"I can do more."
He dips his chin. "I don't think you realize just how bad these men are."
"Actually, I do."
His gaze lifts. "How?"
"Davi? The Brick Syndicate?"
Vaughn's eyes widen. "I never said— How do you know about the syndicate?"
I push to my feet and cross the room to sit down next to him. "I know because Davi and the syndicate; they're my uncle's men."
19
Vaughn
I can’t keep the tremor from my voice. "What did you just say?"
I heard it, I just need him to repeat it because it can't be. Clayton's family connected to Davi Morawski?How???
He picks up his phone off the coffee table and hands it to me. My eyes scan over the message thread between him and his father. Clayton asked whether he was in contact with Dean, his brother. His dad replied saying yes, contact had recently been reestablished. Clayton informed him of my situation, ending withGet him to get Davi to back the fuck off.
I gape at his father's one-word response:Done.
"I… I don't understand."
"It's a long story," Clayton says as he takes my hand in his and fills me in. "Remember how I told you my uncles had gone down a bad path in life? Well, Uncle Dean went down the worst. But, unlike my other uncles, he never fucked my father over by trying to steal the family business from him."
"So he has a heart?" I offer.
"I wouldn't go that far. He oversees a smuggling operation that either directly or indirectly is responsible for ruining lives. Even ending them."
I'm still in shock at the connection between Clayton and the men who killed Evie, but I'm also having a hard time believing that everything will stop, that I won't have to keep running and hiding to protect Mabel, with just a few text messages.
I give Clayton his phone back. "So you think your dad can ask your uncle Dean to tell Davi to back off and leave me and Mabel alone?"
He nods firmly. "He just did."
I wish I shared his confidence. "Davi is a psychopath. No matter how close they are, I'm not sure that even your uncle can convince him to drop this."
Clayton squeezes my hand. "Two things. One, my uncle doesn't have to convince anyone to do shit. He asks, it's done. Simple as that. And two, if Davi disobeys a direct order, he'll be gone. If there's one thing Uncle Dean can't stand, it's disloyalty. And shellfish. He's deathly allergic, but he keeps that one quiet so it doesn't ruin his tough guy image."
My face must give me away because Clayton assures me, "I understand why you're wary. And look, there is a slim chance Davi could go rogue and disobey my uncle. Which is why I'm taking measures to ensure we're protected."
"How?"
"For starters, we're on a yacht in the ocean. That gives us distance and a strong vantage point should we have any incoming and unwelcome visitors. In the morning, we'll be joined by two of the best bodyguards in the country. They'll be with us twenty-four seven, backed by more muscle than the Prime Minister’s entire detail."
I exhale slowly, putting together the pieces of the past with the implications of everything Clayton is saying for thefuture.My future.Could I really be free of Davi and the Brick Syndicate? Will he acquiesce to Dean? He's already under the impression Mabel isn't his, so really his only motivation for coming after me is jealousy, anger, and a scorned lover's revenge. All pretty big motivators to a deranged animal like Davi.
"I canseeyou thinking," Clayton observes.
"It's a lot to take in."
"It is. And feel free to be as cautious and take as much time with it as you need. I'm aware this isn't just about you but also that precious little princess asleep in our bedroom."
A pulse of heat shoots through my chest. "Ourbedroom?"
