“Why’d you call us here, Kian?” Beckett asks, sensing the vibe I’m putting off.
Leaning forward, I rest my forearms on my desk and sigh. “I know Cash and Xander are newly married, and Beckett’s doing whatever the fuck he does, but I need you guys to start stepping up. I want to be more available for Ace, especially once she finds out that someone, possibly even her own cousin, put a hit on her.”
My brothers are silent as they look at each other, then turn their attention back to me, all of them slowly smiling. It’s creepy as fuck.
“I fucking knew she was the one,” Xander says.
Cash chuckles. “There’s no need for any of us to be here every day. There’s sure as fuck no reason to physically come into the office every day. I still respond to emails and make calls. I just do it when my wife is busy.”
“You need to relax, man,” Beckett offers. “Trust what Dad started and what we’ve helped build. You’re the one who puts too much pressure on yourself.”
Blowing out a breath, I glare at him. “It was hard not to, growing up. You three motherfuckers stressed Mom and Dad out so bad that I did whatever I could not to cause them more problems. And that’s only continued as we’ve gotten older. They counted on me to be the one who brought home good grades and didn’t get in trouble. And then Mom died, and Dad counted on me to keep the business going while he was grieving. You guys were, too, but in your own fucked-up ways.”
Xander stares at me thoughtfully, his jaw flexing. “Well, just know you can count on us now. It’s not all on you, bro.”
“We have executives in every building,” Cash says nodding toward me. “Dude, live your fucking life. Live for that girl you’re in love with. Become unhinged like me. It’s fun as hell. Life doesn’t need to be so serious all the time. We’re only on Earth fora short time. I’m not going to apologize for being sprung on my wife. Or wanting to spend every minute with her.”
I let my brother’s words sink in.
He’s not wrong about any of it.
Our dad died in the blink of an eye.
The same thing could happen to us at any given time.
“I’m going to marry her one day,” I tell them.
When I look at my brothers, they’re all smiling.
“We kind of already figured that out, bro,” Beckett says with a laugh. “First things first, though. What’s the plan with Luciano?”
As soon asthe deadbolt disengages, my heart rate speeds up until I’m nearly shaking as I rise from the couch, where I’ve been for the last hour waiting for Luciano.
“Lacey!” he calls out as his shoes clack on the floor on his way down the hall.
If this motherfucker tried to kill Ace, I’m going to shred him into pieces. What that did to her, the pain and suffering, the surgeries and rehab, not being able to do ballet, he will pay for every single bit of it.
Luciano walks in with a bouquet of flowers in hand, not noticing me at first, until he does, but it’s too late for him to draw.
Four lasers are pointed at different parts of his body, and those are just the ones he can see. Cassian walks up from behind Luciano and pushes the end of his rifle into his back.
Most men would piss themselves at this point. They’d be on their knees begging. But not Luciano Ricci.
He tilts his head to the side and smirks at me. “This is not the reunion I’d hope to have with you, Kian. I brought you flowers and everything, and you welcome me like this?”
Beckett quickly searches Luciano, who doesn’t so much as flinch or look concerned when my brother pulls two pistols off his body.
“You piece of shit,” I grit out. “I already knew you were one, but you had me fooled when it came to Ace.”
Luciano blinks, his light blue eyes blank as he stares back at me. “You’ll have to clarify what you mean by that, Kian. I don’t speak riddles.”
Shaking my head, I hurl the coin at him, sending it bouncing off his chest onto the floor.
Luciano looks down at it, his gaze narrowed.
“Pick it up,” I command quietly.
He studies me for half a second before he bends down and takes the coin into his hand. “What am I looking at?”
