28. Chapter 25 - Kellan
I paced the floor of the long ballroom, the original space just plaster and plywood the last time I had been here.
The doc was working on Aaron now. For all Lauchlan’s faults, the man had skills, and when he started speaking to the doctor in medical terms and offered himself as the helper, Doc gladly took him into the makeshift infirmary of a co-opted office space and a stretcher.
Hillary had taken over the construction contract when Aaron disappeared, and turned this place into a massive entertainment space that would have been warm and inviting—if I wasn’t terrified the man I’d been sent to kill all those months ago was actually going to die.
I’d missed three of her calls, and knew I had to call her back. She was going to kill me for waiting this long, but I couldn’t answer until I knew Aaron was going to be okay. I couldn’t be the one to tell her the man she’d admitted to loving was dead.
Carmen Delgado had targeted Aaron Rodriguez, which told me two things: she’d been hired to do it, even when Antonio directed me to make the kill, and that she or my father hadn’t believed Aaron was actually dead. She’d lured him out of his hiding spot today, and she could only do that if she’d suspected him to be alive. Which meant my father knew I hadn’t killed him after all.
We’d prepared for the possibility of needing to bring Aaron back from the dead—but not with Antonio in mind. The car crash was flawless, the cover story air-tight. If my father had trusted me, he never would have put her up to this.
Which meant I’d fallen out of my father’s favor, once and for all.
If I’d fallen out of my father’s favor, everyone around me was now in danger.
Thankfully, Lauchlan had killed Carmen. I would have preferred to put the bullet into her brain myself, but seeing Aaron bleeding out had made me panic. It was bad enough when I had to keep sharp eyes on Hillary’s every movement to keep her safe—now I had two people to worry over. When I wasn’t being a prick about it, I didn’t want Lauchlan dead either, though the man was a complete menace to everyone around him.
I wanted to blame him for Aaron’s injuries, but I’d seen how fierce Aaron was when he wanted something. The Rodriguez family had been allies with the Carlos Cartel for decades, and I’d watched from a distance as Aaron grew into a feared man as he took over his family’s brothel businesses. Lauchlan was his patsy—he would have found a way there, with or without him.
Whi ch meant we’d just gotten on top of one enemy, and had sped up the wrath of the other, bigger enemy. And as long as I stayed close to Hillary, they’d be in the direct line of fire when Antonio decided I was no longer useful.
I’d protected her from too much to get her killed now.
Hillary Lane was the woman I would die for; the woman I’d risk everything to save. I’d been running from my feelings for years. Why was it only when the world was falling around me, I could finally get my head out of my ass and admit I loved her?
But loving something meant letting it go. There was no way I could fight by her side in battle and be the sword and shield she’d claimed me to be. I would need to bring the war front to Antonio and leave her entirely out of it. She couldn’t wage war on an enemy already dead.
First though, I needed to know Aaron was okay. Hillary would kill me herself if I left her alone with the corpse of her lover and the cocky leprechaun for company. But then…
My phone rang again, its shrill sound breaking through my racing thoughts. I glanced at it, preparing myself for Killer’s number and how I was going to respond. But it was Antonio’s name flashing across the screen.
Fuck. Either I answered this and faced him like a man, or I cowered in the darkness until he found me like Carmen had found Aaron. My fate was now sealed in blood either way.
I answered the phone with a barking command. “Yes, sir?”
The familiar velvety tone came through the line.
“You have chosen your side, traidor .” My father’s voice held grim menace, a solemn vow of retribution. “I hope you are prepared to die for it. Your brothers are coming for you.”
Our Knight is on his last legs, but if they manage their moves, the King and Rook might save him.
How will Lucky get out of his contract with The Six?
Is Alvarez unreachable, or will the Queen bring him to his knees?
Will Kellan, Aaron, Hillary, and Lucky get their ultimate revenge against their parents?
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