Which begs the question of where mycapois getting his evidence. And who is really behind the attacks on Lena and why.
My woman is in a world of danger and I’m the best way I know to keep her safe. No one with even the slightest sense of self-preservation will try to killmywife; the vengeance they know I’d visit on them would be too violent, too bloody for even the most insane man to contemplate.
That’s reason number one to marry her.
Number two: Lena is mine. My woman, my weakness, my addiction. I didn’t think it was possible to fall under someone’s spell so completely, so fast. Fuck, I didn’t think it was possible to be spellbound at all. But, after the life I’ve lived, I should know better than to be surprised any more. People crash into your world without warning and are torn from it just as fast. I can’t stomach the idea of Lena being taken from me, not now that I’ve tasted her and held her as she sobbed in her sleep.
I put that engagement ring on her finger as a means to an end. It just so happens the end in question has changed.
Am I actually going to make Lena marry me? I’m about to answer Johnny’s question when Bruce knocks. He’s wiped the blood off his hands, but a few spots mark his cuffs. “Boss. Giordano.”
His report on the status of our prisoner is short and to the point. Bloodied, broken, still breathing.
“What information were you able to get from him?” I ask.
“His English is shit, could only get some Italian out of him. He’s not been here long. A week, two at most.”
“From Italy?” Johnny asks.
Bruce nods, his expression carefully blank.
Awareness pricks at my skin. “You’re sure?”
“Yes, boss.”
“Fuck.” I push back from my chair, start to pace the space behind my desk.
“He has a return ticket, too.”
“What the fuck?” Johnny looks between us. “You’re telling me he was sent here to execute a hit on Lena and that’s it? In and out of the country once the job was done?”
Bruce’s eyes track my movement. “Broke three fingers and shattered one knee, just to be sure.”
“It makes no fucking sense. Why would anyone go to those lengths to kill her? First the Russian and now a hitman brought over from Italy. Even if what Aldo and Ari sayistrue, that is a helluva lot of firepower for one woman. Who in Chicago wants her dead so badly?”
“What about the Paganos?” Johnny asks. “Trying to take her out to erase any ties back to them?”
I dismiss the idea. “Thereisno connection between Lena and the Paganos, so that isn’t possible. And even if they were targeting her for some other reason—as an indirect attack on me—they can’t afford a hitman like The Archangel. He’s miles above their pay grade. Which leaves?—?”
“What about…” Johnny looks at me, and I know I’m going to hate what he says next. “What if the hit wasn’t ordered from here? What if it came from San Luca? What if it came straight from?—”
“Aldo.” I brace my hands on my desk, buckled over like I’ve just been punched in the gut. “I don’t believe it.”
Johnny mirrors my position on the other side of my desk, his gaze seeking mine. “No, you just don’twantto believe it. But it makes sense. Thecapoand his underboss have stack after stack of evidence saying that Lena Haywood is a threat to the Family, one that needs to be eliminated. But instead of justexecuting her like ordered, you convince Ari to give you time. To do surveillance. To see if she’s really as much of a threat as he and your uncle believe. And Ari agrees, against what I’m sure he thinks is his better judgement, because it’syouasking. Except weeks go by, and you still can’t prove your brother and uncle wrong. Maybe Ari gets impatient and decides it’s time to go to Aldo. Get the boss’s say.”
Curses, Italian and English, rampage through my head as Johnny continues. “And unlike you,fratello, Aldoisconvinced Lena is worth killing. He’s old school. He might have a soft spot for you and Ari, but that man is ‘Ndrangheta through and through. He’ll kill women without hesitation and we both know it.”
Fear curdles in my stomach. If this is true, keeping Lena alive is going to be significantly harder than I realized. “So, what—he orders a hit from Italy?”
I don’t want Johnny to answer, but I know I need to hear it.
“Yes.” Johnny says, awareness of what this is doing to me clear on his face. “So Aldo orders another hit on her. A separate one that doesn’t involve you. It makes sense, Rem. Even more so if he’s somehow gotten word that you’re fucking around with the woman he wants dead.”
“Motherfucker!” I grab the closest thing on my desk and hurl it against the wall. The rocks glass shatters, whiskey and shards of crystal going everywhere. “I’m not going to let that happen. No fucking way.”
I turn and face the men watching me. They’re loyal to the Family.Myfamily. And I’m not going to let whatever shit storm the Paganos are stirring up to take my family from me. Lena included. “Lena hasn’t done any of the things Aldo and Ari suspect. She’s being framed, I’m sure of it. Framed just like our men thatpezzo di merdaRocco has gotten sent away. Aldo will be back in a week, and I’ll prove to him and Ari that she’s not the threat they’ve been tricked into thinking she is. In themeantime, I’m not going to let her die. And neither will you. This is a direct attack on our family and let me be absolutely clear: Lena is officially Family. From this moment forward, your loyalty and protection extend to her.”
“Holy fuck.” Johnny looks at me, shock and a sick kind of amusement warring for dominance on his face. “You’re going to do it.”
