I shove him against the brick wall, cutting him off mid-sentence. “I lied. There’s nothing left to talk about at all.”
His eyes grow wide. “Please, just tell me what you want.”
A car pulls up behind us, the trunk popping open.
I lean in. “I’ve already got it all.”
With that, I grab him by the collar, toss him into the waiting trunk, and slam it shut.
5 hours later
“Well, that was fun. Thanks for making the time, guys.”
“When you said you wanted a bachelor party the night before your wedding, I didn’t think you had this in mind,” Rafe drawls, leaning against a wall of our makeshift torture room.
Alessio did a fucking excellent job getting it set up. It’s pretty much a replica of his “palace,” but a bit cozier and more intimate.
When I invited him to join Rafe and I, he looked flattered. When I told him my plan, I swear, I’d never seen him so excited.
He glances at Rafe from where he’s packing up his tools. “I wish I could convince Cosimo to do something like this. Instead, he’s got Romolo planning his bachelor trip to Sicily. Rom always gets too many girls and not enough real entertainment.”
Rafe narrows his eyes. “Your brother’s marrying my sister. Tell him if he gives her chlamydia, I’ll cut off his dick, sauté it, and force-feed it to him for breakfast.”
Alessio smirks. “I’ll relay the message.”
I chuckle. These two are something else.
With the Bratva pushed out of the city, the Messeros and the Ferraros are the undisputed rulers of New York, but that doesn’t mean the joining of the families has been smooth sailing.
We’re still all learning how to work together without wanting to break each other’s necks, but we’ll get there eventually.
I clap my hands together. “Alright, enough chitchat. We’ve got to get our guest of honor all packed up and tossed into a river.”
For all the tough-guy posturing Brett did back in Darkwater Hollow, he broke swiftly and easily.
But we didn’t rush it. We took our time making him pay. I wanted him to feel ten times the fear and terror that Sunshine felt when she was taken by the Raptors.
I wanted him to hurt.
And he did.
Alessio slaps his hand against my shoulder. “Rafe and I have a crew coming to handle it. We figured you did enough cleanup for a lifetime during your few weeks with me.”
“Seriously? Fuck, you guys are spoiling me.”
Rafe’s lips quirk into a rare smile. “That’s what friends are for. Now, let’s get out of here.”
As we step out into the night, the cool air hits my face, and I take a deep breath. The stars twinkle in the clear Kentucky sky, and I feel like everything is exactly where it’s supposed to be.
“Gentlemen,” Rafe says, brushing off his hands, “I’d say this was a productive evening.”
I run my fingers through my hair. “Yeah. Just the kind of send-off I was hoping for.”
This was the last loose end I needed to tie up before the wedding.
I’m about to marry the woman I love. Again. And nothing—not even the ghosts of the past—will stand in my way.
BLAKE
