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But she had questions. Questions we needed to get through before we went further.
The fact that she was here with me at all was a miracle. I owed her answers.
Taking her bottom lip between my teeth, I gave a quick bite before pulling away and getting off the bed completely. “It’s where Dare’s family came from.”
Grabbing my gun from its spot in my waistband, I went to set it on the nightstand as my mouth opened to continue explaining, but Tree spoke before I could.
“You’ve never had a gun on you before.” When I looked at her, she was propped up on her elbows, her eyes rolling. “I mean, of course you have one...considering, you know...you. But why didn’t you have it on you any of the other nights?”
I let the ‘one’ slide because I had much more than one gun, but I just fought a smile as I set the handgun down and started taking off my shoes and socks. “I did,” I maintained. “I’ve always stashed it right outside your bedroom.”
When her shock stunned her into silence, I told her, “The Borellos, Morettis, and a third family made up The Willow Gang in Chicago back over a hundred years ago. There was a rebellion against the Morettis, but according to the stories, of the two rebelling families, only the Borello brothers made it out alive.”
“So, Dare thinks...” Tree’s brows drew close as she pushed into even more of a sitting position. “He thinks I’m from the third family, even though they all died?”
“They’re just stories.” I lifted a shoulder and moved to lay on my back beside her. “Also not crazy to imagine people from that third family survived grave injuries. You’d be surprised what you can survive.” The last was said on a frustrated whisper as I drew my hand over my face.
“I don’t—my family isn’t—” She gave a harsh shake of her head as a disbelieving laugh tumbled past her lips. “I just don’t see this being my family’s history.”
“I don’t think it is,” I assured her. “I’m sure Dare knows who the third family was, so Einstein can find out. But if they survived and went to the trouble of wanting enemies and allies to think they were dead, they wouldn’t have kept the name Willow in their family.”
“Right...right,” she said resolutely, then focused on me when I wrapped my arm around her back and drew her close.
“Not that we had a lot of time to get through everything tonight before you were thrown into the thick of it with my family, but I hadn’t expected Dare to react to your name.” I gripped her tighter, trying to apologize with my touch alone. “If we weren’t facing what we are, I don’t think he would’ve. But he’s on high alert.”
“Understood,” she said on a sigh as she leaned into me, hundreds of questions swirling in her eyes as she stared just past me.
“Out with it.” When she looked at me curiously, I said, “I see those questions begging to be asked. Ask them so I can ask mine.”
Amusement played at the corner of her lip. “What’re yours?”
“If you’ll still let me find you with what you know.”
Her reaction alone was answer enough. The stilted breath that escaped her and the desire and adoration that swept across her beautiful face told me all I needed to know.
Then...
But she still didn’t know everything.
“Ask me, Tree,” I prompted before she could respond.
Drawing in a slow breath, she nodded firmly before shaking her head. Her fingers pressing to her temple as if she were trying to focus or remember all the questions she’d just been thinking before she said, “This house—mansion,” the word tumbled free on a laugh as she looked at me again. “You’re using it to hide from the neon mask people.”
“Keane Street Gang.”
A shudder ripped through her, dimming every part of her before she was able to push it away. “Right. But if you’re using this house to hide from them and the Guerra family...is that right?” When I nodded, she asked, “Why do y’all have your cars in plain sight?”
“Because we’re only hiding the kids, not us,” I said easily. “When there’s a threat, we gather in one place so when the threat finally comes for us, we’ll be together. Ready to take them on. Our house isn’t safe because these are old Borellos, so they know our house. Granted, Borellos know this house because we attacked it enough times, but they don’t know everything about it. They don’t know where we’re keeping the kids, and they won’t be able to find them.”
“So, you want them to come here,” she assumed with a nod.
“I’ll keep you safe.”
“That wasn’t what I was getting at.” She watched as one of her hands gently moved across my chest, tracing the softest patterns for long moments before she laid her hand flat and fixed her worried stare on me. “Have you ever killed anyone?”
There it was.
I’d been shocked when she hadn’t taken off running throughout our entire meeting, but the longer she’d stayed by my side, I’d had a feeling it was because she hadn’t fully understood.
