“I’m not sure Luc would be best pleased by that. It’s not in my job description.”
“Forget the job for a second and let me worry about Luc. Please.” I wasn’t sure the guilt over the incident would ever subside, but a dinner was the smallest way to show my gratitude.
“Okay,” he said eventually. “Let me know when.”
My phone vibrated in my pocket and when I pulled it, Luc’s name appeared on the screen. “Speak of the devil,” I muttered and answered his call. “To what do I owe the pleasure, love.” He was most likely checking in to make sure I hadn’t gone rogue and convinced everyone around me to follow me.
“Are you with Dom and Franco?”
“Yes,” I said as a crease appeared in my brow. The temporary ease that had settled over me was disappearing fast.
“Where are you? Are you still at Katia’s?”
“No. We’re on the way home now. What’s wrong?”
“Hand the phone to Dom.” The words were direct and sharp, and my heart sank to my feet as I pulled the phone away from my ear to hand it over to Dom. He took it from me without question.
Something had happened. Something had spooked Luc so that he called me first before going to Dom and Franco. He wanted to know first-hand that I was alright. Had there been another attack? Had Xavier pulled more strings without showing his face? I tried to listen, but Luc’s end of the line was inaudible, and Dom’s side of the conversation was agreeing to whatever Luc was saying to him.
When Dom handed the phone back over to me, Luc had hung up. “What’s happened? Is Luc okay?” As I asked the questions, I pulled up my texts ready to message Luc and ask him myself.
“He’s fine,” Dom answered. “We’re going home and staying there.”
“Why?” I asked. I hit send on the message and watched the screen as instantly three dots bounced along it.
“Because it’s what Luc ordered,” Dom told me. There he was again, balancing the fine line between friend and employee. Dom didn’t have to tell me though because Luc’s response came through, short and to the point.
I’m fine. Silas found dead. Home late.
The hairs on my arms rose as I processed the message, and all I could think was what the hell had Gabe done?
Chapter Seventeen
Dante
My usual routine of crashing at Mia and Luc’s after work had been disrupted. It was no one’s fault but my own. Instead of spending time with my godson, I’d taken up babysitting of a different kind. It wasn’t because I was worried about Angelo if he didn’t meet the deadline set for him but because I felt responsible for my cousin. His work felt like a reflection on me and what I could offer to Luc and Mia.
It felt even more imperative to find answers after the stunt that Gabe had pulled. I was vaguely impressed. He’d taken after Xavier in keeping his hands as clean as possible, but Silas’s death involved no other person. If we were friends, fuck, if he wasn’t such a dick, I’d congratulate him on finally stepping up and proving he had some worth.
That was the concern. If other members of the family saw Gabriel as proving he could handle business more effectively than Xavier, then he might actually persuade people to think he was meant for the position he’d landed. We couldn’t afford that. So, each night for the past week, I came home and watched Angelo as he worked, which inevitably led to arguments between us.
“If you worked a little more efficiently, then you wouldn’t have to be watched,” I pointed out to him.
“I worked efficiently,” he argued. “You landed me with two jobs, and I gave you answers from the first one. I should have taken the half of the money and ran,” he said, limping across the kitchen. It was a reminder of why he hadn’t gone anywhere. Exorbitant medical bills added to his student loans tethered Angelo to us until he finished the job. We’d wipe the debt in one rather than him scrambling for smaller jobs that paid a lot less and let the interest add up.
“If you wanted a one-way ticket to the grave,” I mumbled, thinking about the repercussions if he decided to pull a fast one.
“What are you on about now?” Luc said, following Mia into my kitchen where we were standing.
“Nothing,” I told him. I wasn’t in the mood to clean up a fight between the pair. Luc hadn’t appreciated Gabe’s bold move either and it pushed him from bad mood to something more akin to feral.
“I hope you have some news for us,” Luc directed at Angelo as I kissed Mia on the cheek.
“Should she even be here?” Angelo asked, eyeing her up. Mia raised an eyebrow and I considered whether we should have cut his tongue out the first time he opened his mouth rather than let him keep running it.
“It’s not really your concern who I bring with me to business, Angelo,” Luc snapped.
“Only the rules are a little unclear when it comes to her,” Angelo shot back. He down looked at Mia who didn’t buckle under his gaze. She’d dealt with worse than my idiot cousin and his god-like complex. “Are you involved in this or are you under the thumb as a trophy wife?”
