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I lower my hands and stand my ground. He stops ten feet away. Close enough to menace, too far to threaten.
“Suffering. Did you do it?”
He nods once. “I ordered it, yes.”
I release a breath as if kicked in the gut. “Why?” I ask, not understanding. “We had a deal. We were… we were fixing things.”
His face morphs again. This time, no more smile, only a simmering rage. “Fixing thing?” He shakes his head slowly. “There’s no fixing things. That’s what you don’t understand yet. The dead don’t return and what’s lost isn’t restored.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Ten years ago.” He practically spits the words. “My father. Murdered because of that family in there.” He points at the hospital, lips tugged back to show his teeth. “I returned to Phoenix not for some business opportunity, not to reclaim a single club or a piece of territory, but to get revenge for what they did to me.”
I stare at him. Sweat rolls down my arms, but I feel a chill in my feet. He’s looking at me like he wants to crack himself open and bleed onto the ground. He wants to prove his sincerity, and the only way to do that is to suffer. What can I do for a man like this? Crazed by revenge. Still seeking it after so long.
Like me.
“Why Fynn?”
He shakes his head. “That was a mistake. Poor planning and worse execution. They were supposed to kill Casso, but mistook Fynn for him. Your husband survives only because my men are incompetent, but don’t worry, they’ve been punished.”
“Why Casso? What did they do to your father?”
He steps closer. I step back and nearly slip off the edge of the curb.
“Come with me, Olivia. It’s not too late to get away from these people. You have no idea how dangerous they are. I tried to stop all this ten years ago, but I made mistake. I made some terrible mistakes. I’m here to fix all that now.”
“Come with you? After you just tried to kill Casso? And might’ve killed Fynn?” I shake my head, spinning, dizzy with uncertainty. A week ago, and I might’ve taken him up on this offer. There was a time when I wanted exactly this—to use Danil to escape my fate.
Now I can’t imagine abandoning Casso. Not in his moment of grief.
“Stop whatever this is,” I tell him. “Revenge isn’t going to fix anything, Danil, it’s only going to make more grief. Let the war go.”
“Like you have?” He sneers now, head tilted. “You seem to have gotten comfortable with the Bruno family. Did you forget all about your father selling you like a piece of property? Or did you forget about your brother?”
I glare at him, anger flaring. “Fuck you. I haven’t forgotten anything.”
“Then find out who killed him if you think you know your husband so well. Really find out who pulled that trigger, and once you know, come find me. I’ll be waiting to help you see how it’s all been them from the start.”
He steps back once, twice, then turns and walks to the line of cars. I watch him go. He slips between a truck and a sedan and disappears to the next row.
“Hey, Olivia!” I jump and cringe. Karah’s coming toward me, shading her eyes, looking haggard. “Holy shit, it’s hot out. Were you talking to someone?”
“Just a guy,” I say, the lie slipping from me without any effort.
“Casso’s back from seeing Fynn and wants to talk to you. Are you sure you’re okay?”
I nod once, glance at where Danil disappeared, and turn away. Karah frowns at me and I’m sure I look like hell, pale and on the verge of tears, but we’re all a mess.
I’m an island. I’m a fortress. I’m a rock.
“Let’s go see my husband,” I say softly. “I bet he needs me right now.”
Though what Danil said keeps playing in my head: find out who killed Manuel.
It’s all been them from the start.
Chapter 19
Olivia
Casso refuses to go home. He kisses my hands, bleary-eyed, exhausted. “Everyone else is heading back. You should go too.”
“I don’t want to leave you.” The endless drone of the hospital AC system groans in the background. Outside, a construction crew jackhammers the road, a nightmare groan of broken gravel. The waiting room is stuffy despite the constantly flowing air.
“Doctors say only one person can sit in Fynn’s room overnight right now and it’s going to be me. You can’t do a thing lying around in the waiting room. Go home, get some rest, come back first thing.”
I reach up and touch his face. He smiles at me, turns slightly into my hand. I get on my toes and kiss him, and he kisses me back.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without you,” he says softly, nuzzling against my throat. “Just having you here is like having oxygen to breathe.”
