But he might be mine. The fact that he was literally dying and I was the only one who could save him gave me the sort of advantage over that old bastard that I’d never had before.
An advantage that I might be able to use to right a lot of fucked up situations in our lives.
First things first… I needed to find Angelo and Grayson and discuss this idea with them.
Second thing, I was heading for Townsend.
twenty-two
BILLIE
The planned meeting with Brenda didn’t happen for a few days. Her baby was sick for longer than expected, and finally, Jace decided just to go to her house for a quick chat since mom life was kicking their manager’s ass these days.
“You want to come with, Rose?” he asked as he shrugged on a jacket.
I was on the couch next to Rhett and Grayson, listening to them while they smashed out a new beat for the song they were working on, but jumped up quickly. “Yes! I’d love to.”
Jace including me in his life would never get old. They’d all decided that it wasn’t worth everyone heading to Brenda’s while she was dealing with sick kids and generally being overwhelmed, but the fact that Jace wanted me there made me stupidly happy.
“Don’t forget a jacket and security,” Grayson said gruffly. “For what those bastards are worth. But at least they might act like a human shield if bullets start flying.”
Angelo let out a laugh from the kitchen, where he was fixing himself some coffee. “I love when they’re useful like that,” he called back.
Some of my men were a little unhinged, and I was okay with it.
“We’ll be back in an hour or so,” Jace said when I returned with my boots on and jacket in hand. He took the tan wool trench coat from me and helped me slip it on before we were out the door. A car waited in the driveway, one of the security team behind the wheel. It seemed today, Jace wanted to arrive rock star style.
A second car was waiting on the street, and I could see at least five men inside, all of them wearing sunglasses and black jackets. “Angel called in some better-trained security,” Jace explained as he held out the back door for me. “We should be fine.”
Ever since Tess, we’d all been paranoid. Jace’s speech to the world had helped to calm some of the situation, but it never left our minds that Wilson and Giovanni were still out there. Out there and ready to fuck us up when the right time presented itself. Vee and Giana hadn’t been worried when I’d spoken with them the other day. We’d spent most of our time coming up with a plan to use Tom to take out some of the loose players in this game, so I knew they were still working toward their end goal.
All of our end goals. Freedom from the bastards controlling our lives.
The patience to wait for our opportunity to put these plans into play, though, was harder to find than I’d expected.
“Have you spoken to Tess this morning?” I asked Jace as the cars pulled away. It was weird having a driver again and having to be careful about what topic of conversation I brought up. Tess was safe though, and I liked getting regular updates on her condition.
“Mom called just before Brenda did,” he said quickly, looping his arm around me so we were snuggled together in the leather seats. “She’s out of the ICU now and in a regular room. She’s improving so fast the doctors are continually shocked, but in a good way. She’s doing amazing.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to my head. “She’s also ready for more visitors now, and she asked for you to stop by.”
I’d been in the waiting room while Jace visited her many times but hadn’t seen her myself yet. It would be nice to see her not covered in blood and dying. “That would be great. I’m so happy that she’s recovering so quickly. It feels like the sort of miracle and good luck we don’t usually have.”
“We were due a fucking break,” Jace grumbled. “Outside of you stumbling back into my life and dragging that stubborn suit-clad bastard with you, these past months have been a series of asshole events one after another.”
Where was the lie?
We arrived at Brenda’s surprisingly quickly, with the midmorning traffic a fraction of what Naples normally had. It was odd how quickly this town was starting to feel like home to me, in a way that Siena only ever had when Jace and Angelo were there.
Maybe that had been the secret all along. As the old adage says:Home is where the heart is.And my home and heart existed with four arrogant, gorgeous, incredibly talented, and amazing men.
Four. My mom used to call me an overachiever, but I bet she had zero clue how that would manifest in my adult years. I shut that thought down quickly because thinking of my mom had me thinking of Wilson. And I was only surviving the unknown of him and his currentalivestatus by keeping it far from my thoughts.
Until we had more information to go on, I’d only drive myself crazy pondering all the millions of questions I had.
At Brenda’s security gate we buzzed to be let in, and the second car stayed out front to ensure that no one entered the premises while we were there. Our driver waited in the car at Jace’s request. “We’ll be back shortly,” he said, helping me out and closing the car door firmly behind me.
Brenda answered the door as Jace was knocking, looking exhausted in a stained pair of gray sweats. “Fucking hell, finally some adult people not vomiting on me,” she exclaimed, waving us in. “Sorry that my house is a disaster zone, but baby James is down for a nap at least, so we can chat uninterrupted.”
“Where’s Humphrey?” Jace asked, looking around as we entered the front foyer. Brenda’s house was nice, not rock star millionaire nice, but her success was obvious in this two-story Hamptons-style home.
