Page 55

Why was she still trying to feed me soup if I didn’t want it? Did she think I was a fucking child?
Angrily, I grabbed the bowl with my good hand and flung it at the wall. The bowl shattered and the soup splattered on the wall. A few seconds later, my brothers burst into the room, their eyes landed on the mess, then at Delilah, who had moved off the bed and was kneeling to pick up the pieces of the bowl, before they turned their eyes to me.
“Seb, what the hell is going on?” Dominic demanded, his eyes narrowed.
“Delilah, are you ok?” Leo asked. His voice was softer than Dominic’s. She just nodded, picking up the pieces, not looking at any of them.
“Let me help you,” Vincent stepped towards her, but she waved him away.
“I’ll be fine,” she muttered. But just then, Delilah swore and grabbed her hand.
Vincent knelt next to her, his back to us, assessing the damage.
He turned back to look at us. “She cut her hand. I’ll take her to the kitchen to help her clean up.”
Vincent helped Delilah to her feet and they left the bedroom.
“You really are an asshole, you know that?” Nate pressed his lips into a thin line.
“Did you come all the way over here to lecture me?” I gritted through clenched teeth.
“Seb, is that how you’ve been treating Delilah since you got back from the hospital?” Dom asked.
I closed my eyes.
“Seb, talk to us what the hell is going on with you,” Leo said. “This isn’t you. This is totally out of character for you.”
“And besides,” Axel added, “we like Delilah, and if you drive her away because your bullshit attitude, we’ll never forgive you. She doesn’t deserve this.”
I opened my eyes, and my brothers were all focused on me.
I sighed heavily as I clenched my fists. “I’m frustrated. With everything.” I paused. “We know that Obsidian is linked to Eso’s death, but without proof, we can’t pin anything on him. He also killed Eso’s boys, the ones who were asking for the protection fee. If he killed them, then there’s a huge possibility that he is tied to the threats I've been receiving.”
I inhaled deeply. “Vega can’t find anything on the ambush. No cameras in the area spotted anything, and nobody on the streets is talking. I need to know who ambushed me. And if Vega can’t find it, that means that someone in the Syndicate is using all their resources to keep us from finding out, which again leads me to think that this has Obsidian written all over it.”
I lower my voice “It feels like I’m a walking target, and I have no fucking idea who the enemy is. Delilah and I should be planning our wedding, but here I am stuck in bed, stiff as fuck, feeling useless. And worried that whoever came after me might hurt her too. It sucks, and honestly, I don’t know how much more I can take.”
Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Leo spoke, “Seb, what do you need from us? Do you need to call someone at two a.m. just to vent? Do you need at least one of us here in this house to help protect Delilah? Whatever you need, we’ve gotyou. We may not understand exactly how you feel, but you know we’ll do anything within our power to help you through this.”
“Thanks,” I sighed. “I just need to know for sure who was behind the threats at my bar, who killed Eso, who was responsible for my ambush, and why the fuck Obsidian is in town.”
Dominic said, “Victor has information on Obsidian. But he’s not going to share it unless he gets to sit down with Emily and talk. He also wants to meet his granddaughter.” His jaw tightened. “He called me the first night you were in the hospital.”
My heart stopped. Was this the information the others were hiding from me? Victor had been Dominic’s best friend who betrayed him for a billion-dollar deal and manipulated the situation so that Emily could marry Dominic because he wanted her to spy on him.
While Dominic had gotten out of the Syndicate, Victor had stayed. I had no doubt that the information he had on Obsidian would be helpful; however, if he and Hawthorne were working together, then Obsidian knew Delilah’s secret. With help from the Syndicate, Obsidian could make it look like Dean was heavy in the drug trade and human trafficking by creating evidence against him. And there was no way I was going to risk exposing Delilah or placing Dean in a worse situation than he was already in. There had to be another way.
“Victor?” I snapped. “He’s a snake. I don’t trust him. He could feed us anything and lure us into a trap.”
“I agree with Seb,” Nate said, nodding in agreement. “I don’t trust Victor as far as I can throw him. He could say anything just to get close to Emily and Lillian.”
“I think it's worth a try to talk to Victor,” Axel said, cautiously. “We haven’t had any luck thus far. But, Dom, does Emily even want to talk to him?”
Dominic passed his hand through his hair. “I spoke to her already, but she’s indecisive. She’s forgiven him, but she’s still afraid to get close to him, because she doesn’t want him hurting Lucy or Lillian.”
“But, Dom, will you feel comfortable with Lillian around Victor?” I asked, stoking the fire.
Dominic shook his head. “As much as I may want information on Obsidian, I can’t trust Victor, not after what he did.”