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. Women never came close to competing with that.
But for Sadie, I might have had to kill the fucker.
That didn't sit right with me. Threatened everything I thought I knew about myself, another symptom of the change Sadie inspired in me from the moment I first saw her.
I led the way, nodding my head for Bryan to join me at the front of the pack as we made our way up the steps and greeted Liam's men. "He's waiting in his office," one of them said, his face remaining expressionless as he turned on his heel with military precision and made to guide us into the elegant home.
The interior of the Bellandi estate had been professionally decorated, and Ivory had taken over a year to put her stamp on the space before erasing that cold feeling that dominated the home Matteo grew up in. Liam's estate lacked that chill. Traces of a woman's personal touch were littered throughout, with little decorations and photos everywhere the moment we stepped inside. I briefly wondered if it had been his wife's doing before she died, or if Aoife had put her stamp on the home she'd be forced to leave soon if we didn't intervene on her behalf.
Liam sat behind his desk, tapping his pen against it as he studied whatever paper was in front of him. His man knocked on the door frame, announcing our arrival as I moved into the office. I studied all the exits, the windows at his back and the French doors leading to the backyard. Positioning myself between Liam and those doors with my back to the rear wall, I widened my stance to be comfortable, and watched. Liam stood once he caught sight of Matteo, moving around the desk to greet him with a friendly smile. The wrinkles around his eyes crinkled with the force of it, the grey hair at his temples marking how much he'd aged since the last time I attended a meeting between the two men. It hadn't even been a year, and yet the physical signs of the growing split in his syndicate were tangible in the lines of his face.
"Liam," Matteo greeted, smiling tightly. It was as close to a friendly smile as he managed when he wasn't solely with the closest members of his inner circle.
"Matteo. What was so urgent, my boy?" he asked, stepping back around his desk. After gesturing for Matteo and Lino to take their seats, he steepled his hands and watched while Ryker handed Matteo the file he held in his grip. Matteo didn't waste any precious time stalling with the news that he knew would likely rock Liam's world. He dropped the folder on top of Liam's desk, and the Irish man sighed before leaning forward and rapping his knuckles against it twice. "I'm not going to like what's in here, am I?"
"No," Matteo returned, giving a subtle shake of his head. His eyes instantly went to Liam's men throughout the room. I echoed his sentiment, knowing full well just how deceptive people you thought were loyal could be.
Emilio had been one of the men to help me in my transition. He'd seen the potential in me if he could navigate me away from such a strict sense of right and wrong. He’d shown me that there was a place where I could exist as I was and not deal with the pressures of returning to a society that didn’t accept me, as if war hadn't changed me.
With the Bellandis, seeing a threat in every corner was a gift that often kept me alive, but nobody had seen the threat Emilio himself was until he'd tried to give Samara to her abusive ex-husband and worked with Lino's father to sell her off.
"Leave us," Liam announced, nodding at his men when they hesitated. I suspected Matteo's relationship with the old man was more involved than he liked to let on, given the absolute trust that was required of a man willing to dismiss his safety net when dealing with a roomful of armed, dangerous men.
Even Yavin was a formidable opponent. He was often forgotten, being the friend that Lino brought into the fold when they'd been mere children. But in order to become a made man, he’d had to survive Lino and Matteo's fathers. The men who thought only men of Italian heritage had a place in the inner circle. It took an intense inner strength to accomplish such a thing. His fighting ability and knowledge of weapons had been rough around the edges when I started working for Matteo.
I'd remedied that years ago.
Silent. Unexpected.
Deadly.
Once his men cleared out of the room and closed the door behind them, Liam opened the envelope and pulled the photos free. He winced, no doubt horrified with the sight of the man he'd entrusted his only daughter to. Exploding in high-quality prints, photos of Tiernan meeting with men loyal to him. Conversations of his dealings with some of the men Ryker captured and tortured.
All of it detailed the uprising within his organization.
I suspected the photo we'd lifted off our latest kill's phone was the final straw when he flipped through it. We'd been too late to help her, and it was the catalyst for Matteo requesting the meeting as soon as he did. The young girl who became one of Tiernan's first victims. Liam's future son-in-law. The rapist. What a moment of pride it must have been to know what kind of scum he protected.
"Christ," he hissed, tossing the photos onto the desk. He ran a hand over his face, looking more and more aged with every second that passed. "What am I supposed to do with this? That ungrateful little shit."
Swiping the photos to the floor, he made no move to pick them up. Nobody moved while he studied Matteo. "You know I can't let what he's doing stand. I've been very vocal that there's to be no trafficking in my city, Liam," Matteo said, raising an eyebrow at his ally casually. I adjusted my stance, studying the interaction between them. Another man might have seen it as a threat, because organizations such as Bellandi and O'Connell handled their issues internally.
In any other circumstances, Liam might have expected Matteo to let him deal with Tiernan on his own. But Liam only nodded, tapping his fingers on the desk. "I always knew there was something wrong with him. His father was a good man, the best enforcer I could have asked for. I'd hoped to have a closer relationship with his son, but Tiernan..." he trailed off with a sigh of frustration. "Killing him will be difficult for me, I admit. He's all that remains of Brogan."
"You let us take care of that then," Matteo said. "I assure you, Ryker has no qualms about making sure he suffers for what he tried to do to Calla."
"What did he do to your Executioner?" Liam asked.
Ryker piped up from the corner, his deep voice resonating through the room with his fury. "He staged a car accident and tried to have my wife taken from me so he could convince me to leave Bellandi and work for him. My kids were with her."
"He never had respect for the fact that wives and children should be off-limits in our business dealings," Liam sighed. "I'm sorry for the damage he may have caused your children. I am more than willing to allow you to put him down like the rabid dog he is."
Ryker nodded his assent to Liam, but something churned behind Matteo's gaze as he studied Liam. An uncertainty while he waited for something he knew was coming, and what would be a sticking point. My body tensed, feeling my own anxiety ratchet up as Liam stood from behind the desk.
It was all too easy.
"I don't have any sons," Liam said finally, as he made his way to the door. He swung it open, whispering something to one of his men who lurked just outside. The man nodded, turning on his heel and retreating further into the house. "My daughter requires a husband. Someone to protect her from any backlash that may come when I dissolve the marriage agreement with Tiernan. She will not pay the price of us doing what is right."
"Liam—" Matteo started.
