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I see her blink in the darkness. “He’ll stay when Angelo returns to the city.”
“But he has those burly bodyguards.”
Rayne smiles. “Yes, but he wants one of his brothers with us. It’s just how Angelo is.”
“Angelo got me out of there, then, in the car, Dante whispered to me that I was safe now, that I was okay, and that he’d kill anyone who ever hurt me again,” I whisper, not knowing why I blurt that out. “Why would he say that when he doesn’t even know me?”
“You were in pretty bad shape. All of the brothers are protective, and they're a close-knit family. I’m with Angelo, so that means I’m under their protection, as are you.”
“Dante said that too.”
“I know it’s hard to believe that I’d date a Don, but Angelo has cleaned this city up. He’ll be taking care of the people smuggling and sex trafficking, and then he’ll ensure it doesn’t happen again while he rules Boston.”
“This is heavy.”
She smiles again. “We can go back to New York once you’re feeling up to it.”
I shake my head. “I don’t know if I can ever return to that place. I told Dante I wanted to go home, except that was a lie. I don’t know if I can set foot in that city now. My home is where you are.”
I can see the pain in her eyes. “Oh, Mia.”
We lay still for a long time. We haven’t done this since our parents passed away.
We would just lie together for days, hoping the pain would pass. I don’t even know how long we spent there, just in silence, and I realize I haven’t thought about that memory in years.
I tend to shut unpleasant and painful memories like that away so I don’t ever have to revisit them.
“I don’t want to ever let you down,” Rayne says after a long while. “That would be the worst thing I could ever do.”
“That could never happen,” I tell her. “You fought so hard, and you got me back. That’s what matters.”
She rubs my arm up and down as I feel my eyes start to close. I feel better having her here next to me. Maybe the nightmares won’t be so bad now after our talk.
“I think the storm has passed,” she says quietly, the wind and rain finally letting up.
I yawn. “I think it has.”
“Just sleep,” I hear her whisper as I feel myself start to drift off. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”
DANTE
PRESENT DAY …
So much has happenedsince the time we spent in Falmouth just a few months ago.
As I step over body after body, walking back to Fortress with my brothers, Enzo and Rocco, I find that time flashing into my mind.
Just when things had settled down with the Mia situation and life seemed to be returning to somewhat normal, a recent Triad invasion, led by their boss Sun Yee, forced Fortress into lockdown. While we dealt with taking down Sun Yee’s territory, they infiltrated Fortress and gained access to the property. One of our guards double-crossed us, and an all-out war ensued.
All of the women were locked inside, including Mia, along with Fynn.
I never thought that our one-time enemy and Katiya’s uncle, Aleksi Petrov, would be the one to come to the rescue. Bratva and the Familia usually don’t mix, but sometimes we make an exception. Especially since Marco is with Katiya now, and he’s holding up his promise to keep Kat out of underworld problems.
It’s been a battle tonight. We all have blood on our hands.
Rocco was the one who finished off Sun Yee after Angelo subdued him. The Triads started the war when they shot up our restaurant, Provencal, while our sister Valentina was eating lunch with her best friend Bianca and Sloane; Rocco’s girlfriend and the woman Angelo recently employed because she’s the best hacker in the country. Luckily Rocco was with them and intercepted the men, escaping, and managing to keep the women safe.
The long walk back to the house has all of us quiet.
