“What is it?”
That’s when I noticed Quinn had something in his hands. Four white roses. My blood ran cold. I hated white roses because of what they represented in my life so why the hell did he have those?
“These were delivered to the Syndicate this morning. Along with this,” Quinn told me as he handed me a small piece of paper.
I looked down at it, immediately recognising the handwriting. My fingers shook as I read it, my stomach dropping to my feet.
You have forty-eight hours to return my daughter to my side. If you do not comply, she will be the final named rose and all of you will suffer as a result of your decision to keep her from me.
I reached out and took the roses from Quinn, finding little notes attached to them. I read them one by one.
Quinn Knox.
Xavier Scott.
Eric Nelson.
Rory Carter.
Frank had named them. He intended to kill them no matter what we did.
The roses and the note fell out of my hands. The weight of Frank’s hold on me crashed down on all sides. I backed away, unable to look at them. My decision to stay by their sides had resulted in their death sentences. Even though they promised not to let me go, I felt the responsibility deep in my gut. This was my fault. My fucking fault.
“Little girl…”
I put a hand to my mouth, trying to hold back the tidal wave of emotions threatening to burst out. I couldn’t lose them. I just couldn’t. They were my anchors in this world. The only people I cared about more than life itself. And in those moments, I realised something significant. I loved all four of them. I loved them so much it burnt through me, searing their names on my heart and soul. They were mine and I was theirs. And I’d put my men in danger.
Quinn stepped into Rory’s room after me, followed by Xav and Eric. I shook my head. Nothing anyone said or did would make this better. Nothing. So I did the only thing I could, I crawled back into Rory’s bed and hid against his chest as the wracking sobs erupted from my mouth and tears fell on his skin.
“What happened?” Rory asked, the rumble of his voice echoing in my ears.
“Russo sent four white roses to the Syndicate with our names on them and a request we deliver his daughter within forty-eight hours or suffer the consequences. He’ll disown her if we don’t and follow it up with a rose with her name on it,” Quinn said, the concern in his voice ripping my soul to shreds.
Rory wrapped his arms around me, holding me to him as I continued to sob wordlessly against him.
“He’s going to put her on his death list along with us.”
“Essentially.”
“Motherfucker.”
“What the fuck do we do now?” Xav asked.
The silence in the room told me even Quinn didn’t know what our next steps should be. It made me feel hopeless and despair gripped me in an iron hold. Rory stroked my hair and leant down, pressing his face to it.
“Shh, little star,” he whispered. “Shh.”
The fact he was making an attempt to comfort me destroyed me further. My poor, beautiful broken Rory who’d feared human contact, suffered an abusive childhood and had so many demons I barely knew how to count them, was comforting me. Me.
I didn’t deserve him. I didn’t deserve any of them.
“There’s only one thing we can do,” Quinn’s voice echoed around my skull. “What Viktor suggested last night. Ash has to publicly denounce her allegiance to Russo. We have to cut him off before he can make a move against us, before he can give the families proof we have her.”
“What makes you think he can get proof?”
“Julian is getting out of hospital, Xav. You know as well as I do he will take what he knows and use it, no matter what he’s told you. He already has if this latest shit is anything to go by. Frank will have proof and we’ll be fucked. The only chance we have to survive this is if we stop him gaining the families’ help in declaring war against us before the forty-eight hours are up. The only person who can save us now… is Ash.”
Chapter 18
The weight of Quinn’s words settled over the five of us. We all knew the risks of going after Frank Russo. We’d accounted for an outcome where he discovered who we were. What we’d never accounted for was her. That she’d become so important to us, so intrinsic to our lives. Ash was everything we never knew we needed. Funny that a single girl had stolen all of our hearts and made them her own. Whilst Rory might not have said anything about his feelings, it was clear as fucking day. Especially when he was holding her against him as she cried and was trying to soothe her. I think that was the biggest miracle of all. Seeing him give comfort to another human being who wasn’t me, Quinn or Xav without reservation.
And yes, I couldn’t help my own feelings for her either. They’d grown on me, spreading through my bones and cementing the bond between us. So watching her cry her eyes out at the thought of us dying broke my heart clean in two. I hated it. Hated how much
