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“I don’t believe you,” Alister whispers.Oh no.
“What?”
“I said, I don’t believe you.”
At that, Alister grabs the empty bourbon glass from the bar and smashes it into Gallagher’s face. Gallagher blinks, giving Alister enough time to charge him, tackling him to the ground. I stand and move out of the way as their struggle leaves barstools scattered and Alister’s knuckles busted. Alister buries his fist into Gallagher time and time again until Gallagher finally blocks a punch and rams his knee into Alister’s ribs. I flinch and look back to the gun and knife just a few feet away. What good would it do? Though Alister is more than capable of killing Gallagher with his bare hands, he won’t. He still needs the name. And if he truly believes Gallagher is keeping it from him, he won’t kill him until he reveals it.
“I’m telling you the truth, Alister.” Gallagher pushes Alister off him using the full force of his legs. Alister flies backward into the opposite wall. Sweat covers his forehead, though he shows no signs of the struggle that just ensued, unlike Gallagher, who stands across from him with a busted lip, swollen cheek, and split temple. “You know I am. You just don’t want to believe that this was all for nothing, that, just like you have been ever since your sister was taken, you’re one step behind.”
Alister pushes himself up off the ground, disappointment appears to quench his thirst for Gallagher’s blood. It’s then that his eyes move to the gun just within reach.
“No, no, Alister, don’t,” I say, as he grasps the gun and points it at Gallagher’s head.
“If he’s telling the truth, he’s of no use to me,” Alister says, his voice void of any emotion.
“Alister, you promised me you wouldn’t do anything stupid.” I look between the two men as Gallagher raises his hands in surrender. “Alister, if you do this, it will mean war.”
Gallagher turns to me with a smile that sets every nerve in my body on fire. “Sweetheart, don’t you know? We’re already at war.” As the words cross his lips, a sudden burst of light fills the room as the door behind me swings open. I turn just in time to see a small army of gun-wielding men, all tattooed with the mark of the Irish mob, enter the small space. I take a step back and—
20
I wakewith a crick in my neck and tender wrists as I find myself restrained to a chair in the basement of one of Josephine Cullen’s holdings. I should’ve known Avery’s request for a cordial discussion was just him stalling until his backup could arrive. Who knows if what he said was even true? His men stormed the gentlemen’s lounge so quickly, they had Ariana in their grasp within a matter of seconds. With a gun to her head and me outnumbered and out-armed, I had no choice but to let them take us. They walked us out of the opera house, and once they had us in a car, they drugged us so we wouldn’t know where we were headed. Gio, of course, has been tracking us the entire time and is no doubt on his way given our unexpected change of course. But, as Ariana comes into view, I’m worried we won’t be able to wait for him.
“They wouldn’t,” I whisper.
Ariana lies unconscious on the floor in front of me. Her hands are cuffed behind her back, and she’s wearing nothing more than her underwear and corset. The way she is displayed before me makes Gallagher and his men’s intentions clear. No. Gio will never make it here before they—
“Good, you’re awake.” Avery’s voice pulls my attention from Ariana to him. At the sight of him and the two men accompanying him, my insides twist. She’ll never be able to fight the three of them off. Even if she wasn’t handcuffed, she’d be no match for them. No. I can’t. I can’t let what happened to Cara happen to her. I use all my force to try to break free from the cuffs clasped around my wrists with no success. “It’s reinforced steel, Alister. A Cassio Castellani offering, before he legitimized, of course.”
I bow my head in defeat, knowing the cuffs won’t give an inch if Cassio made them. Although…
“Please,” I beg. “Do what you must with me. Just let her go. She isn’t a part of this.”
“Isn’t she? She was the one you sent to lure me away. The one who used her body, or should I say mouth, to steal my gun from its holster. The one who then pointed that gun at my head and threatened to kill me. All of it to protect you. So, yes, I’d say she’s very much a part of this.”
“She’s innocent. Don’t make her pay for my mistakes.”
“Mistakes. Yes, let’s discuss those.” Avery begins to pace the room while I maneuver my watch, also a Cassio Castellani creation, using the built-in laser to melt the latch of the cuffs.
“Let’s start with the obvious. You broke the Rules of Civility by coming here without permission. You engaged in hand-to-hand combat with me. You would’ve killed me had my men not shown up in time. And let’s not forget your worst offense of all.” At that, Avery stops. The light leaves him as his lips press into a flat line. I’m running out of time. “Walsh and his men, you killed them, didn’t you?”
I don’t answer him, nor do I tell him Walsh is alive. He doesn’t care about those men. If he did, he would’ve avenged what he believed to be their murders a year ago. But he didn’t. He wrote them off as a casualty of a war he claims he never even believed in and only brings them up now because he needs to justify what he’s about to do to Ariana. But he can’t. There is no justification for rape.
“Any one of those transgressions is an act of war, Alister. You know that. And yet, you sit here without remorse, without shame. That tells me you need to be taught a lesson.” Avery moves toward me then, stepping over Ariana’s body to rest his hand on my shoulder. I meet him eye to eye without flinching even as the laser burns my skin in its efforts to free me. “And so you shall.”
As Avery shifts his attention to Ariana, I tug on the cuffs, but they still don’t break. “There are other ways to teach someone a lesson,” I say, hoping to stall him a few moments more. “Trust me, I know. I would never cross the line you’re about to.”
Avery turns back to me. “I don’t like this any more than you do. But you broke the rules, Alister, the very rules your father wrote.”
“Your men broke them first.”
“Maybe. But we’ll never know, will we? You see that transgression alone is worse than your presence in our city. The punishment for which is death.” At that, Avery kneels and brings his hand to Ariana’s cheek. He caresses her flesh before moving his fingers to her lips. “The thing is, I can’t kill you without risking Josephine’s life. Nor can I bring myself to put a bullet between this one’s eyes, not when I still taste her on my tongue.”
“You do this, and you’ll have a war greater than anything you’ve ever seen,” I warn him, silently praying it won’t come to that. But make no mistake, if I can’t break free and he does force himself on her, I will rain Hell down upon him.
“What happens next is on you, Alister,” he says, his voice void of any emotion. No. I’ve run out of time. “It’s on you. Let her screams be a reminder to you. The next time you feel the urge to cross us—don’t.”
Avery motions to one of his men, who hands him a syringe filled with God only knows what. I grunt as I try to break the hold of the cuffs. They still won’t give.Just a little more, come on, a little more.Avery shoots the syringe into Ariana’s vein, causing her eyes to flash open and her body to lift off the ground as she comes to. Adrenaline. He wants her awake while he rapes her. I swear to God, I will—
