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“What, you’re not going to ask me if I’m all right or anything? Tell me that you didn’t know about my place getting blown up,” he begged.
“I’m not sure what you’re asking me, son,” his father lied. He could tell by his smug tone that he was probably smiling. He hated it when his father did that—as if he never thought that he’d lose. But he never went up against his own son.
“I’m pretty sure that you know exactly what I’m talking about, Dad,” he countered. “You put out a hit on me—your own son.”
“That was all Gluttony’s doing,” his father insisted.
“And you jumped to his aid, didn’t you? Did you even try to stop him from putting the hit out on me?” Victor asked, but he was sure that he already knew the answer to his question.
“You know that we have an alliance with the Gluttony family, Victor. If I go against their syndicate, they will take us all down,” his father said.
“So, instead of risking your own life, you sacrificed mine. Is it true that you have men out hunting for me with orders to shoot to kill?” he asked.
“I can’t go against the Gluttony family,” his father repeated.
“Well, it’s good to know where I stand, Dad. This will be the last time you hear from me. And when you finally realized that you made a pact with the devil and that there’s no way out for you, I won’t be there to help you out, Dad. You’ll have to face those consequences alone.”
“You do what you feel is best, son,” his father spat. “But you need to understand that I won’t let you destroy our family. What you want to do to the Sloth Syndicate, by allying us with the other families, would be suicide. I won’t let you do that to us, Victor.”
“You do what you think is best, Dad,” he growled, giving his father back his own words. Victor ended the call, having said all that he needed to. His father was a lost cause. He could see that now. Trisha was right—he couldn’t turn to his father for help. He was on his own now, and that thought both excited and scared the crap out of him.
Victor tossed his cell phone onto the bed and turned to find Trish standing in the doorway to his bedroom. She was wearing the sexiest see-through robe that did nothing to hide her long legs or the sexy tank top and shorts she wore underneath. He couldn’t help but look her body over and when he glanced back up to her face, he could see the worry in her eyes.
“I take it that you heard the whole conversation then?” he asked.
“I heard enough of it,” she admitted. “Are you okay?”
“I am. Listen,” he breathed, “I’m sorry that I went behind your back and called my father, but I had to know if what you were telling me was the truth.”
“And?” she asked.
“I now know that it was the truth. I’m sorry that I didn’t believe you before, Trish. But most of all, I’m sorry that you’re in danger now because of me.” He felt awful that she was dragged into his mess because she was trying to save his ass. He should have just believed her at the restaurant yesterday and she wouldn’t have had to get involved and drag his ass off to a safehouse to keep him from getting blown to bits.
“I was the one who kidnapped you, remember?” she asked.
He rubbed the spot of his neck that was still sore from where she stuck the needle. “I remember,” he grumbled. “But you shouldn’t have had to kidnap me. I should have given you the benefit of the doubt and believed that there was a hit put out against me. If I had, maybe I would have gotten someplace safe on my own and not had to involve you at all in this nightmare.”
“If I’m being honest, I don’t mind. My father won’t stop with just blowing up your home. He’ll keep coming for you, and now, us. He knows that I’m involved. I just spoke to Bruno, and he’s doubled the number of men he has out looking for us. Your father has too. Bruno and his partner, Gino have had to go into hiding.”
“I’m sorry, Trish,” he breathed. So many lives were at stake now and there was nothing that anyone could do as long as his father and Mr. Gluttony were in power. “What happened?” he asked.
“Again, not your fault,” she said. “My father sent him out to find you and bring you in. When he showed up back home empty-handed, our father lost his mind. Bruno said that he didn’t feel safe around our father anymore and he and Gino took off for my brother’s safe house.”
“I’m glad that he was able to get out when he did,” Victor said. “It’s better this way.”
“Right, but we all can’t keep living in hiding. There has to be something that we can do to stop both of our fathers,” Trish said.
“I think that there might be a way to do just that. When you found me yesterday, I was meeting with Carter Lust and Bowie Wrath. They said that there was a way to get Gluttony to turn on my father. Bowie thinks that if your father believes that my father is going to betray him and leave their alliance, he’ll retaliate. If that happens, my father will see that he’s expendable and he’ll have no choice but to actually join the alliance that the other families have made. He’ll want their protection from your father.”
“That’s actually kind of brilliant, but please don’t tell Bowie that I said that.” Victor sometimes forgot that Trisha knew most of the younger generation of syndicate members. Not that any of them ever included Bruno’s little sister in any of their private get-togethers that they snuck off to when their parents were in meetings. They were a pretty wild bunch when they were teenagers, but Trish was so much younger than they were, they never felt the need to include her. Times were easier then. They didn’t care who was in charge or which family hated the other. But one thing was usually true—most of the guys hated anyone with the last name Gluttony. Trish fell under that umbrella and even though she seemed like an annoying brat, she certainly didn’t deserve to be ignored the way that she was.
“I promise, your secret is safe with me,” he insisted.
“So, all we have to do is get my father to believe that your father has switched teams and is joining the alliance. Then, when my father goes after yours, he will see that the Gluttony family was never a good alliance and he’ll join forces with the other families in return for their protection. Do I have all of that right?” she asked.
“Yes,” Victor breathed.
“Would it be okay for me to share this idea with my brother? Bruno might have a way to convince our father that your father’s leaving the fold. He might be able to help with your plan and show the rest of the families that he’s a team player,” Trish said.
