“Silly, silly girl. Have you forgotten how powerful our family is? Not just in Italy but in the States? Jagger’s little cop friend found out the hard way what happens when you don’t fall in line with the family. You might be my flesh and blood, but I will happily take what is important to you to get what I want.”
“My life means that little to you?” I ask, a fresh stab of pain radiating through me.
“There is more at stake here than your freedom, Daisy. Do your duty to the family and come home. I’ll spare your friends if you do.”
Jagger snatches the phone from my grasp. “That’s enough, motherfucker. You had your chance to fix things with your sister. Don’t call for her again.”
“You have two fucking days, Jagger, make the right choice for Daisy’s sake,” Dante growls down the line, then it goes dead.
My heart hammers like crazy in my chest. I have no idea how much worse I just made this situation. But I did it. I found my inner strength and finally stood up for myself. Even if it was over a phone call. Real life might be a little more terrifying when I can see Dante’s deathly expression.
Before I have too much time to overthink every word we both just said, Cruz picks me up and pins me to the mirror. “I’ve never been so fucking attracted to you.” He grins like a psycho.
Asher kisses my cheek, crowding me on the other side. “You did good, princess, told him real good.”
I stare back at them. “He’s still going to come for us, though. I hope I didn’t make it worse.”
“You can’t make it worse with cunts like your brother.” Asher says, his eyes locking with mine in a way that makes me believe him.
“We’ll be ready if he tries,” Jagger says, tucking his phone away. “We will fight with everything we’ve got.” He looks over Asher and Cruz. “Might want to teach her how to shoot.”
My eyes widen. “I have you guys,” I say in a panic. Learning how to shoot is not on my agenda. I would probably catch sight of blood and pass the hell out anyway. They know I can’t handle violence.
“You need to be able to protect yourself, baby, and we have all the time in the world right now. A few lessons wouldn’t go astray. Just in case.”
I nod, agreeing with Cruz, seeing that I have no choice and knowing deep down it doesn’t matter how much violence scares me, it seems to follow me round. “Okay, let me finish my dance practice first.”
Cruz lets me back down to standing. “I’ll go get set up for you.”
With a quick kiss to my lips, Asher goes with him, the two of them muttering quietly about something as they walk out of the gym.
I take Jagger’s hand before he can leave. Getting a moment alone with him is hard. “Thank you.”
His brow pops up. “What for?”
“Showing me the truth, letting me see the monster my brother really is. It’s not easy to hear, but it helps me move on. You know.”
His hand cups my face gently, sympathy in his eyes I don’t expect. “We won’t let him get to you or take you back to Italy. You’re our girl, flower. I’m keeping you for good, alright.”
“I believe you.” I smile softly. “What do you think Olivia did to my brother?”
I feel him stiffen, but instead of pulling away from me like I expect, he stays. “She cut a deal with him to bring you home and he would keep her dirty little secrets.”
“How do you know?” I gasp.
He rolls his lips. “Olivia wasn’t innocent, Daisy. A cop friend of ours was sent a file incriminating her on all sorts of illegal activity. If your brother didn’t shoot her, she would be locked up for the rest of her life with the shit she was involved in.”
“That’s so sad.”
He offers a slight lift of his shoulders, like he really doesn’t care, but he had to have. They were close at one point. “She made her choices. Olivia was cocky. She never thought she would get caught, but the thing about people like her is eventually all the bad shit they do catches up with them. She was ready to trade you over to your family any way necessary. Don’t lose sleep over how she met her end, it could have been much worse for you.”
His words send a shiver over my skin. His hand moves down to mine, and our fingers lace together. “Come on, let’s go teach you how to protect yourself.”
Chapter 23
Gangsta’s Paradise
Jagger’sstucktomyleft side like glue, and Asher has his arm slung over my shoulders as we wind through oversized shipping containers down at some sort of docklands. I have a gun strapped to my thigh that the boys insisted I learn how to use. But even with that and their protection surrounding me, I feel uneasy. “Is it safe to be out in public?” I whisper, checkingover my shoulder as we slip through two huge red containers to an open space inside a warehouse, the walls lined with seats like a stadium filled with emblem-wearing bikers.
