We pull into my apartment complex, and I can’t even look at Sandro. If I do, I’ll fall apart. I’ll jump in his lap, wrap my armsaround him and beg him not to marry Giada. Plead with him to run away with me and hide from his mob family. And mine, I guess. My tears would never stop. I would drown us both in them. No, that would be even more pathetic.
Just get out of the car, Lennon. You can fall apart in the privacy of your own bathroom.
“Lennon,” Sandro calls as I grab the door handle. The pain in his voice cracks me open, and my eyes burn with unshed tears.
“Please, don’t,” I whisper. I manage to push the door open. My legs are shaking as my feet hit the pavement. I’m drained from all the adrenaline and strong emotions that have assaulted my body.
I feel nothing now. I’m just numb as I lead Killian up to my apartment and unlock the door.
Chapter 39
Alessandro
Lennon and Killian disappear up the stairs. I wanted to tell her that I might have a way to get out of my marriage to Giada, but it’s probably for the best I didn’t have a chance to. I need to wait until I know for sure. It would be cruel to get her hopes up. Besides, I’d still be bringing her into the mob life, which I’ve fought myself for a decade to keep from doing. But… now that we know her biological family is Irish mafia, she’s in it anyway, right?
No, that doesn’t mean she wants this life.
With a muttered curse, I slam the SUV into drive and punch the gas. It’s time to talk to New York.
***
Caelian and I sit at the long table in our waterfront office building. We’re in the conference room and a crescent moon is reflecting off the dark waters behind the open blinds. We don’t usually come here for meetings when it’s just two of us, but tonight I need thespace to breathe. The importance of this call is weighing like a brick on my chest.
If I can’t convince The Commission to go along with my plan, I have zero chance of having Lennon in my life. And now that I’ve had a taste of her again, and of true happiness, I don’t want to live without her.
I stare out the window as we wait for New York to join the conference call. Caelian is busy with something on his phone, and the silence is giving my brain too much room to think. A shiver rolls through me as an image flashes in my mind.
I’m standing at the altar in front of thousands of people with Giada walking down the aisle toward me in a gaudy, over-the-top white dress. My throat closes and my lungs seize as the feeling of being trapped engulfs me. I’m at a crossroads. One path leads to heaven and one leads to hell.
“Sandro?”
I’m yanked back into the present by Caelian’s voice. Scrubbing a hand over my face, I grab the glass of water off the table. After a large swallow, I finally meet his questioning gaze. “I’m fine. It’s just… I don’t have to tell you how important it is that we get them on board with our plan.”
He tosses his phone on the table, leans back and sighs. “No, you don’t.”
The screen changes and suddenly we’re staring at the five members of The Commission. Their expressions are somber.
My father greets us first. “Sandro… Caelian. Nice to see your faces.”
We exchange greetings with the other bosses.
Then my father says, “Of course, it could be under better circumstances.”
I hold a small smile. Keep my expression neutral. It’s all under control. I have a plan. “Circumstances might not be as bad as you think.”
He glances at the men around him.
Carlo Moretti leans forward, placing his forearms on the table, his meaty shoulders straining against the confines of his pinstripe suit jacket. His bulldog jaws sag as he stares at me through the camera. “You got good news for us, Alessandro? Then let’s start with that.”
I glance at Caelian. He nods in encouragement.
Okay. Here we go.
“The good news is we have some answers. We've discovered that Santino isn't the one who made a deal with the Russians to ignore their skin trade in exchange for a cut of the profit. He didn’t betray us. Emilio did.”
There’s a stunned silence and then questions are hurled at me from five angry Italians.
I hold up a hand. “Yes. I’m sure. I had a meeting with Oleg Romanov and his son. I’ll confirm it with Santino before we take action, of course. But Santino also told me he wasn’t planning onhanding over the reins to Emilio. So, that’s Emilio's motive to go behind his father’s back.”
