Page 28

Chapter 28

Eden

Adrenaline crashes are a real thing. Not to mention, it's five in the morning.

I rub my eyes. I'm not sure how much more we could go over what happened. Four of the five Chamber leaders are in my office. Normally, I don't like outsiders in here, but I wanted to watch the security cameras in case anyone lurks outside. I'll sweep my office for bugs after they leave. Not that I suspect they would plant anything in here, but I'm not taking a chance, with what Vito and I are doing. Plus, I'm paranoid and anxious.

It isn't lost on me that my two attackers tonight were dressed the same as the ones in the video of Aiken's murder. And acted like a team. Professionals.

Lixin just spoke with Dr.Lei, who reported that Ambrose was stable. "Ambrose is going to be fine, Ed," he reassures me again.

Dom stifles a yawn. "We're good for the company line if the police come sniffing around?"

My assailants used a silencer to shoot Ambrose, but Lixin's shots were loud. If the police came, we'd have the same story. However, no police had arrived yet. Gilly's is in a commercial district, and no one lives around here, so it's possible no one heard the gunshots to report them. The Saints had a race going nearby, but with the roar of the engines and the rowdy crowd, the gunshots from a couple of blocks over may not have been noticed. And that’s definitely not a crowd to call the cops, anyway.

Dom turns to Lixin. "Gilly's closes at two, yet you came to make sure Amazu wasn't causing trouble here closer to three."

Lixin's face hardens. They've already peppered him with questions. "How about we focus on using our collective resources to ID the bastards who attacked Ed."

It's not that they aren't grateful Lixin was here to help me. I'm grateful, too, especially since I don't think Ambrose would've survived. However, everyone is on edge, and any abnormal behavior is being questioned.

"He's right, Dom," Ash says.

I study Ash, trying to discern, like the thousand times before, if he suspects me of his cousin's disappearance.

Did Ash order this attack?

I dismiss that thought because that isn't his style. If Ash Dexter was coming for you, he wouldn't hire others to do his dirty work; he'd roll up his sleeves and do it himself.

Exhaustion weighs me down. "Are we done?"

Massimo's phone rings, which makes me think of Vito, because everything makes me think of him.

Vito wouldn't have liked that I declined the coded text that he urgently needed to see me. I urgently needed to see him as well. However, he couldn't come while the Chamber leaders were still here, and it would be reckless and stupid for him to use the secret passageway. The entire area around Gilly's would be scrutinized and monitored right now. Plus, I didn't want to risk opening the hidden door to the passageway without first ensuring that surveillance devices had been planted in here.

Massimo stands, excusing himself, and takes the call in the hallway. My eyes flit to the security screen that shows Massimo out there. There's no sound on the security cameras, and he's speaking too quietly for us to hear from the office. Even though I can't hear, Massimo's body language speaks volumes. His broad shoulders stiffen, and he pulls his phone away from his ear to look at the screen. A frown carves deep lines into his forehead. He lifts his phone back to his ear and speaks rapidly. When he comes back into the office, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. I want to know what that phone call was all about, but it's not my place to ask.

"I need to go. Ed, can one of us escort you home?"

"I'm staying here," I say. Lixin and Dom protest, and I lift my hand to stop them. "No one can get into my office when I seal myself in, and I need to be here early in the morning to debrief the staff."

"You're not staying here alone," Lixin argues.

"Well, none of you are staying with me, so that means I am."

Exhaustion is making me weary. Flashes of the video of Aiken being attacked and murdered overlap with flashes of the attack on me. I need time alone to process what has happened without an audience.

"Gilly's is mine. I own it; I operate it. This is my call to make, not yours," I remind them. "Now, give me some peace and fucking quiet so I can get some sleep before I have to face the music with Gus."

He'll be as angry as a bear caught in a trap that I didn't call to wake him up about all this and that his mother-hen worrying had been on the money.

I stand, giving them the not-so-subtle message that this debrief is over.

Ash smirks and stands as well. "You have all our numbers if anything comes up, Ed."

Massimo straightens his suit jacket. Somehow, at five in the morning, he still looks unrumpled and pristine. "I need to go to Catanzaro for 'Ndrangheta business soon." He looks at me. "I'm here for whatever you need until then. Marco and possibly Vito will accompany me, but Raf will be here for whatever you need while I'm gone, Ed."

He's being uncharacteristically candid, but I can't care right now. Vito hadn't said anything about him leaving with Massimo for Italy, but we aren't exactly a normal couple. We aren't even a couple.

I rub between my eyes, and Lixin and Dom finally stand.

Dom eyes the interlinking wood inlaid into the wall behind my desk. "That's a beautiful piece, Ed. Excellent craftsmanship. Do you know who did it?"

"It was here when I took over."

"Did Aiken do it?" Lixin asks.

"Not sure when he would've found the time." The lie rolls off my tongue without me consciously deciding to tell it. I'm unsure why I'm keeping this part of my brother to myself.

I realize my mistake too late as Massimo regards me. He knows I lied as I had told his mom that Aiken had done it and made the cube I had gifted to Gina in honor of Tommaso when he died. Thankfully, he doesn't call me on it right now.

The Chamber leaders file out of my office, and I shut the door behind me.

As we walk through the barroom, Lixin and Dom still protest that they don't think I should stay here. I ignore them as we check the security screen monitoring outside to ensure no one is waiting to ambush them. I basically shove them out the door, mumbling goodnight and re-engaging the locks and the security system. Hurrying back to my office, I lock it up tight. I pull out my phone, chancing to text Vito without our code.

I'm staying here tonight. I need to sweep my office

Don't chance it

The last thing I want is to sleep on the sofa alone. What I really want is to ride Vito's cock, then tumble into a blissful sleep in his arms, his heartbeat in my ear. But we need to not take stupid risks. Especially now.

Was the attack because someone suspected or knew about Vito and me? But if so, why the ambush? And why was I the only one targeted?

My phone buzzes, and my heart clenches when I read Vito's message.

This is killing me, baby. All I want and need is you

You know I'm right

Get some rest

You too

I delete the texts, knowing that if someone wants to, there are ways to retrieve them. We need to do better; no more stupid risks.

But that's a later problem. Sleep weighs me down, and I pull a blanket over me. Gus will lose his mind, and I'm sure he'll be my shadow for the foreseeable future.

Fucking full moons is the last thought I have before sleep claims me.