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We stand in front of the pile of ash and smoke for as long as Harper wants, but unlike Harper, I know all three of us are keeping a strong eye out for Declan or anything else that seems nefarious. I have two dozen of my men posted up and down the street, and I haven’t seen so much as Declan’s shadow, but that doesn’t mean it’s not coming. He had already accomplished this under my men’s watchful eye.
I’m not going to lie and say my first instinct wasn’t to ring Trevor’s neck the second we made it to the scene, but I knew this wasn’t on him. Once I spoke to the fire investigator, he confirmed that there was nothing Trevor could have done. Based on what’s left of Sandra’s photography studio, it looks like someone broke into her building and busted through the connecting wall to get into the bookstore. All it would have taken was some fire-starter on a couple of bookshelves and a match, and the whole thing would have burst into flames. The fire investigator said he would do his best to determine the cause, but with how severely damaged everything is, it will be hard to know for sure. However, one thing he did assure me was that this fire was started by someone. He couldn’t figure out a single way it would have started on its own.
My phone starts to vibrate in the front pocket of my jeans, but I let it ring out, not wanting to draw my attention away from Harper. It stops vibrating, and a moment later Mac’s goes off.
“Answer it, Mac. It could be important,” Harper prompts him. He looks over his shoulder at me, and I nod. Mac quickly kisses the side of her head and steps a few feet away to answer his phone.
“This has to end. He’s taken enough from me.” Harper’s voice isn’t wobbly. Instead, she says it strong and sure. As if she knows, without a doubt, this is the last time Declan Whelan will hurt her in any way.
And she’s right. Because she has us, and I know I speak for us all when I say I would rather slit my own wrists than see him hurt her ever again. She deserves everything good and beautiful in this world, and Declan Whelan has done nothing but attempt to destroy every ounce of light in her life.
It’s time he pays for what he’s done. To Harper and her parents, Finn and his parents, and everyone else’s life he’s destroyed in the name of power. I will end him, just like I did my own father. And just like I did my own father, I won’t lose an ounce of fucking sleep over it.
“We’ll put an end to all of this, Angel. We swear it.”
“Pick us up here,” Mac demands as he races over. “Thanks, Sebastian.”
“What now?” Finn asks.
“Sebastian traced the vehicle that fled from the other side of the building right before the fire started. Followed it to a dive bar. The two guys that were in it are still there. You’ll never guess where the bar is?” Mac’s grin grows eerily wide.
“The anticipation is killing me, brother.”
“Right down the block from one of our warehouses down at the docks.”
What a couple of fucking morons.
“Enzo and Luca are on their way here now to pick us up. They should be here any minute.”
I nod my head at Finn. “Go with Mac. I’ll stay with Harper.”
I watch as both of them hesitate, likely remembering the last time I was left alone in the penthouse with Harper while they took care of business. It takes everything in me not to take it personally, but I get it. Thankfully, Harper speaks up, “We’ll talk to Ralph when we get there. We’ll be okay. Go.”
She swipes a stray hair off of Mac’s forehead before standing on her toes to kiss his lips. “Be careful.” Turning, she does the same to Finn. “Come back to me.”
The sound of Luca’s red ‘74 Chevelle cuts through the noise of the city as he rounds the corner onto our street. I see he’s not trying to fly under the radar today. That car is his pride and joy, but it sticks out like a sore thumb, and I swear to God you could hear it from Staten Island.
Luca slides to a stop just beyond the caution tape, not bothering to get out of the car, knowing time is of the essence. Enzo rolls down the passenger side window and gives Harper a wink. “Hey, Bella.”
“Love you, Pretty Girl. Be back soon.” With one last kiss, Mac moves toward Luca’s car and climbs in the back seat.
“We’ll make them pay, Angel. I love you.”
“I love you,” she says before he follows my brother. The moment Finn’s door closes Luca peels off down the street.
“Come on, Baby, let’s get you home.”
44
Mac
“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Luca says from the driver’s seat. “But isn’t that one of your warehouses we just passed?”
I don’t bother asking him how or why he knows that because I know the answer.
Sebastian.
“Sure is,” Finn answers from his seat next to me. “Fucking idiots didn’t even bother to do their homework before they started drinking themselves into a stupor.”
