Page 27

Alex’s house was stifling even with the windows cracked, letting a low breeze in while I stood in the kitchen staring out the window.

I was completely aimless since the event and the fire, and while a part of me felt like I should be at home just in case Aria turned up and it was all just a misunderstanding, I couldn’t bring myself to be alone. Lying in bed by myself all night, caught up in those confusing thoughts and assumptions felt like torture.

It was unlike me—unlike me to seek out my brothers in a time of need and uncertainty. But I felt so lost and blindsided.

Luckily, they seemed to understand and had rallied at the house that morning.

Alex was busy taking calls with insurance companies and other authorities, doing his due diligence to keep everything else under the radar while still cooperating. It was a fine line to walk, but given how public the incident had been, it wasn’t something he could avoid.

Losing myself in thought while I watched the trees swaying in the backyard, unclenching my jaw was an impossible task. Every nerve in my body felt coiled up tight and just waiting to give out under the slightest pressure.

My wife was gone and I was left with far too many questions.

I could send every last man we had to go find her, but if I did, did she even want to be found? Did she orchestrate the fire so she could slip away and forget all about the pact? The connection we had built despite everything?

Every question silently piled up higher and higher in my mind, and despite my usual resilience, I was buckling beneath the pressure.

“Have you heard anything yet?” Damien asked, while he moved into the kitchen with his hands in his pockets. I could tell he was just as unsure of how to navigate the moment as I felt. “Texts, calls, anything?”

Pulling in a breath, I shook my head, not looking at him yet. “No…nothing.”

“And what do you think that means?”

Taking a moment, I did my best to articulate my thoughts despite the ache in my chest. “I don’t know…not for certain. But I won’t deny all signs seem to point at her betraying me—and us.”

A moment of silence settled between us while he sighed. I glanced over my shoulder at him, watching as he leaned back against the counter to my right.

“It might seem like that, but how can you be sure?”

Scrubbing a hand over my face, the next breath that escaped me came out rougher around the edges. “She’s still not home, and the longer she’s gone, the harder it is to think otherwise. She may be newer to our world, but she isn’t an idiot. Aria can be crafty when she needs to be…I can’t put it past her.”

“True…” he murmured, seemingly more willing to play devil’s advocate. “But she was also on your ass about upholding your end of the bargain for weeks. She was adamant about being business partners, no?”

Sighing, I nodded, still with my guard up. “Yes, she was…but it could’ve been an act to get back to her family. Before that, she had been too isolated to communicate with her ranks and could’ve done everything out of desperation.”

“And what was stopping her from getting away sooner? You gave her free rein before…she had ample chances to fuck off and return to her cousins if she wanted to,” Damien reasoned. “Don’t write her off yet. There could be something you’re not seeing.”

Closing my eyes, I tried to fight against how that suggestion didn’t make my inner conflict any easier. It was the idea I wanted to believe, but I didn’t know if it was the truth. I didn’t know if I could place my complete faith in her after what the hostage said.

“Hey…I think something is going on outside,” Yuri said from in the hall, catching our attention.

Pulling myself together, I exchanged a glance with Damien before we both left the kitchen, moving through the house until the group of us reached the foyer. Through the door, irritated voices came in, and we caught the blurred silhouettes outside.

Alex, finally off the phone, looked annoyed while he reached for the door handle and pulled it open. “What the hell is going on now?”

To everyone’s mutual surprise, Gabriel Caruso, Aria’s right hand, stood there with his arms up in defence of himself while our guards aimed their weapons at him. Looking panicked and out of breath, he glanced over to us past the guards.

“Why are you here?” I uttered, growing more furious at the sight of him.

I had my eye on him ever since the day he and Aria were reunited…ever since he embraced her and spiked that protectiveness in me despite not wanting to admit it.

Even if he didn’t give me much reason to suspect him of anything, and Aria never indicated there being anything else between them, I still wasn’t prepared to welcome him with open arms.

Especially not if she really did betray me.

Despite the heavy presence of firepower surrounding him, well aware he wasn’t exactly walking into neutral territory at the present moment, Gabriel wore a serious, but concerned expression.

“I’m not here to cause any problems…I came to warn you. And hopefully to get your help.”

My brows furrowed immediately, and I could feel the building of curiosity between us all.

As much as I wanted to dismiss him, I forced myself to stop and think rationally. There was no way Gabriel would show up like this without anyone to back him up if Aria was working against me.

It wouldn’t be worth the risk.

And with him being someone she seemed to trust immensely, I had the pressing feeling in the back of my mind that I would be better off hearing him out.

Glancing between the guards, I nodded, and Alex gestured for them to stand down.

“All right,” I murmured, keeping my eyes on Gabriel. “What do you know?”

While he eased slightly without the guns aimed in his face, the concern didn’t leave him. It almost looked like there were too many thoughts moving through his head at once for him to settle on a starting place.

“Aria was taken last night,” he began, speaking with so much sincerity that I had no choice but to believe him. “That fire at the restaurant…it was only a distraction to keep the heat off Esidor while he and her two cousins abducted her. He has come back, and he’s preparing to exact his revenge for what happened.”

The words, while confirming Aria was an innocent party in it all, were still just as damning while they settled over me.

She had been taken.

“Esidor?” Damien questioned in complete disbelief. “I shot him…didn’t I?”

Alex’s voice came out firm. “How is this possible?”

Gabriel took a breath. “Esidor had rats in your ranks, and after the confrontation, they hauled him away. Patched him up and had him healing for weeks. While you’ve been working with Aria, he’s been in the background puppeteering Giovanni and Vinny, and fracturing the Pesci forces into two sides—those supporting Aria and those still supporting Esidor.”

The weight of that explanation hit me harder than anything else, both confirming what the hostage claimed and putting those final pieces together.

The information had me shellshocked.

It had been Esidor all along. He was the cause of everything.

A shared feeling of horrified shock lingered between all of us, and for a moment, it was like nobody wanted to voice what we were all thinking.

Finally, I murmured, expression hardening. “Do you know where Aria is now?”

“Yes…the last I heard, they were holding her in the main warehouse. Only his followers were told to be there at first, but I can get the others behind us. They’ll follow you for her sake,” Gabriel said, not showing any hint of dishonesty. “But we have to act fast. I don’t know what her brother’s planning on doing with her.”

With those words, realizing he was right and time was limited, I looked at Alex.

“We need everyone on their way now…we’ll surround the traitors before they have the chance to do anything.”

Without missing a beat, he nodded and pulled his phone out, already making calls.

“You’re coming with me,” I told Gabriel, who didn’t object and was quickly moving behind me while the group of us dispersed, heading to our vehicles.

All the while, that rage trudged through my system, and I shouted at myself internally. Driving with that unyielding fury, I couldn’t get my mind off Aria or the situation.

My anger was both for Esidor and for myself…for doubting my wife and assuming the worst. For wasting all that time thinking she was cold and heartless.

I should’ve known better. I should’ve trusted what my gut was trying to tell me.

Out of control with that burning need to get her back, I put the pedal to the floor and zeroed in on the only thing I could do—confronting Esidor and getting her as far away from him as possible. To finish the job once and for all.