Page 34

Chapter 34

Eden

Memories of Aiken with Fenton and me roll through my mind like an old movie reel.

They remind me of all that I've lost and what I forced Aiken to lose. They remind me of my guilt, regret, and shame.

Those emotions further remind me of Vito and my weakness for him. Why couldn't I have just stayed away? He could be killed because of me if we're discovered.

You'll take him away from those he loves. You'll make his family lose so much, just like you forced Aiken to. You're weak.

No, you're not , sis .

Maybe it's my exhaustion and angst talking, but Aiken's voice is in my head.

Finally, my big brother talks to me. I choke back a sob and press my forehead to the desk.

I'm your protective big brother. Ever since I failed you and Fenton, I've tried to do my best to protect you.

"You didn't fail us," I whisper. I press my forehead to the desk, not wanting him to leave. "Talk to me, Aiken. Please."

But it's memories of Fenton that pushes forth. Her angelic smile and innocent giggles.

" Again, Aiken!" she squeals.

"Ssh, little pipsqueak." He musses her hair.

My thirteen-year-old self rolls her eyes. "No one can hear us."

Fenton and I snuck out of our beds one night when Aiken came home for the holidays. My older brother was working in his woodshop, but our parents didn't like us to come out here because of all the sharp tools. Plus, we were supposed to be in bed, not outside in the middle of the night.

"Be quiet, and you can watch me work."

I sit on the worn-out sofa, and Fenton curls against me, her long lashes fluttering closed almost immediately. She sleeps against me, and I watch Aiken with rapt fascination as he planes and sands all the small, intricate pieces of wood.

"It's like a puzzle, Ed. The best and most important things in life often are. I like to make these wooden intricate treasures and hide things so that when the puzzle is solved, there's a reward at the end."

My head snaps up, forcing me out of my memory.

…hide things so that when the puzzle is solved, there's a reward at the end.

I spin around, staring at the woodwork inlay.

Aiken had hidden the tablet in there. I wouldn't call watching the video of my brother's murder a reward, but…

My head spins as my brain replays the part of the video with Aiken laying on the floor, taking his last breaths: his mumblings about calling Vito, his phone call to Vito.

He had said something else that wasn't audible. But I recall the words he mouthed.

The box .

What box?

I pop up out of my chair to pace, but stop suddenly.

He hid something—maybe a USB with all the daily recordings from the hidden camera?—in the box .

The… cube.

The wooden cube he'd made. The only other piece of his woodwork that I found.

And I'd given it to Gina Santoro.

Who carries it with her.

Right now, she's outside of her fortified estate with Sophie at the ultrasound.

"Oh, my fucking Christ." I fist my hair.

Flashes of the recording of Aiken's murder push forth: specifically, of the ones where it looks like his attackers are saying something in his ear.

Asking him something, not taunting him like I always thought they were.

Did they know about the hidden recordings and wanted them? Wanted the hidden USB?

This is all speculation; I don't even know if there is a USB. Neither the wooden cube or the recordings are mentioned in anything that's happened directly to me or in what Vito has discovered, but I can't sit on my ass and do nothing. My instincts are screaming in alarm that I need to get that cube back. Now .

I pull out my phone and call Massimo, but it goes to voicemail. I try again, and when it goes to voicemail again, I risk calling Vito. His goes to voicemail, too.

Creed will be with Gina and Sophie, especially since they're out in public with the potential threat of Mancini and Novak, but I don't have his number. If Vito's not with his sister-in-law and mother, he'll have his best people guarding them.

Raf.

I have his number and hit his contact as my panic grows.

Raf answers on the fourth ring. "Ed, is everything okay?"

"Is Gina with you?"

"Yes—"

"Where are you?" I grab my jacket and leave my office, ensuring the door is locked before racing down the hall.

"What? Why—"

"Please," I say. Something must be in my voice because he relays the address. "I'm on my way. Keep Gina and Sophie safe."

"Our team is all over it, Ed. Is there an additional threat?"

I can't risk telling him over the phone because my paranoia is lit . Gilly's is only a few minutes from where the ultrasound is occurring. "I'm on my way. I'll be there in five minutes, tops."

I hang up and walk briskly through the barroom. Gus glances at me, sees my face, and intercepts me before I reach the door.

He grips my arm. "What's the matter?"

"I need to run out for a bit."

I trust Gus, but I can't risk anyone knowing what I'm after. Not with Gina, Sophie, and an innocent baby at risk—all because of me.

If anything happens to any of them…

I can't let that happen to them or to Vito.

Frank joins Gus, and both block me from leaving.

Gus recognizes the determined, feral look on my face, and he puts up his hands. "I'm not stopping you, Ed, but you'll take Frank with you whereever you're going. I have a bad gut feeling here."

He also had a bad feeling last night when I was attacked.

"Fine," I snarl. "Frank, move your ass if you're coming with me."

"I'll tell Evers he's top dog for security while you're out, Frank," Gus says, squeezing my shoulder with a grave expression. "Do whatever you need to do and get your ass back here. Pronto ."

Frank makes me wait while he checks outside before he gives me the all-clear. My car is parked right in front of Gilly's, and I stride down the wide pathway toward it.

Frank matches me stride for stride, alert, and hand on his weapon. "I'll drive."

"Not a fucking chance." I walk around to the driver's side and get in. Frank folds his tall frame into my 1970 Mustang Boss 429.

Buckling up, he grins when the car rumbles to life. I gun it, squealing into traffic to race toward the ultrasound address. "You drive like John Wick, too."

I grunt but smile that he knows that's why I bought this car.

"Everything okay?" he presses.

"Just working out a puzzle." I swerve to avoid a car that slammed on its brakes.

"Must be an urgent puzzle."

"Frank. Shut up. Keep your eyes peeled for threats, yeah?"

I remind him of the purpose of his being my chaperone, but I also do need his attention to look for threats. My nerves are buzzing and on fire.

He's vigilant as he scans around. "How's Ambrose?"

"Sleeping like a baby," I deadpan, and Frank chuckles. "He's stable, though. If infection doesn't set in, he should be fine."

"He's the toughest man I know." Frank turns to me before returning to watch our surroundings as I maneuver us as fast as possible through the streets. "He'll take this more mentally hard than anything. He'll feel like he failed you."

"He didn't. He followed protocol to the letter. No one was around when we checked the cameras before exiting, and no one was on the street as we went to my vehicle. Those two guys came out of nowhere."

"We missed them hiding. They knew how to circumvent what we had in place. Just like with Aiken."

My knuckles are white on the steering wheel. He's right. If any criminal knew Gilly's security system and protocol, it would be the Chamber leaders.

Which gives another check in the circumstantial evidence box for Vito's suspicions that something is off with the Chamber and what happened with Gilly's owner-operators.

Or it's an inside traitor.

My jaw flexes. I remain silent as I turn the corner to the street where the medical building is.

A thin sheen of sweat coats the back of my neck and palms. I realize I haven't really thought this part through.

I'm about to head into a building where there'll be multiple expectant mothers in various states of pregnancy.

Memories of being carried into a shithole clinic, fighting for my baby's life and being forcibly strapped to the table, assault me and my vision blurs.

"Ed!" Frank grabs the wheel and steers us back into our lane. "Jesus, are you okay?"

I shake the horrific memories away, feeling a bead of sweat drip down my temple. "I'm fine."

Inside, I might shatter.

But then I think of Gina. Sophie. Her baby.

My spine stiffens. " Fuck you, Edna and Peter," I whisper.

Frank is still staring at me as I look for a spot to park. "Focus on your job, Frank."

Shit, I'm such a goddamn dick.

Seeing a spot open up, I whip in as soon as the SUV pulls out. I'm out of my car, not waiting for Frank. I'm being careless about my safety; I know that. I should've scanned around before I got out; I should've waited for Frank. But my safety isn't what matters right now. I need to get that cube from Gina because it's like a ticking time bomb. I need to get it away from her and lock it inside my Fort Knox office.

Frank curses as he races to catch up to me. "Ed, what the hell is going on? I can't protect you if…"

I tune him out as I call Raf. "Please don't have left yet," I mutter as it rings.

If the appointment were over, they wouldn't have lingered here. Especially if they think an enemy might try to attack.

"Ed," Raf answers. "We're coming down in the elevator to the lobby."

"I'll be there." I hang up and pocket my phone.

I can quickly grab the cube, and hopefully, I won't have to encounter too many pregnant women. If I had to go up to the OB-GYN floor, I would've been inundated, and I'm not sure if I wouldn't have completely spiraled.

Frank and I walk on the sidewalk toward the entrance of the medical building. I glance at Frank, who's scanning around, frowning. His hand is relaxed but close to his hip holster, shielded by his jacket.

"What is it?" I ask.

"Something feels off. Suddenly, there seems like a large influx of traffic on the street." He pushes me ahead and nods at a group outside the building. "Santoro men," he tells me, hurrying us into the building lobby.

There's another large group of men and women, clearly security personnel, in the lobby. As the elevator dings, announcing the arrival, they form a protective shield around it.

I can't see Sophie or Gina, but I can see Creed and Raf, both tall within the protective circle.

Creed's icy-blue eyes meet mine, a frown creasing his forehead. His look isn't unwelcoming, just wary.

Raf moves toward me, the shield of guards parting to let him through. "What did you need, Ed?"

Gina curses in Italian. "Raf, you said she wanted to speak with me, so let me speak to her." At Raf's nod, the guards let Gina through. She pushes back her wisps of hair that have escaped the braid on the crown of her head and smiles at me. "Hello, Eden. It's so nice to see you again, my dear."

For reasons I can't explain, the hair on the back of my neck stands up.

"I'm sorry I can't explain more right now," I say quickly, suddenly overwhelmed with the need for them to get out of here. "But I need the gift back that I gave you, Gina."

"Of course," she says slowly. "I understand if you'd like that back since your brother made it." She opens her purse just as the sound of gunfire blasts out on the street.

I instinctively push Gina back into the middle of the security so they can surround her.

I spin toward the front lobby windows to see what is happening. To my horror, the street is gridlocked with vehicles, and masked gunmen are opening fire on the Santoro guards outside.

"Initiate the backup protocol," Raf yells, and their group pushes toward the backdoor. "Luigi, update me on the security cameras." He pauses, then curses, turning to Creed. "Security cameras are out. We're blind."

I watch as two men fall to the sidewalk, blood pooling under them.

Frank runs to cover one of the front doors into the building.

Somehow, I know I've brought this risk here. Maybe they were watching Gilly's, and now that I wasn't protected inside the bar, they attacked me here.

I put Sophie, her unborn baby, Gina, and the rest of them in danger.

I turn back to Raf. "Tell Vito it's the cube. Aiken loved puzzles, and I think the cube contains something. And tell him I'm sorry that I have to break my promise."

"Ed," Raf rasps, realizing what I'm about to do. He lunges for me.

But I won't let Vito's family be harmed because I've brought this risk here to them.

I jerk backward, pivoting as I do so his hand misses me, and I run toward the front door.

Thundering steps are right behind me. "Frank, stop her!" Raf shouts.

But I hit the door before he can grab me.

Outside, the noise is deafening, but I raise my hands, running onto the sidewalk. I brace myself to be riddled with bullets, but someone yells, "Ceasefire!"

A wall of black—soldiers in fatigues, balaclavas, and gloves—rushes toward me.

I glance back as they surround me. Raf is yelling and running toward me, but I'm shoved into a van.

Immediately, I feel a prick on the side of my neck, and the world goes black.