Page 28

I wanted to believe that seeing Damien and the others in that room would take away all my fear and make everything better. I was grateful to see them…more grateful than perhaps I had ever been before.

But I was still afraid. Terrified of what might happen.

I had never been so close to that kind of danger, and even with Damien there, I had no way of knowing how it would all pan out.

With no real experience in his world, I could only hope that he and the others knew what they were doing with their guns pointed at Esidor and Raf.

I felt hopeless and useless like I was nothing but a liability, and I hated it.

Even if I felt utterly trapped with the kingpin’s gun against my head while Raf pointed his at Damien, there was at least a shred of hope that came with the situation. At the very least, even if something happened to either one of us, there were more than enough weapons trained on the two of them, and they’d be taken down eventually.

In the meantime, I just wanted Damien and tried to keep myself together as best as I could.

He could likely see just how terrified I was, but my fear didn’t help the situation. If anything, my emotions would likely cause him to do something extreme that might get both of us killed.

Finally breaking that deafening silence as he shifted on his feet, Damien spoke, “You said you have demands…what are they?”

“Finally, some sense,” Esidor said, sounding far too satisfied for my liking. “I have several, so listen carefully.”

When Damien didn’t say anything and just listened, he continued. “First, I want this sham assignment of Sky’s erased and as far away from any printer as possible, and for the investigations to be closed. At the same time, the Pesci name will be restored among the prominent crime families, regardless of what it takes to accomplish that. Nobody will mock my name or think lowly of us. Secondly, I want a fair trade with the Levovs…a significant sum that will set us up for life. No low-ball offers, and no cheating. Only a real, genuine deal that will cement my legacy, along with my father’s.”

It made sense to me that he’d want the articles scrapped, but I couldn’t tell if his second demand was within reason or not. The Levovs were certainly loaded, and I doubted whatever amount he wanted would harm their numbers much, but at the same time, I also knew they had a lot of pride. Money was the name of the game, and for them to simply hand it over because Esidor demanded it wouldn’t bode well for them.

They were supposed to be an untouchable, unshakable family with a grip on New York so tight that nobody could even come close to reaching their heights. I didn’t know if they’d be willing to give that kind of money up just for me.

I may have meant something to Damien and Gemma, but otherwise, the Levovs didn’t owe me anything. To them, I was just a family acquaintance. There was no way they’d just fold like that.

“Why do I have the feeling this amount you’re thinking of is way beyond what you deserve?” Damien asked with a hint of irritation in his tone.

But Esidor only laughed, causing the gun to brush against my skin again, sending a shiver down my spine.

“Hold on now…I haven’t told you the other end of that deal,” he said, tone eerily lighthearted and playful for someone surrounded by guns and men waiting for the signal to shoot him down. “My third demand fits nicely with the second…in exchange for a healthy sum, my darling sister will be married off to a Levov.”

I watched as a mutual darkness shaded Damien and Ari’s eyes. Their anger at the mention of it was palpable.

“This again?” Damien questioned, brows furrowed. “You just can’t leave your sister alone, can you?”

Esidor chuckled. “It’s perfect, don’t you think? My dad offered her to them years ago when she was only young, and that was what started all of this. In a way, I like to think I’d be fulfilling one of his greatest wishes…to see his only daughter married off to the most influential family in the city. Plus, those Levov dogs wouldn’t be able to get rid of the Pesci name too easily that way…not when we become family.”

There was no questioning how Ari and the others didn’t like that idea while they stood behind Damien, faces set hard like stone.

“In that case, you’re bargaining with the wrong person,” Damien returned, giving Esidor an unwavering expression. “The Levovs might be our associates, but I don’t speak for them.”

“No? How unfortunate…we won’t have a deal if you can’t meet all of my demands. I don’t care who pays up or who agrees to the deal. Hell, I don’t even care what you do with her after the fact…I will ensure that one of you marries my sister,” the kingpin insisted, voice slowly losing his carefree air.

“You and your father have both tried this before…what makes you think any of us want your sister?” Ari asked from behind Damien, gun not moving away from Esidor.

“If you want Sky still breathing by the end of this discussion, then I’m sure that’s enough incentive for one of you sad sacks to buck up and take her as your wife.”

“How do you know we don’t all have wives then?” Ari questioned, doubling down despite how it was beginning to irritate their target.

Despite the tension in his grasp on me, Esidor chuckled. “Don’t worry…I’m well aware of at least two Levovs still in need of little wives. I’ve already done my research. Besides, even if it wasn’t the case, I’m sure you’d find a way.”

It was true. As far as I knew, both Lukyan and Kir were unmarried, and if necessary to secure the deal, one of them would be able to marry her with ease. If they somehow allowed Esidor to orchestrate the situation, that is.

Ari forced out an irritated breath. “We already have one associate from a forced marriage…we aren’t looking to make room for another.”

At the obvious dry humor in his words, the kingpin’s fingers flexed against my shoulder. “That doesn’t sound like my problem.”

“And your inability to marry your sister off isn’t mine either,” Damien interjected, sounding more impatient as time went on. “We’ll clear your name, fix your reputation, and pay you off, but we won’t accept your sister. It’s an unnecessary addition. You can find someone else to marry her off to.”

Of course, Esidor didn’t like that.

He let go of a low, bitter laugh at first, tapping the gun against the back of my head again. “It seems you’ve either become deaf or incredibly braindead within the time we’ve been talking…We don’t have a deal until someone marries my sister. Otherwise, this one here will be staying with me.”

My heart clenched at the thought, and at the same time, I caught how Damien’s jaw tightened with visible anger.

“You sound confident for someone surrounded by a record number of rifles…this place is surrounded inside and out. Regardless, you aren’t going anywhere.”

I could hear the smug grin in his words. “I’m confident knowing I have the one you care about in my grasp…if you want her alive, you wouldn’t dare give anyone the command to shoot me.”

Watching that confliction move through Damien’s gaze made me ache, and I knew he was struggling to reach a solid solution.

He was stuck in a tough position, given how he indeed couldn’t speak for the Levovs, and he wasn’t going to give in to Esidor’s demands so easily. If he did, they’d be letting him walk all over both families, and that was no way to maintain their current control.

After a moment of tense silence, Esidor sighed. “Well? What now, hm?”

“You know where I stand,” Damien said, not showing even a glimpse of weakness despite seemingly not knowing his next move.

Esidor went quiet, and his hand moved to the back of my neck, gripping those icy fingers against my skin and making me tense up. “By the way this is going, I’m beginning to wonder if I want any of you having my sister…so dismissive…so ungrateful for the opportunity I’m placing at your feet.”

Damien’s brows furrowed all the while the kingpin continued, his tone turning less coherent than it had been.

“Most men would be jumping at the chance to find themselves married to a beautiful Italian woman…but you thankless bastards think little of her without even knowing Aria. You think you’ll be able to do better, but I promise, you won’t,” he continued, fingers gripping me harder fractionally all the while he ranted. “At this rate, none of you deserve her.”

There was no mistaking how passionate he was becoming the longer the confrontation went on. His growing anger gleaned through his every word.

“Not once…not twice, but three times, you have rejected my family’s generous offer. A beautiful young woman in exchange for notoriety, money, and influence. Despite having more than the lion’s share, you can’t even spare some for another man who's not all that different from you!”

As Esidor raved, eventually loosening his grip on me at the same time I felt the gun pull away from my head slightly, I looked over at Damien, who was focused solely on me. As far as I could tell, he wasn’t even listening by then.

Instead, we held that eye contact, and I could only think about getting out of there. Of leaving and going home where we wouldn’t have to worry about anything. Where we could be together and discover more of what we could be.

I just wanted to be with him. To feel the security and adoration he wanted to give me more than anything.

At that moment, I could see that same want in his eyes, and that was when it set in.

I couldn’t just do nothing. It was getting us nowhere. Regardless of having no experience, I couldn’t just sit by and wait for the situation to somehow resolve itself.

Mustering up as much determination as I could, I maintained Damien’s gaze, then glanced at Raf before looking back at him.

At once, I watched as recognition filled his stare, and he too glanced at the man holding a gun against his head.

Even if Raf had been fairly confident in his job, and seemingly in Esidor’s successful plan, something shifted slightly in him all the while his boss continued to rant, going on about his sister and how ungrateful the Levovs were. How angry he was about not being taken seriously.

That doubt surrounded him in uneasiness, and the longer it lingered, the more I realized it could be exploited.

Both of them were losing their initial resolve, and I wasn’t about to lose my opportunity to make a difference in how the confrontation might end.

As our eyes met again, Damien gave me a subtle nod.

“A legacy is the only thing that outlives a man…that precedes him and immortalizes his achievement…his life. And you took that from my father. You took it all from us so carelessly to further your own gains. As if you don’t have enough already…as if you can’t spare one goddamn shred of that notoriety.”

Damien didn’t say anything. Instead, he discreetly prepared himself and kept his eyes on me.

“He’s already dead…and you want to shit on his name even more by refusing me…by refusing this. But mark my words, you’ll fall eventually. Every last one of you will feel what my family felt. You will know that pain and humiliation. I swear on my life—”

In the blink of an eye, Damien pivoted and cracked his hand against Raf’s arm, securing the gun and disarming him before he drove his elbow into his face in a brutal sweep.

At the same time, I swung backward and kicked a leg up to hit his dominant hand, sending the gun flying from his loosened grip. Once he staggered back, caught off-guard by the sudden movement, I dropped myself down onto the couch in time with two shots ringing out in the room.

Two bodies hit the floor…one dead and the other bloodied.

Immediately, there was a flurry of movement all the while my ears rang and I struggled to process what just happened. With my wrists still cuffed, I could only lay there while I caught my breath and tried to make sense of it all.

Within seconds, I felt Damien’s arms on me as he pulled me up into a sitting position and immediately worked to get the cuffs undone.

There was no describing how great of a relief it was to see him there…within reach and unharmed. I could barely believe it, especially since both of us seemed to be unscathed.

“I’m so sorry,” Damien murmured to me once he finally got the cuffs off and reached for my wrists, gently massaging them while he looked at me with an expression I had never seen on him before. There was so much care and relief, along with a mix of remorse and guilt. “This never should’ve happened…”

I could hardly manage the words, far too rattled by it all to focus on anything but the fact that we were safe.

While the others took care of securing the rest of the building and making sure everything was handled, Damien got me to my feet and pulled me away from it all.

It was all happening so quickly, moving by me in a blur until I felt the cool night air against my skin and Damien’s hands on me.

“You didn’t get hurt, did you?”

Even when I shook my head, he continued almost frantically. From my arms to my stomach, down to my waist and my back, his palms mapped my body until they returned to my cheeks, eyes full of concern.

“You’re absolutely sure?”

“I’m sure,” I managed gently, throat still sore from being choked earlier. Otherwise, I was untouched.

Damien studied me for another moment before he let go of a breath and nodded. His thumbs gently brushed against my skin, and he kept his voice quiet. “Good…I couldn’t stand the thought of anyone hurting you. But we don’t have to worry now…Neither of them will be able to try.”

Feeling that weight lift from my shoulders, I nodded and leaned into his touch.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there. Raf never should’ve had the chance…” he trailed off, sighing as he looked away for a moment before holding my gaze again. “That was the most terrified I have ever been, and every second you weren’t with me was pure agony. Not knowing if you and the baby were alright…I thought I was going to go insane.”

“The whole time…” I began, letting go of a shaky breath. “The whole time I was with them, I just wanted you. I wanted to be back home…just the two of us until the little one arrives. That was all I wanted…all I still want.”

Damien’s gaze softened at my words, and he carefully pressed his forehead against mine while he held me close. “Then that’s what we’ll do. We’ll go home and we’ll be just the two of us until everything changes. We’ll always have each other, and I promise I’ll never let anything like that happen again. You have my word.”

His words felt like a blanket draped around my shoulders, and before I could second-guess myself, I leaned closer until my lips brushed against his.

That familiar spark of tenderness and slight pleasure moved through me at once, and I sighed into the kiss as Damien returned it gently, still holding my cheeks.

His lips on mine were a balm to that ache within me that had been begging for him. The part of me that wouldn’t survive if I never had the chance to feel him against me again.

Breaking the soft kiss after a moment, Damien smiled faintly before leaving another against my cheek.

“Come on…let's get out of here.”