He knew he wouldn’t be able to do so forever. Inevitably something would crop up that prevented him from being just a few feet away from her while she sent her soul soaring into the night. There were always things that demanded his attention. The safety of his brothers, and especially Evangeline, superseded all else. And as long as evil existed, and it would never truly be eradicated, the people he cared about would always be in danger. The threat to them all existed everywhere and came from all directions.
Neither he nor his brothers were saints. Silas knew there was a thin line between his self-imposed code of justice and the very evil he kept his brothers safe from. At times the line seemed to disappear altogether, and it was at those times that Silas was more aware than ever that he was just as much of a monster as the ones he hunted down and meted out retribution on. It was senseless to grieve the fact that he wasn’t in the least sorry for removing such vileness from the streets and the city he now called home. He knew what he was and what his job was, and he faced both with calm acceptance. The world was a better place without men like the Vanuccis, a crime family that had perpetuated so much violence against innocents that the very foundation of their homes must groan with the weight of so much blood.
Women, children, nothing held any regard or compassion in the Vanuccis’ eyes, and they’d proven that over and over. It might take him a lifetime, but Silas was determined to bring every single one of them to justice, along with those who allied themselves with the Vanuccis. His justice, the permanent kind. He would be judge and juror and sentence them to death, where all the power, connections and money in the world held no sway or importance. After death, only your deeds and actions over your lifetime held any merit or weight.
He rubbed his head tiredly, uncharacteristic fatigue making his bones ache. Even the beautiful song of grief pouring into the night next door could no longer offer him solace. Not when he’d brought so much to the surface when it remained buried most of the time. Ridding the world of the Vanuccis wouldn’t even put a dent in the threats to what he considered his own. His family. There was always someone else. Evil was pervasive, insidious. There was no cure for it. No way to ever destroy it permanently. The Vanuccis weren’t the only murdering, raping sons of bitches in the city. They just happened to be the ones most prevalent in Silas’s mind as he sought every day to keep his brothers, Drake and Evangeline safe. They were all targets. The Vanuccis had even placed a bounty on DrakeandEvangeline. They were furious when Drake, in a very unexpected turn of events, had thrown his support and muscle behind the Luconis and had backed them as they prepared to dismantle the Vanucci family.
But Silas didn’t fool himself. He was a realist. A cynic. Cold, harsh and unfeeling. He knew that getting rid of the Vanuccis would pave the way for more organized crime to grow and prosper, and indeed, it would become more prevalent than ever. The Vanuccis were worthless pieces of shit, the entire lot of them, but at least they were powerful enough to squelch and force down anyone else seeking to set up shop in the city. The only other factions with as much power as the Vanuccis, or more, were the Luconis and... Drake Donovan. And now thatDrake had allied with the Luconis, the Vanuccis were more desperate and unpredictable than ever.
With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and reached for the soothing balm of what he was certain was another’s grief. She might be mourning the loss of something dear and her music was an outlet for that grief, but for him the song touched the deepest, darkest recesses of his being. Just for the span of a few moments, he knew peace, even as the song whispered to him of love and loss. For once he wanted to drift to sleep with her music still echoing in his ears, her presence here in his bedroom despite the distance separating them. Tonight he didn’t feel quite so alone. Because she was here, sharing her grief and sharing her gift, providing comfort though she would never know that she had. Even as he allowed himself to drift away, held in the warm embrace of pure beauty, he wondered if Hayley felt as alone as he, and if she, like him, had nothing but her music to comfort her. Though he finally fell into sleep, he dreamed of Hayley. Bathed in the moonlight as she played the same song over and over. In his dream he saw the shimmer of tears escaping her closed eyes and silently trekking down her face. Then, since it was only a dream, he went to her, drawn by her pain and suffering, not able to keep from offering her the same comfort she gave him each night.
He drew her into his arms and gently kissed every single tear away. And he held her until finally she slept, whispering to her over and over that she wasn’t alone.
7
“That stupid asshole McDuff just had to fuck everything up.” Giovanni Vanucci seethed, allowing his temper to flare. He pounded his polished mahogany desk to emphasize his statement and then fixed his forceful stare at the gathered family members. His sentinels, his loyal soldiers, here at his demand.
It wasn’t irregular for Giovanni to hold family meetings at his Connecticut home, one of the many places he owned. But here, away from the city and the possibility of surveillance, spies and secrets being exposed, was where he held family meetings, where there was no chance that anything would leak from his private office, a room even his wife and daughters didn’t dare enter.
“He screwed up months of our planning and just when we’re ready to move on the Luconis, he snatches Drake Donovan’s woman and suddenly the bastard is allied with them?”
He knew his face was mottled with rage and likely red as a beet, judging by the concerned expression of his oldest son, Gabriel. He made a concerted effort to calm down so his blood pressure didn’t soar dangerously high and he didn’t suffer another stroke. The doctors had warned him he likely wouldn’t survive another one. But regardless ofthe need to regain his composure, rage and an overwhelming thirst for revenge pervaded his every thought.
He turned to the only person in the room who wasn’t related to him by blood. A man who’d proven loyal to him and had displayed more ambition and loyalty than Giovanni’s own sons. His sons knew he favored the man referred to as Ghost and didn’t even bother trying to hide their anger or resentment over having an outsider usurp their importance and their role in their father’s organization.
As he turned to Ghost, planning to outline his plans and issue orders to him, he saw two of his sons cast belligerent looks in Ghost’s direction, while Gabriel’s lips merely tightened and his eyes went cold and flat as he continued to stare at his father.
Ghost couldn’t possibly miss the animosity directed at him, but his expression never wavered and he looked bored and unbothered by Giovanni’s sons’ childish temper tantrums.
“There has to be a weak link in Donovan’s organization,” Giovanni muttered. “One of his men was a snitch for the police, and he disappeared shortly after the police raid on Donovan’s club. It’s too risky to go after his woman. With her about to deliver a child, the security net surrounding her is impossible to breach. So we have to find another weakness, another hole in their security. All of his men have vulnerabilities. We just have to discover them and take advantage of them. Can I trust you with this, Ghost?”
Ghost gave a clipped nod, but then he wasn’t a man of many words, and when he spoke, the others listened. Even Giovanni’s sons were too afraid of him to overtly defy him.
Giovanni then turned to his sons, Gabriel, Jacques and Paulo. He knew that in order for them to be competent, reliable assets to the family, he had to give them the opportunity to prove themselves. He just hoped to hell they didn’t fuck up.
“I want all three of you on this. I want no angle uninvestigated.Every lead pursued. And whatever you find, you are to report it immediately to Ghost.”
His sons didn’t look at all happy with the order to report to someone who wasn’t even family, but they also understood the significance of their father asking them to do the duty he requested. It was their opportunity to prove themselves worthy of the name they bore and the chance to move up in the organization they would one day rule in their father’s stead.
What they didn’t realize was that if they failed him in any way, he’d ensure they never took over the helm. If he couldn’t rely on them for such a simple task as this, how was he supposed to leave the running and care of the entire family on their shoulders?
Giovanni waved his hand in a clear signal of dismissal but motioned for Ghost to remain. When everyone was gone, Giovanni slumped back into his chair and rubbed a hand through his hair.
“I’m counting on you,” he said wearily. “There has to be a way to strike at Donovan, to bring him to his knees. Without his support, the Luconis will be a piece of cake to take apart and destroy. But until I can remove Donovan from the picture, my hands are tied and every day that passes I lose more power. I will not stand by and allow that bastard to take everything I and my father, my grandfather and his father and his father’s father worked our entire lives to build.”
“Consider it done,” the man called Ghost said in his usual calm voice, his face devoid of emotion.
Giovanni shivered. He would never admit it, but he was as afraid of this man as his sons were, and he had a very good suspicion that he had every reason to be.
8
Hayley walked through the door of her apartment complex and rolled her shoulders even as she attempted to stifle a jaw-cracking yawn. This was her first day off from work since she’d moved in two weeks ago and she was in desperate need of a nap. She’d spent too many nights practicing, forgoing sleep because one of the two jobs she worked required late hours and she often didn’t get home until past one, and it was always closer to two in the morning before she started practicing.
A nice long nap would be next to heaven, and then she could cook herself a nice dinner and afterward get an earlier start on practice so she could get a few extra hours of sleep before tomorrow’s first class.
As she punched the button to the elevator, the doors opened and a woman who looked to be in her late thirties or perhaps early forties was coming out. She stopped once she saw Hayley and gave her an assessing look.
“You must be new,” she said cheerfully. “We’ve never met. I’m Patricia and I live on the fourth floor.”
