“Do you?”
He swallowed hard. “I’m biased, so I can’t answer that question.”
“How?” I wasn’t sure what he meant.
“Well, it’s because I would do the same thing if I were him. I would do it in a heartbeat.”
Luc had said that too, to him, last night. They’d been talking about someone. “Would you?”
“I tried to… for my wife.” He looked down, then back to me, and his eyes spoke a wealth of sadness.
“You were married?” Luc never mentioned that, but I guess maybe the story behind that was one he’d rather not tell.
“I was. I made a deal with the devil, and things went south,” Claudius began explaining. “I was supposed to secure a deal. A million-dollar deal for the Manellos, but it didn’t work out. I work as a bookie in the business, and I thought I’d make a little extra on the side by throwing games and other shit. On this occasion I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. They linked up with a psycho who wanted to steal one of those sophisticated chips that could hack any system. My part fell through and lost them their chance. I took my wife away because I sensed something would happen, but it seemed that I had a rat too because they found her and killed her. I don’t want to guess what they must have done to her first before death came. Where she was staying was supposed to be a top-secret safe house.” His gaze fell to the floor then climbed back up to meet mine.
My heart was full. There were so many bad stories floating around this house.
“I’m so sorry. I… I can’t imagine what you must have gone through.”
“Thank you. So, hey, I’d run too if I were Luc. This cross is for her. The men in my team have the same for the ones they lost. For me, it was my wife. Dante, his sister. Gio, his father. Jude and Alex are brothers. They wear the cross for their older brother.”
I stared at him, not quite knowing what to say. “There’s all so much.”
“What do you want to do?”
I shook my head. “I don’t think running is the answer. I did it before for different reasons, and I hated it. I can’t do it again, and my father needs me.”
“You’d be safer away from here.” He pointed out and lifted his shoulders into a shrug.
“Would I? They found me in LA. There’s nothing to stop them from finding me wherever I go in this world. And how long would I be gone for? Running and hiding. I don’t want to live like that. I want to stay and fight.”
He smirked. “I figured you’d say that.”
“Really?”
“Yes, I guessed from the way you stared down Tag. I knew then that you weren’t going anywhere.”
“Blood for blood, right?” I offered.
“Blood for blood.”
* * *
Luc
* * *
I felt bad that I’d basically flipped out over the last few days.
My sense of calm was shot, and I was on the verge of losing my mind.
Yesterday, after Tag made his appearance, I went with the boys to hunt for him.
We came up with nothing, but I suspected they knew that would happen.
I was starting to believe that one of the other crime families was definitely helping them out. Same way we had our alliances.
They had bigger friends than us though, most likely people who wanted to take Raphael’s power.
