Page 27

Chapter 27

Constantine

Once the food was ordered, I opened a group text with my brothers. I couldn’t talk to them on the phone without them badgering me until they got to the bottom of why I was asking them to fly to New York. I’d rather tell them I was a father in person.

Me: I need you to fly here Monday for the day, no questions asked.

Enzo: I just put down my knife. No, I wasn’t killing anyone, just chopping onions. Relax. But I get the feeling I’ll need to pick it back up again.

Enzo: So, who needs to die?

Alessandro: What are you cooking? I’m starving.

Alessandro: Ignore that text. That was my very pregnant wife, not me.

Enzo: You should be cooking for her. Spoiling her. Why is she hungry??

Alessandro: I am cooking for her, even if I’m not “Lorenzo Costa, chef extraordinaire.” rolling eyes emoji

Alessandro: By cooking, he means ordering food. -Callie

Alessandro: She took my phone again.

Alessandro: I do spoil her. And she’s always hungry.

Me: You two done yet? Or should I say three?

I gripped my neck, working at the knots there as I waited for them to remember I’d started the conversation in the first place.

Enzo: Sorry, sorry. Food is a touchy subject for me. winking emoji

Enzo: What’s going on? Why are we needed there?

Me: What part of “no questions asked” do you not understand? one eyebrow up emoji

Enzo: Since when have I listened to you?

Alessandro: Never. He never listens, you know that.

Me: I just need everyone here. Mom. Dad. All of you. Izzy and Hudson.

Enzo: Shit, are YOU going to die?

Me: No one is dying. I’m sending the jet for you both Monday morning.

Alessandro: Callie’s due date is soon, so she can’t come with me, and I won’t leave her for more than a day. But if you need me, I’ll be there.

Me: I do.

Enzo: Send the big jet. The twins are old enough to fly now. I’ll bring the whole family. Sure Mom and Dad would love to see their grandkids. The restaurant is closed on Mondays anyway.

Grandkids. Yeah, they were about to meet one more.

Me: Thank you.

I closed out the group text and opened up my favorites to call Hudson. I’d been so sidetracked by the Carter-and-Rebecca news and Juliette’s drinking (and mine and our handshake deal) that I nearly forgot there was a case he and my sister were working on my behalf.

“Hey, how’s it going?” Hudson answered on the third ring, sounding out of breath.

Please tell me I didn’t interrupt something. “You good?”

He cleared his throat. “Yup.”

Liar. “You need me to call you back?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” Another lie.

“Hey, it’s me, Izzy,” my sister joined in. “We’re on speaker.”

“Thanks for the clarification that voice belongs to you. For a minute, I was worried I’d have to kill Hudson because someone other than his wife was in bed with him.”

“How’d you know we were in bed?” she responded in an amused tone. “It’s not even dinnertime yet.”

“ Un lucky guess.” I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs. “Anyway. You have news? I know you haven’t reached out after I texted you everything Colin told me, but just tell me you have something, and you’re not?—”

“Not rolling around in bed mid-afternoon when we’re supposed to be on the clock?”

“Bella.” Hudson wrapped an entire lecture in her name alone. “Forgive my wife.”

“Out of curiosity, how much did you have to drink before this call?” How the hell did Izzy know that?

“Well, how many would be too many if you were in my shoes?”

“I’d be drunk as fuck.” Hudson with the truth, and Izzy’s silence was her dodging it with a lie, knowing damn well she’d handle anything and everything the polar opposite of me.

“Are you okay?” Izzy’s one simple question was all it took for me to slip out of sated and happy and into fucked in the head.

“Considering Juliette’s brother works with Carter Dominick at The Sapphire Hotel, and Juliette and Colin were at Rebecca Dominick’s wake when I was there in 2019, and I briefly met my son there and didn’t know who he was . . .” I stood and dragged my hand through my hair, angry all over again that I was robbed of time with my son. If only I’d stuck around the wake a few minutes longer, I might have bumped into Juliette.

If. Fucking. Only.

“I’m sorry,” Izzy said softly, “but . . . what ?”

I backtracked and started from the beginning, managing not to lose my cool. “I don’t want to talk about that, though,” I said at the end of a lengthy monologue.

I’d talked more in the last twenty-four hours than in twenty-four years. I was shocked I hadn’t downed the entire bottle instead of only having a few drinks.

“Please,” I begged, sensing my sister wouldn’t be able to let this go. “Just not now.”

“Okay,” she said on a winded exhale. “Um. Well.”

“We did track down more information about Lennon and Jamie. Nothing enlightening, which is why we waited for you to call when you were free,” Hudson spoke up, clearly realizing Izzy wasn’t ready to talk. “Jamie is twenty-six. Has a few priors in Dublin, but nothing serious. Their mother is currently in rehab in Ireland, and their dad is in prison. Twenty more years left on his sentence.”

“Great, he’ll make an excellent father-in-law for my son.” Sarcasm didn’t suit me well.

“I can also confirm Dylan Kelly’s in the Caymans, and he is their uncle,” Hudson let me know. “I pulled his cell phone records, and while Dylan hasn’t checked in on his sister at all, he is in regular contact with their father. Which has me wondering if Daniel O’Brien never met his boss because his boss?—”

“Is in prison,” I finished for them. Shit. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone ran a criminal enterprise from behind bars.”

“But why run their business in New York and not Dublin?” Izzy asked the question on all of our minds. “Adds a whole other layer of complexity.”

“And a layer of protection,” I pointed out.

“True,” she acknowledged. “We’ve outsourced help to see if anyone in Ireland knows the real story about their father, Brian Cormac.”

I had to sit back down for this. “You’re going to tell me you put in a call to The League, aren’t you?” I dropped my forehead into my palm, my elbows going to my thighs. “The same organization now in bed with Carter Dominick at The Sapphire Hotel.” I was swiftly back into denial mode again.

“Oh shit, I forgot about that. Well, The League doesn’t own the hotel with Carter. Not technically, at least. Just Sebastian Renaud.” Izzy couldn’t shake the shock from her voice any better than I could get rid of my disdain for Carter, even if he didn’t deserve it from me.

My father had once been a member of The League’s Italian division before moving to the States. It was vigilantism on steroids. Given Carter’s background, it made sense for Carter and Sebastian to join forces.

It was all just becoming too much with my son and Juliette in the mix.

“I didn’t reach out to Sebastian,” she told me after a quiet moment, “but to Emilia and Sean McGregor instead. They’re back in Dublin again working from there, but it’s late in Ireland, so they’ll call me tomorrow when they have something.”

Emilia’s not in Italy anymore? That was news to me. Just last year, my brothers and I went to The League—specifically, the McGregors and Sebastian—for help dealing with a situation involving Alessandro’s wife, Callie. They’d pulled through for us, and that op in Rome had resulted in a shitstorm of life-changing events, including my worst enemy showing his face again, ultimately leading to my revenge.

I looked down at the scars on my arm, unsure why his death hadn’t healed the internal wounds he’d caused like I’d hoped getting justice would do.

It took me a minute to realize I’d never verbalized my question. “So, Emilia gave up her leadership role in Italy again? What is that now, the second or third time?” I forced a laugh, but it came out more like a groan of pain, and I had to rub my chest.

“Emilia and Sebastian are a pair, the both of them. In power. Then out again. Then back in again, but like, times ten. They can’t help themselves,” Izzy answered, her tone lighter that time. “Don’t tell me you’re not just like Emilia and wouldn’t step back in if you think things are being mismanaged.”

“Well, I’m sure whoever Emilia appointed to take over in her place loves her constantly stepping back in and micromanaging.”

“Ohhhh absolutely. Wouldn’t you?” she teased. “Mr. Type A Personality?”

I faked a laugh in mock offense. “The difference between Emilia and I is?—”

“You’d never turn the reins over in the first place and watch from the sidelines,” she correctly called it.

One of my many flaws , I supposed. “You didn’t mention Colin’s my son, right?”

“No, of course not,” she remarked, quickly shutting down my concerns. “But they have their finger on the pulse of criminal activity there, so it would have been irresponsible not to reach out. If anyone can help get us answers quickly, it’s them.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re right,” I grumbled.

“She’s always right,” Hudson joked, followed by a soft, “oof” sound. That sarcastic comment probably earned him an elbow from my sister.

I stood, eyeing the door, curious how Juliette was doing. “What about my wallet theory? Anything?” I finally remembered to ask.

I had a feeling the “wallet” Colin was supposed to steal from the Sicilians was a hardware cyber device that held sensitive information, encrypted assets, or even millions in cryptocurrency. It was a hunch, but it was the only working theory I had to go on.

“Nothing yet,” Hudson answered.

“Just keep me posted.” I was wasting my breath stating the obvious. “Can you two stop by on Monday and bring Mom and Dad? Make up an excuse for me as to why. I invited Alessandro and Enzo over, too. Colin would like to meet everyone.”

“Really? Wow, um. That makes my heart so happy. Of course we’ll be there,” Izzy said with a sigh. “I know we already met, but we didn’t meet-meet.”

I held my phone out at a text notification, assuming it was one of my brothers again.

It wasn’t.

But I wasn’t upset about who it was. I’d never get tired of seeing that name on my phone.

Juliette: I don’t want to be alone. Will you stay with me while we wait for the food?

I brought the phone back to my ear. “I have to go, she needs me. Be in touch.”

“Hang in there, man,” Hudson said. “We’ve got your six.”

“I know. I appreciate that.” I ended the call and opened her message.

Me: I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to be alone together until you’ve sobered up.

Juliette: Why not?

Me: We might do more than shake hands.

Juliette: I promise to behave.

Me: Something tells me I can’t believe you.

Juliette: You mayyy be right.

Juliette: Come anyway? prayer hands

That was all it took for me to give in and go to her.

I shut and locked the door in case Colin barged in and got the wrong (right?) idea about us.

Juliette was sitting upright against the headboard but beneath the covers. When she saw me, she set her phone on the nightstand. “Come here.” She stretched her arm out toward me, palm up.

I placed my phone beside hers, staring at the tempting angel in my guest bed. Anger, denial, and sadness were banished in her presence. All I could see was the light at the end of the tunnel.

“Juliette.” I swallowed. “My willpower is less than spectacular when it comes to you. Also, I drank as well.”

“Mm. You’re really good at saying my name as a warning. You know that, right?” She smiled, her eyes glimmering.

Best smile on God’s green earth. And a smile I’d never thought I’d see again.

I accepted her hand. “And you’re really good at destroying my control.”