Stasia paused beside me. “You carried them all tonight.”
I looked at her. “We all did.”
She smiled. “Yes. But you, you’re the anchor.” She switched to a lighter tone. “Don’t forget to eat something that isn’t coffee, okay. And Ishika?"
“Yeah?”
“If you need to talk, you know where to find me.” She squeezed my shoulder, then walked away, her footsteps echoing in the empty hall.
I stood there for a moment longer, the warmth of her words settling over me. Then I turned, heading for the exit, the weight of the night still on my shoulders, but lighter now.
Because tomorrow, we’d do it again. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
nineteen
. . .
Remo– 36 years old
The abrupt slam of a door jolted me upright, my gun already in hand, sleep leaving my eyes in a sprint. Beside my bed, Duke’s silent gaze met mine. Only three people walked in announced and didn’t get their dicks torn off by my pet.
Lorenzo, Rayden and Dario. Not even Gian despite his many months with me, made it past the threshold without earning a growl. I glanced at the bedside clock, cursing a second before my brother stormed through the bedroom door. His rigid body and tight expression suggested a tempest followed in his wake.
“What the fucks going on, it’s three in the morning.” I set my gun down on the nightstand.
My causal response received a fuck load of curses while he paced the room. That alone told me he was trying to calm down. Looked like I fucked up. Again. Did I care? Fuck no. Arms crossed over my chest, I leaned back against the headboard and waited.
“Christ, Remo, what have you done?” he finally paused at the bottom of my bed, hands fisted at his sides, his eyes glaring holes through me. “Your shit’s all over the goddamn news. I told yoube careful. You missed that prison sentence by a knuckle, you’ve got a bounty on your head after killing Tony, and now this,” he rattled off pointing to the television like I was a fucking mind reader.
Reaching for the remote, I switched it on. The buzz of a crime scene filled my room. Helicopters, FBI and SWAT, the entire fucking circus could be seen in the background, swarming the grounds outside Helena’s home.
“They got what they deserved, brother.” I grinned, dropping the volume.
“For fucks sakes, you painted the walls, the floor and the goddamn furniture with a senator, a mayor and a governor, let alone all the other dignitaries I don’t care to acknowledge right now.”
“What do you want me to say?” I slid off the bed, lit a cigarette, and walked onto the balcony. Since Koro treated my home like a ‘come and go as she pleased’ thoroughfare, I didn’t bother closing the sliding doors.
“Remo,” my name came out on an exasperated sigh as he followed me. “You feel nothing. No pain, no remorse, no love and that’s why you can kill without blinking an eye.”
He wasn’t wrong there. “I lack emotion, so what?” I took a deep drag on the cancer stick, watching the smoke circles I exhaled, float then disappear into the night air. “The next fucker who even thinks about degrading Evelina, won’t.”
“I understand,” he rasped, trying to control his anger, a rarity for a man like him. “Unlike you, there are people out there whose emotions are going apeshit over this gruesome massacre as they’re calling it and they want someone to pay. I need you to lay low for a bit. Let this all blow over and I make damn sure this can’t be tied back to you.”
Fury siphoned my breath for a moment, my head snapping his way. “Why the fuck would I do that?”
Brilliant eyes, now midnight blue with anger studied me, one hand massaging his forehead. “You need to take this matter seriously.”
“Even if I left, will it bring them back to life, will it stop them degrading Lina?” I barked.
His eyes took on a hardened edge, his hand lowering from his brow to a white-knuckle grip on the guardrail. “What’s been done is inconsequential for now. You need to leave, to keep you safe, whether you like it or not.”
Defiance turned my blood sour, urging me to retaliate. Instead, I flicked aside my cigarette and scowled. Right now, the man in front of me wasn’t my brother. He was the ruthless Rossi don that demanded respect. Even if I challenged him the way I knew best, my hands, I’d never win because he’d never fight back, not with me.
“You need to go,Fratello,” his voice softened despite his fierce gaze burning into me, reminding me why he tolerated my shit, reminding me what I symbolized. The future of the Rossi family. “I promised I’d never let anything happen to you, so work with me, will you?”
Shaking my head, I let my temper simmer down. “Go the fuck where?” I headed back inside and he followed me to the bar.
“Italy is the safest zone for now. Our men there will keep snooping strangers away.” He took the whiskey I poured.
