Page 27

Chapter 27

Vito

Manuel Morales hasn't risen from the dead.

Creed heard back from Tag that his team and their tech expert confirmed that the man Creed saw wasn't Morales. Jesús, my contact in the Garcia Cartel, and Crispin had also confirmed this. Massimo had even flagged it with Glass, the FBI director, to be certain that Morales, Sophie's father, or any of the others involved hadn't risen from the dead.

So, either Creed just happened to see Morales's doppelg?nger, or someone put the guy up to it to unnerve Creed or send us a message. We don't know at this point. However, Sophie is always well guarded. Creed is a protective and possessive man, and that will remain in place.

With that threat figured out, you'd think I'd be more relaxed. Especially since I had a toy to play with in my playroom—a low-level dealer we caught trying to sell tainted products in our clubs. That fucker is no longer among the world of the living, but I'm still agitated.

I know the reason. Eden.

I want to go to her; I need to go to her.

I don't know if it's because of what she revealed earlier today, but my guts are swirling. I had texted her earlier this evening, using the upcoming illegal gambling game as the reason, saying we needed to discuss some logistics. She replied, saying not tonight, but we'll talk tomorrow.

Now that I've finally confessed that I love Eden, everything I feel has become more potent—the want, the need to see and be with her.

I hate— fucking hate —that I can't see her whenever I want. That I can't go to her when she needs me. That we’re some dirty secret.

I can't openly love her and tell the world she's mine. I can't take her home and show her what a family truly is. I can't hold her in my arms while we sleep. I can't watch her sleep.

Raf comes back in from one of the hallways that leads deeper into the bowels of the basement. He and Mario had dragged the drug dealer away after I was finished with him. I've already cleaned up, using my special concoction that destroys blood. Raf had let me play by myself, sensing that I needed to slate my rage.

He's never asked me more about Eden, but I know he suspects something. He would've had questions and suspicions when he dropped me off with Eden after digging Cutt and Jax's grave. He's probably been calculating how long it's been since he knows that I've actually fucked someone—which was before Eden has arrived in the city. After the debacle in the library, that confirmed for him that I had previously cut Lexa and her blowjob requests off.

But… Don't ask, don't tell, right?

Raf and I are living by that motto right now, even though we have never had secrets.

"You okay?" he asks, going to the sink and washing his hands with our decontaminating soap.

I glance away but nod.

Images of finding Eden huddled in her office, breaking apart under the torrent of pain and memories of what her parents inflicted on her, rush through my head. My jaw clenches, and I have to give myself the pep talk of my life not to head straight to her apartment now that she's finished work.

Raf seems to want to say more as he dries his hands, but my phone ringing saves me from lying to my best friend.

The number and ID are blocked, and my tension increases. Few have my number, and I'm tempted to ignore it, but I answer.

"Vito, it's Axin."

I go stock-still—that Axin somehow has my number and at the tension in his voice.

"I need you to get to 915 Dumont."

I jerk like I've been stabbed. "That's across the street from Gilly's"

"You are not to go in there."

"Did something fucking happen to Eden?" I shout. Raf looks at me with alarm and tosses the towel in the sink. "What the fuck is going on, Axin?"

I'm already running out the door and taking the stairs three at a time up to the parkade with Raf right behind me.

"She's fine. I'll explain once you get here. Do not go into Gilly's. Do you understand me?" When I don't answer, Axin yells through the phone, "Do you fucking understand me, Vito?! You'll make this worse if you do."

What the hell is happening to Eden?

"Understood," I bite out, crossing the parkade to my car and yanking the door open. "I'm on my way."

Raf slams the passenger door shut, turning to me. "What happened?"

Shaking my head, I disconnect from Axin to call Massimo. I need to know what has happened at Gilly’s and the Chamber heads will know.

He answers and speaks quietly. "Gilly's has been hit. Ed is fine. Stand the fuck down." Then the motherfucker hangs up on me.

But a different kind of alarm goes off because Massimo knew to tell me Eden was okay and warned me to stand down.

Does my big brother know?

I can't worry about that right now.

I gun my engine, tires squealing on the concrete and echoing in the parkade. A guard opens the door just in time for my beast on wheels to squeeze through. I crank the wheel hard for the turn, gunning the engine once I'm on the street. I quickly relay the little I know to Raf.

"Fucking hell," he hisses, then twists his head to me. "Listen to Axin and Massimo. Don't go blazing into Gilly's."

"Raf—"

"No, fucking no , Vito." He slaps the dash. "I'm not an idiot. You don't do complicated, right?" He scoffs, shoving his hand through his dark hair. "But if what I think has happened the past two months has happened, you'll put a bigger target on her back. Do you want that?"

My back molars feel like they'll crumble with how hard I grind my teeth.

His hand grips my shoulder. "I got your back, and Ed's, too, in whatever this is."

We're silent as I speed toward 915 Dumont. My mind is racing with a horror-picture-show of what could have possibly happened to her.

She hadn't even called or texted me about what happened.

Because she couldn't. It was too risky to pick up the phone and call or text me without our code. We couldn't have a fucking normal relationship. I bang on the steering wheel in frustration.

My phone dings with a text, and Raf grabs my phone from the console.

"Focus on the road," he grunts. "It's from Axin. He's giving us an address where to park. Telling us to come to the back of the building from the alley. He'll take care of the CCTVs."

I focus on calming myself while not killing us as I break about ten traffic laws. I have to get into predator mode and hide behind my unreadable mask. One mistake and things could become deadly for Eden. The other Chamber heads will be on-site with Massimo. I can't be reactive and panicked; I need to be focussed and be strategic.

I pull into the parking garage Axin told us to, trusting that he'll take care of the CCTVs.

Raf and I get out and move to my trunk. I grab a jacket with a hood, and he's already pulling up his hood. I grab another knife and gun to add to what I already have on me, and Raf takes what he needs.

I slam the trunk shut, and we start walking, Raf matching me stride for stride. We follow the route Axin told us to take so he can erase our presence if anyone thinks to look. We keep to the shadows, though, because if someone sees us 'live,' that's a whole other complication. We enter the black alley like two monsters in the night and approach the back door of 915 Dumont. The door opens, and we slip inside without hesitating.

Axin locks it behind us, his ghostly pale skin looking more so in the hallway's dim light.

"What is this place?" Raf asks as we take off our hoods.

"Ohith bought it when Eden took over Gilly's, so we had a base to keep an eye on her." Axin is as unreadable as me as he stares at me. "Care to tell me why Eden wanted me to contact you?"

Okay, that answers one of my questions—and eases some of my tension, thinking that I hadn't been as unreadable and clandestine as I'd thought I was these past months. Ohith and Axin didn't know the lines Eden and I had crossed; they only knew we were connected somehow through what happened with Cutt and Jax.

"No," I say flatly.

His jaw works as he stares at me with narrowed eyes, trying to see inside my head. Finally, he jerks his chin down the hallway. "Come."

He walks ahead of us with a slight limp. He's lean and could be mistaken for harmless.

"What did she say, Axin? What the fuck happened?" My hand is itching to pull my knife and make him talk and give me more than what he is.

We come out of the hallway and enter a small fabric shop. It's dark in here; the only light is from the streetlights coming in the front window. He pulls out his phone and shows me Eden's text.

I'm fine. Gilly's was attacked. Please relay this to our mutual friend and tell him to STAND DOWN

Fuck that, and everyone telling me to stand down when my woman was fucking attacked.

"What else do you know?" I demand.

Axin looks at the front window, partially obscured by fabric racks. "I saw it happen."

My control is threadbare as it is, and this nearly sends me over the edge.

Axin was supposed to have eyes on Eden—to watch over her, to protect her. And he fucking failed.

From the guilt looking like it's eating him alive, he knows it, too.

Before I can unsheath my knife and lunge for Axin, Raf steps in front of me. "Easy, brother."

Axin goes to the window, keeping out of sight behind the fabric. I swallow my fury as I come to stand beside him and look out the window. There's a clear line of sight to Gilly's.

"Eden texted me earlier in the evening asking if everything looked good on my end," he says, looking at the dark street. "She only said that Gus seemed on edge tonight, probably because of the full moon. I always come here for the end of her shift, but I was delayed due to a huge traffic accident and got here later than usual. They must have set up to hide and wait for her before I arrived because I didn't see anything unusual."

"What happened?" Raf asks.

"Everything was quiet on the street when Eden and Ambrose came out. Ambrose insisted on walking her to her car, which pissed her off." His jaw twitches. "They were halfway down the walkway when Ambrose took a bullet. He acted quickly and got her down behind a vehicle."

His throat bobs, and he stares straight ahead, reliving the scene. "I couldn't see the shooter, but I was about to run out the door to help her, anyway. But then two assailants crossed the road before I could get the door open."

"What did they look like?" I grit.

Axin turns to me. "Two males. Dressed in black fatigues. Balaclavas."

"Dressed the same like in Aiken's hit."

Axin narrows his eyes. He and Ohith know about the video, but Eden obviously hadn't divulged that I knew.

"Wait, what?" Raf frowns at me. "How do you know that?"

"Eden found a hidden camera that recorded Aiken’s murder," I admit.

"Jesus Christ," Raf rasps. "She watched it?"

I nod, turning back to Axin. "Go on."

"Eden shot one of the assailants in the stomach. The other came over the hood of the car and grabbed her."

Rage pummels my insides. "And you just stayed in here and fucking watched ?"

"No, dammit." He fists his white-blonde hair. "It happened so goddamn fast. I was getting the door unlocked, but then Lixin Xhang was there." My teeth nearly crack. "He didn't hesitate; he snapped the neck of one and shot out the heart of the other with his Desert Eagle."

The rage inside me becomes a tangible, living, breathing monster.

That Lixin—that pompous, elitist fucker—was there to save Eden when it should've been me .

All the secrets. All my inability to roar to the world that she's mine. Mine to fuck. Mine to love. Mine to protect. And I wasn't there. Just like Axin, I failed Eden.

It's too much. An animalistic sound of fury and frustration erupts out of me.

"I should've been the one there, not fucking Lixin," I snarl, not giving a fuck about what I'm openly admitting to Axin.

His eyes widen as the meaning of my words sinks in. His lips press together, then he lunges for me and punches me in the face, snapping my head back.

"You fucking selfish bastard! What have you done? What have. You. Done?" he shouts. "Do you know what this could do to her, you goddamn selfish prick?!"

Blood streams from my nose, and I fist Axin's jacket. "I love her!"

Raf palms his forehead in disbelief. He may have guessed that I slept with Eden, but he never even considered contemplating how far down the rabbit hole I had tumbled. "You blew complicated right out of the fucking water, didn't you, Vito?"

The fight goes out of Axin immediately, and his eyes dart over my face, trying to read the authenticity of my confession.

"Shit," he breathes, then shakes his head. "You realize Ohith may very well kill you for this."

"He can get in line." I give him a small shove before letting him go. "It doesn't change the fact that I love Eden and will do everything in my power to protect her, including dying."

Stalking away, I wipe my bloody nose. My need to get to Eden is making me insane. I pull out my phone and text her our code for needing to see her urgently and immediately.

I need you to order more of my preferred bourbon

I'm not sure how long I'll have to wait, but her reply comes almost immediately.

Sorry, that's on backorder right now

I'll be in touch soon for alternative options

Fuck!

"Breathe, brother."

I realize Raf is sandwiched between me and the door, and I'm gripping the handle, trying to leave.

"If you bust in there, staking a claim on her and that she's yours to protect, what will that do?" Axin's hands are fisted. "It will put a fucking bullet between her eyes before sunrise. That's it ."

I know he's right, but I'm a man of action. I protect my family, and Eden is that. She's my family. My fucking world.

Plus, my possessiveness is almost as bad as my protectiveness, and I'm man enough to admit I'm jealous that Lixin was there to protect her. As I acknowledge that jealousy, it brings a wave of clarity.

"Why the hell was Lixin there in the first place?" I ask.

"It's a good question," Axin grinds out. "I don't know at this point."

"How did he seem when he arrived?" Raf asks, catching on.

Axin paces amongst the bolts of fabric. "Intent. Quick to act. He didn't hesitate to kill them."

My jealousy rises another notch, thinking of his behavior in the bar when he asked Eden to join the Chamber heads to sit with them, and he splayed his hand across the top of her back.

Like he was staking a claim on her.

Axin holds his phone for me to see. "Eden sent me these. She took pictures of the assailants before Lixin's clean-up team arrived."

I carefully study the pictures. I don't recognize the men. When I flip to the third picture, I freeze.

Raf notices immediately. "What is it, Vito?"

I'm staring at a picture of a tattoo showing three snakes coiled around each other, looking like they're eating one another with a trident in the middle.

I've seen that tattoo before.

Only it wasn't on the neck like it is on the dead guy in the picture; it was on a wrist.

Manuel Morales's wrist, to be exact.

"I need to talk to Massimo. Now ."