Chapter 19 #3
I turned around to stare at him, and he wore a bright, delighted smile on his face like he’d just said the cleverest thing in the world. Rhys groaned softly as he rubbed his forehead. Devlin attempted to hide a snort behind his hand. Jace looked at both of them. “What?”
“Fuck me,” I muttered as I turned back around to glare down at Rank. My head hurt. Rank couldn’t give me any information I wouldn’t find out on my own. At this point, every second he continued breathing felt like razors on my skin.
I crouched next to Rank on the tarp. “Thanks for your service,” I murmured as I drew the blade across his throat. Blood poured out onto the plastic. He gurgled, lips moving but unable to form words. Soon, he’d be unable to breathe, either.
I stood and turned my back to Rank. Jace watched him bleed out with a satisfied smirk, while Rhys kept his eyes on Jace. And Devlin…
Devlin watched only me, his expression nearly serene.
An hour later, while a few of my men cleaned up what was left of Rank, I sat in our meeting room with my officers and Devlin.
“If they told anyone about Devlin, they were paid for the information and told to keep it quiet,” Hack said. “I’ve checked every channel I could, and there’s nothing out there about the Detroit Devil still being alive, let alone in Jersey.”
I chewed my thumbnail and glanced over at Devlin. He sat next to me with his arms crossed over his chest, his face tight as he stared straight ahead.
“They wanted Cian dead.” He told my officers the same thing he’d told me. “I heard them talking while we were hiding. I wasn’t the target. They didn’t even know who I was. They thought I was just another member of the O'Shea crew.”
“I think they sold Rank’s information to someone willing to pay them more to take me out instead,” I said.
“The Russos haven’t been actively taking jobs lately.” Hack tapped the table with two fingers. “Word is they went exclusive with the Bianchis.”
The Bianchis were an old mob out of New York City, and they’d seemed content to stay there. I’d heard rumblings they were looking to expand across New Jersey to Atlantic City, but I’d dismissed them when there’d been no activity.
Now there’d been activity. Because if the Bianchis were behind what happened to the Bonnams, I was next. And that would severely complicate my life.
Devlin sat up straight. “Do the Russos know Cian is still alive? Do you think they told the Bianchis?”
Hack shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Devlin turned to me, his expression like thunder. “We have to find them.”
“I’ve been working on it since before Rank even talked,” Hack said. “I think I tracked them here.” He spun his computer around and pointed to a spot on the map in South Jersey, near the coast. “They have a safe house here, and they’ve been there since you were shot.”
“We need to hit them before they move or try to kill me again.” I watched the screen while Hack cycled through satellite images of a cabin. “If the Bianchis are behind it, they won’t stop after one failed attempt.”
My shoulder ached, and a headache bloomed between my eyes that felt like a blade in my skull. We wrapped up the meeting so I could get some rest. The threat of war loomed on the horizon.
Up in my apartment, I collapsed onto the bed as I watched Devlin brush his teeth through the open doorway to the bathroom. I liked him in my space. I liked him in my bed. He understood my life better than I did some days.
He turned off the light and padded toward the bed in a pair of boxer briefs.
As he slid under the sheets, I immediately pulled him against me, smiling to myself when he let out a little grunt of protest. I liked having him in my arms when his nightmares woke me up, because then I could wake him up.
He hadn’t had one in a few days, though. I liked to think I was the reason.
I nuzzled the back of his neck as I curled my body around his.
He’d refused to discuss any kind of future with me, so I’d stopped bringing it up—for now.
Only until this shit with the Russos was over.
I couldn’t let him continue to believe this bond between us was temporary.
He belonged here with me, with my crew, and in my life.
I’d even begun to entertain the idea of a different kind of life.
A life where I quit all this bullshit with guns and money and secret safes, and just…
lived. One where I could work at O’Shea’s and live a quiet life with my best friend, my brother, and my man.
I opened my lips on the side of Devlin’s neck to taste his skin, and he gave a contented sigh that perked up my dick.
For so long, I’d thought the path in front of me only went one direction.
I’d been raised as the heir to the O’Shea crime family, and my primary focus had been to overtake my father and be a better leader.
Then it had been to avenge his death, because that would’ve earned me full control of his crew.
But Devlin’s presence in my life had cleared the fog, revealing different paths for my life.
Paths where maybe I could keep him safe alongside Jace, Rhys, and my friends.
First, I had to get rid of the fucking bounty on my head.
Then I’d chain Devlin to me and lead him toward something better for both of us.