“What about Silas?”
Mia’s face was close enough to mine that I could see the way her brow creased in confusion, trying to connect the dots. “You’re going to let him live,” she said but it sounded like more of a question.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Why not?”
“Because he tried to take out his daughter,” Mia hissed at me. “Chas is shaken and it’s her own dad—”
“He didn’t try to take her out. He wanted Gabe.”
Mia closed her eyes, dropped her forehead against mine with a thunk, and I gritted my teeth at the pain. “Of course, he wanted Gabe,” she whispered. “And you’re happy to let him because it’s one less obstacle for us.”
“If you’re asking me to feel bad about it—”
“We are after Xavier.”
“There are always casualties in war.”
She opened her eyes, and I felt the tickle of her long lashes against my skin. “What about Chas? She’s living with him. And Tori? We already took Dante from her. Gabe’s her brother. Her twin.”
It had been a long few days. Mia had pushed through an attack, acquainted herself with Chas, had organised and hosted a last-minute christening, and spent her days making sure that Link was happy. Her cup had started to overflow as it sometimes did, and it manifested in her spiralling in the quiet hours we had together.
I pinched her chin gently between my fingers and turned her head to the left where Link’s Moses basket was. My face was pressed against hers, nose against her cheek and I took in a deep breath. The hypnotic citrus scent that belonged to Mia wrapped around my senses and anchored me.
“Breathe,” I whispered to her, keeping hold of her chin. In the silence, Mia’s breathing slowly mimicked mine. “You cannot save the world, princess,” I reminded her. “You can only save yours and there he is. This is it.”
More silence and then Mia relaxed against me and whispered back. “This is it.”
Chapter Twelve
Mia
"Do you lack the capability of following a simple order?" Dom asked me when I told him the plans for the day.
“Luc can order me around when he employs me. Until then everything he says is a vague suggestion that I may or may not take on board.”
Following the christening and everything Luc had learned, I was under strict instructions to stay away from the Moretti twins and Chas. I wasn’t to risk myself by getting caught in the crossfire of whatever Silas was up to. But I was curious and the last conversation I’d had with Chas made me wonder if she’d known what her dad was planning.
Dom pinched the bridge of his nose. “You are deceptively troublesome.”
“You’re not the first person to point that out. Can we get going now? I promise to tell Luc I held you at gunpoint and left you with no other choice.”
“Oh, we’re telling him about this trip?” Dom asked me. “Just so we can be on the same page here.”
“I wasn’t planning to,” I told him sheepishly.
Luc was juggling a lot and he didn’t need to know about an impromptu trip. Not so impromptu. I’d told him I hadn’t planned anything today so Michael wouldn’t be dispensed into my service with the truth being I’d been planning a way to see Chas since the other night when Luc came home.
“You know what? Please stop talking and get in the car.”
“Dom—”
“No. No. I don’t want to be complicit in any more of your crimes.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“Remind yourself that when you attend my funeral,” Dom told me, but he didn’t refuse my request. He would have you believe it was because he was paid to do as I said, but the truth was because I would figure out a way to do what I wanted, with or without his help.
It was Paulo who opened the door to Gabe’s home, and he didn’t look pleased to see us. I could only imagine what had been said about my family within these four walls. If Paulo was any good at his job, he’d listen and believe everything that spilled from Gabe’s lips, and he must have been because he started to close the door shut on us.
