ALESSIO #3
I feel Gabe stiffen beside me. He doesn't like his woman's integrity being questioned. Tough shit. There's too much at stake here to not look at every angle. Even if it means hurting his or his woman's feelings.
My jaw tightens. "I believe she thinks she saw something real."
Not a full yes. Not a no. Enough.
Massimo watches me for a long second, then gives me a slight incline of his head.
Decision made. "Then this just became more than business.
" His gaze hardens. "This is getting personal.
" He looks between all of us. "Which means we don't rush it.
We don't make mistakes. But we do move." His eyes settle on Damiano. "You'll take point."
Damiano is all in, serious now. "I'll get us that bastard. I'll hand him to you gift wrapped with a bow and ribbons."
Massimo's expression darkens. "Just get that bastard alive; we all have a stake in this kill."
"One more thing," Gabe's gaze turns to me, stopping the rest of us. "I'm going after Razor."
Fucking hell he will. Razor is the head of the Black Canyon Reapers, if he has anything to do with my mother… he's mine. "Not before I find out what my mother has to do with the Black Canyon Reapers."
We stare at each other. No give. A line drawn in blood.
"You don't get to call that," Gabe states evenly.
I pin him with a glare. “I just did.”
“That man is mine.” Gabe’s not backing down. “He’s connected to Audra. That makes him my problem.”
I rise from my chair to meet him. "Everything connected to the Black Canyon Reapers is my problem now. You don't get to run ahead on this." I play my trump card. "You're too close to it."
"And you're not?" he counters.
The silence stretches, taut and dangerous. Massimo exhales once, low and controlled. "Enough."
The word slices through us. We break eye contact. Massimo steps between the lines.
"Let's find out what the Black Canyon Reapers are up to." He keeps his voice calm but iron, looking at me first. "You'll have your hands full figuring out where your mother fits into this." Then to Gabe. "And you'll be busy tracking Javier Salazar down."
Javier is the guy who had ordered Audra and her husband taken. It was sheer luck that Gabe was stalking her and able to save her life. Her husband didn't get that lucky. So yeah, Gabe has other bones to pick.
I'm curious, though, why he wants Razor. What did the fucker do to Audra? Because if she was involved with the MC…
Massimo turns back to me. "You still have contact with the MC?"
I nod, forcing my posture to ease just a fraction. "Yeah. My old man's still with them."
"Good. Find out what you can." His attention shifts to Gabe. "Stay out of it for now." Then harder, "Razor is off limits."
Gabe's jaw shifts. "Understood."
Lie. We all hear it.
Massimo puts his arms around Gabe and me. "Good. Meeting's over."
Chairs shift. Glasses clink. But the tension lingers like smoke. As I turn, my shoulder brushes Gabe's. I pause just long enough to murmur, "Don't make me choose between you and this."
Gabe leans in. "Then don't stand in my way. Because I won't stop."
Our eyes lock, fire against fire. Before it can ignite, Damiano claps his hands once, wearing that bright, unhinged grin he always gets right before chaos.
"Well," he announces, flashing his pearly whites, "that was productive."
Then he flips the fucking table. The crash explodes through the room, glass shatters, wood slams against marble, chairs go skidding.
"What the fuck is this?" he snarls, kicking a chair hard. "This is bullshit, and you all know it!"
He storms toward the door, fury rolling off him in waves. "Yeah, let's all just sit around and talk while this asshole plays us. Great plan!"
He yanks the door open, stops, turns back. "Fuck you," he snaps, pointing at all of us. "Fuck all of you."
The smile is gone. Replaced by pure cold rage. Then he slams the door behind him. I exhale through my nose, and the corner of my mouth twitches despite everything. Damiano's stunt is gold, believable enough to sell division to anyone watching. The Collector will eat that shit up.
I’m only half-amused. His temper is nothing to joke about.
I should know. We've been tight for more than ten years.
He used to run drugs for me back when I was still building my piece of the empire.
Kid came from old money, the kind that traces back generations in the old country, but he dove headfirst into the life anyway.
Didn't need the cash. That curiosity is what made me give him the job in the first place.
Never regretted it. Even if his fuse is nuclear.
One minute he's buying you a drink and laughing like a madman over some suicidal run we pulled together, the next he's putting two in someone's chest without blinking.
I'm damn near well-adjusted when it comes to family and emotions compared to him.
Gabe and I share a look. Irritated acknowledgment. I turn first, mind already ten steps ahead. The Black Canyon Reapers. My mother's ghost. Dear old dad. Beccs. The Collector. All of it feels connected, and I'm done playing in the dark.
Time to renew some family ties… and start digging up the past.