AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The line goes dead and I allow my body to sink farther into the carpet as I bring my knees to my chest. Is this how Storm feels every time one of his decisions ends someone’s life? The overarching sense of dread and guilt mingling together catches me off guard and I can barely breathe through the cocktail of toxic emotions.
“Fuck!” Storm roars, a loud crash fills the office but I don’t bother opening my eyes. If smashing shit is how he deals with emotions, who am I to argue?
Movement beside me startles my shaking body, and a moment later I’m being scooped up and held against a hard chest.
“It’s okay, little dove,” Everett whispers into my hair as he lowers us into the soft leather couch.
“What about any of this is okay? There are men who won’t return to their families tonight because of a call I made.” My voice breaks as I say the words aloud for the first time.
Another crash on the other side of the room causes me to flinch and burrow my face into Everett’s chest. “Storm, will you stop that?” he growls.
“Wynter wanted to be a part of this. She wanted to prove she could run things if something happens to me, so that’s what we’re doing,” Storm shouts.
Everett’s arms tighten around me protectively and I sink into the feeling. “Don’t you remember the first time your call resulted in someone dying?” he snaps. “Because I fucking do. You went on a three-day bender and Rayne and I had to fly to fucking Vegas to bail your ass out of jail. I think Wynter’s reaction is more than justified.”
“Of course you do,” Storm mutters as he leaves the room, slamming the door so hard behind him the walls shake with the force.
Maybe I’m not cut out for this. Maybe they were right to keep this part of our business away from us for all these years.
I allow myself to bask in the comfort Everett offers, to breathe in his warmth and settle against his hard body. He always seems to know what I need. He always knows how to make everything better even as the world crumbles around us.
The door swings open and this time I do open my eyes to find Storm in the doorway with a box in his hands and his face pale.
“What is that?” I ask quietly.
“It’s addressed to you.”
42
Everett
The moment my eyes make contract with the box a sinking feeling settles in the pit of my stomach. It’s not that the box looks particularly suspicious or that it’s marked in a way that anyone else would find it worrying, but whatever is in that box is going to hurt my little dove, and that’s not acceptable.
Despite allowing her to be a part of the decision making and takedown of the Russo family, I’ve avoided telling Wynter what was in the first package that was delivered here for her.
The moment she pushes against me to stand, I know I have to come clean, that despite all my good intentions of protecting her, she needs to know the full extent of the threat.
“Did you check it?” I ask as Wynter clambers from my lap.
Storm shakes his head, eyes glued to the package as he places it on the desk in front of the monitors I was using. “It’s not a bomb. They swept it at the gate.”
Wynter crosses the room toward the desk but I quickly tug her back into me. If there’s something in the package that can hurt her, I’m going to be standing between her and it. “Everett,” she hisses. “You are not kicking me out this time, I’m officially just as involved and complicit as you two so you’re not keeping me in the dark.”
“Stand behind me,” I growl and to my surprise, she listens to me.
“What was in the first one?” she asks.
“A dead dove,” Storm answers.
Wynter’s body stills behind me, her breathing stuttering for the briefest of moments. “How do they…” She trails off, asking the same question we asked ourselves when it arrived.
“The rat,” Storm and I answer at once.
Understanding crosses her features and her body visibly shivers.
“You don’t call me that in front of anyone.”
“I know. We think it has to be someone close, but we can’t pinpoint who, and even after I checked everyone’s backgrounds, they all came up squeaky clean,” I tell her.
