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“It’s been growing steadily, but until recently we didn’t have any reason to believe he could even get out of prison. Unfortunately, the place was overcrowded and he was let go,” Lex answered.
“It makes no sense, he’s a murderer. A criminal!” Ella protested, tears flooding freely down her face. I didn’t know the full extent of what had happened with her and Salvatore, but I was guessing it wasn’t pretty.
“He probably greased a few palms to make it happen,” Enzo muttered.
I sighed. I was exhausted. This was supposed to be the happiest time of my life.
With everyone’s eyes still on me, I rolled my shoulders. “I think we need to get back to New York,” I told them. “I have a father to bury, and then we can come up with a plan.”
I was at the point that I didn’t care if they wanted to take over. They could have it all. I was tired of fighting. I just wanted to live a peaceful life with my wife. But the man who’d murdered my father… well he was going to suffer. I’d make sure of that.
I’d done it before and I’d do it again.
“I’ll call the jet back,” Enzo said quietly, giving me another sympathetic look.
I nodded and turned away from them.
I needed to lay my father to rest, and then I’d lay all of this to rest too.
I was done. I didn’t want to be boss. I didn’t want to be a criminal anymore.
I felt Cait’s eyes on me as I walked from the room and headed out to the deck. Just twenty-four hours ago I’d stood there, vowing to protect the woman I loved.
How could I do that if we were still involved in this shit?
I’d thought I could handle it, but with Dad gone, I knew I couldn’t.
It’s got to end.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Cait
Aidan was quiet the whole way home, which was understandable.
He tended to retreat into himself when bad things happened, and I knew it was because he wanted to avoid spilling the ugliness onto me… one day he’d learn that I could handle it. That I loved all parts of him, even the ugly sides.
I held his hand for the whole flight, and he barely moved.
The children were sent to protective locations, and we’d all boarded the jet back to New York, tense and just desperate for this to all be over.
Lex, Enzo and Logan talked strategy while Ella tried to hold it together. Vanessa just sat there with a look of murderous intent on her face… I wanted to know more about what had happened between her and Ivan, but she didn’t seem like she was going to spill any details.
Bree was curled up in a ball on the long sofa at the end of the plane, her head in Enzo’s lap while they all shared information.
I wanted to comfort her, but my priority was Aidan… she had Enzo and friends in Ella and Logan now. Aidan only had me.
When we landed, we were greeted by a much bigger security team as per Lex’s instructions, and were all taken back to the big white house that had seen so much grief and death that you could feel the weight of it hanging around the grounds. It had used to feel like coming home, stepping through those doors, now it just felt like the past had stained it too much.
It was no longer a pristine white. There were dark shadows where people we’d lost should be. There were cracks in the foundations and a cold, echoing quietness that told you bad things had happened here.
Honestly, I couldn’t stand the sight of it anymore.
Maids stood around as we entered, heads bowed as a sign of respect, but when they stood straight, their eyes landed on my husband.
He was the boss after all.
He kissed me on the head and then gestured that all the men, plus Lex, Logan and Enzo should join him in the living room.
