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ELLIE
The devil incarnate rakes his gaze over me like I’m the scum of the earth coming to worship at his feet.
I’d rather take a flamethrower to his body than worship it.
After all the hell Sean has put my family through, I can’t imagine how my oldest brother remains friends with him. Another man would have killed Sean.
Aiden clears his throat, nodding to the chair beside Sean. “Take a seat, Ellie.”
If it were anyone else in the room with Aiden, I wouldn’t defy him. I certainly wouldn’t cross my arms and walk to the other side of Aiden’s dark and moody office, admiring the forest-green curtains instead of the raven-haired killer in the room.
But this is Aiden, and I know exactly why he called me into his office.
Aiden’s stare burns a hole into my back. “Ellie, this attitude has to end. I don’t care whether you like it or not, but the mafia is in your blood and it’s time to start acting like it.”
Whirling around, hands curling into fists and dropping to my sides, I try to crush the tightness in my chest. “Even if the people I love keep dying because of it?”
Staying at the edges of the family business is where I’m the most comfortable. I don’t want to be embroiled in the drugs and prostitution.
The last thing I want to do is deliver guns into the hands of people who send my patients to the hospital.
And yet that is exactly what Aiden demands of our family.
Aiden swirls around the amber alcohol in his fluted rocks glass. “This isn’t up for discussion. I’ve let you run wild for long enough. You’re going to take your place in the family, Ellie, and that is final.”
I bite the inside of my cheek, glaring at the picture of me and Aiden that sits on the matte black bookshelves behind his desk.
I wish we could go back to the time when he was just my brother.
There is nothing to do but agree, so I nod. “Fine.”
Sean snorts, shaking his head and leaning forward to put his glass on the smoky-black glass desk. “I don’t see why you keep pressing the issue, Aiden. She’s only going to be dead weight, and sooner or later, she’s going to get someone killed. Maybe one of your other sisters.”
Lunging across the room and wringing Sean’s neck would only cause more problems for Aiden. Rumors of the Rinaldo family resurfacing are already starting to circle around New York.
War with Sean and the rest of the Andino family will have to wait.
Aiden’s sharp gaze cuts between the two of us, his lips pressing into a thin line. “I’m not going to have the two of you fighting like children. It’s time that you figure out your shit and learn how to get along. We’re all going to need each other in the coming months.”
Pacing away from the window, I head over to the shelves and pick up the picture from my graduation day. “I promised to help people. I’m not going to go around killing them just because they’re competition.”
Sean rolls his eyes. “You always did have a passion for being dramatic, didn’t you?”
Aiden makes a noise in the back of his throat, shifting in his leather chair. “Enough. I don’t have the time or the patience to listen to the two of you.”
“Please, Aid.” I set the picture down, my pulse pounding in my ears. “I do enough to help the family. You call on me every hour of the night to stitch people up. I keep the local clinic in our back pocket. What more do you want me to do?”
He scrubs a hand over the scruff on his chin. “I want to know that when the time comes, you will fight for our family.”
I should tell him that I will stand at his side no matter what.
It’s what’s expected of me.
Instead, I shove my hands into the pockets of my lavender scrubs to hide the way they tremble. “Aiden, you know how much nursing means to me. I don’t want to give that up for this war with the Rinaldos.”
Aiden’s fist slams on the desk, sending a pen clattering to the floor and papers shuffling to the edge. “I’ve had enough of this, Ellie. You’re twenty-six now. It’s time to stop living in your imaginary world.”
His words cut deep, lashing at a part of me that still seeks my brother’s approval even though I know it’s almost impossible to gain.
When Dad was alive, Aiden wasn’t this cold and calculating. He was still being groomed to be the heir to the Lynde family, but there was a warmth there.
Now, there’s nothing but a monster where my brother used to stand.
I take a deep breath, glancing at the brass clock on the wall. “I’ll do what I have to for the family.”
Aiden nods, the corner of his mouth tipping upward. “Good.”
Sean reaches for his glass, the light catching the scar that runs from his eyebrow to his jaw. His upper lip curls when he catches me watching him.
It’s a shame pure evil usually looks like it’s walking off a runway.
I round the desk, standing in front of Aiden. “Am I dismissed? I have to get to work.”
“Take one of the guards with you. Latest rumor is that Noah Rinaldo is hovering around Manhattan.”
Taking a guard with me is the last thing I’m going to do, but I smile and nod anyway, placating Aiden long enough to leave his office.
I’m going to hold on to my normal life for as long as possible, no matter what Aiden says.
It’s the only thing I have left that is truly my own.
Morgan grins and bumps her hip into mine as I punch in my code to clock out. “This has been the longest shift of my life.”
Yawning, I step away from the computer, waiting for her. “I know. I spent most of my shift sewing up gunshot victims.”
Ones who looked suspiciously like the men Aiden was hunting down last week.
The keys of the ancient computer click as Morgan types in her number. “I swear, it seems like there are more and more shootings every day. Maybe I should have stayed in Wyoming.”
“You would miss New York.” I toy with my ID card as we head through the beige halls toward the locker room. “And you would miss working here.”
She rolls her green eyes, nodding to water stains on the ceiling. “We work in probably the shittiest clinic in Manhattan. One of these days, I’m going to get a job at a hospital. Something in the emergency room.”
“I like the outreach.” I push against the blue door, stepping into the locker room and heading straight for the steel bank in the back. “My brother thinks I should spend more time at the family business.”
Morgan’s button nose wrinkles. “That sounds like hell. Doesn’t he own a bunch of casinos and hotels?”
“Among other things.” I unlock my locker, kicking off the comfortable and ugly sneakers for a pair of high tops, scrubs still on until I can get home and scour my skin in a hot shower. “I know he thinks it’s for the best, but I don’t know why he still seems to think that he can control my life.”
“Probably because he’s a control freak.” Morgan slips off her scrubs and pulls on a pretty pink sundress. “You should just tell him to get over it. You could move on with your life. You have like four other siblings who could help him run everything.”
Guilt gnaws at me, making butterflies beat their wings against the inside of my stomach.
Morgan doesn’t know the truth about my family. She thinks Aiden is just another rich asshole in a city filled with rich assholes.
“Look, I know it’s hard to stand up to your family, but one of these days, you have to start living for you.” Morgan takes her blond hair down from its braid. “Especially if you’re thinking about starting that family of yours one day soon.”
I let down my hair, running my fingers along my scalp to soothe some of the tension there. “You’re right, but kids and a husband are on the backburner for now. Nursing is taking up most of my time, and I like it that way.”
She gives me a sympathetic look. “You’re going to get the life you want one of these days. Your brother can’t rule over your life forever.”
And that’s where you’re wrong.
I shrug, letting the conversation go as we head for the door and navigate through the twisting halls out into the dark night.
The lights of the city drown out the stars, and for the millionth time, I wish I lived somewhere I could see stars at night. The city is suffocating at the best of times.
When I do find a husband and start to settle down, I want a house outside of the city. Somewhere close enough to visit my family, but far enough away that they can’t come running to me with every little mafia problem.
I need to distance myself from that life.
Morgan tilts her face to the sky as a cold breeze blows. “You sure you don’t want a ride home?”
“You want to try to drive to the middle of Manhattan?” I shake my head, hefting my bag higher up on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, Morgan. I’m fine walking home. I’ve lived in the city my entire life.”
“That doesn’t mean that you don’t have to be worried about what could happen here.”
Smiling, I hug her before stepping away. “Trust me, there are worse people in my life than the idiots you meet on the streets. I’ll text you when I get home.”
She pulls her keys from her purse. “You better.”
I stand beneath the bright exterior lights, watching as another dark car pulls into the emergency bay. The door opens and a body is shoved out, left bleeding on the ground.
It’s a common enough occurrence–one that doesn’t faze me as I wait for the car to leave before I hurry to the man.
He groans and rolls over, but it’s too late to move by the time I see the knife in his hand.
The sharp edge slides against my arm as I drop my bag to the ground and scramble out of the way.
When the man springs to his feet, there’s a black bandana covering his mouth and nose. Bright-blue eyes narrow as he lunges toward me, forcing me back into the shadows where the cameras can’t see.
I hold up my hands, keeping them between me and the man in front of me. “I don’t know what you want with me, but I think you should let me go.”
“We’re going to have a little talk.”
The man’s voice is rough, like there’s gravel in his mouth when he speaks. His hulking frame towers over me, while the knife is held between us like a poker.
He chuckles, stepping closer, the smell of his cheap cologne making my eyes burn. “You’re going to start walking toward the subway. You’re not going to scream. You’re not going to cry. If I so much as see anyone following us, I will kill you.”
Maybe I should have brought a bodyguard with me. They would have seen this guy from a mile away.
I hate when Aiden is right.
He’s always said that my hard head is going to be my downfall. It’s the least of my problems right now, though.
I shuffle to the side, my back pressing into the rough pillars near the entrance of the hospital. “I need to get my bag first; otherwise, someone is going to know you’re abducting me.”
The man shakes his head as the black car circles back around. It pulls alongside the curb, one man hopping out long enough to get my bag.
“You could just take me in the car instead of making me walk to the subway.” I jerk my chin in the direction of the car. “Let’s go. You can say whatever it is you want to say, and then you can drop me off at home.”
“You think I’m stupid?” The man chuckles, the knife appearing again. The tip presses against my back.
I glance at the blood already trickling down my arm from the shallow cut.
There’s no need to provoke him. He’s already proven that he’ll hurt me if he has the chance.
Each step I take with the tip of the knife pressing into my back is a reminder that maybe Aiden was right.
At least about having protection with me.
Tonight could be the night I die.
The man clears his throat as we leave the clinic behind, stepping beneath the bright neon lights shining outside stores. He keeps his head down as he falls into step beside me, the knife still in his hand but hidden from the view of anyone passing us.
The lights grow dimmer as we turn down an alley.
My heart leaps into my throat as the black car turns into the other end of the alley, sealing off one escape route.
As the man steps behind me, the only other way out is gone.
I’m trapped.
Shifting my weight, I try to keep myself loose and on my toes, ready to move at a moment if I need to.
One of the car doors swings open, and a tall man gets out.
In the darkness of the alley, all that’s visible is his silhouette and the glowing end of the cigarette between his lips.
A flickering light above me casts harsh shadows on the man’s face as he gets closer.
Everything in me is screaming at me to run. Look for a weapon. Do anything other than stand there and wait for whatever is about to happen.
In an instant, the cigarette drops to the ground, and the man is on me.
I slam my fist into his side as he takes me to the ground. “Get off me!”
The man shifts just enough for me to slip from beneath him as we hit the ground. The rough cement cuts against my skin as I roll to the side and spring to my feet.
An ache radiates through my back as I attack first, my foot shooting out to catch the man hard in the jaw.
His head snaps back before he spits out a mouthful of blood. “You stupid bitch. You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Who are you and what do you want with me?” I keep my hands up and in front of me as he gets to his feet.
He rubs a hand over his jaw, but there is already a bruise forming. “Get her.”
The man with the knife lunges around him, gleaming blade shining bright beneath the light.
I spin and kick his hand, sending the knife flying.
It doesn’t matter. Arms wrap around my body like a vise and throw me to the ground.
My head cracks against the cement, a metallic taste filling my mouth. Stars dance across my vision as a heavy weight settles in the middle of my back.
What feels like a knee digs deeper into me, warm breath ghosting over the shell of my ear.
I lick my lip, tasting more blood. “I’m going to kill you.”
“I’d like to see you try.” The man’s voice is deep and rich, but there’s a hint of an accent there.
One of the Rinaldos.
“Ellie Lynde, congratulations. You are the chosen one.” The man chuckles, sweeping the hair off the back of my neck.
I put my hands out to the sides, trying to push up enough to throw him off me, but it’s no use. He has me pinned.
I’m helpless. This is where I’m going to die.
Thrashing, I do everything I can to try and break free. “You stupid bastard. Get off me. I’ll kill you. Nobody will ever find the body.”
“And here I thought you were the gentle one in the family.” The man’s hand weaves into my hair, and he uses it to pull my head back.
The cold edge of a blade presses against my neck. A warm drop of blood rolls down, followed by another.
When people say that your life flashes before your eyes, I think they’re wrong.
All I’m seeing right now is what’s going to happen when I get up and wrap my hands around his neck.
He pulls my hair harder. “Now, you’re going to be a good girl and you’re going to listen very carefully to what I have to tell you.”
“I’m going to kill you,” I snap. “Nobody is going to find the body.”
“Cute, but we both know you’re not the one with the power here.” He notches the blade a little deeper, sending pain spiraling through my body. “If you want to walk out of here alive, you’re going to behave.”
I grit my teeth together. The pain is getting to me, but I’m not going to let him see that. I’ve spent too much of my life training to be able to fight against men like him.
“Good.” The man pulls the knife from my neck slightly. “Now, you’re going to go home and you’re going to tell your brother that this is only the start.”
A chill runs down my spine as sirens shriek somewhere else in the city. “The start of what?”
“War.” He takes my head and slams it into the ground. “Tell Aiden that I’m going to enjoy slaughtering your family.”