“Not without me,” Ghost said in a tone that suggested no argument. “You’re not going on some fucking suicide mission, Sye.”
Silas nearly smiled at the adamancy in his brother’s voice. It pained him that Ghost had spent the last fucking three years living in filth and being a diligent general in the Vanucci army. All to keep his brothers safe. It was time for him to come home. Ghost was every bit as stubborn and devoted to his cause as Silas was, and he was the only one who dared to ever argue with Silas, something Drake didn’t even do.
“Just make sure it doesn’thaveto come to that,” Silas said, before ending the connection.
He turned to see if Drake was finished with his phone call yet. Maddox was working on one of the desktops that had three twenty-six-inch monitors, giving him as many vantage points as possible as his fingers flew over the keyboard. Thane was slouched on the couch, a weary look on his face. He’d spent the last night at the hospital, sitting on Zander and making sure he didn’t walk out of the hospital before the doctors thought he was ready. Hartley had relieved him first thing this morning and Justice had been assigned to Evangeline. Everyone else was gathered in Drake’s offices waiting to hear any incoming news and awaiting the time when they would hit back at the Vanuccis.
“The Luconis are scared shitless that it’s only a matter of time before the Vanuccis go after them. They believe the hit on Zander is nothing more than a distraction so the Luconis will relax their guard, thinking that the bigger threat exists to us. Whatever information they glean from their informants and the people they have on the streets, they’ll pass along immediately to me.”
Thane sat up straight on the couch, fully awake now. “You trust them?”
“On this? Yeah,” Drake said indifferently. “They want their families safe and they know we can make that happen. For now they aren’t going to do anything to piss us off, which means we can expect their full cooperation. One of the cops who raided Impulse New Year’s Eve was found dead in an alley this morning. Makes me believe even more that the Vanuccis had dirty cops on their payroll and those dirty cops went after Evangeline, and they’re also the ones who got to Hatcher and got him to turn.”
“The dead cop one of the dirty cops? Or is it a good cop who saw or heard the wrong things in his department?” Silas asked. Unsaid was the fact that if the cop was dirty, the likelihood he was on Vanucci’spayroll was good and Silas could possibly pin his murder on them. Killing a cop, even a dirty one, would bring down a hell of a lot of heat on the Vanuccis’ empire. If they had cops crawling up their asses at every turn, it wouldn’t leave them any time to perform hits on Silas’s brothers or the people they cared about.
“I’ll get on that,” Maddox said. “I’ll see what I can dig up and get back to you in a few hours.”
From the corner of his eye, Silas saw Jax lean in, staring hard at one of the security screens he was monitoring, a scowl on his face.
“Yo,” Jax called. “I got something here. Black car with tinted windows has passed the back lot three times in the last half hour and now they’re fucking pulling in.”
Everyone hurried over to look over Jax’s shoulder. But he suddenly shot out of his chair, a grim look on his face.
“Fuck! They just tossed out a body!”
Silas hit the stairs, not daring to wait for the elevator. His brothers pounded behind him, their guns drawn, as was Silas’s.
Fucking Vanuccis. What had they done now? More importantly, who was the body?
Fear was stark in his chest. Sweat beaded his forehead and he realized he was holding his breath as he stopped just outside the door leading to the employee parking lot. He kicked the door open and stepped out, Maddox at his side, their guns trained in opposite directions as Jax went low, taking the middle.
“Clear,” Silas barked. “Car is long gone. Anyone see the body?”
He eased out, making sure he was first. Always first. The enforcer. Ultimate protector for Drake and all of his other brothers. It was who and what he was. He’d give his life for any one of them. Just as he would for his princess.
When he caught sight of the huddled female figure, her face completely hidden by a veil of long dark hair, his stomach bottomed outand he broke into a run just as a tortured cry erupted behind him and Thane burst by him like a demon from hell.
“Gia!” Thane cried out in agony, his voice breaking under the weight of more emotion than Silas had ever heard in the man’s voice.
He and the rest of his brothers stood a few feet away, staring in shock as Thane dropped to his knees and gently cradled the broken woman into his arms and held her close against his chest. Thane buried his face in the woman’s hair, his shattered moans making every man present wince and flinch at the terrible sound and the appalling sight of the bruised and bloodied woman.
“I’ve fucking had it with the goddamn scum-sucking, bottom-feeding Vanuccis and their propensity to beat up defenseless women because they’re too fucking cowardly to take us on face-to-face,” Maddox said, fury replacing his usual absolute stoicism.
Maddox definitely had a tender spot for Evangeline and now Hayley as well, and he demonstrated extreme gentleness and care with both women, but otherwise, he was always reserved, emotionless, and if he had ever been remotely involved with a woman for any length of time, no one, not even those closest to him, knew about it.
But the sentiment he expressed was equally shared among them all. Especially Drake and Silas, since both their women had been victims of the pansy-ass motherfuckers. Expressions of rage and also hardened resolve shone on every single one of his brothers’ faces.
“It’s time for us to stop sitting on our asses worrying about their next move,” Jax growled. “I vote we take the fight to their front door and wipe the earth with their sorry asses. We’d be doing the city a service. Trust me, no one, not even their wives or children, would shed a tear at their fucking funerals.”
Drake held up his hand to stanch the rebellion before it got out of hand, but no one looked happy with his silent dictate. Including Silas, who much preferred straightforward action over plotting in officechairs and playing a goddamn chess match with their opponent. He sent a meaningful look in Jax’s direction and Jax nodded in satisfaction, understanding what Silas was telling him. Even Drake didn’t dare to presume to tell Silas what or what not to do. Silas was absolutely loyal to Drake and his brothers, but he was a lone wolf and when he decided on a course of action, Drake wasn’t stupid enough to think he would hold any sway over his enforcer.
Silas dropped to one knee beside Thane, nearly looking away at the terrible grief in his brother’s eyes. His gaze drifted over the unconscious woman and rage built even higher within him when he took in her battered features and the fact that there didn’t seem to be a place on her body that wasn’t bruised or bloodied. He reached between her body and Thane’s to gently press his fingers into her neck, feeling for her pulse. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt the faint patter in return.
“Bring a car around,” he called back to no one in particular. “We need to get her to Drake’s clinic so the doctor can treat her off the books.”
Then he turned his attention back to Thane, who was still holding her solidly against his chest, rocking her back and forth as he whispered urgently into her ear.
“Thane,” he said in a low voice. “Who is she?”
