Page 9 of Love At the Gates of Hell (The Seven Sinners Trilogy #1)

Luke watched their embrace with a weird sort of pang in the pit of his stomach.

He was fourteen when his dad died. A heist that went sideways.

With their mother fuck knows where in the world, it was always just him and Gideon.

Frank Markos stepped in where he could—helped cover a few grocery bills, got them work when they needed it (which they always did).

Luke figured that the guilt of losing a man with kids nagged at him.

But when things were hard (which they always were in the beginning), the brothers relied on each other first and foremost.

“You okay?” Torretta asked, his hands bracing Benny’s shoulders. “Look at you. Madone , I’m gonna kill that fuck who took you.”

The corner of Benny’s mouth twitched. “Any guesses?”

“A few,” he admitted, shaking his head. “We’re working through it.”

“How did you know?” she asked.

Torretta hesitated, a resigned look flashing across his face. “The security cameras. When the connection went down and I couldn’t get a hold of you, we knew something must have happened.”

Benny took a step back, her fingers flexing at her side.

“I thought we already had this conversation.”

Luke could have sworn he saw flickers of light in her palms.

“Don’t you think you can give your old man a pass?”

“At invading my privacy?”

“Jesus Christ, Benny,” Torretta huffed. “I got a man trying to kidnap my kid, and you’re gonna yell at me about this shit? You won’t accept a bodyguard, you’ve scared half my men watching guard— can you blame me?”

Benny opened her mouth to speak but seemed to think better of it, her lips pressing into a tight line as she crossed her arms against her chest.

Luke had wondered why someone like Benny didn’t have more protection.

The only daughter of a powerful crime lord moseying around Philly without a watch dog seemed like an unnecessary risk.

A risk that clearly landed them right here.

But he certainly wasn’t going to add that train of thought to the conversation.

He liked his head right where it was.

Gideon cleared his throat.

“When we spoke on the phone, you asked if we had any more information on who owns the shipping container,” he said, his hands slipping into the pockets of his suit pants.

“It’s a dummy LLC,” Luke jumped in, knowing this was his part of the gig. “Registered to another independent proprietor that leads to a name belonging to a guy who died over sixty years ago. Some accountant from Reno.”

“Which could mean vampire,” Gideon added.

“At the very least, we know he’s got a couple working for him,” Luke continued.

“A couple less, now,” his brother said and he did not miss the glimmer of satisfaction in his brother’s eyes.

Torretta reached for his daughter’s arm.

“What’s the name?” he asked, his eyes focused on the dark bruises and needle marks on her inner elbow. “We’ve been careful with Benny, her true nature— it attracts some sick fucks out there. Only my most trusted men know.”

“Does Hal Moran ring any bells?” Luke asked. “We did a search, but nothing of value came up. No spending, no real estate…”

It had been a hell of a dead end. No relatives. No wards or inheritances. Even the man’s cause of death didn’t scream vampire. Plus, they were pretty fucking far from Nevada.

Torretta blinked, his head shaking. “Never heard that name in my life. That sound familiar to you, Ben?”

“No, but whoever he is,” she said, gently pulling her arm back from her father. “He’s got a real crusty group of dirtbags to do his bidding. They’re obsessed with him. They call him ‘Master’ like he’s some kind of cult leader.”

“How much blood did they take?” Torretta asked.

Luke could hear the soft thumping of his brother’s heart grow more intense. His eyes turned curious as he watched Gideon watch Benny, his attention on the witch rapt.

“I don’t know,” she said, wringing her hands again. “A couple of pints? It’s hard to remember. I was pretty… knocked out there by the end.”

Torretta’s fist hit the desk, paperwork sliding to the floor.

“I’ll find it,” he muttered. “You know what it’s like when Strega blood hits the market.”

Luke didn’t know. But it seemed their new friend did, her skin paling at the mere mention of it.

He knew the market was vast, selling and trading things he’d never assumed were real or even possible, but he’d never dabbled in it himself.

He wondered how much he still had to learn about what was available to vampires, what was lurking still in the shadows.

A part of him wanted to ask Tefi, to reach out to his old sire for more insight—but he knew she was always more trouble than she was worth.

“Can you trace it from there?” Gideon asked. “Find the supplier?”

“The way we move product?” Torretta began. “We know every distributor between here and California. We should be able to trace it. But it’ll take time. Benny, I need you safe until then.”

“Until what?” she asked, exasperated. “I mean what exactly am I supposed to do while you play detective? Sit in some safe house? I am a semester away from my thesis defense. I’m the head of my coven, I can’t just disappear.”

“You shouldn’t even have a coven,” Torretta snapped. “You shouldn’t be practicing at all. It’s not safe.”

“We are not having this argument again,” she said, throwing her hands in the air. “Is that really what you want me to be? A witch who denies her magic? I might as well let them kill me then.”

Torretta’s face twisted into something cold.

“Watch your tone, Benedetta.”

“I am not some delicate thing! I am not going to hide,” she told him, voice steady despite the way her heart rate ticked higher and higher. Then, as if she remembered herself, her voice softened. “What happened to Mom isn’t going to happen to me.”

“They know where you live,” her father replied and Luke could hear the quiet desperation in his tone. “They know where you work. They ransacked your entire lab at school.”

Benny stilled.

“What? When?” she said. “Is everyone— was anyone there when it happened?”

“Last night. A janitor.” At Benny’s stricken face, her father’s shoulders softened. “No, he’s fine, Ben. He didn’t see anything,” the man said quickly. “But you can’t just act like nothin’ happened.”

“Don’t do that,” she said stiffly. “Don’t tell me how to feel about this. Don’t try and force me to behave how you think I should. This happened to me , not you.”

Torretta stiffened.

Luke knew Benny’s point hit him hard.

“You gotta work with me, kid,” her father said, after a moment passed. “You need someone to have your back. At least until we get to the bottom of this.”

Benny rubbed her hands across her face.

“Fine,” she said, with a shrug.

A beat passed.

“You two,” Torretta said, turning toward the brothers.

Gideon’s eyes snapped from Benny to Torretta.

Luke had wondered if it would come to this.

The man obviously cared for his daughter, would have likely continued to try and convince her to hide out for much longer if he could. Asking the Crawfords made sense given how involved they already were. But would Gideon be on the same wavelength?

People were messy.

Each job was a risk. Each outcome had to be worth it.

People were never worth it.

“You want her to stay with us,” Gideon said.

“More than that,” Torretta said, squaring his shoulders. “I got work on my end, weeding out if one of my guys is responsible for this. But I’ll pay you double what I promised if you can keep Benny out of harm’s way while doing a little bit more digging.”

“Double?”

Luke didn’t like to show his hand. But that was more than Houston and Seattle combined, and that had given them a lot of time and freedom before having to figure out the next job. Not that the time and freedom had stopped them from taking the Chicago job.

It was funny how things worked out.

“You need more?” Torretta asked. “I’ll triple it.”

“ Babbo —”

“You think the asshole who took you is just happy to let you go, Benedetta?” Torretta asked. “He won’t stop at the lab. And I clearly can’t trust my guys enough to keep you safe.”

“But you trust them?” Benny asked, gesturing toward Luke and Gideon.

“Think about our options.”

There was a silence that filled the room.

It wasn’t a half-bad plan. Luke and Gideon were used to working in the shadows.

They had a dozen identities. It was how they had evaded most run-ins with the cops.

The loft was secure, and they had the resources.

It was one of the reasons Torretta had sought them out in the first place.

They were a small organization, and had proven themselves with more complex jobs before.

Torretta had promised them an obscene amount of money even then.

What would it cost them to babysit a witch for a couple more days?

But Luke wasn’t going to be the one to agree to this. He couldn’t be. Not after getting them involved in the first place. No, if anyone was going to make the decision here, he was going to let it be Gideon.

He didn't have to wait long for his brother to make a decision.

“We’ll do it,” Gideon said.

So much for avoiding trouble.

“But you need to be straight with us every step of the way,” Gideon continued sharply. “No more keeping secrets. If we’re going to be responsible for your daughter’s safety, I don’t want another surprise coming our way. Do you understand?”

Torretta looked at Gideon with a sharp glance and Luke straightened, on the off chance Torretta wasn’t pleased with his brother’s tone. But the old man nodded, his hand resting on Benny’s shoulder. The witch merely crossed her arms against her chest, watching her father curiously.

“Understood,” Torretta nodded.