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Lucian comes running down the stairs and we pull apart. He hurtles to a stop beside us and jumps up and down and I wonder what's got him so excited. "I found my room." He spreads his hands out to the side. "It's this huge."
I'm sure it's a lot bigger than what he's pointed out, and I wink at Xander, who laughs as he follows Lucian back up the stairs to show him what he calls a box of toys.
The men are pulling our bags into the house behind me, and I walk over to the kitchen, where I find dinner has already been cooked and is idling in the microwave. Whoever had prepared it is gone, though, because I don't find anyone in the kitchen.
Apart from the men Xander had brought with us, it's just my family here with me. The air halts in my lungs as I think of that. Father and son upstairs, together, the laughter of their voices spilling to me down here.
There's nothing I could want more than this. I place my hand over my stomach and inhale the scent of sea and salt. It's a gently soothing feeling, and I revel in it.
28
XANDER
I received the call in the afternoon. Mother's voice had been thin and clogged with tears. She'd asked if I'd been alone, and then she'd whispered the words I'd half been expecting. "Your father's dead. He's finally gone."
I'd gone cold, tightening and redrawing into myself. I'd called the airport, had the plane prepared for a flight back, and grateful Mel had gone out on the town with Lucian, I'd driven to the airport alone.
It was evening now, the air still as my brothers and I huddled around the family house. Nobody was saying much, and the space seemed chillingly quiet for the number of people gathered in the living room.
Mother sniffles and wipes at her eyes. "Do any of you need anything? A meal? Some coffee?"
Her eyes are pleading, as though she's asking us to give her something to do with herself. Her green eyes are cloudy, filled to the brim with tears that she holds back. I shake my head no; my stomach is too knotted to let anything slip past my clenched lips.
"I'll have some coffee, mother. Actually I'll come with you." Knox says. He stands and follows Mother, hugging her gently to his side as though to offer her strength. I watch them go, then close my eyes and lean back into my chair.
"It's your turn now." It's Alec. His voice is quiet, a confirmation of something I already know. The weight of leadership, of responsibility, now rests squarely on my shoulders.
"Can we not talk about this today?" Declan rasps out.
I open my eyes and run a hand through my hair. "I'll inform the Famiglia by morning. Get ready for the meeting."
"We should bury him first." Declan's voice breaks the heavy silence. He stands and walks to the window.
For the first time in a long fucking while, Declan doesn't look put together. His hair isn't slicked back perfectly against his skull, and his agitated pacing shows not an iota of control.
He paces the room, a caged restlessness that mirrors the storm within. The loss of control, the unraveling of the carefully crafted facade, is a testament to the depth of his grief.
I turn to him, frustration lacing my words. "We will. But the meeting will be held tomorrow. We always knew this would happen. We've been preparing for it for years now. We will not hide our faces in the sand and pretend reality doesn't exist." I snap at Declan, who glares at me.
I fist my hands at my sides and stand. "Do you understand? You will be at the meeting bright and early."
He nods and I leave the room. The men of the Famiglia will be here soon. The most high ranking members at the table will want to know if he is dead. Truly and fully gone.
And they will want to sniff like sharks at the smell of blood, searching for a weakness they will never find in me.
I'm glad Melissa is gone. That she's away safe and tucked away in Cabo where none of this will get to her.
I'll call her later when I have a better grasp on my emotions. When I know how to tell her the man who trained and reared me is dead. When I don't feel this cold fist of air in my chest strangling my every breath.
I am relieved that she is spared from the intricacies of our dark world, shielded from the machinations that now require my undivided attention. Even more so, that Lucian doesn't have to see this.
Exiting the house, I feel the cool night air on my face, a stark contrast to the heated emotions within. The famiglia will demand answers, and I will provide them. My father’s death marks a shift, a transition that we cannot afford to stumble through.
Alec follows beside me as I walk to the car. “He’s right, you know.”
I glare at him. “The responsibility doesn’t fall to you. Do you know what happens to men who don’t protect their ranks? They get trampled by rabid dogs who want their share of the meat.”
“It doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to mourn Father.”
