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“We have to,” I responded, my voice firm. “We need to protect our own.”
Liam grabbed Kieran’s whiskey glass. “Can I have this?”
“No, lad. Let me go pour you a drink instead,” he said, then looked up at me. “You want one?”
I nodded and then watched as Kieran crossed the room to the bar, pouring a measure of whiskey into a tumbler before pushing it across to Liam. His hand trembled slightly as he picked it up, taking a cautious sip before setting it back on the table.
“Thanks,” he muttered, his voice shaky. “What happens if they come after Adriana, Tristan?”
“When they come after Adriana,” I walked over to them to grab my drink as I corrected him. “I’ll just have to kill them.”
Chapter Nine: Adriana
Tristan had been uncharacteristically quiet over the past few weeks. We had attended the standard prenatal check-up of the month and the doctor said that everything looked fine, but Tristan seemed distracted, his gaze distant and his responses short. I wondered if something had happened with the Callahans or if it was just the pregnancy causing him to worry.
When we got back to the house, though, I got my answer.
Before we went inside, he turned the car off and turned to look at me. “Ade,” he said. “Something really big is about to happen and I don’t want you involved.”
His piercing blue eyes bore into mine, his fingers gently running over the back of my hand, and I could see the urgency in his gaze. My heart pounded against my chest, the silence between us deafening as his words lingered in the air.
“Tristan,” I tried to keep my voice steady, stretching my hand to caress his stubbly cheek. “Talk to me.”
“We... The Callahans,” he sighed, running a hand through his dark blond hair. “We’re making a move against the Rossis.”
“What kind of move?”
He didn’t answer me. “There’s been a breach in our organization,” he finally said. “We suspect someone is feeding information to the Rossis. It’s put us at a disadvantage.”
I felt my stomach twist. “And you’re sure about this? That there’s a traitor?”
He nodded, his eyes holding a hardness I hadn’t seen before. “We’re taking measures to root them out.”
“And what does that mean exactly? What are these measures?” My voice was sharp, fear and concern making me more confrontational than I intended.
Tristan’s gaze softened slightly, his thumb tracing the back of my hand. “We’re planting false information, Adriana,” he confessed. “The idea is that whoever’s leaking information will pass it to the Rossis. Once leaked, we will know who our traitor is.”
I considered that for a second. “Okay,” I said. “So what’s the move?”
“We’re going to bomb one of their joints,” he replied after a long beat.
My breath hitched at his words. A bombing? This was so much bigger than anything I’d ever been a part of. “Tristan, that’s...” I trailed off, struggling to find the right words. Dangerous? Unthinkable? Both?
“I know, Adriana,” he said gently, his blue eyes meeting mine with a seriousness that sent a chill down my spine. “But it’s something we have to do.”
My mind raced, thoughts and fears swirling in a chaotic tempest. The safety of our unborn children was my biggest concern. Could I really bring our babies into this brutal world? Was this the life I wanted for both them?
“Promise me,” I said urgently, gripping Tristan’s arm tightly. “Promise me you won’t get hurt.”
“I won’t even be there.”
“But that’s not what I’m asking,” I shot back. My heart hammered against my chest, each beat echoing my mounting concern. “Promise me, Tristan.”
He was silent for a long moment before he finally nodded, his blue eyes meeting mine. “I promise, Adriana,” he said in a low voice. “I won’t get hurt.”
I held his gaze for another moment before pulling back and taking a deep breath, trying to steady my racing heart. His words had provided some reassurance, but the fear still clung to me like a thick fog.
The rest of the day passed in a tense silence. The weight of the upcoming operation hung over the house like a dark cloud, casting everything in an ominous light.
