AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Our past had caught up to us. And everything was about to change.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Adriana
Igrabbed the blanket and bunched it around my chest as Tristan stalked toward the door of the hotel room, his piece in his hand.
My stomach knotted as the knocking on the door became louder and more insistent. I watched Tristan, his back to me now as he moved towards the door. He was a silhouette in the dim lighting, strong and confident yet undeniably dangerous. He was only wearing his boxers, which I would’ve focused on if it weren’t for the fact that my life was in imminent danger.
“Who is it?” Tristan called out, placing one hand on the door handle, his other gripping his gun tightly.
“It’s me,” a voice replied, and Tristan immediately relaxed. “Your favorite brother.”
“Kieran,” Tristan muttered, his grip loosening on the gun. My breath hitched at the mention of his name. Kieran was here? In Delaware? His arrival could only mean one thing: that the mafia’s shadow had finally caught up with us.
Fuck.
As Tristan pulled the door open, I quickly scanned the room for some clothes, grabbing my discarded shirt from the floor and hurriedly slipping it over my head. I was just pulling it down around my waist when Kieran entered the room, stopping in his tracks as he took in the sight of me.
“You’re not my favorite brother,” Tristan said.
A smile pulled at the corner of Kieran’s mouth. “Clearly,” he quipped, his eyes flicking from me to Tristan. His casual demeanor didn’t match the tense set of his jaw. He was worried, but attempting to cover it with humor, as usual.
Tristan shot him a glance and Kieran’s gaze dropped to me again, apologetic this time. “Sorry for interrupting…whatever was happening here.”
His gaze darted between the two of us.
“Unless I’m not sorry and you want to share?”
“Watch yourself,” Tristan said, his voice a growl.
Kieran chuckled softly, holding up his hands in surrender. “Just joking, brother. You know me.” His voice was light, but the look he shot Tristan was sharp and probing.
“What’s happened?” Tristan demanded, crossing his arms over his bare chest. I noted the tension in his shoulders, the way his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. The joviality from moments ago was replaced with an alarming seriousness.
Kieran’s gaze slid to me and then back to Tristan, a silent question in his eyes. Tristan gave a curt nod, as if to say I could be trusted, and Kieran seemed to relax a fraction. He cleared his throat before speaking again.
“There’s been some...rumblings back at home,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “Dad’s getting nervous.”
“Dad’s always nervous,” Tristan said dismissively, leaning against the doorframe with a nonchalant posture that didn’t fool anyone. “How did you know we were here? How did you get here so quick?”
“Well, many years ago, the Wright brothers invented flight,” Kieran replied.
“Smartass,” Tristan snapped, his eyes flashing with annoyance. “I meant, how did you track us down?”
“I have my ways,” Kieran said smoothly, giving a careless shrug that didn’t match the weight of his words.
“Stop it. Tell me or I’m going to beat it out of you,” Tristan said. He sounded serious.
Kieran sighed, the humor fading as he turned serious. “I’ve been keeping tabs on you since you left, Tristan. We’re family. We look out for each other.”
Tristan’s jaw tightened, and his grip around his arms flexed. “Thanks for the backup, lad,” he said, the words dripping with sarcasm. “But we were doing just fine until you showed up.”
“You don’t understand. Dad has good reason to be nervous. There’s a sort of uneasy peace between the Orsinis and the Callahans right now seeing as you two are on the run together, but…”
He trailed off, swallowing hard.
“But what?” Tristan pushed, his voice taking on a dangerous tone. The jovial brotherly banter had evaporated, leaving behind a tension that clung to the air like a thick fog.
“But it’s precarious,” Kieran finished quietly, meeting Tristan’s gaze head-on. His normally light-hearted demeanor was replaced by an air of seriousness that felt all too unsettling. “You being here with Adriana…it’s causing ripples.”
