Chapter 9 Ryker
RYKER
I find myself standing behind the house in the shadows of the trees, the wind blowing against my face, my mind searching for an anchor point but not finding one.
I glance down at my hand, recalling the memory of her skin, the warmth of her flesh as I held her.
Only now, my knuckles are torn and bloody, and the wall of the foyer is filled with holes the size of my fist. The bench by the door is also split in half…
“Fine.”
That’s what I said to her. But did I mean it?
Doesn’t matter anyway at this point. She made her choice, and who am I to stop her? Besides, letting her do her thing makes sense. It’s cleaner. Even safer—at least in one way.
I go inside and wash my hands and bandage them. When I come out of the bathroom, I find my father in the foyer, a grim look on his face. Without a word, he motions for me to follow into his office.
Pushing Sable from my mind, I go with him, only to find Valeria seated within.
“Is this truly necessary, Dominic?” she asks. I sit between them.
“It is.” He nods. “Your daughter’s recent…activities have attracted some unneeded attention.”
“From who?” Valeria laughs. “That little gang of nobodies?”
“That little gang of nobodies is being backed by Tony Brambilla. They’re connected.”
Valeria scoffs and waves her hand. “They can’t hurt us.”
“Maybe not. But if Sable keeps going out on her own”—my father turns his eyes to me—“she could end up getting hurt.”
Their words stab my gut. I hear Sable’s in my mind, fierce like a lightning strike.
“I don’t need your protection.”
“Well, not if we have anything to say about it,” Valeria replies, turning her eyes to me. “Isn’t that right?”
“What she does is up to her,” I growl, rising from my seat. I flex my knuckles, focusing on the pain as I stride from the room.
But before I can get down the hall to my room, I hear my father behind me.
“She’ll get herself killed, Ryker.”
My legs stop on their own, and I stand frozen in my tracks. My chest trembles as I search for a single solid breath. Finally, I’m able to turn to face him.
“And you want me to handle her?” I snap. “She already told me to back off. And her mom—”
“This isn’t about what I want,” he says, his voice low. He reaches out and places a hand on my shoulder. “This is about what you want.”
He stares at me for a long, difficult moment. Finally, I nod slowly.
“Fine. I’ll handle her.”
“Good.”
He turns and walks away, leaving me tense like a coiled spring ready to burst.
I head down the hall to her room. I’m just about to knock when I see Kane coming in from out back.
“What are you knocking for?” He smirks.
I glare back at him, this close to being fed up with his shit. “Kane—”
“You can’t half-claim a woman like her, Ryker,” he whispers, slowing as he passes me. “Either you claim her or she owns you.”
Something builds in my chest—something dangerous. I lose it completely and simply barge into her room, nearly knocking the door off its hinges.
Sable yelps and whirls on me as I enter, pulling a gun from her stocking. When she sees its me, she lowers the barrel.
“You trying to get shot?” she asks, turning back to the gear laid out on her bed.
I see a backup pistol, several full magazines, and even some flash bang grenades.
“Out for another battle?” I ask.
She chuckles, almost like my interest amuses her. “Relax, Romeo. This isn’t the part where you and I adopt a black Lab together.”
“I told you that things like this go through me, goddamn it!”
She lunges forward, gnashing her teeth right up in my face. “And I told you that you don’t get to control me!”
My blood goes cold, reacting to her aggression. I want to act. But this is Sable we’re talking about, so I take a step back.
If she dies, I’ll lose everything.
I turn and storm from her room. Avoiding all the guys, I go out back to my sleeper car—an all-black sedan specifically designed to draw the least amount of attention—and hop in.
My .45 is in the glove box where I left it. I pull out and park just down the road on the side of the street and wait.
A few minutes later, Sable pulls out in her SUV. I slouch down, but she doesn’t even notice me. She’s focused on her mission. Too focused.
She knows the risks, but she’s going anyway.
Cursing under my breath, I slowly follow her, keeping a safe distance as she heads into town.
She doesn’t even have Luca with her. Part of me is raging, but another part of me is impressed. This girl really thinks she can take on the Brambilla family all by herself.
It’s not long before we’re pulling up to a small corner deli with a sign that screams: Chicago’s Best Italian. Typical front for connected guys.
Sable pulls right up, practically driving through the front door. I park across the street.
My heart is pounding, but I have to admit—she looks sexy as hell as she steps out of the truck: hair spilling down her shoulders, bare skin showing from the slit in her dress, heels clicking on the sidewalk.
But as I watch her stride inside, my stomach twists. Something just does not feel right.
And then I hear it…
A gunshot.
In the blink of an eye, I have my .45 in my hand and am running for the door of the deli. More shots ring out. Massive adrenaline dump.
Without hesitation, I burst through the door and drop one of Tony’s men aiming a gun at Sable.
She’s hunched behind a fallen table and catches my eye as the man falls. Something like a smile flashes briefly across her eyes, but then she’s on her feet and blasting.
At least six men stand behind the bar, aiming all kinds of firearms in her direction. But as I start firing, I draw their attention too.
Shots ring out as the deli explodes into a firestorm of deafening explosions.
Fiery pain tears through my left arm as a bullet grazes me. Sable sees and whips her gun toward the man responsible, dropping him with a single shot.
Despite the danger, I can feel my dick getting hard.
A shotgun rings out, and I look to my left, and that’s when I see him.
Tony himself, his eyes bulging out of their sockets as he shouts something in manic Italian at us.
“Sable, look out!” I bellow as he swings the double-barrel in her direction.
Like a gymnast, she leaps to the floor and rolls behind a pillar. I aim and fire, but my gun just clicks. Out of bullets.
“I’m out!” I shout. Quickly, she tosses hers to me. I catch it, take aim, and hit him squarely in the chest.
He falls back, taking a table with him, and hits the ground like a sack of potatoes. Dead.
Silence.
No more enemies. Sable and I wiped them out.
This is Vale-Noir territory now, but I could care less about that. That’s not why I came here.
“Okay, we’re good,” I say, snatching a handful of napkins to press over my wound.
“What the hell was that!?” Sable shouts as I turn to leave. “I had everything under control!”
My jaw drops so hard it nearly falls off. “Are you kidding? You would have been dead if I hadn’t showed up!”
Biting her lip, she shakes her head like she wants to hit me.
“You had no right!”
She tries to force her way past me, but I grab her by the arm and pull her right up to my face. “I had every right, Sable,” I growl, soaking in her scent. “You are mine. I’m done pretending otherwise.”
I wait for an answer, staring into her big, beautiful eyes. But I don’t get one.
Eventually, she wrenches her arm free from my grip and storms out, leaving me with the bodies of the dead.
Something drops inside of me, washing away the adrenaline rush. This was supposed to end it.
It didn’t.
And I may have just destroyed everything.