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I sagged in relief, immediately getting up to open the door. Killian stood there, a small duffel bag in hand, looking a bit lost.
“You took your sweet time getting here,” I snapped. “I texted you last night.”
He brushed past me, heading inside. “I was a little busy last night and—whoa.” He stopped short as soon as his eyes landed on David and his brother in the kitchen. “Who the hell is this guy?”
“I could ask you the same question,” David replied, the gun still trained on Killian’s chest.
Dante sighed, forcing David’s hand and the gun down. “He’s my little brother.”
“What is this? A family reunion?” David muttered.
They stared at each other for a few more seconds before David’s eyes slid away. “I should be hearing back from my man in an hour. Until then, there’s not much to do. We have no idea where the next shipment will be or what the Snake has planned next.”
“Wait.” Dante’s hand shot up, cutting David off. His gaze turned on me. “You’re not a part of this.”
“Excuse me?” I shot him a cold look. “I’m the one David reached out to. Not you. You’re just here as a courtesy.”
“Yeah, well, I’m also not pregnant.”
David’s eyebrows shot up, taking a sip of coffee to cover whatever look he didn’t want us to see. Killian gave a low whistle. “Holy shit. You’re pregnant?” I shot him a dark look. He started backing up towards the stairs. “I’m just going to…find a place to put this.” Killian disappeared around the corner.
“That’s ridiculous,” I said, waving Dante’s concern away. “I’m perfectly capable of doing this.”
“I’m going to…uh, check my things.” David’s chair rushed back as he quickly stood, making a beeline for the stairs.
My head whipped back towards Dante. “You don’t get to tell me what I can or cannot do,” I hissed.
“Yeah, I can. Because that’s not only your child in there. It’s mine as well. And I’m not risking its life, or yours, for this.” Dante’s jaw clenched. “We’ve lost too much already.”
“You’re not going to take away my chance to avenge my father,” I snapped. That was the end of the discussion for me. Dante could rant about keeping the baby safe all he wanted to, but in the end, this was my decision. And my decision only.
“Do not make me handcuff you to that bed,” Dante growled.
My eyes snapped to his. “I’d like to see you try.”
His chair screeched back. Using his arm to prop him up, he towered over me, his face just inches away from mine. I refused to flinch, refused to allow him to intimidate me. I froze as his fingers tangled in my hair, tipping my head back. Our lips grazed once, a soft brush before he pulled away, eyes as dark as the night sky.
The heat of his body was nearly overwhelming. It took everything in me not to run my fingers over his bare skin, to feel the hardness along his abdomen, the strength in his shoulders. I kept my eyes firmly on his, refusing to look down, though I could picture it perfectly in my head.
“Why can’t you just listen to me for once?”
I smirked up at him. “Why can’t you just trust me for once?”
Dante let go almost immediately, sliding back into his chair. “It’s not that I don’t trust you, Sienna. It’s that I’m worried for you.” He wasn’t looking at me now. He was staring down at the kitchen table as if it could give him all the answers.
I didn’t answer right away. “I know. But if we didn’t do things because we were worried, then nothing would ever get done,” I said gently. “We have to do this. Together. The Snake clearly has it out for the Italian mafia. They haven’t even touched the Irish or the Russians. This makes it more personal.”
“You’d still be a part of this even if I begged you not to be?”
“Yes.”
He sighed, finishing off the last of his coffee. “Then I guess there’s nothing left for me to say.” Standing, he washed the cup, placing it on the small towel beside the sink to dry before heading back to our bedroom upstairs.
I stayed where I was, enjoying the peace and quiet. It didn’t matter how much he wanted me to stay out of this; I knew I couldn’t. I didn’t want to. The Snake had taken my father and nearly cost me my family business. This was more personal to me than Dante even realized. Losing family members in this line of work was common. Expected, really, but that didn’t make it hurt any less. But what Dante hadn’t factored in was how the Snake was undermining my role as Don. They were making me look weak, not just to our own men, but to others across the country as well. And that I couldn’t allow.
By the time I’d finished, all three had walked back into the kitchen. Dante was dressed now, much to my disappointment, though I didn’t let that show. He’d pulled on dark jeans and a black sweater—one that clung to him in all the right places and left little to the imagination. Killian hadn’t changed. He slid into a seat, stretching out his long limbs and giving a dramatic yawn. I caught David eyeing him with disapproval, but he said nothing.
Instead, he started unrolling a map.
