“I know.” She sighs softly, her shoulders dropping beneath my touch. "My mum's face keeps appearing behind my eyelids. Last night, I dreamed about her.”
I press my lips to the curve where her neck meets her shoulder, tasting shower water and something uniquelyher— uniquely my little deer. "Tell me everything."
“I sharpened my teeth on concrete.”
My brows pinch. I don’t want her to have anything sharp,but I don’t say that. My hands stop against her soft, wet skin. "What does that mean to you?"
She turns, water streaming down her face, collecting in her long lashes. "It means I'm done being a victim. I want your name, your legacy, all of it."
I smile. "Soon," I remind her, bringing my hand up to thumb the outline of her lower lip.
Christ, she is beautiful.
She blinks, a bead of water bursting on her cheek. "I heard you speaking to the Family on the phone last month.”
"I noticed your shadow by the door."
She presses her palms against my chest, fingers fanning out, familiar, easy, home. "Have I made you vulnerable, Sir? Weakened you?”
"No." I capture her hand beneath mine, holding her palm over my heart. "You've given me allies I never had before. The bikers are mine now. They were never fond of the Butchers. They were completely devoted to your father, but we have an understanding now. They proved their loyalty when they helped during the crash. They helped several of my soldiers and pulled you from the wreckage.”
"And the Dons?" she asks. “When you promised to give me everything I ever wanted… and I asked for you to divorce Aurora.” She swallows. “I didn’t really understand what that meant for you and theCosa Nostra.I was just thinking about myself. It was selfish.”
“It was no such thing. I will give you everything, anything, and I will make it work. Don’t concern yourself with matters that I take care of,” I say.
Butch and I spoke with Alceu an hour ago, while we waited for my Xrays. He called as I declined further analgesics. He has eyes in the District as I have them in Sicily. It is not for a lack of trust, but a layer of defence.
His old voice had cracked down the line, reminding me that time was not on his side. “I hear the newButcherDistrict is bleeding, se?”
I didn’t like hearing that.
Fucker.
“I hear someone targeted your family,” he added. “I hear you trusted a woman to negotiate for your heirs’ lives… Should I be impressed or alarmed, my boy?”
With respect, I led him through every detail: Eleanor’s motivations; the car crash; bodies and chaos; my boys being taken hostage in the hospital. I owned my failures—secrecy breeds suspicion—but revealed only the necessary.
And I portrayed my little deer as she was—not a damsel, but a brave young woman who chose my sons over her own self-doubt and deep-rooted vulnerabilities, who remained focused even when the earth seemed to vanish beneath her feet—and mine.
“Revenge was the mother’s impetus,” I told Alceu. “She came for my twins. I finished the job, and Constable Boyd claimed the victory for his force.”
No further explanation was needed. I decided not to bare my teeth this time; I’d already drawn blood during our last conversation. I was admittedly tired and eager to get the Xray, to get to my little deer, to hold her.
Silence stretched, then he said, “And so your new bride came through?”
“Before Fawn intervened, the mother was disturbingly silent. Fawn got her talking, convinced her to open the window and lift the blinds. Without her, we would be having a very different conversation right now.”
Another pause.
I could almost smell cigar smoke curling from Alceu’s lips,or maybe that is my own addiction crawling up my spine, beckoning me.
“Interesting girl, your Fawn,” he said at last. “I’ve been told her mother shot herself. A, how do you say it, hippie-type of girl? And her foster brothers abused her, se?”
My jaw clenched, but I kept calm. “She survived it all. And she belongs to me now.”
He grunted in approval or amusement; I couldn’t tell which. Perhaps both. “A bold choice, my boy. I thought you mad for divorcing Aurora and taking the Nerrock girl. She is too soft, too young, too broken. But you’re surrounded by strong women. Your mother was a savage creature. You wouldn’t choose a wilting flower.”
I hated the comparison, despised it, even. “Fawn is nothing like my mother.”
