She moved, not stopping until she was between James’ gun and Collin. She placed a hand on her chest. “James, please. Think about this.” Her eyes dropped to his chest, and I lookedbetween the both of them before looking at the man who used me. Who betrayed us.
His ice blue eyes were on Karina, silently communicating with her as she struggled in Jer’s hold. She struggled and tried to break free, but her brother only held her tighter. “You leave a single mark on her skin, Mr. Jones, you and I will be having a different kind of conversation,” he said coolly before turning to address Haley. “Hals, I think it would be wise for you to move.”
I flinched at the use of her nickname, and my gut twisted at the kindness in his cold eyes. She shook her head, her auburn hair falling from her shoulders, green eyes pleaded with her lover’s dark ones. “Put it down,” she begged, her voice thick.
“How did you find me?” The devil drew everyone’s attention back to him, and all heads turned in his direction.
“It wasn’t that hard, considering you left a trail of breadcrumbs bigger than a fucking monument,” Collin sneered, drifting past Haley, not giving a damn about any gun pointed at him. His steps faltered slightly as he passed me, but it was so subtle, I think I was the only one who noticed. He came to stand in front of Romano—his father— as the rest of us watched.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and frowned. “I do have one question, sir,” he taunted.
“Son, get me out—”
“You took something that belongs to me. I am not your son,” he hissed. Romano exploded, desperation oozing off of him in waves.
“My blood runs through your veins, boy. You'd be nothing without me! If I hadn’t taken you on after Cal’s death—”
“You would still have a kingdom?” he deadpanned.
In his panicked state, Romano looked at me and snarled. “A whore without a son, just like Collin’s mother should have been.”
Though the man was trying to get a rise out of me, I didn’t show it, even as my blood began to boil. He just confirmed it. He knew about Aiden.
“Aiden Connors is alive and well,” Collin said, sounding bored.
Romano cursed and stuttered.
“Never,” he hissed. “Never would I hurt a child.”
I looked at Dean, his eyes were wide with horror when they connected with mine.
“You are nothing to me. You are nothing to the underworld. You have no power here, old man. Your era has ended.”
Romano smiled. “Your cockiness will be the death of you.”
Something exploded.
Madness began at the sound of the explosion, and time seemed to slow down. The structure shook all around us. James lunged for Haley, shouting her name.
Jer smothered his sister and yanked Casey to him, covering them with his body. Hazel eyes clashed into mine over a sea of chaos and fear. Dean tried to get to me, but another body slammed into me, taking me to the ground and shielding me.
Alarms went off around us, and the lights above flickered. I looked up to find ice blue eyes, and when the world slowly came back to me, I felt a hand under my head. He looked behind us in the general direction of where Kay was and then back to me.
“Are you okay?” There was a soft, underlying panic in his voice that rendered me speechless. I just had to nod. His hard gaze softened slightly. “I know these words don’t mean shit to you,” he said quietly, “but I am sorry.”
He was ripped off me in that next moment, and Dean filled my vision, pulling me up on my feet. His hands and eyes scanned my body for injuries. “Baby girl,” he rasped.
I nodded. “I’m okay.” I repeated the words once more for good measure—for both of us.
Panic coursed through me, and I looked to where Romano was supposed to be. He was still there, but his chair had fallen over. He was hissing and cursing in Italian. Collin was standing against the far wall, sporting a pained expression as he watched Kay. I could tell he was trying to restrain himself from going to her.
Dean was the same way when he saw me with Tony.
“Send paramedics to the stadium. I want feet on the ground! There were people in those stands,” James barked into the earpiece as he helped Haley stand. The far-left side of the stadium was consumed in flames, and the black smoke stretched towards the skies.
Jer stood, checking both of his girls. Dean squeezed my shoulders and approached the window with James. Jer was on the phone with Sullie, and I found myself going to the girls. Kay had a gash on her head, but other than that everyone was fine.
“He saved me.”
