“No, you can’t.”
“You want me to turn myself in to my family? I won’t do that.”
“I know that.”
“Then what do you want?”
She stared at me. “I want you to see.”
Before I could yell at her some more, she turned and simply walked away.
I stared at her back as she slowly disappeared behind some buildings, frustration running through my chest. I had no clue what she wanted or what her motives were, but there was nothing I could do. I couldn’t control my family, much less the Italians. I couldn’t stop them from killing each other, and showing me those guns did nothing but upset me.
I’d thought Lou was my friend. I’d thought she was on my side. But that was stupid. All of these people were my enemies in some way or another. Nat had warned me that people were angry with me, but I had never imagined Louisa would be one of those people.
But Lou didn’t seem like the type to purposefully try to hurt someone.
None of it made sense, and it only hurt me to see Vince unloading those guns and checking them, probably imagining himself killing my family members.
I turned and walked away. There was nothing I could do, and watching wouldn’t solve anything.
I wanted to call Soph so badly, but I couldn’t. I had nobody I could talk to. Natalie was nice to me, but she was still Louisa’s sister-in-law. I couldn’t go to her, couldn’t go to Vince, couldn’t go to anyone.
I was alone, so very alone.
I walked off in search of Sonya. I wanted to see the only person in my life who truly relied on me and would never mislead me.
Alexei, my son, the only decent thing I had left.
26
Vince
Part of me was surprised Bao came through. I’d had plenty of good business dealings with the Chinese in the past, but something had just felt off about the whole thing to me.
It wasn’t until the guns were docked at the mansion and we began to unload the stuff that I felt okay. Sure, I’d taken a big fucking financial loss to get these things, and in the long run I’d likely only break even, but this was huge for the war.
Rafa cracked open a case of weapons and picked up a rifle. He looked down the sights, checked the parts, and nodded.
“Stuff’s in good shape, boss,” he said.
“Looks that way.”
“We’ll test it out, but I think Bao came through.”
I nodded. “I think so too.”
I picked up a gun and sighted it. A lot of men were going to be killed with these weapons, and many of them were likely related to Kaley.
Fucking Kaley. I had no idea what I was doing with that girl, let alone with our baby.
But for a little bit there yesterday, I had felt normal. I’d felt like a regular fucking guy doing regular fucking dad shit. I’d held the baby, rocked him, even fucking sang to him at one point. It was completely bizarre and weird as hell. And then he fell asleep in my arms and I was able to get him down into his crib.
Then what happened next, of course. It made my cock hard just thinking about the way Kaley had squirmed under my touch.
I wanted her again, wanted her fucking badly. And here I was, unloading weapons, thinking about how best to murder her family.
Not that I had any other choice. The other bosses were gearing up and getting ready, and I couldn’t look weak around my men. I had to be prepared to break some fucking skulls, especially after they attacked me first.
I pulled the trigger. The hammer fell with a click. I nodded at Rafa. “Get some of this shit ready for our guys. We’re going out for a run tonight.”
He raised an eyebrow. “A run?”
“Yeah. We’re going to kill some of those Russian fucks.”
He grinned. “That’s what I like to hear.”
I patted him on the shoulder and headed back into the mansion.
I needed to start planning this attack now, before I got too distracted by anything else. I was already borderline out of the game, and I needed to get my head right.
I went back to my office, shutting the door behind me. As I turned around, I nearly pulled my gun from my belt out of surprise.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Waiting for you,” Kaley said.
She was sitting behind my desk, leaning back in my chair. Her face was set hard, and she didn’t look like this was a fun visit.
“I have work to do.”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I don’t really care.”
“What do you need?” I crossed my arms and stood in front of the desk.
“I saw what you were doing.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “What was I doing?”
“The guns. I saw the guns.”
“Why were you following me?”
“I wasn’t. Louisa showed me.”