Chapter 25
“You did what?” Carter hisses, his navy eyes almost black with his anger. “That was not your call to make, Leandro!”
I stare at him. “He was my contact; I promised to keep him safe, and I am keeping that promise.”
“No.” Carter shakes his head. “I am not letting the man who did nothing while my son was kidnapped in this house.”
“You don’t have a choice. The ambulance should be here within the next few minutes. Once he gets on Doc’s table…”
Carter blanches. He knows as well as I do that Doc would rather shoot himself than lose a patient, so unless Carter plans on standing outside and trying to get through Doc’s team to kill Lachlan…
“We’ll vote then,” Roman says. “That’s what this Council is for—so no one person has to make these decisions.”
Carter’s response is immediate. “No.”
“Right,” I say carefully. “So when the Dowing Family comes after you, don’t ask for my help fighting them.”
Lio and Roman exchange looks. “What do you mean?” my best friend asks.
“I mean, with Kieran dead, Lachlan is now in charge. The Senator doesn’t know the Family isn’t loyal to him, and if we allow Lachlan to die—after promising to protect him—they’d be well within their rights to retaliate.
Do you want to fight another war so soon after ending this one?
Because I can guarantee that’ll happen. I’ve done some digging since working with them, and Kieran ran a tight ship.
His men are loyal, and they're still reeling from losing him. Taking away their current leader? Bad move. It’s much better to keep Lachlan around.
He’ll owe us for not only saving his life, but taking the Senator out; it will give us leverage should we ever need it. ”
I let the three of them mull it over, content to wait however long it takes for them to come to the same conclusion I did months ago: it’s better to have a pawn like Lachlan on the board than not.
“Why didn’t he kill the Senator when he kidnapped Cole?” Lio asks in a hard voice.
“You’d have to ask him that, but I’m sure he had his reasons at the time.”
“He keeps going ghost on you,” Roman reminds me. “How do you know we can trust him?”
“I didn’t say we could trust him, not fully, but he could be an asset. This Council needs allies. Now that the two Families are joined, the only alliances we have is with the Bratva and Ely’s gang. With the new way you are doing things…it’s going to scare the old-timers. And what people fear…”
“They kill,” Roman finishes my thought.
I nod. “Yes. So, allies. No, you can’t trust them like the Bratva or Ely’s group, but then we have personal stakes there. As a Council, you’re still establishing yourselves. The Amato and Martelli names only carry so much weight when they’re coming from an unknown group.
“With the betrayal of the Jamaicans, the strife happening in the gang, and the raid on the Martelli whore house, we need to build contacts. It’ll only strengthen our position if we have more allies right out the gate, legitimizing us before the old guard can ever question if we’re serious or not.
Ely’s gang, the Bratva, and an Irish Organization that is ever growing…
Because even if none of us had heard of the Dowing name before this mess started, they still have a foothold in their own territory.
And with everything the Senator’s done, the press conferences, etc, they know the name now.
People will put two and two together, and well… ”
Lio sighs and scrubs his face. “I hate that he did nothing for Cole. My poor nephew was traumatized, and for what? You’re going to have a hard time with getting his dads to understand. Hell, with any of the Boys. I sure as fuck don’t understand it. I want nothing to do with him.”
“Same,” Roman says. He bites his lip. “If we vote to give him asylum, I do not want to see or hear him. He contributed—no matter how indirectly—to my brother’s pain.”
I nod in agreement. I understand where they’re coming from, and agree. Cole never should have been touched.
“I vote no,” Carter says. “Doc can save his life, but after that? Any follow up care, he can fucking find his own.”
Roman sighs, looking between Lio and Carter.
“I say yes. We’ll give him a place to recover, but he will be confined to a hospital room.
There will be a guard outside—hell, maybe even inside—his room twenty-four/seven, and he is not to have any contact with anyone except the medical staff, the Council, and you. ”
Lio is silent for a long moment, his gaze burning into mine.
I wish I had more time to reestablish our relationship—especially after he learned about the part I played in his Master’s kidnapping.
If this was before that, before he and Roman were taken, I could confidently say what his answer would be.
I wouldn’t have invested in him if I didn’t know I had him in my pocket, after all.
Now? I have to start over—thankfully, the foundation is already there.
“You’re certain that his Organization will wage war?”
“Yes. They’re not as small as they let everyone believe.
Not even the Senator knows their true strength and power.
Kieran and Lachlan really fucked him over from the shadows.
He wanted to be hands off, and he ended up losing what his father and grandfather built. Complacency is his ultimate downfall.”
I can see the conflict in Lio’s eyes, though his expression doesn’t give much away.
I understand, Cole is important to everyone, and Lachlan…
a lot of the shit this Family has been through could have been eased had he done more.
At the same time, Lachlan had to keep his cover for as long as possible.
Plus, with Roman and Lio still healing from their trauma this current war has brought…
is it worth putting everyone through another?
It’s my years of mimicking proper facial expressions that keeps me from smiling when I see Lio reach his decision, before he even says anything.
“Yes, but only as long as it takes to get him stable. I stand with Carter in that we will not do more than is necessary. Whether he lives or dies outside our care…that’s not our problem.
I will…make it known to the Boys, and the other Martellis, that he is your responsibility, and is not to be harmed.
And I mean that, Leandro. He is your responsibility.
If anything, and I mean anything, happens, you will be held liable.
The punishment we’re inflicting on you now?
You’ll wish we made you empty your entire bank account compared to what I’ll do to you. ”
I tilt my head in acknowledgement. “Fair.”
“Speaking of your punishment,” Roman says. “We gave you a grace period because of what was going on with Cole. Starting now, Oliver will no longer be on your guard. He’s been demoted to a field guard.”
“You can’t do that—”
“Yes, we can. You’re being punished; it’s not supposed to be something you agree with,” Roman says.
“You live under our rule, and this is our decision as a Council. We’re allowing Lachlan sanctuary for a few days while he recovers, and no one will touch him, but that means you’ll be assigned another guard because Anthony doesn’t deserve to be stuck with you alone. ”
“Be lucky we’re not banning him completely, or killing him,” Carter tells me. “Which, I’m sure if I asked Tennant, that’d be his answer.”
“As if Ten isn’t happy to get his hands on Oliver already, now that he’s even more under his purview.”
Carter shrugs. “He’s alive, that’s more than he or Lachlan deserve.”
I’m tempted to shoot him. Roman must guess what I'm thinking because he stands and moves in front of me.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” he hisses.
I stare at him, forcing a mask of indifference over my face. “I might live under your rules, but you do not control me.”
“You don’t get a pass. You’re paying for Antonio’s plastic surgery because it’s your fault he ended up traumatized and scarred further, and you are paying for your precious bodycams. The final nail in the coffin is that you are not allowed to have Oliver as your guard.
This is indefinite, and it is final. If you don’t want to live under this…
challenge us. Take your place as Julian’s heir; I dare you. ”
Well, well, well, Roman’s finally grown some balls. All it took was falling in love with Emilio and almost dying to achieve it. I’d be impressed, if his actions didn’t contribute to fucking with my life.
“Fine. I’ll accept your verdict. But your end of the bargain is ironclad.”
“We’ll make it clear to everyone,” Lio replies. The way he stresses the word “everyone” tells me it was for Carter’s benefit.
Whatever, they can clean that mess up themselves. I have better things to do.
“If that’s all, I have work.”
“Dismissed.” Roman steps back.
I turn my chair and open the office door, glad it’s a lever rather than a knob, so I don’t have to ask one of them to assist me.
Boston follows in my wake, though Midas stays with Lio. I almost feel petty enough to take the boxer as well, but…I’m a lot of things, cruel isn’t one of them. I trust the dog more than I do anyone else to watch over my investment.
Rather than going to Hollis’s and my office, I leave that wing of the house entirely, heading to my bedroom.
Pulling out my phone, I turn it on speaker as I transfer from my chair to the bed.
The call barely rings before it’s picked up. “Sir?”
“My bedroom. Now.” I hang up, so he knows I’m not playing games.
Palming my knife, I lean against my headboard. Oliver better hope he doesn’t disappoint me today… Because if he’s lucky, a few days off work will be all he needs to take, and if not? Well…the Council will know exactly how far I’m willing to go to prevent myself from being controlled.