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“Tristan?” Her voice yanked me back to the now.
“Right.” I shook off the unease. “We’ve got to move.”
I had no idea when Silvio would show his face, but the thought of him walking through that door had my heart pounding like a drum against my ribs. We needed a way out, and we needed it yesterday.
“Kieran,” I barked into the phone, pacing by the window where the sea stretched out calm after the storm—deceptive peace. “It’s time to shake things up. Rig an explosive on the gate. If we’re going to be seen, let’s make it damn unforgettable.”
“Explosives, Tristan? That’s your plan?” Kieran’s voice crackled with static and skepticism.
“Got a better one?” I shot back, peering through the slats in the blinds. Nothing yet, but that meant nothing.
“Fine,” he relented after a beat. “But if this goes south, it’s on you.”
“Everything’s on me, lad,” I muttered, quickly ending the call. Adriana was watching me, eyes sharp as daggers; she didn’t need to say it—I knew she was judging every call I made.
“Listen,” I said, softer now, “your dad... If there’s another way, I’ll find it. But right now, it’s us or them.”
“Us,” she whispered, and there was steel in that single word. It wasn’t a choice any of us wanted, but it was the one we had to make.
“Us,” I agreed, and waited for the world outside to explode into chaos.
It didn’t take long. Kieran came prepared, just as he always did, and we only had to wait a few more minutes before we heard the explosion outside.
Adriana and I, we were on our feet in an instant, the force of the blast rattling through us like a promise of violence yet to come.
“Move!” My voice was sharp, a blade slicing through the haze of danger. We bolted for the stairs, the structure groaning under the stress as if it too yearned for escape. I could feel the tension coiled in Adriana’s frame, her determination matching my own step for desperate step.
The wrought iron gate that once barred our way laid twisted and smoldering, remnants of Kieran’s handiwork. I didn’t allow myself a moment to admire the destruction; there was no time for that. Every second counted, every breath was borrowed time.
We descended, the chill of the winter air biting at our exposed skin, a reminder that this was Boston, not some tropical hideaway where sins could be washed away with the tide. The planks beneath us creaked in protest, but held their ground, offering us a treacherous path to what we hoped would be freedom.
I reached the bottom first, my hand instinctively reaching back for Adriana’s. Her fingers slipped into mine, sweaty, cold, clammy. She was scared. We dashed across the sand, hearts thundering in unison against the cage of ribs that struggled to contain them.
But the hope that had surged within me, fueling my muscles and clouding my judgment, shattered as swiftly as it had bloomed. They were waiting for us—Silvio’s men—like wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing, their guns a grim punctuation to the serene midday scene around us.
“Damn,” I hissed, feeling Adriana tense beside me. There was no mistaking the cold intent in their eyes, no doubting the orders they’d been given. Silvio’s command ran deep, and these men were his loyal instruments of enforcement.
Maybe my dad had been right. Maybe, by backing off from the engagement that night, I had signed a death warrant for all the Callahans.”
“Callahan?” The one in front, a bulky guy with a jaw like concrete, stepped forward. He didn’t need to ask me, of course he knew who I was. His voice was a low rumble, devoid of warmth or welcome. “You’re coming with us.”
Chapter Twenty-One: Adriana
“You heard me, Tristan,” Vinny’s voice boomed, his heavy boots thudding on the wooden floor. “You’re coming with me.”
I knew this man. I’d seen him during countless business deals with my dad. Now he stood there, bigger than Tristan, looking at him as if he was nothing.
I moved instinctively, placing myself between them. “Wait!” My voice was fierce, protective. “He’s with me. I’m an Orsini, remember?”
Vinny’s dark eyes flickered to mine, cold and unyielding. “Of course I remember. But orders are orders,” he grunted, dismissing me with a look. “And you ain’t the boss, Adriana. Your father is.”
Panic clawed at my throat, but I swallowed it down. “Please, Vinny,” I begged, my voice dropping as I tried to reason with him. “Don’t do this. You don’t have to…”
Vinny’s expression softened for a second, but Tristan wasn’t waiting for negotiations. With a swift movement born from years of surviving in the shadows, he lunged at Vinny.
“Tristan, no!” I cried out, my heart pounding as their bodies collided with a sickening thud. I watched, frozen, as they grappled with each other, the sound of fists meeting flesh as they fell on the cold, wet asphalt. I wanted to tear them apart, to scream until they stopped, but fear for the tiny lives inside me rooted me to the spot.
“Stop, please!” My plea was drowned by the violence before me. Tristan’s face was set, his blue eyes blazing with a determination that matched Vinny’s own relentless force. They were two titans locked in a battle that I couldn’t bear to see.
