“What did you say?” he asked, not masking his irritation with being interrupted.
“We were just discussing strategy for dismantling the Vanuccis’ entire organization. You know, nothing terribly important,” Drake muttered sarcastically. “Anything you’d like to contribute?”
Silas shook his head in frustration. “Not yet. I told you that you had to give me extra time with Ghost now that we not only need names and details of their planned hits but also if Gia was their doing and if so how they tagged her. He has to tread very carefully or it could mean hislife plus those of the two men he has in the cesspool with him. What about Gia? Has she said anything yet? Provided any information we can use?”
Maddox leaned against the desk and scrubbed his hands down his face. “I talked to Thane a few minutes ago. He said she’s still heavily medicated, and the few times she’s woken up she’s been terrified so they immediately sedated her. She’s a mess. Hell,he’sa mess. We don’t need to get to the bottom of this just to keep our loved ones safe, we need to do it to keep Thane from burning down the entire fucking city in vengeance.”
“If they come near Evangeline again, I’ll light the fucking match,” Drake snapped. “Find that goddamn info. I don’t care who you have to threaten, bribe or kill. Just do it.”
After looking around the room at his brothers, he let out a sigh and said what everyone else was likely thinking or had at least briefly entertained. “Is it possible that we have another traitor in our organization? None of us even knew about Gia, so what’s the possibility of an outsider knowing?”
Grunts and what sounded like growls filled the air and Silas acknowledged that no matter how expensive their suits, his brothers were damn close to fucking feral. If one of them had turned on the family, the rest would rip him to shreds. And Silas would lead the pack.
Jax broke the silence that followed, his fury a living, breathing entity. “No fucking way it’s one of us. We made a mistake with Hatcher, and Evangeline paid the price. We learned a lesson from that in the most painful way possible. Itwon’thappen again. We’ll find this motherfucker, end him, and our family will live happily fucking ever after. End of fucking story. Unless someone has something relevant to add, I’d suggest we get on with this shit and stop planting doubt in the minds of our goddamn family.” Jax paused and looked around. “No? Okay, then. How about we stop talking about what we’re doing andactually get off our asses and get it done.” He shot up from his seat, a savage pissed-off storm brewing in his eyes, and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him with enough force to knock it from its hinges.
The remaining men looked at each other, unsure what to make of the usually taciturn Jax being so... verbose. Silas hated the sliver of doubt that crept in as he considered why Jax was so adamant. Hatcher’s betrayal had left them all a little dented when it came to unwavering trust. And while he hated it, it cemented his decision to remove Hayley from his life. If he felt he couldn’t trust his brothers, then being alone was the only choice he had.
“Gotta say, he has a fucking point,” Maddox said in disgust. “We’d get a hell of a lot more accomplished if we actually took some goddamn action and stopped all the fucking finger pointing. That shit’s about to piss me the fuck right off.”
Drake cleared his throat. “Jax spent the morning with Evangeline. She’s upset. Zander’s shooting hit her hard. But I promised to stop hiding things from her, so she knows about Gia too. She’s... not handling it well. Her blood pressure is up and the doctor has said if it doesn’t stabilize soon, he’ll have to put her on bed rest. And I’m telling you right now, if that happens, I’m moving up our vacation plans and I’m taking her to an island in the middle of the fucking ocean as long as it has adequate facilities for her to give birth in, and I won’t be coming back until she and the baby are both strong, happy and completely recovered.”
Questions about Evangeline’s health flew from the other guys, but Silas cut through them all. “How serious is this, Drake? Does she need to be in a hospital? Maybe you should take her away now and leave us to handle this shit. With you out of the country, you’d have one hell of an alibi and no way you’d take any heat for what we do.”
“Right now the doctor doesn’t believe she or the baby is in any danger, but she is being monitored. And I’m not abdicating myresponsibility to my brothers any more than I am to Evangeline and our child,” he said fiercely. “So shut the fuck up. I’m a big boy and I can take any heat that results.”
Silas knew arguing with him would be pointless, but he couldn’t resist needling Drake just a bit. “Whatever she needs, let me know. I’m actually surprised you’re so calm about this.”
Drake’s dark, burning gaze fell on him. “Calm? Lit matches, Silas. Get that goddamn information from Ghostnow.”
Drake slowly stood, grabbed his phone and headed out the door, undoubtedly heading home to Evangeline. Silas motioned for Hartley to fall in behind Drake. He’d made it very clear that no matter what Drake said about it, he was never to go anywhere alone and he was never to be without protection any more than Evangeline would be.
“You heard the boss,” Silas drawled. “Get me something I can work with. I’m going to yank Ghost’s chain and tell him I need his timeline moved up and him out of the fucking Vanuccis’ pile of shit yesterday.”
Silas would put his own plans into motion just as soon as he figured out where the hell Hayley was and why she still hadn’t returned home to her apartment.
34
Silas was out of hismindwith worry. Hayley was missing. She hadn’t returned to her apartment since the night he’d seen her leave with a fucking box and a bag slung over her shoulder. He knew because he’d sat up all hours of the night, watching and waiting for any sign of her on the security cameras he’d so meticulously installed so he could keep apprised of her comings and goings. So he’d know she was... safe. Out of harm’s reach. At least until they finally took out every last fucking member of the Vanucci family. It could take months. Far longer than he could expect Hayley to sit around waiting on him, especially after he’d cut her loose in such an unforgivable manner. But he couldn’t allow himself a single break in his icy exterior because if he had, it would have all come out and then Hayley, as fierce as she was in her absolute devotion and loyalty, would have neverallowedhim to push her away. The only way he’d had any chance of pulling it off was by making her believe he no longer wanted her.
As fuckingif.
The heart he never knew he possessed lay in pieces, as did the tattered remnants of the soul that was already as black as death and so stained that he could never hope for redemption. Or of having something soprecious and pure as Hayley was. She deserved so much better than the man he was, than the man he’d been. The man he’d alwaysbe. But no one,no one, would ever love her as much as he did. That was little consolation to him, especially now that he had no fucking clue where she was or if she was even safe, the very reason he’d so coldly cut her from his life butneverout of his heart.
Forgoing his daily check-in with Drake and his brothers, he went radio silent and drove like a man possessed to her apartment building, trembling with impatience and in dread of what he’d find when he let himself into her apartment with the spare key he’d kept so he’d always have access.
When the elevator finally stopped on her floor, he ran down the hallway like a maniac, fumbling to insert the key into the lock. He hadn’t had time to install more than the one deadbolt and regular key lock above the knob that came standard with the apartment, but he should have returned the very next day as soon as Hayley left for class and ensured she was absolutely safe in the place he’d moved her to. But fearing she’d read far too much into that action and knowing she’d know precisely who was responsible for the new locks, he’d made himself stay away.
Not so now.
He shoved the door open and walked in, bellowing her name in a voice riddled with fear that he didn’t recognize. Heneverallowed emotion to rule him, to unhinge him as it did now. His knees began to shake so badly he could barely remain upright as he stumbled through the empty living room and into the equally empty bedroom.
His gaze immediately found the violin he’d bought her, nestled in the open case lying in the middle of her bed. When he went to her closet, he frowned upon seeing it still full of clothes. Fear gripped him. Had she meant to come back after all? Had something prevented her from returning?
As he flipped through the items, some still with the store tags unremoved, recognition hit him as did the jagged slash of pain that flayedopen his chest. Shehadleft. She just hadn’t taken a single thing he’d given her or bought for her. The only items of clothing missing were the inexpensive, threadbare shirts and jeans that had belonged to her before she met him. She’d made it so he no longer existed, had no part in her life, just as he’d done to her.
He closed his eyes and walked out of the bedroom before he fell completely apart. Grief and regret consumed him as he walked into the kitchen and saw that her mother’s dishes were gone but everything else had been left neatly stored in the cabinets. Even the food he’d made sure was stocked was exactly as it had been left by him.
Then his gaze fell on the set of keys lying in the middle of the counter and he made a grab for them, counting them. He curled his fingers around them until the hard metal cut into his palms. Not a single key was missing from the set he’d left with her. She’d left and he had no fucking idea where she’d gone, if she was okay, if she was hurt, in pain, if she was evenalive.
