“Salvatore’s daughter, Natasha, has also gone missing. Anthony has found himself with a lot of enemies,” my brother alludes with a shrug.
“You didn’t take the Capos’ daughter, did you?”
“No. My kidnapping days are definitely fucking over.”
I rub a hand down my face and groan. “If the Barbieris find out this was us?—”
Finn holds up a hand to silence me. “I’m not fucking messy like you. The Barbieri girl is said to be hiding her designation. Some other asshole in one of the other families must have taken it upon themselves to see if that’s true or not. Tonight is about proving to Salvatore Barbieri that we can be allies, that we had nothing to do with that shit. Go tell the girl to get ready. She’s coming with us,” Finn orders.
“Like hell she’s coming to a fucking underground fighting ring.”
“Barbieri needs to see that we have no fucking reason to take his vapid, little daughter. I already sent Lorcàn out to get her something to wear tonight, and Declan is trying to gauge her cooperation.”
“This is a bad fucking idea.”
“You know what’s a worse idea?” he counters, arching a brow at me. I just shake my head, and he glares at me. “I understand she’s your scent match, Cillian, and that she’s something you want—I’m not standing in the way of that—but taking care of this empire? Making sure this family doesn’t fucking fall apart? That’s on me. She’s coming tonight, and she better act like she’s happier than a pig in shit to be a member of the O’Brien pack.”
I groan and rub a hand down my face.
There’s no fucking way in hell that’s going to happen. Elena might have some sort of truce with Declan and Lorcàn, but her hatred for Finn and me runs deep.
“I’ll meet you at the arena. I expect there to be no issues,” Finn commands, and I just give him a curt nod.
Even though walking up the stairs makes me want to utter every curse word I know, I slowly but steadily make the climb. Each step feels like a strain in my thigh, and I know it’s a mistake. The motherfucker is going to be burning this entire evening while I have to act like it doesn’t hurt, like it’s just a goddamn scratch.
There can be no signs of weakness tonight, especially in front of the Italians. If we have Salvatore Barbieri on our side, we’ll have everything we need. He has more men and more incentive to take out Anthony. As soon as he’s gone, our lives will get a whole lot easier. Not to mention he needs to pay for what he did to me, Rory, and especially Cian.
I grunt through the pain in my leg and think of Cian. He didn’t even get to start his life. That piece of shite sent any future he would have had up in flames. All over greed and some false ownership of Elena, the sister he never cared about until it could benefit him somehow.
The pain in my thigh is ricocheting through my leg by the time I get upstairs. Lorcàn’s door is open, and I wonder just how much Finn fucked up by locking her in that room for three days.
Fuck. This isn’t going to be easy.
I nudge the door open with my cane and watch as Elena slides one of her black high heels on.
She looks stunning.
Her blonde hair is down in waves, and the black sequin dress she’s wearing clings to every curve of her body. The dress is far more modest than anything she ever wore at the High Roller.The neckline goes all the way to her throat, and the hemline ends right above her knees.
“If you’re here to complain about the credit card, you can talk to Declan,” she dismisses me, crossing her arms over her chest once done with her shoe. She looks down at the cane for a few moments before looking at my face.
“I’m not here to talk about the credit card. I don’t care what you spend.”
She seems slightly irritated with my answer. It seems like my Omega almost wants to fight.
“Do you want to yell at me some more?” I ask, and she huffs.
“No, I just want one day out of this room, out of this fucking house,” she complains. Her blue eyes look glossy, but she blinks it away.
“What have Lorcàn and Declan said about tonight?”
She rolls her eyes and turns to face the mirror to apply her mascara.
“That this is some dick-measuring contest to get Salvator Barbieri to work with you. That I’ll be safe and to stay with one of you at all times.”
“It’s important that we look like a unified pack, Elena.”
She narrows her eyes in the mirror as they flash to me before she goes back to doing her makeup.
