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Ican sense my uncles’ anger, their restless spirits roaming the halls in a rage as I prepare to marry the enemy.
Ghosts have no business among the living. At least, that’s what Uncle Bryan said to my mother whenever she brought up their parents and how disappointed they’d be to see their two eldest sons had turned to a life of crime.
He also said it to me after she’d died, when I was sixteen and hesitated on my first official assignment—take out Johnny Roscoe for stealing ten thousand dollars from a night’s collection.
Johnny was one of our guys. Maybe even one of our better guys. That’s why he was trusted to collect fees from those under McKenzie protection.
“It was one time!” he screamed moments before I was given the order to end his life.
My mother had been gone for years and yet her voice sounded clearly in my mind. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
I couldn’t pull the trigger.
After Johnny’s body was dragged from the study, Uncle Bryan wiped the blood from his blade on my arm. He stared at me knowingly as he did it. “Do not listen to the dead, Rowan. The only place their words will guide you is to the grave. Got me?”
Now it’s he who haunts this place, his disapproval I sense as if he’s breathing down my neck. He and Uncle James.
You’re a traitor. A disappointment.
A smile paints across my lips. I paid my dues and the McKenzies are mine now. Bryan and James no longer dictate what I do. They are no longer a threat.
Shrugging into the tuxedo coat, I flex the muscles in my shoulders to get it to settle into place. I hate formal clothes. My broad black and my height have always made it difficult to find suits that fit without having them tailored. And even then, I feel like a stuffed sausage. But forher, I’ll gladly wear this shit.
My second-in-command is waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs when I descend.
“Are we ready to go?” I ask.
Declan nods. “The church has been cleared. Father Ayala is impatiently waiting.”
“You were able to convince him to perform the ceremony?”
He gives me a look. “I’m a very persuasive man.”
Axle scurries into the foyer just then, looking nervous as always. “Sir, we have company.”
Before I can ask who it is, the doorbell rings, followed by familiar voices coming from the guarded foyer. A moment later, Luca and Noah enter, both formally dressed.
I frown at the head of the Sinacore Alliance, who seems as comfortable in a tux as I am. “Where are you going?”
“To your wedding, apparently,” he replies.
“How did you know about that?”
“I have people.” His eyes move almost imperceptibly to Axle.
I raise a brow at the little weasel and he shrinks. “You invited them? I mean…” I turn back to Luca and Gunn. “No offense, guys, but this is a private thing.”
“No offense taken,” Gunn says. “I was in the middle of something private myself when this asshole showed up and dragged me here.” He points at Luca.
Ignoring him, Luca heads toward the study. “Let’s chat.”
I sigh and follow him. He shuts the door before Gunn or any of my men can come in.
“You’re getting married to Fernando Duran’s daughter and didn’t think to inform the alliance?”
Moving to sit at my desk, something I do more out of a need to establish dominance, I extend my arm to indicate he take the seat across from me. “My marriage to Louisa has nothing to do with the alliance.”
“It does when it puts your safety at risk. We cannot afford to lose you.”
