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Wynter
“How does it feel to know you’ve fucked a true Russo?”
Angelo’s words replay in my mind over and over like the broken cassette player in my dad’s old Cadillac. When he said them, I was still too shocked to react, to think of a reply, but now all I feel is blinding rage. It’s like something deep inside me has snapped, and all the pain and anger I’ve held in a tiny box for all these years, has escaped. It’s overwhelming, but at the same time, it’s kind of freeing. My therapist used to tell me it’s unhealthy to hold emotions in, but as we pull into the driveway of the estate I’ve never felt more powerful.
No one has said a word since we left the office. Storm and Tommy are in the front while Clara and I are bundled into the back seat. She hasn’t stopped shaking since we found her under her desk after they left, and I wish I could give her more than I am right now. She didn’t deserve to be dragged into this. My sweet, innocent personal assistant who never asked questions, who never called in sick and always knew what I needed before I did. Part of me wishes I had never hired her. We clicked that first day, and I told her she had the job on the spot, but she’s too pure to work so closely with a Saint James. The darkness was always bound to bleed eventually.
“Wynter?” Storm says, and I finally drag my eyes away from the window. His brow is pulled together, the worry in his gaze clear as day. “Let’s get inside so we can talk.”
I nod, taking Tommy’s outstretched hand to help me climb from the back of the sports car. The moment my feet are on the driveway, he’s helping Clara’s shaking body out. She hasn’t looked at Tommy or Storm since we found her, fear oozing from her pores. I should reassure her that they’re nothing like the men who hurt her, but the reality is that they are. And so am I.
Snow, Emerson, and Rayne stand at the top of the steps, their faces all filled with just as much worry as Storm’s. I glance over my shoulder to find Clara bundled up in Tommy’s arms before making my way up the stairs.
“Are you okay?” Snow asks.
“No,” I whisper. I’ve never been further from okay. I’m not even on the same fucking planet as okay right now. The man I love. The man I’ve loved since before I understood the gravity of the emotion, has been lying to me the entire time I’ve known him. All the times I looked after him, all the times I held him after his uncles beat him, all the times our family helped him, it was all a lie. Everything was a lie.
“There’s more to it than you think,” Rayne tells me.
“I doubt that.”
“Let’s go into my office and talk,” Storm suggests as he trails behind me.
“No, thank you.” I shake my head. “You were right. I’m not strong enough to be a part of this side of the business. You guys take it from here.”
Before he can reply, I’m up the stairs and closing my bedroom door behind me. I lean against the hardwood for a moment, needing it to hold me steady on my shaking legs, but when I look up and around the room, all the air leaves my lungs. Every inch of this room reminds me of Everett. Every single surface smells like him, every single corner has memories of him. If I close my eyes, I can feel him here with me, even when I know he’s far away from here.
I slide down the door, my legs no longer able to hold my weight, and the moment my knees hit the ground, a painful sob claws its way from my throat and all the tear I never cried fall against my cheeks. Everything I ever loved was a lie, and it’s that thought that plagues me until I can’t keep my eyes open any longer, and my body drifts to the ground, succumbing to the unconsciousness it craves.
58
Everett
It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the farm, but it doesn’t feel like long enough as I climb out of the black SUV and follow after my uncles toward the main house. This is the first time women are being delivered straight here, usually they arrive on ships at the docks, and that’s where the handover occurs, but not this time.
Every security guard we passed, I committed them to memory. Every locked door is cataloged, and every turn we make as we wind through the house is memorized. We can’t afford for any of this to go wrong.
The plan, although changed, is a perfectly timed, perfectly plotted series of events, and if even one thing goes wrong, I could end up dead and my uncles will have a chance at seizing control of Chicago like they’ve always wanted.
“Where’s Elijah?” I ask. He’s the wildcard in all this. He’s loyal to his father and uncles to a certain point, but he’s always looked after number one. Himself. If shit goes sideways, he’ll either pull a gun on me, or he’ll get the fuck out of dodge to save his own ass. That’s why he was so good at Uncle Angelo’s favorite game. It’s why I ended up beaten and bloody more often than not. Elijah’s survival instincts are stronger than anyone I’ve ever met.
“He’s out on an errand,” Paul answers, pushing the door open to the room I remember as being Angelo’s office. I spent a lot of time in here when I was young, more time than I should have. This room is where I saw my first dead body, where I took my first life, where my uncle tried to force me to lose my virginity. That’s the worst memory I have of this room. A girl, no older than sixteen, her scared eyes as she silently pleaded with me not to do it. I was too young to fully understand why she was there, or even who she was, but even then, I knew it was wrong. I begged Angelo not to force this girl on me, telling him I wasn’t ready. That just earned me a beating. But the girl was taken away. I wish I could have protected her, I wish I could have taken her away from this hell and set her free the way I did myself when the Saint James family took me in.
I nod and take a seat on the old leather lounge that has been here for at least my whole life, longer if I had to guess. The things the old piece of furniture has seen over the years would give even the strongest man nightmares for the rest of their lives.
“So, Everett. Tell us what they have planned,” Paul says as he takes the seat across from me while Angelo moves behind the large wooden desk, his hands clasped in his lap as he waits for the story I’m about to spin. Tony flops into the seat beside me and all three of them turn their attention to me.
I’ve rehearsed this lie so many times it should be ingrained in my memory, I should have been saying it in my sleep, but now I’m sitting here with the coldest men in the city, it takes me a moment to get it straight in my mind. “They’re planning on hitting a bunch of your properties tonight,” I lie. “They aren’t going to attack Aces because they don’t think you would be stupid enough to hide out there after taking Emerson and how easily they were able to infiltrate the building and area.”
Angelo chuckles. “Looks like we’re heading to the club tonight, gentlemen. I want our men at all our locations ready to take those fuckers out. It’s time this ends once and for all.”
Even though we’re setting a trap for my uncles, the idea they think they could take my real family out makes my heart stop in my chest.
“What about the women?” Paul asks.
Always the women. He stopped being able to get legit pussy a long time ago, because if there’s one thing he never quite grasped, it’s that women talk, and if you beat them within an inch of their life when they don’t suck your cock right, the next woman probably isn’t going to be interested.
“When they are captured, I want them brought here. No one is to touch them until I’ve had the chance to survey them. I believe I will still take Emerson, Everett will likely lay claim to Wynter, although I meant what I said about wanting a piece of her, and Snow—” He shrugs. “She’s anyone’s game.”
