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Victoria cuts me a sharp look, but I’m pretty sure the anger in her eyes isn’t directed at me. It’s all meant for Luca.
“It makes sense,” I tell the guys, stepping forward. “We already know how devoted he was to his wife. Losing her wrecked him, but after reading that letter he wrote, it doesn’t surprise me that he considers her burial site sacred ground. She was everything to him.”
Ryland nods slowly, seeming to mull the implications of Victoria’s suggestion over in his mind. “We can do it tonight. Leave here just after dusk and get into position before we contact Luca. Besides being neutral ground, it’s not a bad place for this kind of thing. Gravestones will provide some cover, and I’m sure it’s not well lit. If shit does hit the fan, there are worse places to be.”
“All right.” Marcus nods, finally slipping his gun back into his waistband.
He steps forward and holds out his hand, and although his jaw is clenched so tight that the muscles in his cheek stand out starkly, he keeps his expression neutral as he waits for Victoria to accept.
Thank fuck, she doesn’t make him wait. Her smaller hand swings out to grasp his, and they shake. Once.
That’s all it is, but it’s enough.
“I’ve got some weapons and ammo stashed in the basement,” Dom says, smoothing his unruly dark hair. “Nothing fancy, but it’ll give us more firepower than we have now.”
“Good.” Marcus glances over at my brother. “Show us. Then whoever hasn’t slept yet should get some rest. We’ve still got at least five hours until sunset, so we should make the most of it.”
Our impromptu meeting in the kitchen breaks up, and the men follow Dom down to the basement to grab the extra weapons.
That leaves me alone with Victoria in the kitchen, and I shift uncomfortably as I glance at her. I may be willing to accept her as an ally, but we’re a far fucking cry from being friends.
Still, I find myself respecting her. Yes, she tried to blackmail Marcus into marrying her, but she’s relinquished her claim. She gave it up as soon as she realized the game was an illusion, and I have to respect how fast she’s adapted to an assault of new information.
She could’ve held on to old grudges or clung to her initial plan, but instead, she accepted the chance to work with us to take Luca down.
She even accepted just one sixth of the prize she thought she was fighting for.
This whole time, she hasn’t been playing the same game as anyone else. Her game has had one objective and one objective only.
To save Jaden.
It’s harder to hate her when I know she’s capable of the kind of love that makes a person willingly walk into hell. It’s hard to hate her when I see the same thing in her eyes that I feel in mine when I look at my men.
Fierce, protective, consuming love.
But that doesn’t mean I have any idea how to make
small talk with her.
Fortunately, she saves me from having to worry about that by gesturing me over as she turns to the laptop.
“Come here. I’ll show you the layout of the cemetery. It’s the biggest one in Halston, so there are a few entrances and exits. I only have a general idea of where his wife’s headstone is, but I know there’s a giant angel statue above it, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.”
She taps a few keys and pulls up the website for the graveyard, clicking on a map that shows the network of single-lane roads that crisscross the large area. Then she points to a spot on the screen, presumably where Luca’s wife is buried.
“There.” She glances sideways at me, grinning slightly. “Seems fitting, doesn’t it? Under the statue of an angel, we’ll have a meeting with the devil.”
Chapter 20
The rest of the daylight hours seem to fly by.
I can’t tell if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. On the one hand, I’m anxious as fuck to get this over with already. I’m more nervous about our meeting with Luca tonight than I was about going to his party, and that’s saying something.
On the other hand, these last few hours before we leave seem precious. They’re the last hours that I know we’ll all be alive, that we’ll all be together and safe.
Whenever I let myself think about that too hard, I have an almost overwhelming urge to grab all three of the guys, drag them into the bedroom, and tell Victoria and Dominic to fuck off while I rip my men’s clothes off. But as desperate as I am to feel that connection with them, to revel in the fact that we’re all still alive, I know they’re as beat-up and exhausted as I am. And as tempting as an orgy sounds right now, it’s probably the worst possible way to prepare for a showdown with Halston’s most dangerous criminal kingpin.
So I just busy myself trying to prepare for tonight.
