AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That only pissed me off more. I slammed my fist through a wall, leaving a hole in the sheetrock.
Everybody in the room got quiet. I didn’t let my emotions rise to the surface in front of people, so I knew that the men in this room were worried. Which they shouldn’t have been. I just need a little outlet in my guest house with this fucker. Better yet, doing it with my radiant bride-to-be. A little bloodshed would be the perfect wedding present to each other.
We’d have to wait for the fingerprints to be run through the system. I knew my guy would certainly get it done as quickly as possible.
I could feel Bria at my side and spoke quietly to her.
“I’ve got two bodyguards I’ve ordered to go with you.” I pulled the gun that she’d used from my waistband and gave it back to her.
Tracing her fingers lightly over the split skin on my knuckles, she looked up into my eyes, and I could see that she wanted to do some nurturing but not with eyes on us. I put my hand on her neck and pulled her closer to me.
“While I don’t like the idea of you having this, I feel safer knowing that you can take care of yourself with it. I know that you aren’t going to suddenly shoot a member of my family and it’s better than you not having any protection at all.” I kissed her forehead.
She’d already proven that she could take care of herself and those in my outfit as well. It was time to trust her, with everything.
CHAPTER17
Bria
Lookingat the gun he handed me, I turned it over in my hand. I was touched, and a little overwhelmed.
It wasn’t my gun, but I’d take it. I would take any gun that he gave me. I slid it back into my waistband and watched as Luciano tried to correct the situation that had been brewing all day.
Words were not the norm for a man like Luciano. He was action driven, and he basically told me he had feelings for me and that he trusted me. I was reeling from the thought of it and unsure of what the next move was as I watched him in his leadership role. Because anybody could tell people what to do, and keep a cool head when things were running smoothly, but it took a whole different kind of leader to command when shit hits the fan.
Observing him while he worked, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he wasn’t the bad guy after all. I thought I’d misjudged him. He was more human than I’d thought as well because he was concerned with his soldier’s family and what they would need over the next few days.
I watched as he made arrangements and flawlessly navigated the situation, asking for the others to get in touch with the man’s widow so he could talk to her personally.
My heart filled with pride at his actions. Most mafia families were taken care of, but this was more than I’d ever seen an outfit do. He truly cared about those under his command.
I tuned him out for a little bit while he was still giving out different orders.
As I thought about how much I admired him in emergency mode, he was a born leader ready to take on whatever was thrown in his direction.
Krysten came down into the room.
“We’re in the back,” he called to her. “We’re looking over some of the videos.”
“Are you both okay?” she asked as she noticed the blood on my clothes from the fallen soldier.
“I’m fine. We’re both fine.” I hurried to reassure her that I was all right.
She patted his shoulder, trying not to distract him from where his attention needed to be. “I’ve ordered two more bulletproof cars for travel, considering that we’ve lost several in the past few days.”
“Thanks, Mother. I’ve also gotten two guards to take you home tonight. But I want you to leave at the public entrance instead of the back entrance.”
I was kind of surprised that there was a public entrance to this place, but I guess some of the proceedings were on the up and up, then that would make sense. The best way to work and hide in the shadows was to be in full public view.
“Are you going to get someone to repair the tires on the vehicle or are you going to have Al’s shop chop it?” I asked.
“Well, I’m sure that he could get more money from the parts, but trying to replace everything that’s been hit by bullets might not be cost effective. We don’t want to bring notice from the police down on us in those types of situations. So we’ll destroy it only if we have to. I have a different SUV coming to get us and there’ll be extra soldiers with us for the car ride home.”
I nodded, knowing this might happen but also feeling stupid for thinking that the tires were the only problem with the vehicle. What was wrong with me? I knew all this. Was I falling more in-line with becoming the wife than the head of a family like I had trained to be? I hoped not.
Here I wanted respect for being willing to be brutal, but it might take a little while before he came to terms with how to handle it. Patience wasn’t a strong suit, but in this case a necessary evil. I had to accept that.
Instead of going straight home, we took a detour to talk to Alec’s widow, Sophia.
