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Dad thought he’d had the final say, but what he didn’t know was that I wouldn’t stop at anything to protect what was mine.
* * *
DANTE
“Enterprise meeting tomorrow,” Lorenzo said, not looking up from his desk as he read something on a piece of paper.The Enterprise. A collection of the heads of family in this state, all working together to keep the peace between us. My father had set it up to stop wars on all of our doorsteps, and so far it had worked. But I knew Lorenzo dreaded the meetings. He’d told me as much only a few nights ago while we were in the exact spots we were right now.
We’d taken to sitting in his office in the evening, just the two of us, discussing the changes he’d made and the ones he still wanted to make. The more time I spent with him in this room, the more I realized that my big brother was made to be the boss. He knew exactly where to take the business; what to focus on and what to let go.
I was in awe at how quickly he made a decision, but also surprised when he listened to some of my ideas. I’d had a glimpse of what it was like making all of the decisions when I moved across the state, and that could only be an asset to him. I’d told him as much the first night we’d sat in here.
“I’ll be there,” I told him, lifting the glass filled with a thumb of whisky to my mouth and taking a gulp. I hated the taste of it, but the burn was exactly what I needed right now. There was so much going on and I had no idea what to concentrate on first. I had to make my position in the business as concrete as possible, but that didn’t stop my mind from wandering off and thinking about the eyes that held me captive.
“—and you can see what they say.”
My head snapped around, my attention focusing on Lorenzo. I’d missed half of what he’d said. “Say that again,” I murmured, hating that I was admitting I wasn’t really listening to him.
The purse of his lips and his narrowed eyes told me that he didn’t like repeating himself, but he did anyway, “You can tell The Enterprise about your plans for expanding and see what reaction we get from them.”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” I nodded, downing the rest of my drink, then placing the glass on the table beside the large leather sofa I was sitting on. “But it’s ultimately down to you, right?”
He nodded, raising a brow, his answer silent. It didn’t matter whether The Enterprise was on board or not, Lorenzo would do what he wanted, just like he had since he’d taken over a year ago.
“Get Romeo for me,” Lorenzo said, dismissing me. Before I’d moved away, I would have rolled my eyes and asked him if he thought I was his personal servant, but now I knew better. There were things that I still didn’t know about, and to know them, I had to earn my place beside him. It wasn’t an easy transition coming home, but I was determined to make it work, no matter the cost.
I didn’t say another word to him as I exited his office and hooked a right to the command center. The keypad outside of the door blinked red, telling me that I needed to input the code. Something clicked as I entered the eight digits, then the door swung open on automatic.
“I wonder how long she’ll stay out there,” Rafael asked as he, Romeo, and Christian all stared at one of the monitors on the wall. My youngest cousin was enthralled with whatever he was looking at.
“Dunno, but it’s been thirty minutes already,” Christian said, his lips lifting on one side. “I’m sure I’ve seen her before,” he tacked onto the end.
“Romeo, Lorenzo wants you,” I grunted out.
Romeo turned to face me, his features so much like his younger brother’s, Rafael. But there was an edge to him, one that I didn’t want to cross. He stood to his full height, a few inches taller than me, and didn’t say a word as he walked past me, then closed the door with a click.
“Have you seen this, Dante?” Rafael asked, laughing. “She’s just standing there, waiting to be let in.” He pointed at the screen. “I swear, some women are fuckin’ crazy.” He shook his head, his amusement loud and clear for us all to see.
“Who is it?” I asked, frowning as I stepped closer to my cousin and Christian. Rafael was the complete opposite to his older brother, Romeo, and his dad, Antonio. Where they were serious and thought violence was always the answer, he was more laid back, taking each day as it came.
“No idea,” Christian answered, leaning back in his chair, his lips now lifting into a huge grin. Christian had been around since before I could remember, and although he was Lorenzo’s best friend—and now my little sister’s boyfriend—he was basically family. “She asked for you though.” He glanced up at me, his brows raised. “Probably someone wanting a second round with you.” He laughed, the sound echoing in the room, batting off the walls.
I tilted my head, focusing on the screen. My stomach churned as I stared at whoever it was, but I couldn’t make them out in the darkness. I was about to step back and leave them to their watching, but then a car drove past, their headlights flitting across her body, and my stomach dropped.
“Open the gates,” I demanded, already moving toward the door. My body wasn’t waiting for my brain to catch up. It knew exactly what to do. My fingers shook as I tried to put the code into the device on the wall, but they weren’t working quick enough. “Open the fuckin’ gates!” I roared, just as the door opened.
“What?” Christian’s voice followed me. “Why?”
“I said,” I ground out, sprinting through the entryway and toward the mansion door. “Open the fuckin’ gates, now!” I turned as I flung open the main door, seeing that Lorenzo and Romeo had come out of his office at the noise.
“Dante?” Lorenzo asked, but I didn’t have time to explain. I couldn’t get the words out, not when I had to get down there. She’d been waiting for thirty minutes, that was what one of them said, right? Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
My feet didn’t move fast enough as I ran down the driveway and to the huge metal gates that kept our property safe. Dad had installed them not long after he’d moved in years ago. I’d always hated them, until I realized that they were there for a reason. But right now, I was back to hating them.
A light flashed on over the gates as they swung open, illuminating her.
“Navy?” I called.
Her head moved slowly, her gaze meeting mine. “Dante,” she croaked out, taking a small step forward. “I…I had nowhere else to go.” She hiccupped a sob just as I made it a foot away from her. “I have no one else I can trust.”
