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The church was packed with our men and various associates of my father. Even members of the local community showed up… after all, my father had done well protecting them from the other savages that roamed these streets.
Now that job had fallen to me.
If I walked away, who was going to protect them from the Russians? Who was going to protect them from the Cazadores? They’d been just a small gang once, but now they were a serious threat to us.
Guilt knotted my stomach as I looked at the faces of business owners who would soon know the fear of having the Russian Bratva at their door. Who’d see their streets filled with drugs and trafficked women…
Shit.
How could I leave these people at the mercy of those assholes?
A hearse arrived from the funeral home as we waited on the church steps. Cait squeezed my hand and gave me a flat smile as she moved inside with the group.
Enzo waited back with me. He’d help me carry the coffin in along with Brady and Niall.
I’m sorry, Da.
I stared down at the intricate mahogany casket. Usually we’d have to have waited for the investigation into his death to close before we could bury him, but Brady had somehow made it happen. I was glad. I didn’t like the idea of him lying on some slab in a morgue. It wasn’t very dignified for the man who’d run this city.
I fought back tears as we lifted the coffin onto our shoulders. It wasn’t particularly heavy. Now I looked back, he’d been gradually weakening over the last few months and I’d barely even noticed.
Maybe I should have made him step down.
Maybe if he’d have believed in me, he would have…
The organ played as we made our way into the church. Most of the mourners’ heads were bowed respectfully, but as my gaze sifted through all the faces, there were two people who stood out like sore thumbs.
Not only were they not crying like everyone else, but they were smirking.
On opposite sides of the aisle, Salvatore Ricci and a lean, pale looking man who must have been Ivan Moskal stood, watching everything unfolding around them.
How dare they…
But of course, we’d wanted them to show up. This was how we were going to get them. They likely had a few guards in the audience as well, we’d need to figure out who they were and quickly.
I gripped the casket harder to stop me from leaping at them and killing them here and now in front of everyone.
Patience, Aidan.
We had to bide our time.
I kept my head down as we moved past them, not letting on that I knew they were here.
When we got to the front, I saw Lex holding his wife. Her face was shielded in the crook of his neck, and I wasn’t sure if she’d been overcome by emotion, or if she was hiding from her brother.
She’d been in hiding for years, I was guessing she was itching to finish this.
Our men closed the doors behind us as we set the casket down on the platform at the end of the aisle and the service began. I moved to stand beside Cait, taking her hand and squeezing it.
The priest’s voice faded into the background because all I could focus on was the eyes on the back of my head. I could feel them and their smug energy buzzing behind me.
My phone vibrated in my pocket and I reached inside subtly, hiding the phone between me and Cait. It was Brady, confirming that they’d identified the guards.
Good work.
Suddenly, the sound of my name drew my attention to the priest, and I realized he was calling me up to deliver my eulogy.
