Chapter 48
Chapter Forty-Eight
PRIEST
One Year Later
M y brother, Basilio, and I, along with our men, were parked a street away from Bogdan’s port in my city. After a year of bloodshed, enough was enough. We would take it back today.
I checked my weapons one last time, asking Dante, “Have you checked all surveillance? We know the position of every guard on Bogdan’s payroll?”
“Yes.”
My phone buzzed, I slid the message open and read it. It was a report on Bogdan’s movements.
“He’s out of the country,” I said. “The Serbian don.”
Basilio grinned. “Fuck, that’s perfect. This should be easy, then.”
Soon, we were out of the car, using the blind spots and cover of darkness to close the distance to the back entrance of the port. Our men trailed behind us, silent as we were. Once we reached it, a rush of adrenaline surged in my bloodstream, my mind craving the violence and bloodshed.
It was just who I—we—were.
I waited a few seconds, then kicked the door with my foot, sending the wood crashing open and the Serbians scurrying for weapons. I killed two before they could reach for them, Dante and Basilio shot others before they could pull their guns out too.
A bullet barely missed me, and I ducked, firing in that direction. Basilio and Dante, and our men, fired at our enemy, eliminating them one by one. There was a lot of shouting, bodies falling with a thud as we made our way from room to room.
It was over quickly.
We had eliminated every single man of the enemy except for one. That one we sent running with his tail between his legs with a message.
The Syndicate took back its port. Step foot on my territory without an invitation and I’ll cut your head off.
It was simple and clear. No room for misunderstanding.
That same night we celebrated back in the very same club where I’d first touched my wife.
In the years since my innocence was stolen from me, I’d learned how to turn off dark memories and keep others at bay, knowing that if anyone tried to get physically close to me, the pain would resurface.
And even though we were a family of criminals, I understood there were some actions even criminals didn’t condone. I grew up to become a criminal like my father, ruling the Syndicate with an iron fist and turning the likes of Vittoria and Father Gabriel from perpetrators to victims.
Since ruling Philadelphia and the Syndicate, I’d killed many, but I always made sure they deserved it. And my partner in crime—my beautiful wife—stood by my side through it all.
I might sit at the head of the Philadelphia Syndicate, but my wife was my anchor. My strength. Without her, I didn’t know what living was, and with her… Fuck, with her, our lives were thriving.
Since I was a boy, I craved a happy home but never actually understood what it meant until Ivy. There was something to be said about having a home filled with love and laughter and seeing the world through your woman’s eyes.
To say that I was completely recovered would be a lie. Ghosts still lurked, but with the work I’d done to keep them at bay, they were few and far between.
Ivy and the girls were camped at the bar so they could “ plan world domination ” with their new project they’d been working on with money they’d stolen. Personally, I thought they were secretly planning how to gang up on their husbands in the future.
I joined my brother by the wall of windows that looked out to the dance floor and bar area where he stood with a pensive expression.
“Are you ensuring they stay out of trouble?” I asked him as I came up beside him and watched them make a toast while laughing.
“Juliette has a knack for getting in trouble,” he remarked dryly, a hint of disgruntlement coloring his voice.
My sister-in-law had a tendency to act first and think later, and ever since he learned about Juliette’s extra-curricular activities, he was her constant shadow.
“She does, but she also knows how to get out of it.”
He let out a small rumble of irritation, but he didn’t disagree. After all, we both knew I was right.
“I want to tell you something.”
My eyebrows climbed at the unexpected change of subject. “Yes?”
Dante’s brows knitted in a frown as he considered his next words. “I want to apologize.”
“What for?”
“For failing you. If I knew about Father Gabriel—” His throat bobbed with a hard swallow. “I should have known. I should have protected you.” That familiar tightness gripped my chest. “You’re my family, my baby brother, and it was up to me to ensure your safety.”
“It wasn’t your job to protect me.” My words came out choked. “Just as it wasn’t mine to protect you. But we did it because we’re a family. Yes, you’re my brother, but you’re also my best friend. You are the reason I survived Vittoria.”
He swallowed hard.
“You’re giving me too much credit.”
“No, I’m not.” He watched me with sharp eyes, his features taut with tension. “It’s the truth. I love you, and there’s nobody else on this planet I’d rather call my brother.”
There was a moment of stunned silence because we weren’t in the habit of speaking about our emotions. It was another result of our therapy sessions.
Then Dante’s lips curved.
“Ditto.” He clapped me on the back as the tightness in my chest intensified. “We’re stuck together.”
“I don’t think Aisling is going anywhere either,” I muttered.
“That’s a good thing. It would break Papà’s heart if she did,” my brother pointed out. “And she loves you very much.”
I rubbed an exasperated hand over my face. “I have to admit, her stubbornness and persistence are almost admirable.”
“She’s nothing like Vittoria.”
“No, she’s not,” I agreed, brushing off the buzzkill of a conversation by switching topics. “Now, go check on your wife to ensure those best friends aren’t up to no good.” My voice came out scratchy before I cleared my throat. “I promised Ivy I wouldn’t spy on them with the security cameras.”
He threw his head back and laughed. “Throw me to the wolves, why don’t you.”
“But first, let’s toast.” I reached for glasses from a nearby table and poured both of us a whiskey. I lifted my glass and clinked it against Dante’s. “To happiness.”
“To happiness,” he echoed, and we drained our drinks.
A beat passed before we let out awkward laughs.
I threw an arm around his shoulder and steered him out of the office as he held back a grin. “Go and spy on our wives, brother.”
Life was made out of chapters. Some were hard, some were sad, and some wreaked havoc on one’s soul. But this… it was the start of a new one. The best one yet.
A couple of hours later, I finally had my wife where I needed her. In my office. With me. In my arms.
Hungry for her, I cupped her face and kissed her softly. Soon the kiss turned fierce and passionate, our bodies grinding against each other. She was my other half, the perfect half, and life with her was the most beautiful dream.
“What did I do to deserve you?” I grunted in her ear as I flattened her against the desk of my Philly office in the club where it all started.
“You’ve ravished me in a dark hallway…” she moaned, her legs opening.
I gripped her throat and slammed into her. She felt like heaven, my salvation. I thought this intense need for her would ease as time went on, but it only intensified.
I pounded into her as her raspy, deep-throated moans filled the air, urging me on. Her fingers gripped the edge of the desk as I fucked her hard and fast, starving for her.
Holding her by the hip, I pushed her long red strands off her neck and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Best decision of my life.”
Her eyes fluttered shut as she came apart around my cock. Unable to hold on, I thrust once, twice, until a powerful orgasm ripped through me and my cum spilled inside her.
“Christian?” As our breathing slowed, she cupped my cheek. “I love you.”
My face softened, her lips brushing against mine.
“I love you too. Until death do us part.”
“Forever.”
This was my life. Our life. And I couldn’t fucking wait to live it with her.