Page 78 of Caught in the Crossfire

Movement caught the corner of my eye. My door was slightly ajar. Wynn stood in the doorway, watching. My heart leapt, my cock twitching in my pants as my mouth watered even more.

I already knew Leona’s taste. What would his cum be like on my tongue?

Leona caught me looking and smiled when she saw him. She reached out a hand, just like she’d done to him that night in the library. “Wynn.”

Except this time, he didn’t move. He didn’t thunder forward to take her lips in the hottest kiss I’d ever seen. His eyebrows furrowed before he whispered, “I can’t.”

He backed out of the room and closed the door.

Shit.My arms tightened around her.

“It’s him, not you,” I assured her. “Give him time.”

They’d been working out together, but he’d been distant from even her. I wasn’t sure they’d even spoken together alone except to conspire against my need to keep them both safe.

She didn’t answer. She just pulled me to her lips and kissed me tenderly.

“Nap?” I asked, smoothing the hair from her face. “You should rest.”

“No,” she answered. “There’s work to be done.”

27

OBI

We needed power.

Enough power to keep us safe. Enough to make us untouchable.

The Luccheses were the next step on my path to acquiring it.

It started with killing Guido Lucchese, the Head of the Lucchese Family. His death served multiple purposes. First, it would be vengeance for the Lucchese’s action, or inaction, in the face of human trafficking. We were positive that Lucchese was aware of it, at the very least. It was far more likely that he’d been taking part in the efforts right alongside Luciano Vero. Orik Vokshi wouldn’t have run to him without good reason. Even if it was indirect, their choices led to the harm of my woman, and that was worthy of a slow and painful death.

Second, absorbing the Lucchese Family into our own would not only eliminate them as a potential enemy, it would also exponentially increase our manpower. We could fold their businesses into ours, expand our reach across the city, and allow us to fight Max Volpe with even more force.

In one fell swoop, we could match Volpe’s power in numbers. He owned the Tommasos and half of the previous Veros. Weowned the other half of the Veros, and with the Luccheses, we’d be on even footing.

We could jostle for complete control over the criminal families of New York.

The idea of a future where everyone I loved was finally safe fueled every step as we infiltrated the Lucchese Family compound.

It had taken days to organize this plan and put it in motion.

We’d kill Lucchese quickly, back to our assassination roots. Simultaneously, the Makarovs with the Russian Bratva, and our Italian forces with Giulio, surrounded prominent Lucchese locations. On our signal, they’d attack by surprise. They’d force the Lucchese men to fall in line at our feet—or die.

It would be the most coordinated attack on one of the Five Families in decades.

“Ciel, any movement?” I murmured into my comms.

Ciel ran point from his tech van, while Wynn waited with him. He’d set himself back by overexerting, and I wouldn’t clear him to join another mission until he had healed. He’d been angry with me, but it would have been foolish to let him hurt himself further.

Leona, Ryuji, Cas, and I infiltrated the estate. We’d already breached the perimeter and taken out the guards. Ryuji was currently picking the lock on the back door.

“Alarms are off,” Ciel confirmed. “No other movement around the property.”

Lucchese lived on an estate similar to the Veros. It was a sprawling compound designed to house all members of the family in one place for security. Lucchese had two unmarried sons who also lived on the property. Ciel confirmed that all three men were inside.

The lock clicked, and the back door popped open.