AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Together, we piled into the car and I drove back toward the compound.
Once the doors closed, Ronnie ripped his mask off and blew out a hot breath. “Fuck me. This thing will kill me one day,” he groaned and I smirked lopsidedly behind my own, leaving it in place before putting on my indicator and taking a right turn.
“You chose to wear them,” Alex reminded him as she rested her forehead against the cool window and gazed out into the night. The stars twinkled and as I spared a moment to stare at her, I saw them glisten back in the depths of her dark brown eyes.
She was different tonight, more withdrawn and lost inside her own head.
“The reasoning behind them was smart, even if the orders came from an idiot,” he gruffed, and massaged his large shoulders back into the seat to get more comfortable.
Alex didn’t respond, just stayed quiet and stared out into the darkness.
Fifteen minutes later, I was pulling up to Ronnie’s home and he was unfolding his massive frame from the seat, now indented with the full weight of his body. “Night, kid. I’ll see you two in the morning.”
Ronnie had a family of his own, so was allowed to stay outside of the Black Manor. It was only a one minute, and thirty-second drive between the community that had been built for the made men in the family and the manor. The Blacks had acres upon acres of land, all gated off and wrapped in impenetrable fences. They’d basically made their own town, so he lived on the street with the other men who had families too.
Normally, I’d have my own place, but considering who I was protecting, Luigi refused the idea. Ronnie was enough, but he insisted that one of us live in-house with Alex. She detested the thought but knew if we openly defied that particular order, he’d ask too many questions about the balls she continued to hide. Then everything she’d been working toward would be exposed and he’d know everything.
Watching to make sure Ronnie got inside the house and the door shut with ease behind him, I made a U-Turn and headed in the other direction, toward Alex’s cabin which was nowhere near the rest of the houses or the manor.
Just as I’m about to pull up, she looks over at me. “He’s a week late, Killian. If I let this stand, they’ll all think I’m weak. I want this sorted tonight.” She’d been so quiet, I wouldn’t have heard her if I hadn’t become so hyper-aware of her every move over the last five years. Nodding, I put the car in reverse, backed out of the drive, and drove back toward the iron gates.
CHAPTER NINE
Alessia
We pulled up to Murphy’s half an hour later. I wasn’t worried about what would transpire next. I was many things but a fool wasn’t one of them. I knew how to get in and out of places undetected and it would add the perfect element of surprise.
He probably thought he was safe here, within the walls of his perfect little home with his perfect little family.
But he was wrong.
He needed to know there wasn’t anywhere I couldn’t reach him. Anywhere in this big, big world he’d be safe.
Loan sharking was just another avenue of income for me, it got my name out there on the streets, which was exactly what I needed when the time was right.
Nobody would ever dare talk and put my name in places I didn’t want it put.
That much I knew for sure. Because half of these assholes all had the same thing in common. When push came to shove, they were all cowards.
Their thought process was that borrowing from a woman would be the safer option. Knowing if they went with my father, not only would the interest be higher—which was intentional on my part—but so would the pain if they didn’t meet their deadlines.
I was deadlier than my father because I had more to prove.
If any of them had been stupid enough to talk, it would only tighten the noose around their neck and what my currently unhinged father would do to a traitor, would be far more heinous than anything I’d do to them.
I’d made it so.
We sat in silence as the night grew darker, watching the house. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but then again it never was around Killian and I hated that.
I hated that when he was next to me, breathing wasn’t so hard. There was only one person who ever made me feel that way and it was a violation of Rían’s memory to ever have that feeling again. I didn’t mind that he never spoke to me, that even living with him, it felt like living in solitude, because that was what I wanted. What I craved above all else because that was all I deserved. To be alone for the rest of my life because letting anyone get too close to me meant an inevitable demise and I never wanted that for Killian or Ronnie.
When the bedroom lights on the top floor of the two-story house flickered off, I knew it was the kid’s bedroom and then two hours later, when the second bedroom light flickered off, I knew it was Murphy’s room. I opened the car door and slid from my seat, dressed in the same black outfit I had worn earlier today. I stuck to the shadows and crept toward the house, Killian hot on my heels. “Stay in the car,” I whispered, but he ignored me. His giant form flattened the long blades of grass as he lumbered toward me, backing me up into the side of the imposing home we were about to break into.
Inside my mind, I pictured acting out how I really felt. I saw myself breathing heavily, my chest rising and falling at his close proximity. Yet on the outside, my face remained impassive and my breathing stayed even. He loomed above me, bent a little lower, and shook his head no.
The man was as infuriating as he was formidable.
A low growl was all he got from me before I shoved him back and continued on my way. When I got to the back door, I picked the lock, refusing to allow this giant asshole to steal all of my fun tonight. When I heard the soft click letting me know it’d worked, I gently pushed the door open and listened for any kind of squeak it might give off. It was well-oiled and didn’t make a peep. Stepping inside, I kicked off my black combat boots so I could drift along the kitchen tiles without leaving an imprint. Just as I was about to tell Killian to do the same, I noticed he already was.
