he holds my chin steady, forcing me to keep looking into his eyes that remain so warm, so calm, so damn inviting.
He doesn’t look away or let me, because he knows.
He sees it happening.
And he isn’t going to give me a choice but to take a step back, breathe, and regroup.
The man is a pusher, but it isn’t drugs he’s shoving down my throat. It’s something much more dangerous—he’s forcing the self-reflection I’ve avoided so much because it would mean admitting my intense focus on my training and my job was actually hurting me.
Like I might be doing now…
All it took was one look from him to know it, too.
Dammit.
“Fine.” I free myself from his hold and push off the wall with a huff.
“A quick lunch. But then I want to meet up with Gabe and my dad again. There has to be some way to track down the man at the café. Maybe we can hack the city’s street cameras and backtrack him that way.
Maybe it would lead us to McDonald and Satriano. ”
Gage’s jaw tightens. “What would you do if you did find them?”
“What the hell do you think, Gage? My uncle might be the one who’s a sniper, but I have a pretty damn good shot, too.”
He lets out a low whistle. “While I know you do, Hellcat, do you really think executing a mob boss is going to solve the problem?”
No.
I shake my head. “It would make things worse, I’m sure, but it doesn’t mean I don’t think about it every fucking day.”
“As long as it’s just thinking about it…”
Even though we’ve only known each other for a short time, the way he’s watching me confirms that he’s already read me easily.
He knows I wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger if given the chance again, without the risk to innocents like there would have been at The Grind.
We can deal with the fallout after—or at least, that’s what I tell myself in my head every time I picture putting that man down like rabid dog.
With a frustrated huff, Gage reaches out and spins me toward the door. “Let’s go.”
He ushers me from the office, down the hallway, and presses the button for the elevator. As soon as it lights up, he wraps his arm around me from behind, tugging me back against his firm body and sweeping his lips across the back of my neck.
The contact sends a little shiver through me, and I instantly regret wearing my braids up in a bun today, exposing that sensitive skin to his wicked mouth.
“After lunch”—another brief touch of his lips—“if you still need to relax a little bit more, we can go with your other idea.”
The elevator doors slide open, and I glance back at him. “Very funny.”
I step forward, putting some much needed distance between us, and he comes in after me, chuckling. But he absolutely isn’t kidding about being willing to take me to bed to work out some of the tension.
We both lean against the wall, waiting for it to descend to the first floor, and when the doors slide open again, the music and thumping bass hit us. Fairly empty this early in the day, I still immediately scan the club, looking for anything unusual even though there’s security everywhere.
They have it handled.
I keep telling myself that as we make our way toward the front door. Gage’s eyes follow mine on one final sweep of the club before we step out into the afternoon sunshine. Because we share the same instinct and inability to turn it off.
A deep lungful of fresh air somewhat helps relieve that anxiety coiling when we were inside, and Gage and I walk across the parking lot to the reserved spaces for the Hawkes where everyone still lingers around their vehicles, embroiled in further discussion.
Seems no one is truly able to take a break…
Savage and Gabe talk with Dad near Gabe’s car, while Luca, Stone, and Isaac appear to be trying to talk Coen off a ledge where he stands beside his car, the door already open like he can’t wait to get inside and get back to Allegra.
I glance at Gage’s motorcycle parked next to my SUV on the far end of the line of vehicles. Even though we were both coming from his place this morning, I had insisted we arrive separately, as if that somehow makes a difference when everyone knows what’s going on between us now.
He grins, nudging me playfully with his shoulder. “A ride might do you good…”
I glower at him, and he holds up his hands in defense, a smile twitching his lips.
“On the motorcycle.”
“Yeah, yeah.” That is absolutely not what he meant, but I can’t help grinning right back at him. “I don’t think so. I’m driving.”
“Whatever you want, Hellcat.”
Isaac’s head whips toward us.
Shit.
I didn’t realize how close they were standing, and Gage certainly didn’t know they were in earshot or he never would have let that nickname slip.
Isaac narrows his gaze on Gage. “What did you just call her?”
Shiiiiit.
Gage blushes slightly and rubs at the back of his neck, at least having the decency to give me an apologetic look. “Umm. Hellcat?”
Stone, Isaac, and even Coen all bark out laughs while Luca fights a grin.
The earth could open up and swallow me into it right now, and I would absolutely be okay with it.
Isaac shakes his head. “You really do have a death wish, don’t you, buddy?”
Gage grins at him, casting me a knowing look. “I guess I might.”
His warm gaze sweeps over me, and he urges me toward the SUV, away from the rest of the family quickly, like he can’t wait to escape the embarrassment and scrutiny that just brought on him.
But before I can even get my door open, Luca steps over, the hint of humor that’s so rare for him completely faded. “Where are you two headed?”
“Lunch.” I force a smile. “Then we’ll be back.”
To return to the hunt.
The last part goes unsaid, because at this point, we’re all exhausted with running around and getting nowhere. But we also aren’t going to give up.
Luca nods. “I’m going to call my contacts in Europe again, see if maybe they might have anything on who he’s gotten into it with this time. Knowing him, it could be any number of people.”
Gage leans against the back door, watching the conversation, one ankle casually crossed over the other. His brow furrows deeply, his lips twisting as he slides his hand into his jacket pocket. “What’s his endgame?”
Luca raises a dark brow. “What do you mean?”
“This Satriano guy. He’s got hotels and casinos built up all along the Gulf Coast now. He must be making millions. Roselli and his crew are gone from New Orleans, leaving a power vacuum Satriano stepped into. So, what does he ultimately want? Everything? Is it as simple as that?”
Releasing a heavy sigh, Luca shakes his head. “It’s never that simple with these types of people.”
He would know.
He is one of them.
“It never is.” I tighten my grip on my keys. “He seems to want what we’ve built. He wants our reputation, our hard work, our connections and power that’s totally separate from his own. That’s why I’ve had this feeling for so long. Why I can’t shake it…”
Luca nods. “Neither can I. It’s only a matter of time before something happens that’s going to set off a chain of events we won’t be able to stop.”
Gabe and Savage finish their conversation with Dad, and Dad starts to walk toward his car, offering me a tight smile that says we are on the same page about feeling agitated after that call with Satriano.
I return the smile…
And the entire world around us explodes.