Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
Afew months ago, I felt a very small slice of guilt for what I did to the Albanians. Blaming them for Kenny’s death in order to protect Aurora, which resulted in two of their heirs being brutally murdered on their wedding night. And I know it was brutal, because my father made me watch.
But sitting across the table from their leader now, I don’t feel a single ounce of guilt. These fuckers are out to eradicate a whole damn family. My wife. And for that, they’re going to be sorry they ever breathed the named Valentino.
“I hear you’ve found yourself in some trouble of late,” I state.
The old man glowers at me. “Who you’d hear that from, boy?”
I’m on my feet in seconds. The gun that was sitting loosely in my hand under the table is now pointed squarely at his head.
“I’m not your fucking boy. Show some fucking respect or this meeting is over.
” I click the safety off and sit back down.
“I’m sure the Italians would pay double what you’re offering me. ”
“Then why are you here?” the old man asks.
“Because my father started this deal. I’m just here to honor it. As soon as I see the wire transfer, I’ll hand over the vial,” I tell him.
The old man nods his head and waves his fingers at the henchman behind him. I’m then shown the screen of his phone with the transfer being wired across. Once it’s sent, I pull the little vial out of my pocket and hand it over.
“Pleasure doing business with you. Let’s not do it again.” I push to my feet, ready to walk away.
“Not so fast. We need to test this first,” he says.
“Yeah? How you planning on doing that?” I lift a brow at him. And then my attention is drawn to someone being dragged into the room. An unconscious someone. Fucking Dante Valentino.
How the fuck did this idiot let these other idiots get the drop on him?
Fuck me. Now I have to get myself and him out of here. Not that it’ll be hard. I didn’t come alone. And these guys aren’t the best criminals. They haven’t even figured out that I’m married to a Valentino. How that hasn’t come across their radar, I have no idea.
“You took an heir?” I ask them.
“Like taking candy from a baby. Inject him,” the old man says.
“You inject him. Do I look like your fucking lapdog?” Now I’m just insulted.
Dante stirs, his head snaps back, and a growl leaves his throat. He looks around the room, assessing it, until his eyes land on mine. I give a subtle shake of my head, as if to say: You don’t know me.
“What the fuck is this?” he grits out, pulling at the ropes around his wrists.
“This? Well, it’s the beginning of the end.” The old man hands the vial to the guy behind him.
“What’s the plan here? Keep him for a few days until you know it works? It’s not instantaneous, you know?” I scoff. “The NaCl, the active ingredient in that vial, takes a few days to run its course through the blood.”
Aurora keeps telling me that her cousin is smart. I’m hoping for his sake he understands the meaning of my words. The vial they want to inject him with is nothing more than a saline solution.
“You won’t get away with this. Do you know who the fuck I am?” Dante yells.
“Yes,” the old man says. “But you’re wrong. Not only will I get away with it, I’ll win. Your entire family will be dead. Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of that pretty little girlfriend of yours for you.”
Dante’s head snaps back again and then swings forward into the Albanian leader’s face. His feet kick out, and the next thing I know, the old man is on the ground on his back. “I’ll fucking kill you!” Dante yells out.
Huh, guess he does have a bit of fight in him. I raise a hand, and within seconds, all the men I came with enter the room and surround us. Guns aimed at the Albanians.
I walk over to the old man, who is still on the ground. “You see, I wanted to let you walk out of here. But you did something that would really upset my wife.”
“What wife, boy?”
“You didn’t hear the good news? I got married. To Aurora Valentino.” I smile. I fucking love telling anyone who will listen that she’s my wife.
The old man’s eyes widen. He realizes his mistake. The one that will cost him his life.
“And that little fucker over there…” I wave the end of my gun towards Dante.
“…is my wife’s favorite cousin, which means I can’t very well let you kill him.
That would not make her happy.” I lift a shoulder.
“Happy wife, happy life, and all that.” I smirk down at him, the barrel of my gun pointed right between his eyes now.
“Enjoy hell,” I say before pulling the trigger.
At the same time, a chorus of gunshots ring out through the room.
When I turn around again, every single Albanian is on the ground.
“Good work, boys.” I look back over at Dante. “How the fuck did you let these assholes get you?”
“You wanna cut me loose?” he asks.
“Not particularly,” I grunt, walking behind him. I take my knife from its holster on my hip and slice through his bindings. “A thank you would be nice.”
“Thank you? What the fuck is going on here?” he grumbles.
“Business. Nothing you need to worry about. Obviously, because I saved your ass.” I smirk, knowing how much he’s hating this right now.
“Business, huh? What’s in the vial?”
I shrug. “Saline.”
“What did they think was in it?”
“A genetic virus that would wipe out the Valentino bloodline within a week,” I tell him.
Dante laughs. “And they believed that existed?”
“Yes, because it did. Until I destroyed it.”
“What?” He looks confused.
“Let’s go.” I walk out of the building. I don’t have the time or the energy for a Q&A session.
“Yeah, I’m not going with you,” Dante says from behind me.
“Suit yourself.” I continue towards the car. When I slide into the back seat, the door is held open and Dante jumps in. “Change your mind?”
“Yes. I want to see my cousin,” he says. “Does she know you’re doing shady deals that involve wiping out her entire family?”
“No,” I reply. “But by all means, tell her yourself.” The car pulls out into traffic. I’m not worried in the slightest about what he will say to Aurora. Because I know my wife, and her love for me isn’t fleeting. She’s not going to blindly believe shit people tell her.
Honestly, I probably could kill her cousin and she’d find a way to rationalize it in her head.
I wouldn’t do that to her, but I don’t think there is anything I could do that would make her walk away.
That knowledge doesn’t mean I’m going to abuse her love.
In fact, it’s the opposite. It’s because of that love that I want to cherish every single moment I have with her.
When we get back to the house, Dante strolls in behind me. “Wait here,” I say, leaving him in the foyer.
“Sure thing.” He salutes me in a cocky, asshole kind of way.
I head straight for the bedroom, knowing Aurora will likely be in there.
And sure enough, she’s sitting in the middle of the bed.
Gun in her hand and a blank look in her eyes.
I take a deep breath. It fucking breaks me every time I find her like this.
Knowing it’s my fault she now has fears she didn’t have before doesn’t help.
“Princess.” I take the gun out of her hand and set it beside her as I sit down next to her. “You’re okay.” Then I pick her up, settle her on my lap, and hold her against my body as tight as I can without hurting her.
“I’m okay,” she repeats.
My hand trails up and down her back. “How was lunch?”
“It was good. My dad wants to kill you for giving me a gun, though,” she says.
“Pretty sure he has a million other reasons for wanting me dead too.” I chuckle.
“How was your meeting?” She pulls back from me. I can see some of the light coming back to her eyes, and I consider my words for a moment.
“It went about as well as I expected. Your cousin is waiting for you downstairs.”
“Which one?” she asks.
“Dante.”
Aurora jumps off my lap. “Dante’s here? Why?”
“He wanted to see you.” I shrug. I know what he’s going to tell her. I could tell her all about it myself, but I don’t want to miss the look on his face when she brushes him off.