Reaching for my phone, the new one Declan set me up with, I check the news. I do a quick scan of the latest headlines, surprised that nothing shows up regarding the shootout at the Rossi estate three days ago. When I hear the mumble of voices, I turn my phone off and drop it onto the couch. The beating organ in my chest falters when Keane and Jax step off the elevator, two of Declan’s men behind them.
“Thank you. I can take it from here,” I tell the men, and they immediately comply, leaving me alone with Keane and Jax.
I drink them in, feeling like I can finally breathe normally again once I see that they are unharmed. Keane is wearing a dark navy-blue suit and silver-gray tie. His day’s growth of stubble only enhances his rugged, handsome face. Leadership looks good on him. I bite my bottom lip when I next look at Jax, my sexy Grim Reaper in his black-rimmed glasses. His dirty blond hair is sticking up every which way, his green eyes wild and rabid. Unlike Keane who is perfectly put together from his leather loafers to his expensive silk tie, Jax’s plain black T-shirt and black jeans that hang low on his hips are the complete opposite.
Taking my time with my perusal, I trace the lines of the tattoo that peek out from his collar and circle around his neck. Licking my lips, I’m desperate to say something, anything, but the words won’t form. I glance at the floor, trying to collect my whirlwind of thoughts. Skimming the pad of my thumb over the edge of my chin, I carefully consider how to deal with the two of them. I want to despise them. I really do. But too much has happened between us in the last couple of weeks. These men are like a cobra’s venom, their poison invading my bloodstream and eating away at the flesh of my hatred. The boys I grew up with. Kellan’s best friends. Young men who became killers, their souls corrupted by Maximillian Rossi. Men who say I’ve always been theirs.
But happy reunions are not why I told Declan I wanted to speak with them. Keane and Jax made promises to me, and they are damn well going to keep them.
Keane’s skeptical gaze roams around the room, taking everything in—the luxury and creature comforts of my new home—before landing heavily on me, making me want to squirm under the weight of it. I’m sure they were expecting me to be tied to a chair and beaten like before, not standing in the middle of a fifteen-thousand-square-foot suite in one of the tallest skyscrapers in the city.
“Thank you for coming.”
Keane’s humorless, low chuckle puts me on alert. “You look well.”
Feeling the energy in the room skyrocket to dangerous levels, I fold my lips together to stop my snarky comeback, not wanting things to escalate in the wrong direction.
“I’m glad you’re both okay,” I tell him, and I mean it.
Keane cocks his head slightly like he’s not sure if he believes me or not. Jax lurches forward, and I jump at his sudden movement, even though we’re on opposite sides of the room. Keane’s arm shoots out to hold Jax back and gives him a stern, “Wait.”
I clasp my nervous hands in front of me. “I killed him,” I whisper.
Keane’s attitude and stiff posture deflate a little. “Fuck, Tinker Bell.” He slowly shakes his head and releases a defeated sigh.
Is he disappointed in me? Because I would do it again. I hold no regrets over ending that cruel, abusive motherfucker. Okay, I have one regret. I wish I had drawn it out and made him suffer more.
I stand up straighter and hold my head high. I’m free now. I get to make my own decisions, choose my own path, my own destiny.
“Declan Levine is my father,” I announce, but they don’t appear shocked by that tidbit of news.
I told Declan we didn’t need to run another DNA test after he showed me the results of the genetic panel that he did a year ago. I trust it. Declan and I look too much alike, have the same rare eye color, for it not to be true.
To make certain they heard me, I say, “Declan is my biological father. Max lied. Kellan lied. My mother lied. She’s dead, by the way.”
Nothing. No reply. Not one damn thing.
Jax starts pacing back and forth behind Keane, a wild beast wanting out of its cage. He hasn’t spoken a word since they arrived, and it’s starting to worry me.
Finally, Keane spouts with annoyance, “You’re out of your goddamn mind, princess, if you think that Levine is a good man. He may be your real dad, but he’s using you.”
I want to laugh in his face at his hypocrisy. I’ve been used one way or another by almost everyone in my life.
“Kind of like your lame marriage proposal?” I challenge him to deny that he wasn’t also using me for his own gains.
He may have wrapped his offer of marriage in a pretty package of doing it to save me from being given to Alejandro and the Ortiz Cartel, but I wasn’t born yesterday. As Rossi’s only living heir, marrying me would have permanently solidified Keane’s standing in the family, making it easier for him to take over when the time came. Well, he got his wish and without having to marry me. I’m not even Rossi’s biological child, so joke’s on him.
The smirk Keane gives me is laced with secrets that make my heart flutter. He wouldn’t look so smug if there wasn’t a reason behind it. Surely, he doesn’t think I’ll still consider his offer. I don’t need to. I killed the devil, and Declan is going to help me make sure Alejandro and Julio receive the same fate. I don’t need Keane to accomplish that anymore. I will repeat that mantra over and over until I begin to believe it.
“Uncle Dom and most of the capos are dead. I had their bodies brought to the cabin and laid out at Max’s feet.Isent that message. Not Declan.Me. I want the families to know that I’m coming for them.”
For some reason, I’m not going to pontificate too much over, I want Keane to see the new power I now hold; a tiny part of me needing to impress him, make him proud of me.You’re pathetic and acting like a child who begs for any scrap of attention and approval.
Getting more irritated because Keane continues to be his non-emotive, asshole-ishself, I say to Jax, “I want my knife back.”
Jax stops his frenetic back and forth, and finally, I get a reaction. It’s just not the one I was expecting. My demand unlocks the iron bars around him and before I can blink or utter a sound, I’m slammed into by what feels like a wrecking ball of solid muscle.
Gasping, I grab onto his wide shoulders. “Jax, what are you—”
