“We’ll find a fucking way. I’m not leaving without her. Besides, I won’t let that piece of shit run us out of the country. He can fucking try to tear us down. If he wants a fucking war, he’s going to get one.”
I don’t know what was coming over me, but I was done with hiding away in the shadows. It was time to let the world see who Il Diavolo was. Who the four of us and our girl were. We weren’t going to bow to anyone else. We weren’t going to run. And by fuck, we were going to win one way or another.
A smile appeared on Xav’s face, his blue eyes twinkling.
“That’s the Quinn we know and… actually, I won’t say love since you might kick the shit out of me for being a sappy shit.”
I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help smiling back.
“I’ll let you off this time.”
He put his hand up as if he wanted a high five.
“My man.”
“Don’t push your fucking luck.”
He let his hand fall, giving me a wink.
Idiot.
“I’ll make some calls then, shall I?”
I gave him a nod before looking down at my own phone. Time to ring that cunt up and get an explanation. It rang twice before he answered and even then, I didn’t allow him to speak.
“Where the fuck have you been and why the fuck was I just blindsided with death threats from him?”
“I can’t be talking to you right now,” came Nate’s hissed voice.
“Why the fuck not?”
“Everything has gone to shit. Speak to Fabio. I have to go.”
He hung up on me. I drew the phone away from my ear and stared down at it. What the actual fuck was that about?
“Is that dick trying to worm his way out of his duties?” Xav asked.
“He told me to call Fabio if I want to know what’s going on.”
Xav raised his eyebrow, fiddling with his phone.
“That’s not foreboding or anything.”
I wasn’t sure what it was, but it wasn’t fucking good. Not at all. I had Fabio’s number since Nate had given it to me after Fabio took Ash to Geoff’s cottage so I could get in contact with him. It was time to use it.
“Hello?”
“Fabio… it’s Quinn… Knox.”
“Oh. Oh, shit. Is Ash okay?”
I rolled my eyes. Of course, that’s why he thought I was calling. As much as I hated to admit it, I might actually have to send Ash to Viktor if things went wrong.
“She’s fine, that’s not exactly why I’m calling.”
Ash wasn’t fine but he didn’t need to know that. If I had my fucking way, he wouldn’t know anything about her ever again. Not when I knew he’d taken my little girl’s virginity. I might be cordial towards him, but there was no fucking doubt I wanted to throw both him and Nate off a bridge for touching her. Probably sounded completely irrational since I was no longer enraged by the thought of my best friends touching Ash. Hell, I’d fucked Ash with Xav at the same time. That was different.
“Then why are you calling?”
“Nate and Russo.”
“Oh… that. Right. Okay. Frank went completely batshit crazy at Nate over Isabella disappearing and he’s keeping an eye on him like a hawk.”
I’d forgotten about Viktor keeping Isabella away from Frank even though it was only yesterday we’d seen Viktor and Ash had spoken to her mother. Frank sending us roses seemed like a more pressing matter.
“Did you know Frank has been trying to get the families to declare war against me?”
Fabio was silent for a long moment.
“No… and now I’m wishing I’d actually asked my father what’s going on with Frank. He’s been keeping a lot to himself recently. Thinks he has a rat in his organisation, but he doesn’t suspect Nate. At least I think he doesn’t.”
Even if Russo didn’t suspect Nate, I was pretty sure I couldn’t rely on him any longer. Not if he wasn’t going to give me the fucking information I needed in advance. Our situation was getting more precarious by the minute.
“I’m going to need you on standby tomorrow. If things go south, Ash needs to be taken as far away from this shit as possible. She’ll need Viktor to keep her safe.”
“What’s happening tomorrow?”
“The less you know, the better. She won’t be fucking happy about it, but it’s better than the alternative. Can I rely on you?”
“You can be assured I’d do anything to protect her.”
“Good.” I didn’t like it, but I had to fucking deal with it. We needed as many allies as we could get right now. “I’ll give you the details tomorrow.”
I hung up without letting him respond.
“Fuck.”
Xav looked up from his phone.
“What’s up?”
“I’m pretty sure we can’t rely on Nate any longer and Russo knows Isabella is gone. Things are getting more fucked up by the minute.”
I dropped my head in my hands and rubbed my temples. This whole thing was giving me a headache. And I really fucking hoped Eric had taken care of Ash.
“Do you think this going to work?”
“Who the fuck knows, but we have to try, don’t we?”
We had to do anything we could to prevent the impending disaster. I hoped we could cut Russo off before our time was up.
“I’m going to make the calls now,” Xav told me as he stood up. “I think you need to let Viktor know what’s happening. You know… because he cares about Ash and that.”
Yes, because of course I want to ring her father up and tell him we got sent death roses by Russo and Ash is next. That’s going to go so well. Not.
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath.
“I know.”
I heard Xav leave the room. If I couldn’t fix this, I’d be letting Ash and the boys down. That was not an option. So I sat up and dialled the number of the only other man in Ash’s life to give
