Page 31

Chapter 31

Vito

I'm beginning to hate getting dressed because it signals that the temporary sliver of time I've stolen with Eden is ending.

My jeans hang low on my hips. I have no shirt, socks, or boots on, and I grab her around the waist as she pulls on her panties. Burying my face in her neck, I inhale her scent. It needs to be enough until I'm able to hold her again. Her arms come around my head, holding me to her like she's trying to stamp my touch on her flesh. I hate that I must darken the little time that we have together, but I need to.

"I have something to confess," I say against her skin.

She stiffens and pulls back. Her hazel eyes dart between mine, and her sharp-angled jaw tightens. I realize where her mind went.

"It's not what you're thinking." I pull her tighter against me, my cock hardening for the third time, and I rub it against her as her eyes darken. "This cock belongs to you. Only you ."

I rest my forehead against hers, one hand playing with the silky loose waves falling to her shoulders and the other splaying over her lower back as she relaxes.

"I told Massimo about us. Creed and Raf know as well."

She hisses out a breath. "Why would you do that?"

As much as I'm pissed at Massimo's command to stay away from Eden, I know he'll keep our secret.

"They, including Massimo, won't say anything. You're safe—"

"I don't care about me."

Her safety and life are all I care about; it should be her number one priority. I feel like my need to protect her, and the darkness that fills me when I think of threats against her, could consume me.

"Vito." She cups my face, her eyes glistening. "If something happened to you because of me..." Her voice cracks.

"Let's leave," I say suddenly, my fingers gripping her tightly.

The words are sudden, but the intent is authentic.

I mean those two words right down to the marrow of my soul. If it means I can have her, truly have her, I'll give up everything and everyone.

Shock flashes across her face, quickly followed by pain. "We can't." She shakes her head, staring intently at me. "I can't do that to you and your family. Please don't ask me to do that."

"Eden—"

"No." She kisses me softly before pulling away, her beautiful face clouding with pain. "I live with so much regret and shame for willingly hurting Aiken and pushing away the only family I had left. I lost so much. I made Aiken lose so much ." A tear slips down her cheek, and I catch it with my thumb. "Don't ask me to let you do the same with your family, Vito."

"You're doing the same with me, then; making me lose so much."

She sucks in sharply. It's a dirty blow, but I'm desperate. I need her in my life. If I have to choose between walking away from everything so I can have her, I will.

"Vito…" She squeezes her eyes shut, forcing two more tears to slide down her cheeks.

"I love you, Eden. You're my path. You're my right path." I take her shaking hand and splay it over my thumping heart, then press my hand over hers. "My heart knows it. My body knows it. My mind knows it. My soul knows it. It's all yours."

Her hazel eyes open to me. The love I see in those beautiful orbs…

I'll be reduced to ruin if she's ever taken from me.

Broken, destroyed, shattered.

The monster inside me will rule, and nothing will be left of the man I am.

When fighting my enemies, I'm vicious, brutal, ruthless; people whisper I'm slightly unhinged. But if Eden is taken from me, blood will spill. I'll paint my skin and the world red, and I'll go out in a painful, bloody way, taking as many motherfuckers with me before I suck in my last breath.

Forcing away the darkness rising to consume me, I cup her face. "I can't ever let you go, Eden."

She blinks back tears. "You such a fucking cunt."

She hasn't said the actual words 'I love you' to me, but she doesn't have to—this is her love language for now.

I breathe her in. Feel her body against mine and her skin under my hands. Everything about her is right. I lean down to bite her bottom lip, my cock aching to be inside her again. But our stolen time is almost up.

She looks up at me, worried. "What does Massimo know?"

She's only standing in her panties, and I need as clear of a head as possible. "Get dressed first; I can hardly focus."

Plus, I'm not talking about my brother or any other man while she's only in her panties.

Smirking, she pulls away, but her eyes darken more, and the tip of her tongue wets her lips as she looks at me, standing only in my undone jeans. I love that she's as affected by me as I am by her.

Once we're both fully dressed, she looks at me expectantly, wanting the answer to her question.

"I told him everything."

"Everything?" Her voice is clipped as she frowns.

"That I'm in love with you. About Cutt and Jax." Her eyes widen, but she stays silent. "About Ohith; who he is to you and his role in the clean-up of the bodies. That Axin is here watching over you."

"Shit." She shoves her hands through her hair.

"I told him about Axin seeing the whole thing go down last night, and Lixin getting there almost instantly."

She's a bit pale, biting her lip.

"Eden, I need you to be careful." Her eyes fly to mine, and I continue to tell her about my suspicions about the Chamber.

She paces in the narrow tunnel. "I agree with Massimo; this is far-fetched."

"My gut is telling me it isn't," I insist. "I may not know all the details—the whys, the hows, the who—but you're in danger. I can feel it. And Aiken involved me for a reason."

"He couldn't have known that we'd come to this, Vito." She waves her had between us.

"No, but he trusted me to… Protect… Tell…"

"Those were the ramblings of a dying man." Her eyes glisten.

"Who was coherent enough to get his phone out, unlocked, and called me, specifically." I move to her, stopping her pacing by caging her against the wall with my hands on either side of her head. "Aiken knew Gus couldn't protect you on his own. And out of all the criminals in this city, he called me ."

Her teeth rake over her bottom lip. "Aiken respected your father. From everything Aiken said in the email and everything I've heard from others, I think he trusted Tommaso."

"He knew my father wasn't involved in whatever plot he uncovered," I guess. "He knows I'm my family's protector, so he probably hoped I'd extend that to you." I rub my thumb along her jaw. "Which adds more weight behind something is going down with the Chamber. I need you to be careful.

"I don't know the link between Manuel Morales and the two men last night, but they all had the same tattoo. Morales was part of the crew that went after Sophie a few months ago, Eden. They were planning on delivering her to a death ring. Morales was taken out, but that death ring still exists. I need you to be careful."

"This…" Her throat works as she swallows hard. "This can't be about that."

"You don't know that. I don't know that. Until we do, we act like the ultimate worst threat is gunning for you."

"But how does Gilly's and taking out the owner-operator factor into a threat like that?"

"I don't know," I grit. "Maybe it doesn't, and I'm developing the worst case of paranoia known to man. Just be fucking careful."

Because I can't be by your side, protecting you, like I should.

Because that would put another target on her back.

Fuck, I hate this.

Her hands cup my face. "Okay. I'll be careful."

"Do you have any more meetings with the Chamber?"

If Massimo and Zio Marco were going to Catanzaro, and there was a Chamber meeting with Eden, I'd go as Massimo's representative, even though the grumpy motherfucker wouldn't be pleased about that. But I could get a better sense of who the third one is involved if some coup is being planned.

If something is going down with the Chamber, I'd put my money on Lixin and Amazu—both because of what happened, and those two have always been the ones I can't stand. They're pompous, elitist, and narcissistic. I'm less sure about Ash or Dom. If it weren't for Cutt, I'd instantly dismiss Ash like Massimo had, but I can't rule out anything now.

"No, nothing at this time," Eden replies. "But Amazu asked me last night if I had a successor."

"Massimo told me." I smooth her hair back. From the pain on her face, she's thinking of Aiken.

"I need to watch the recording again."

"Wait to do it when I'm there, Eden. Or better yet, I'll watch it again for you."

She wraps her hand around my nape. "You can't protect me from everything."

"Wait for me to watch it with you," I press. The memory of her hellish anguish after watching it alone the first time weighs heavily on me.

"My head is swimming with all the possible angles of this." She presses her forehead into my chest. It's not lost on me that she didn't answer about waiting to watch the recording on that tablet.

I hold her to me. "We'll figure it out. Can you share my suspicions with Ohith and Axin?"

I'm man enough to accept help in protecting the woman I love.

She nods and pushes back. "I need to go."

Hour's up. Just like visiting hours at prison.

"Keep looking in your office for anything else that Aiken may have left or hidden."

"I've been doing nothing else for the past five months," she huffs. "I am convinced Aiken didn't just watch and erase the daily feeds from his hidden camera. He violated both Gilly's and the underworld's laws by installing one that recorded audio. He did that for a reason, and I'm certain he kept the recordings. I just have no idea where he'd save them."

Her mouth twists with frustration. "I thought his wooden wall inlay would be the best bet; however, I haven't found any other secret panels. But I guess if he uploaded the recordings to a server, there wouldn't be anything physical to find in his office."

I grip her waist, pulling her to me. "I love you. Remember, Ohith, Axin, and I have your back."

She stands on her toes to press her lips to mine. "You be careful, too." When I grab my phone and start walking up the stairs with her, she cocks her brow at me. "What? You need even these few additional seconds of my time?"

I smirk and slap her ass. At the top, I push her into the railing. "Massimo gave me a direct order as my Don to stay out of Gilly's. That means I can't have my eyes on you there. Promise me you'll do everything you need to keep yourself safe."

"I promise, you fucking cunt," she rasps.

I position the top of her head under my chin, willing myself to let her go rather than hoisting her over my shoulder and carrying her away, out of this city, forever.

If I have to do that, I will , I vow.

Kissing the top of her head, I let her go. She types in the code on the keypad and opens the hidden door to her office.

Both of us freeze. Someone is pounding on the outside of her office door.

"Shit." She steps inside, turning to me. "Go."

Like hell, I want to snarl.

"Vito. Go," she hisses as the pounding continues, and she pushes the passageway's door shut.

I can't go into her office with her, but I stop the door from closing tightly with the toe of my boot. Turning off the light on my phone so the passageway falls back into darkness, I listen as she goes to the other door and disengages the lock.

"What the hell, Amazu?" Eden snaps.

What the fuck is he doing here?

My predator instincts roar to life, and I have to fight not to barrel in there and shove my gun down that bastard's throat.

"What took you so long to answer the door?" he demands. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I told Gus I didn't want to be disturbed by anyone, and that includes you." I can hear the snarky annoyance in Eden's voice, but because I know her so well, I can also hear the underlying wariness. "Amazu, get out of my office. I only do one-on-ones in here with my staff."

"Always that line with you, Eden."

I stiffen like someone shoved a cattle prod up my ass. No one in the criminal world calls her Eden.

"It's Ed ," she says coldly. "And that line is there for a reason. Now get the fuck out of my office."

He huffs. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay after last night."

I hear Eden moving around. I haven't heard the other door close, so I imagine she's kept it open—for appropriate conduct and to keep an escape route if needed. She also has weapons hidden in there, and I picture her making sure she's close to one. Amazu isn't aggressive or threatening, but we're both on edge.

"I'm fine," Eden says firmly. "If you're that concerned, let's take this conversation into the bar."

Amazu grumbles, but I hear the leather of his jacket creaking like he's gotten up from the chair. "Just a second, Ed. I want to ask you about the wooden inlay behind your desk. It's quite the craftmanship. Did Aiken do that?"

"I'm assuming so," she replies indifferently, but again, I hear the wariness underlying her tone.

"It's exceptional work. Did he make other things?"

"I don't know." She sounds impatient now. "Let's go; we can talk out in the barroom."

I listen as her door closes, and she uses the lock to seal her office. I consider going into her office to wait for her, but my buzzing phone stops me. I unlock it and see a text from Massimo. My blood runs cold as I read it.

Call me immediately

Silvestro Mancini was spotted in San Jose with Simon Novak

Mother. Fuckers.

I close Eden's secret door, turn my phone's light back on, then rush down the stairs. Hitting the bottom, I break into a sprint.

Silvestro Mancini—a Don of a non-'Ndrangheta family, in our territory, without permission. One who is considered a rival after Babbo made him look like a fool and shut down one of his flesh-peddling rackets years ago. With the leader of the Czech mafia, who's an enemy of the Santoros.

Add to it that these two factions and men are supposed to be bitter enemies themselves.

My gut tells me things are about to get bloody.

This, on top of the threat to Eden, is the last thing I need, but I'll let my predator—my unhinged side—come out to play to protect everyone I love.