Slowly, I walked to him. He came and met me halfway, and wrapped his arms around me.
“Are you okay?” he whispered.
I sobbed into his chest. I didn’t think I’d ever be okay again.
My father knew, and he did nothing to stop it.
“Come on,” Dean said, gently leading me back outside into the cool night. “I’ll take you home.”
“What about the car?” I asked.
“I’ll have a guy bring it back for me,” he said, hugging me tight against him, arm over my shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” I said, blinking rapidly. The world was blurry and I felt like I might be sick. “I didn’t think my dad… I didn’t think he’d be a part of it. I wanted to warn him.”
“You don’t have to apologize.” His voice was tight and angry. “You don’t deserve this, Mags. You don’t deserve any of it. Your own fucking father, selling you out.”
I leaned up against him and he stopped, pushing me back up against his car. I sucked in a breath as he kissed me, and I returned his kiss with a starving, wild desperation I hadn’t known I felt. His fingers trailed down my cheek then wrapped into my hair and held me, and though I cried, the kiss tasted right, tasted good, and finally made up my mind.
I knew what I wanted. And I got into that car with zero reservations.
Dean was a monster. He was a hulking beast. I could still see him stab that guy in the leg with glee in his eyes. I could smell the blood and the damp, moldy basement air. But that monster was my monster, the monster that cared about me more than my own father did.
That’s all I ever needed or wanted.
19
Dean
We got a few hours of sleep. It was barely enough, but neither of us would get through the next day if we didn’t pass out for a little while at least. I left her tangled in the sheets, that poor, beautiful fucking girl, and called a meeting of my most trusted advisors.
Her father left her for dead. I didn’t hear what she said to him, but I saw their faces. She let him leave, but he wasn’t going to get away so easily. I already texted Mattias and told him to hunt down Mags’s father and to kill him quickly and quietly. That man would never bother her or anyone else ever again.
Maybe she’ll be angry about it. But I had a feeling she wouldn’t mind, if she ever found out.
Gian, Hector, and Bea gathered in my office. Gian looked almost as tired as I felt. Hector paced like a nervous boy. Bea seemed as serene as always. She practically glowed. I didn’t know how she did it, but I wanted some of that calm.
“Did you tell them what’s happening?” I asked Gian.
He grunted. “The basics,” he said.
“I can’t believe this,” Hector said. “After everything we did, the contracts, the marriage, he still does this. I can’t believe it.”
“Are you sure, Dean?” Bea asked.
“I’m sure,” I said. “Does it seem so hard to believe?”
She sighed and shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. I’ve known Roy a long time and this is exactly the type of thing he’d do. Always a snake, that one, but a good, loyal snake to your father.”
“My father’s dead,” I said. “And I’m here now.”
She smiled and nodded slightly.
“What can we do about this?” Hector asked. “If it gets out, there will be war.”
“All’s quiet for now,” Gian said. “I’ve been running interference. Leaked some rumors that you’re missing, and a few other rumors that you ran away with your pretty new wife. He’ll think you’re dead for now.”
“I have surprise on my side,” I said. “And I intend to use it.”
Hector moaned and rubbed his face then pulled at his thinning hair. “I don’t like this,” he said. “Capos killing Capos. It isn’t right, Don Valentino. We can’t hold the family together this way.”
“I’m doing this for the family,” I said. “Roy came at me, tried to stab me in the back. He used our enemies to do it. I’m going to take him down and make the family understand why.”
“You’ll have to get the story straight,” Bea said. “Any ambiguity could be bad.”
“Messaging,” Hector said, nodding a little. This was more comfortable ground for him. “I can see to messaging.”
“Come up with something,” I said. “Make sure it’s something the soldier’s will understand. The truth might be good enough.”
“Roy’s a snake bitch,” Hector said with a sharp, terrified laugh. “Yes, that might be enough.”
“As for the man himself, I’ve got guys near him right now,” Gian said. “Nobody’s close, but we can move in when you want.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I don’t want violence. No soldiers killing other soldiers. I want Roy dead, and I want to do it myself. Nobody else gets hurt.”
“Big Bruno?” Gian asked.
I glanced at Bea. “What do you think?”
“He went to the Healy family,” she said with a slight shrug. “That makes him a traitor.”
“Big Bruno too then,” I said. “Anyone else that we’re aware of?”
“No,” Gian said.
I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the ceiling. Hector continued pacing, but slower now that he had a problem to work with. He’d spread the message through the ranks and make sure everyone understood exactly what happened and why, and hopefully I wouldn’t have too much dissent after the fact.
But I couldn’t let Roy live past this day. If I didn’t finish it now, then he’d be able to gather his strength and challenge me. He’d know that I was coming for his life, and he’d hit back with as much firepower as he could muster.
Fucking bastards. I was so angry at them all, at Roy, at Mags’s father, at myself.
I should’ve seen it from the start. Mags was the one to figure it out in the end. I was too busy thinking about how to seduce her, how to get her in my bed, how to
