"Yes," Lucian said immediately, because that's what he assumed.
"No," Antony stated at the same time.
Lucian spun on his heel. "What?"
Antony shrugged. "I don't think it was about the MC."
"That's a joke, right?" Lucian asked. "After our little show with the strip club, you can't expect them not to try something."
"Well, unless I've heard wrong, it's not them, Lucian."
Lucian didn't like how uncharacteristically quiet Jordyn was behind him. She'd been that way ever since the private car picked her and Antony up from Marcello Industries shortly after the shooting and brought them both to the home in Tuxedo Park. According to his mother and father, anyway.
Maybe she was frightened. Lucian didn't know. Considering she wouldn't talk to him.
"What have you heard?" Lucian asked, trying to distance himself from his inner worry.
Antony took his sweet time pulling out his office chair and sitting down, pulling up to his desk. Opening a drawer, he pulled out a manila file and tossed it down uncaringly. Lucian didn't make a move to grab the file because he wasn't sure if he was supposed to.
"That better not be some crap like you pulled on me the last time I was shown a folder," Lucian said, tempering his tone. "Not right now."
By the last time, he meant the bullshit about Jordyn's past and life.
"Once was enough," Antony replied dully. "You know why I did that, so don't start chewing my ass off again."
"What, then?"
Antony sighed heavily. "Will Vetta is deceased."
Lucian's spine cracked as he straightened, hearing the words but not quite believing he understood them correctly. The quiet, whimpered noise behind him didn't escape his notice, either. It was almost like he could feel Jordyn's shock and confusion radiating straight into his own veins.
"Excuse me?" Lucian asked thickly.
"Will is dead," Antony repeated. "His body was found under a Brooklyn bridge by a jogger early last week."
Lucian's mind raced to do the math. "But, wait … No, that doesn't work."
"It does. I have the reports, son. I paid a pretty dime to get them before they were released as public record, considering there's an active investigation going on around the club right now. By the Coroner's estimation, he died at least two days after we hit Legs and Leather. That's a long time before today, Lucian."
"One of his guys, then. Maybe following out orders before he died."
"No, I don't think so," Antony murmured. "We made our point. Three men walked into their club and cleared it for business. We barely needed to do a thing. They didn't expect us. They couldn't even fight back. It was only a small taste of what we're capable of, and I think they knew it."
"Yeah, I get that," Lucian replied.
"No offence, but one woman isn't worth taking down an entire criminal enterprise for. At least not for them. They have three dozen more to replace her. Smart men, even if they are criminals, know when they've been bested and when to step back. I taught you that lesson myself, son."
Lucian agreed, but he was still racing to catch up. "So, this means … "
No, he couldn't even finish the thought.
Jordyn stood from the couch and walked across the room to pick up the file. "Dead?"
Antony nodded. "Yes."
"How?" she asked.
"Initial reports say it looked like a drug overdose. Heroin, to be specific. However, the body was moved under the bridge after death. That certainly wouldn't be uncommon for people who don't want to be caught with drugs because of needing to call an emergency service for someone. However, it wasn't the only suspicious thing."
"What else?" Jordyn demanded.
Lucian wanted to tell her to stop and ask her to give herself a moment to breathe and consider what all this meant, but he couldn't. He was just as frozen as Jordyn seemed to be, stuck in a time that didn't feel real or right.
When Antony didn't answer straightaway, Jordyn picked up the file and opened it. Lucian watched as her eyes scanned the report, wetness gathering along her lower lashes the further down she read.
Then, she flipped to the next thing in the file.
It wasn't a report. It was a picture.
Will Vetta dead on an autopsy table. A sheet covered him from the chest down. The obvious signs of a drug overdose were evident in the yellowed whites of his eyes, and the dried, bubbled fluid around his mouth.
"They found it in his mouth?" Jordyn asked.
"Yes," Antony confirmed.
"Found what?" Lucian had no idea what they were talking about.
"His patch, the one that signified his rank. It had been ripped off his vest, along with the club patch, and was bunched up and forced into his mouth and halfway down his throat. He might have died of an overdose, but the act afterwards was intentional and a very clear message," Antony explained, keeping his exterior calm. "That is why I said it's over between us and The Sons of Hell."
"He's … dead. Just like that," Jordyn whispered. "Gone."
Lucian didn't get the chance to say anything or comfort Jordyn, if that's what she needed, because in the next second, she was flying from the office. He stared at the empty, opened doorway for what felt like an eternity, unsure of what to do.
"Her mother died of a heroin overdose. She didn't need to see that picture."
"Jordyn picked it up herself, Lucian. I didn't tell her to."
"But you could have warned her!"
"No," Antony responded coldly. "She needs to see, to have proof. She's safe. That was what she needed, Lucian. You gave her that. Now, give her a moment to let her mind catch up to the information."
Lucian's was only now starting to. "It wasn't about her today. The shooter wasn't making a point or trying to catch Jordyn."
"No, son."
It was about Lucian. Someone was trying to kill him.
Chapter Nineteen
"Hey, sweetheart."
Jordyn waved her hand above her face as a reply to Lucian. Reclining back on the leather couch in the bedroom that once was his in the Marcello family home was the only way she felt like she could control the rushing waves of shock and nausea.
"What are you doing in here?" Lucian asked.
"This is your room, isn't it?"
"It is. This home also sports a guest house, small gym, mini library, two entertainment rooms, the indoor pool, and way too much space elsewhere. You could get lost in the hallways alone. Just curious as to why you picked here to hide."
Jordyn shrugged. "Feels like you."
"Oh. Well, okay." Lucian shifted on his feet before stepping into the room and closing the door behind him. "You ran out of there pretty quick, so I didn't get the chance to see how you were feeling."
"Not particularly well," Jordyn mumbled into the crook of her arm.
"Yeah," Lucian drawled lowly. "I didn't think so. Want to talk?"
"Not really."
With her eyes covered, Jordyn relied on her hearing to know what Lucian was doing. It was only the sound of the bed shifting that told her he was sitting just a few feet away. She wanted to curl deeper into the hoodie she found in his closet earlier and get lost in the couch. Screw the rest of the world, it didn't need her right now.
"Jordyn?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you go through my stuff in here?"
"Yes."
Lucian chuckled. "You can keep the hoodie."
"Too late. You weren't getting it back anyway."
"Great."
"Also, the weed hidden in the box on the back shelf of your closet is pretty dried out. You should get rid of it. I don't think it'd be a very good smoke."
Lucian's laughter was a balm to her overworked nerves. "Will do. It's probably been there for ten years now."
"I thought you slept here on Saturday nights to do the whole breakfast and church thing on Sundays?" Jordyn asked.
"Before you came along, sure. I've been a little distracted lately."
"Family is important, Lucian. Don't use me as an excuse to skip out on your responsibilities."
"You sound like my mother," Lucian replied, sounding entirely disturbed. "I don't like that. It does nothing but creep me out. Quit before it becomes a habit and I'm stuck with it. If you want to ruin our sex life, that's a great way to start."
"She has a point," Jordyn said with a sigh. "I wouldn't mind being here on Saturday nights."
"If that's what you want, sweetheart. I don't want to hear a thing when you're regaled with discussions on sleeping in the same bed, sex before marriage, and sin. It will happen, I promise you that. Before you know it, Cecelia will have you convinced the only way you're going to heaven is if you walk down the aisle in an ivory dress as soon as humanly possible. She can arrange a wedding in a week, including paying off the priest to forget about the required six month couple's counseling. Do not underestimate the manipulative powers of that woman."
"I'll deal with it," she muttered. "Besides, she'll probably just bother you."
"True."