Page 25 of Don’t Break My Heart (Secrets of Ravens Hollow #3)

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I snip, my patience with this fucker wearing thin.

His eyes lock with mine, sending a chill over me. “I don’t! You are more valuable to me alive.”

Something in the way his eyes flash with determination makes me believe him. I withdraw the knife, giving him room to breathe again. “What do you want with me then? I have seen you watching me all night. Following me into the women’s bathroom is a pretty low move.”

He moves to the vanity and takes some paper towel, wets it, and washes the trickle of blood from his neck, still watching me in the mirror. “You’re a hard woman to get alone.”

“For a good reason.”

He turns back to me, leaning into the vanity, looking way too confident for a man who just had a knife at his throat.

“You’re a powerful woman, Miss Stryker. We both know what you’re capable of, and now you have been handed the Moretti legacy.

You know who I am, I’m sure you know I’m also very powerful. Together we could be unstoppable.”

I raise a brow. This is a business meeting? “My name is Ava Moretti,” I correct him. I’m not sure why, but him calling me Stryker is unnerving, like he knows more about me than I want him to.

Amusement dances on his lips. “We both know it’s not.

The Morettis have ruled over this town for far too long, taking what they want—business, territories, people.

” His eyes lock with mine, a flash of pain in his pale blue irises that I feel right through to my soul.

It’s the most unusual blue I have ever seen, but strangely, I have seen it before this week, and that alone sends a shiver down my spine.

“I know you were forced into a marriage you don’t want to be in.

A life sentence for crimes you didn’t commit.

My baby sister had the same unfortunate fate.

” His voice is shaky now, filled with raw emotion that I can feel right through to my own heart.

“I did everything I could to save her, but it was no use. Fucking Emilio had my parents backed into a corner. She agreed to save them.”

“Your sister is Daisy?” I gasp, already knowing it’s true. They have the same eyes, the same sadness in their features. I don’t think he’s the enemy Emilio painted him to be.

The bathroom door flies open with a crash into the marble wall. I turn back to see what the fuck is going on behind me, and in a flash of black fabric Dante slips past me, escaping the same way he came in, right as Onyx and Reef fly through the door, guns drawn.

Onyx fires off a couple of shots in his direction.

“No, don’t shoot,” I cry, surprising even myself.

Reef comes running toward me and drags me out of the bathroom and around a corner, out of sight of the rest of the room. “What the fuck, wildcat?” He looks me over with concern, searching for any signs of injuries .

“Dante Conti,” I gasp, still trying to process what just happened.

Reef’s face contorts in anger. “Did he hurt you?” His hands come to my shoulders, and he pulls me into him. It’s then I realize my body is trembling all over.

“No. I think I hurt him.”

“What?”

“He snuck up on me, and I pulled a knife on him. But Reef, I don’t think he’s the enemy Romeo and Orlando think he is. There is more going on here.”

“What makes you say that?” Onyx asks, joining us.

“I had a knife to his throat, but he could have tried to overpower me, and he didn’t. He didn’t lay a finger on me. He just wanted to talk.”

“No man in his position wants to just talk to the wife of his enemies. He’s after something,” Onyx growls, furious. “No more going to the bathroom alone. From now on you hold it or we come with you.”

Irritation gnaws at me. Can’t he see I had it handled? I’m not some helpless little girl. “Yeah, he does, he wants the power to get his sister back.” I glare at both of them. “Did you know Daisy is his sister? Traded to Valentine just like I was to Orlando.”

I feel Reef stiffen, and I can tell by both their expressions that neither of them had any idea.

“He’s fucking beating her, Reef, I’m sure of it.

” He takes my hands in his. “You know this isn’t right just as much as I do.

We can’t just stand by and watch him become his papa.

All the fucking power to treat people however the fuck he wants.

I don’t know Dante, but you get a gut feeling about people, right?

I knew it with you the first time I met you, you’re a good person even under all the shit you’ve been through.

You have a good heart. I knew from the first time I met Valentine that he was pure evil just like his papa.

Onyx, you know what he’s capable of. You have to agree with me.

” I can hear the desperation in my voice.

I need them to see what I do, to understand why I can’t just hand it all over to Valentine.

“We can’t just take Orlando and Romeo’s word for it. They’re protecting Valentine because he’s family,” Onyx agrees with me.

“We have to because he’s the only way you and Orlando get out of this life sentence,” Reef says with more urgency to his tone, and I feel the weight of all of this pressing down on him.

Is this what he and Romeo are fighting about?

He wants us to go home, and Romeo is asking for more time? It sure looks that way.

“Exactly, but what if there is another way?” I shrug.

Onyx’s face turns deadly serious. “If you’re suggesting siding with Dante, they will never agree to it.”

My head drops, knowing it’s true. They will never in a million years agree to something as crazy as what I’m suggesting. “Maybe we take the decision out of their hands.”

“Trouble,” Onyx warns.

I push out of Reef’s hold on me. “I can’t stand by and watch another person’s life be destroyed knowing I could have done something to save her.”

Onyx’s eyes flare with anger. “You can’t save everyone. We’ve talked about this,” he growls, and I know I’m pushing him.

“What if I can?”

Reef’s head drops, and he runs a hand through his long hair. He looks exhausted, and I feel bad, knowing it’s all my fault. “Don’t you want to go home?” he asks, a flash of sadness in his eyes.

I take his hand in mine, giving it a squeeze.

“Yes. More than anything. But how selfish would I be, escaping this place and leaving her behind? Daisy is an innocent girl caught up in another Moretti mess. And she’s just the start, we all know there are more lives at risk here, innocent women who have been through hell at the hands of this kind of evil.

I can’t do this alone, I need your help, then we can go home.

” My eyes plead with them to understand my position on this.

This is bigger than us, there is more at stake here than just four lives.

Reef runs a hand through his long hair, tugging at the ends, and I see the stress lines on his forehead; this shit is taking a toll on him. “I can’t go against Romeo, we’re a team.”

I run a hand up his neck and into the back of his hair, holding him close as I stare deep into his pretty green eyes. “You don’t have to.” I smile back at him. I was asking too much, I knew I was. I can do it on my own.

“No, Sloane.” Onyx’s voice is a little more desperate. He looks at me like he can read my mind. And right now, I kind of hope he can.

“What’s the use of all this power their papa forced upon me if I can’t use it to our advantage. Right now, the only one who stands to gain from this shift in management is Valentine. I’m not letting that happen.” I shove away from them as I stalk back into the main ballroom.

Sometimes as much as I like their cocks, I wish they were chicks. They don’t get it, how vulnerable women are. I’m furious that Daisy has had to suffer, that Valentine has had so much power over her. That their fuck-face papa set this all up. Someone has to make a change.

I spot Orlando and Romeo at the back of the room talking with Dante, and I try to blend in with the crowd so I can watch them.

I can feel Onyx hot on my heels. He wraps an arm around me and pulls me into the shadows.

Dante pats Orlando on the back and clinks his glass with Romeo like they are old friends.

This is why we came tonight, for them to talk. But I didn’t expect it to be amicable.

“You don’t understand this world, trouble. ”

“No, I guess I’m just a silly girl, what the fuck would I know.” My words are filled with bitterness, because maybe I don’t understand this world, but that’s not on me. That’s on them and all their secrets.

“You know that’s not what I think.” His lips brush my ear.

“I know you want to save the world, but I only have one job, to save you.” His words send goosebumps over my skin and make an ache form in my chest. He’s been so damn good to me, standing by my side for years, protecting me, taking care of me.

I know to start off it was a job, but it’s pretty clear it’s more than that now.

I raise my eyes to look at him, seeing the sadness that’s come over him. He’s no longer angry with me, he’s just sad, and I feel terrible.

“I need to get you home, trouble.”

I let out a heavy sigh. I get it. I reach up and run a hand down his stubbly jaw. He’s dedicated his whole life to protecting me. I owe him so much. “Onyx, when you were a little boy, what did you want to do with your life?”

He blinks back at me, and I know he’s totally confused by my question. “All I wanted was to be strong enough that I could protect my mother, the way she tried to protect me.”

Tears fill my eyes. He couldn’t protect her; he couldn’t protect Katrina Stryker either.

And now all he wants is to protect me. But I’m not either of those women.

I didn’t know his mother, but Katrina was too kind for her own good.

I’m not. And I need to see this through.

Even if I know I will hurt my boys by doing it.