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Am I just like them?
My doubts grow until my head is full of white noise roaring at me from every direction. I clear my throat as we head for the end of the docks with no extra leads. Salty air assails my skin until I’m sticky all over. My shoulders roll beneath my shirt, but my tension remains. I only have one name left on my list, and turning it over yet again, I wince internally.
We just garnered a truce.
Why not fuck that right up on my first day back in the country I call home, and as true head of the Gallo family?
“I’m going to see Konnor.”
Dom stops walking and rocks back onto his heels. Thalia runs into his back and swears, sidestepping and tangling her feet together. “Are you sure? After…” He wraps an arm around the tiny woman, steadying her. And doesn’t release her.
I eye them speculatively. “May as well go on a snipe hunt around the Hennie’s place. If she’s there, maybe I can bring her home.”
“Good luck,” Dom mutters.
“Why don’t you ask her why first, when you find her?” Thalia pipes up at Dom’s side. “Why she left, I mean.”
A muscle ticks in Dom’s jaw, but he doesn’t say anything.
“Might do.” I nod to them both when Dom’s feet stay planted. “Are you coming with me?” I curse inside my head the moment the words leave my mouth.
Dom’s eyes harden. “You can do better than that,” he scoffs.
“You’re right. Stay with Thalia. Help her with whatever she needs.”
“Yes, sir.”
Thalia’s eyes brighten, though my best man’s do not. Am I losing him too?
I stride away, locking that thought behind a wall with the rest of my fears and bring the one to the forefront of my mind that needs addressing now. My flight risk of a sexy little wife, and bringing her home.
****
“Is she here?” I take the seat Konnor waves me into across his desk without preamble. His office smells like whiskey and cigars, with a hint of something sweet I can’t quite place.
“Who have you lost this time? Or has your sanity finally deserted you, my friend?” Konnor pours me a double finger of unlabeled whiskey I suspect he bootlegs.
“Old habits, huh?” I rub my hand over my mouth. “How safe am I to drive after this?”
Konnor laughs. “I’d take a long walk after. Maybe all the way home.”
I snort and message Dom with one hand, sipping the whiskey with the other. The mellow liquid swirls around my tongue like an opium dream, but the kick in the back of my throat wakes me the fuck up in seconds.
“Christ, Konnor. What do I have to do to collect a pallet from you?”
Konnor’s mouth hardens. “Look out for those you love,” he says softly.
“She is here, you fucker,” I growl, half-standing.
The glass nearly shatters as I slam it onto his desk. Liquid sloshes over the side. Konnor tsks, raising the fury raging within me.
“Sit down, Rafe. Nothing will be managed by you throwing a tantrum in my home,” Konnor orders. When I sit, still seething, he nods. “I’m not one to break a confidence and my home is my sanctuary. As is yours,” he murmurs as though I didn’t just threaten him.
Would I do less in his position? My favorite way to fuck with others when I hold all the cards is to throw them off balance.
“What do you suggest?” I ask, throwing the facade of calm over myself like the cloak I wore around my father all those years as a form of defense.
He’s fucking dead and he’s still haunting me.
