“Canada,” James drawled, folding his arms over the back of the chair. The Mafia prince nodded.
“Your father wasn’t loyal to Romano anymore? Why?” I asked, my eyes meeting Gwen’s. Cal Matthews was following Romano’s orders like a puppy in training the night of the Gala.
“Why does anyone do anything, Dean? Power,” Ian said casually.
“Alright, stop talking like this is a fucking riddle for us to solve. Tell us everything,” Haley hissed from beside me, hopping down from her stool. I nodded at the back of her head as she walked away from me, impressed.Fuck yeah, Red.
I followed her to the table. She stood beside Gwen, and I positioned myself behind them. James was looking at Haley, but her focus was on the eldest Matthews.
“I speak for everyone in this room when I say we are done playing games. Start talking, or leave this bar in handcuffs,” the redhead said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest. The man in the chair regarded her quietly, looking for a sign of weakness.
“Listen to her, or leave here in a fucking body bag,” I said lowly.
He sighed. “I came up with the idea of theDoctor. Kevin and I wanted to take down Romano’s empire from the inside, and the only way to do that was to diminish his manpower.”
“You are aware Romano has more men than you can fathom, right?” James asked, unimpressed.
Nodding, Ian continued, “If you take out the key chess pieces, there will be no one left to defend the King.”
“The Queen has the power in chess, Ian,” my woman deadpanned.
Yeah, I was fucking her later.
Hard.
“You get the idea. Kevin killed Gabrial Tipponi and some other key players. He was supposed to kill Romano’s hitman, too.”
Haley started laughing. “You expectedKevinto killCollin?”She began laughing even harder, doubling over.
“I don’t see what is so funny,” he bit out.
She righted herself, wiping a tear away. “Because Collin Stevens is the most dangerous man in the country, asshole. That was a shit plan.”
He glared at her, his eyes hard. James pointed his gun in the man’s face. “Avert your eyes, Matthews.”
“My father wanted to break away from Romano and start his own flesh trade in Canada. He planned on breaking into the hockey leagues first, starting small and then working his way up. Dean, you got in the way of his plans. My father was complaining about you to Ray, and suddenly, the mafia King was interested in the new hot-shot ball player out of Tennessee,” he explained, his eyes looking up at me.
I remained silent.
“Ray Romano wantedyou—from the fucking start. This was never about me or my accident. He didn’t give two shits about losing me, because you were my fucking replacement. Whether I got into that bar fight or not, Romano would have found you. He would have tried to recruit you. After my father’s death, Kevin took my mother and I up north. We stayed in a cabin while she went through her drug withdrawals. After that, Kevin and I started planning. We pinpointed the location of the drug factory, and—”
“That’s how you got the materials for the concoction,” Gwen finished for him.
“Where is the warehouse?” James asked calmly.
Ian looked at him, his green eyes flashing. “I can’t tell you that.”
James pointed to Kevin. “Your brother is going to federal prison. Would you like for me to arrange for you to have the cell next to his?”
“You have no proof of what I just said. It will be my word against yours,” Ian replied, his calm façade fading.
My woman scoffed. “Please, Ian.” She pulled out a recorder from underneath the table. I twisted my neck to look at Sullie, who remained behind the bar with a smug smile on his face. Once he met my eyes, his smile grew. “This ain’t my first rodeo, Connors,” he chuckled.
“I just want my brother,” Ian stammered, looking at Kevin, who had tears in his eyes. “Please. I just want my family whole again.”
“What about Collin, huh? Isn’t he a part of your family?” Haley asked, stepping closer to the table.
Ian’s throat bobbed. “He was just the boy who lived in my basement.” There it was.Privilege.Rich boys like him reeked of it. Stevens was a product of rape and was forced to live on the stree—
