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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

ROYCE

“You’re going to tell me where the hell Noah is right now.”

Martina Esposito’s eyebrows climb high up her forehead, her hands planting on her slender hips. “You must be the man who ruined my daughter’s life.”

“Funny, I thought you were the one who ruined it.” I let the door slam shut behind me, twisting to turn the lock into place. “You told Gia that he left nearly half an hour ago now, but my people reported seeing him leave an hour ago. So, where the hell is he and how’s he traveling?”

I need the truth from someone, and right now, Gia’s mother seems like the most likely person to tell me what’s going on and where he is while Aiden gathers the rest of the guns from a stash house.

Martina rolls her eyes. “You think you can come here and threaten me?”

I step closer to her, hand hovering near the gun on my hip. “I think that if you don’t tell me where the bastard is who wants to kill the love of my life and my child, you’re going to know what a threat is.”

She sits down at her kitchen table, running her fingers along the hand-painted flowers at the edges. “You don’t know the first thing about loving my daughter.”

Sighing, I pull out my gun, setting it on the table in front of me as I sit across from her. “Look, Gia loves you for who knows what reason, so you get one chance to tell me the truth, and that’s going to be it.”

Martina’s gaze flickers to the doorway that leads deeper into the house.

Based on the surveillance my men have been doing over the last couple weeks, Martina moved back to her house alone. Every now and then Zoe appears, but often, it’s Noah knocking down her door.

With him on his way to Vermont, I know it’s not him, and I don’t have time to waste.

If Aiden didn’t have to pick up the guns, we would be on our way to kill the fucker now.

“Martina, I want to make this easy for you. Tell me when he actually left and tell me what he’s driving.”

Her thin lips press together.

In all the research I’ve done about her, all I’ve found is that she’s the kind of woman to bend over backward if it means saving her own skin. She wriggled her way into the Rinaldo family, and though she acted as if she wanted to keep her daughters separate from it, she’s in deeper than a lot of people.

Martina sinks in around herself a little, shoulders slumping and gaze dropping to the table.

I’m not falling for the act.

She may listen to Noah without question, but I’m not stupid enough to think that she’s going to defer to me. “I don’t know.”

“Bullshit.” I flick the safety off but keep the gun on the table where she can see it. “You’re going to tell me the truth now, or I’m going to have to hurt you, Martina. I don’t want to do that, but I will.”

“You may care for my daughter, but how do I know that you’re not going to kill her?”

Gritting my teeth, I lean forward. “Why would I kill her? You, on the other hand, are pushing the limits of my patience. When did Noah leave and what is he driving?”

Footsteps echo in the hallway and Martina tenses, glancing back toward the door.

It pushes open and Gia’s sister walks in, her shrewd gaze passing between the two of us before settling on me.

“You can’t be here,” she says, her tone low and dangerous as she strides toward the table and drags out a yellow chair to take a seat. “You’re going to get us all killed just for showing your face here.”

“The sooner you tell me when your brother left and what he’s driving, the sooner I leave you.” I shift my attention to Zoe, knowing the power shifted the moment she walked into the room.

Zoe smirks and nods to the gun. “You planning on doing something with that?”

“I will be if you don’t start talking. If anything happens to Gia—if Noah so much as touches a hair on her head or even looks at Bianca the wrong way—you’re going to be the first one to die.”

Martina gets up and scampers out of the room, the door swinging shut behind her.

I glance at Zoe. “Do I need to worry about her going to alert Noah?”

“Unlikely. She’s starting to see what a fucking psycho he can be.” Zoe crosses her arms, eyes narrowing. “Noah left an hour and fifteen minutes ago. Driving a green sedan. Something from the nineties but I don’t know what.”

Zoe arches an eyebrow, a silent challenge to me. She wants me to be the one to make the first move, I can see it in her eyes. If I attack her, she has a reason to kill me, and Gia won’t be as upset with her for it.

At least, that’s what she thinks.

It’s clear that everyone thinks less of Gia and what she’s capable of.

I stand, shoving back from the table, picking up the gun and putting the safety back on. As I slide the gun into the leather holster, Zoe leans forward, her red-painted nails drumming on the table.

She bites the inside of her cheeks before nodding. “You might be good for her.”

“I don’t care about your opinion, and to be honest, if I had things my way, Gia wouldn’t have any contact with you or the rest of your family for the rest of her life. She would be better off for it. None of you have any interest in actually protecting her or Bianca.”

“Don’t tell me how I feel about protecting my sister. There are other things going on beyond what you think is happening.”

“Are you going to tell me anything useful, or are you going to continue to be cryptic for the sake of wasting time?” I glance at the watch on my wrist. “My brother is going to be here in less than ten minutes.”

“From what I hear, you’re the killer in the family. I’m not scared of Aiden Lynde. He might be the leader, but you were the one who was built to be the enforcer.”

I brace my hands on the table, leaning closer to her. “Then you should be scared of me. I have no reason to let you live.”

“Noah crossed out of the city and hit the highway twenty minutes ago. Got stuck in nearly an hour’s worth of traffic on the Upper East Side after an accident.”

I can still catch up with him.

Zoe stares at me—or rather her gaze has a way of making me feel uncomfortable just standing in front of her. It’s like she’s seeing every part of me, even the ones I try to hide deep beneath the surface where I’m sure that nobody is ever going to find them.

I don’t like it.

Her fingers keep drumming on the table, her body tense. It seems like she’s torn between saying too much and not saying enough.

I should leave right now instead of standing here and giving her the opportunity to have backup show up.

But I don’t think she called anyone.

I wouldn’t still be standing here if she did. There would be men slamming through the house with guns and I would either be brought before Noah or killed on sight.

Which means that there’s more she does want to talk about.

Finally, she sighs and leans back in her chair. “Are you the one my sister has been so wrapped up in for the last two years?”

“I wouldn’t say that she’s been wrapped up in me.”

Zoe scoffs. “I would. She’s been damn near moping since she found out she was pregnant with Bianca. I assumed the father was a loser and that was the problem, but maybe it’s the fact that Bianca’s father is nothing but a man who seeks to kill others.”

“Funny, coming from you.” I stand up straight, not wanting to be within arm’s reach of her any longer. “The last I heard, you were off on a merry little killing mission for your brother.”

“Half brother,” she says, making the distinction without hesitation. “But he has a vision. He knows what he wants, and he’s going to get it. You all are idiots to think you stand a chance against him.”

“Well then, maybe you would care to share what he’s been planning since your sister has obviously picked another side in this war.”

Zoe rolls her eyes, standing up and nodding to the back door. “Your brother is here. I suggest you both leave before I change my mind and kill you for breaking into my mother’s house. And if you don’t protect Gia with your life, I’ll make sure your death is as painful as possible.”

“The door was unlocked.”

The corner of her mouth twitches. “I don’t think that matters, do you?”

“Probably not.”

I head for the door, shutting it behind me. As I walk to Aiden’s car, I keep glancing over my shoulder, making sure that Zoe isn’t about to rush through the door and plunge a knife in my back.

Aiden rolls down the window, glaring at the house. “I didn’t know that this is where you were coming to get information.”

“Where else was I supposed to go?” I round the front of the car and slide into the passenger seat. “Zoe never would’ve agreed to meet me, and Martina is too spineless to kill me herself. It was the only way to get information out of Zoe.”

“Maybe I don’t give you enough credit for being clever.” Aiden hits the accelerator as soon as I’m in, zipping away from the house and out onto the road.

“You never have.”

He chuckles, weaving through the traffic, trying to get to the green light before it changes and we get stuck for who knows how long. “Well, remind me to start coming to you more with my problems in the future.”

“You did, and now it’s got me a state away from my girlfriend and my child while some deranged asshole is going after them.” The words are sharp, cutting through the air like a whip.

Aiden’s jaw clenches. “I did what I thought was best. You told me that it would be fine to run into New York since the others were with Gia. Don’t try to put the blame entirely on me.”

I pinch the bridge of my nose, taking a deep breath. “You’re right. I agreed to come with you. I thought that this was going to be an in and out trip.”

He drives faster, the engine revving as he loops into another lane of traffic going faster. “I didn’t think the guns were going to take as long as they did to get, but you know these things don’t always move fast.”

“They move fast when you want them to.”

“Are you accusing me of risking our siblings’ lives?”

I cross my arms, legs stretched out in front of me. My hands curl into tight fists, nails biting into the skin. “No, but I do think you’re interested in getting Gia out of our lives, and delaying the time it takes to get back to Vermont is one way to do that.”

“I’m doing double the speed limit right now so we can catch up to him!” Aiden gestures at the speedometer.

“I know you’re not happy about my being with her, but you’re going to have to learn to accept it. She and Bianca aren’t going anywhere.”

Aiden’s knuckles turn white where he grips the wheel. “You know what, you’re right. I don’t have to like it. In fact, I don’t, but believe me when I say that I’m doing everything I can to get back to the safe house before Noah gets there.”

There should be some relief at hearing him say that he doesn’t like my relationship with Gia, but there isn’t.

It only makes me more annoyed with him.

I look out the window at the towering buildings blurring by, the spaces between them becoming greater as Aiden turns onto the road that leads to the highway. There’s no way of knowing if we’re going to catch up with Noah or even get there before him. His delay doesn’t mean much when we’re still behind him.

Aiden sighs. “Do you love her?”

“Yes.”

He makes a noise in the back of his throat. “And did you really not know who she was when the two of you got together?”

“I didn’t have a clue. She goes by her mother’s last name. Always has. I never met her family either. We spent most of our time at one of my places or out.” My arms drop and I pick at a speck of blood embedded into my jeans. “But you know what, none of that would matter either way.”

“Oh?”

“It wouldn’t. I had the chance to fall in love with her all over again this time and I knew who she was and who she’s related to, and it happened.”

“I still don’t like this.”

“You don’t have to, but you are going to show her respect, and you are going to support us. And if you can’t do that, once we get to Vermont, you’re not going to see me or them ever again.”

The vein in his neck throbs as he glances at me, speeding up more as we hit the open highway. “I can do that.”

“Good, now drive like your life depends on it, because my family’s does.”