Chapter 22
RAFAEL
In the hallway, my cellphone rings. It’s Adrian Kovacs. That’s not normal. I only have his number because of an art deal five years ago, and he’s never called since.
“Hello?” I say, answering.
“I’ve got friends, Bellini,” he grunts.
I swallow, leaning against the wall, tension throbbing in my head. So he wants a fight. “I know that.” So, he wants war. “You’re not the only one.”
“Relax,” he says quietly. “I don’t want this shit in my town, okay? I’ve got my family to think about. So, I asked around, told people to keep a lookout for your man.”
I tighten my grip on the phone. “You’ve got eyes on Tony?”
“One of my friends is tailing him. They’re not sure where he’s going yet.”
“Can you text me when you know?” I ask.
Adrian pauses, then says, “She’s a good person, Bellini. She’s got a good heart. And a real talent for her job. I’ll help you with this, but I need to know you won’t derail her. Let her live.”
“What the fuck do you think I am?” I growl.
“I know men of your profession, remember. I know a lot of them. And I had a chance to be in that life. But I saw what it makes them. I saw how it twists them into wanting to possess everything. Into thinking they deserve it.”
I grind my teeth so hard that I hear the sound in my skull. “I was never planning on derailing her, Kovacs.”
“You can’t blame me for not assuming you’re the exception,” he snaps. “So…”
“I’d never hurt her,” I tell him, glaring at the floor.
“I’d never even think about it. She’s… she’s magic, Kovacs.
We had one night, one night, and I’m…” Not the same, never the same.
“And now we have a kid, a little person I…” Love more than I ever knew I could. “No, I’m not going to hurt her. Fuck.”
“Then I’ll text you,” he says, hanging up without another word.
I stuff my phone in my pocket. She’s standing in the hallway when I turn, just outside the open door, chest heaving, hair a mess, but she’s never been more beautiful.
“I needed to say something,” she says.
When I approach, raising my hands to touch her – possess her? – she raises hers. “Rafe, please.”
The please almost breaks me. It’s like she’s begging because she knows, if we touch, we won’t be able to stop. We’ll ignite.
I stop and put my hands behind my back. That’s the only way to make sure I don’t touch her.
“Tell me,” I say.
She wrings her hands together, making it even more difficult not to touch her… to comfort her.
“It’s okay,” I whisper. “Whatever it is.”
“What Dad said in there. He can be, you know, old-fashioned. I’m not planning on moving that fast.”
I swallow. “That’s smart.” My voice comes out husky.
“You had to know I’d feel this way, surely. I’ve been alone for a year. It’s been, what, a week?”
I clear my throat. “I said that’s smart, Ava. It’s okay.”
She chews her lip, then lets it go, her eyes full of concern. “You don’t seem okay.”
“I meant it,” I tell her gently. “Every word. It would take some time, but I could transfer my businesses. I could make a life for our family.”
“You said you don’t hurt people,” she murmurs.
“Not people who don’t deserve it,” I grunt. “But when someone goes after a civilian, when someone kills one of our men…” I shake my head. “Rules change, angel.”
“But apart from that.” She rolls her eyes at me, as if she can’t take how surreal this is. “Your day-to-day?”
“I make my money because people are twisted fucks. I stop them from doing what they were doing and make a buck off it.” I’m speaking too freely, but it’s difficult not to with her. “And there are the men too. Their families. I protect them. Like my father… like he couldn’t protect my mother.”
She crosses the distance and puts her hand on my arm. “Rafe?”
“It’s nothing. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Your mother is nothing?” she says softly.
“No. God no.” I grind my teeth. “Fuck, Ava.”
“It’s okay,” she murmurs, rubbing my arm. “Whatever it is.”
I smile sadly. “Something like this happened before, a war broke out. Back then, my father was the Don. He fled the country without even telling my mother or me. I was just a little kid when they found us. They stormed into our house and… well, you know what men like that do. I saw it.”
“Oh, Rafe.”
“It’s fine,” I grunt, pushing the memories down. “But I saw it. And I ran like a coward.”
“Because you were a kid, and it was the only thing you could do.” She slams her hand on my chest, bringing me back to the moment.
She whimpers when I take her hand and pull her against me. “That was why I left alone last year. I thought the same thing was going to happen. When I ran, and I saw they were following me, all of them, I thought I’d done the right thing. Even if it tore me apart.”
“It’s okay,” she whispers.
“It’s not. I should’ve circled around, lost them, come back, and explained. I should’ve…”
“We can’t do anything about that now,” she says, taking a small step back. “But we can make the right choices going forward, yeah?”
“Together,” I say. “For Theo.”
“I’m so sorry, Rafe. About your mother.”
“Thanks,” I say quietly. My phone vibrates in my pocket. “That’s your boss.” I take it out. As expected, there’s a text from Adrian.
“Really?”
“He’s helping me,” I say, reading the address of the bar. “He’s a good person, Ava. I was wrong about him.”
I put my phone away and take two long strides. Wrapping her in my arms, I pull her in for a kiss. She meets my lips with an almost pained gasp, like she can’t take the closeness. But soon enough, she’s melting into me, her hands automatically curling around my waist.
She breaks away panting, knowing eyes staring up at me. “I’m assuming that text is urgent.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“So… raincheck.” She steps back with a small smile.
I turn and stride toward the elevator. It’s time to see my little cousin, perhaps wring his neck.
“The prick knew he had a tail,” I grunt.
Dante nods solemnly from the passenger seat. “Yep.”
He’s led Adrian’s man right across the city, to an upscale bar full of finance and tech bros and college kids.
There’s no way anyone is going to start a gun fight in a place like this.
It’s too public, too many civilians. They’ll want to avoid it for the heat.
And I just don’t want to kill people who don’t deserve it.
“I can still talk to him.” I reach for the door handle.
“I’ll come, just in case.”
“Hang at the bar.”
“That’s a plan.”
We walk across to the club together. There’s a long line, which I’ve got no interest in. Dante approaches the bouncer and offers him a wad of cash. He’s done it so many times, he’s got a routine to it. A minute later, the bouncer is waving us through the doors.
He weaves toward the bar. I notice the way women look at him. Maybe a few are looking at me too, but none of them even come close to Ava.
I scan the bar looking for Tony, assuming I might have to search the back rooms, but I don’t have to look far.
There he is. The slick prick is sitting at a corner booth with four bulky Hungarians surrounding him.
I walk across to the club and drop into the free seat.
Tony doesn’t look surprised to see me, a small smile playing at his lips.
He gestures to the men, then says something in Hungarian. When they’re gone, he moves to a seat closer to me, offering that shiny smile. “Evening, cousin.”
In my head, I’ve got my hand around his throat, squeezing until his eyes bulge and his face turns red. I’m shattering his teeth on the table. But that would mean a public fight. Perhaps guns and casualties. This fucking asshole.
“Since you came all this way to surprise me,” Tony says. “Maybe you should say whatever’s on your mind.”
“How do you think this ends for you?” I growl. “Honestly, Tony. What do you think happens?”
“There’s a good chance my men and I make the right play,” Tony says, shrugging. “You just don’t get it. Your father fled the country like a coward. He was going to let you die. And you think you still get to be Don?”
“I came through the ranks. I was a fucking enforcer. You’ve never been anything but a slick nothing.”
“A slick nothing with twenty guns at his back.”
“I don’t see twenty,” I snap.
“That’s the thing, cousin. I’ve got eyes everywhere. People watching you and your lady and the little brat.”
My blood goes ice-cold in my veins. My hands clench into fists, which makes my knuckles press painfully against my skin. This is bad, in meetings like this, showing emotion. I’m usually a rock. But not when it comes to Theo and Ava.
I lean in, somehow restraining myself, thinking of some college kid’s brains splattered on the floor because I lost my temper. “You’ve got eyes on us, have you?” I snarl. “Bullshit.”
“Nice hotel,” he muses, raising his eyebrows in gleeful victory. “Very clever.”
“What are you saying, cousin?”
“Do I need to say it?” He leans close. “Maybe I do. I thought you were smarter than that. If I get my hands on the little brat or that lady of yours, it’s game over. Think about it. What move would you have? Nothing. So, I hope she’s willing to be your prisoner forever.”
I’m vibrating with anger. Tony nods, and his posse returns to the table. I don’t have to turn to know that Dante is bristling, getting ready for a fight. He’ll no doubt be gripping his knuckle duster, ready to shatter some teeth and break some bones.
“I think we’re done here,” Tony says.
I stand, then offer a small nod. My blood is ice in my veins. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other soon, cousin.”
“Hope so,” he grunts.
I turn and walk away, knowing one thing for absolute certainty now. I’m going to kill Tony myself.