The devil’s head snapped to the side as Dean’s fist connected with it. “Insult my fiancé again, and I’ll end you right here,” he hissed, gripping Romano’s hair and yanking it back. His neck was exposed as he gasped and grunted in pain. My hand itchedto slice it open, to watch his blood flow down like a waterfall, cleansing us of his darkness once and for all.
I looked up to Dean as he came to me. “What happened to me fighting my own battles?”
He trailed a knuckle down the side of my face. “You can fight them, baby girl, but I’ll be sure to end them. No one insults you in front of me.” His deep voice made my heart flutter and the gleam in his hazel eyes reminded me of the life we had yet to live.
The future was bright for us.
For the first time, it was almost blinding.
We made it.
This darkness in our lives was about to be over.
“You were loyal to me, boy. Pussy will only get you so far,” Romano barked, his dark eyes locking on Dean, who scoffed.
“I am loyal to my woman. You can beat me, scar me, starve me…it will never change. I was loyal to her when I met you at the gala. I was loyal to her when I killed your partner. I was loyal to her when I faked my death.” He bent down and got in Romano’s face. “I remained loyal to her when I was serving you,boss.”
My heart was hammering inside my chest, my soul aching for him. The love I had for Dean Connors would be written in the stars. I opened my mouth to say something, but the door opened. Kay and Haley walked in, hand in hand, and I held back tears.
This was the first time we had been in the same room together since the day I found out I was pregnant with Aiden. My feet gravitated towards them—my sisters. As much as I wanted to hug them, I refrained. There was business to be done and bad guys to put down.
James and Jeremy entered behind them. “Where’s Sullie and Dom?”
Jer tipped his head to the window. “Controlling the chaos,” he answered simply before his eyes drifted to Romano. There wasno mistaking the hate in his eyes, the restraint in his tense jaw, and the way he forced himself to stay a few feet away from the man.
James was holding a file—thefile—open in a single palm. His eyes scanned the pages as he slowly walked to the mafia king. Dean stepped away and picked up the bat before leaning against the wall.
“Sixteen years I've waited for this moment, Mr. Romano,” James said as he pulled a chair in front of the bound man. He took a seat and snapped the file shut, a bright smile spreading across his face. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Whiskey? A lifetime prison sentence?”
I couldn’t help but look Haley. Her green eyes were focused only on James, a blush crawling up her cheeks as she watched him in his element.
Romano chuckled. “You Feds are all the same. Intimidating me won’t work.”
James nodded, raising his brows as he cleared his throat. “Right, so the ten shipping containers filled with women and children we've found across the East Coast…surely, your buyers would have something to say about that,” the agent drawled, resting an ankle on one knee.
Ray Romano’s smile faded like smoke in the night.
Then, hesnapped.
“You! You motherfucking—” he shouted before he started rambling in Italian. There was a vein popping out on his forehead, and his olive complexion became red with anger.
I suppressed a laugh and looked down at my boots. Hilarious. That was the word to describe the most feared man in the world straining in his bindings and thrashing about when he realized his kingdom was crumbling.
“Please, shut up. It’s unbecoming for a man like you to throw a tantrum,” Jer deadpanned as he leaned back against the wall beside Dean. Now that was a dangerous pair.
“You don’t get to speak to me,” he snapped back. A dark cloud descended upon my friend’s face, and his control slipped. He was off the wall one second, and the next, his gun was pointed directly into Romano’s face.
“I should end this shit right here. Fuck the paperwork,” Jer growled.
James looked to the ceiling and then to us.
Kay was sporting a strange look, as if she was seeing her brother in a new light for the first time. Haley was shifting her weight and smirking, and me? I shrugged. I didn’t care where Ray Romano died.
If he was sent to prison, there was already a hit out on him coming from Dontell, Jer’s right hand in the underground. He would have forty-eight hours.
“Jeremy,” James warned, his voice low.
Dean pushed off the wall, brushing his nose as he stepped up to Jer. He put on a hand on his shoulder and murmured something in his ear. Jer pushed the gun into Romano’s forehead, and visions of a gun pressed to Dean’s head while I was tied to a chair— powerless— surfaced. I blinked them away and folded my arms over my chest.
