Chapter 184 184

Chapter 184 184
And he does.

Victoria comes into the room with a tray of coffee and two croissants just as he finishes, but I’m too shell-shocked by his words to stay for another second. I need to find out if there’s any truth in it. And if there is? Fuck, I don’t know what I’ll do. I don’t know if there’s anything I can do.

“Victoria, why don’t you stay and keep Silvano company for a bit?” I suggest, already on my way to the door.

She turns, a little bewildered by my evident distress. “Okay. Sure.”

I call Antonio the second I’m out the door. From the thickness of his voice, I can tell that I have woken him, but I don’t care. I tell him what Silvano told me.

“I need you to find out if it is true,” I say.

“It can’t be. It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Just find out,” I order. “And prepare the men for war. I think we’ve finally located Kevin Lynch.”

I spend most of the day avoiding Alexis, which isn’t fair. It’s like I’m worried that the second she sees me, she will read on my face what Silvano told me, even though I know that’s ridiculous. I just don’t know what to say to her, so I say nothing. I have a good excuse anyway, as I am busy preparing to finally put an end to Lynch.

Antonio works quickly, and by the time dusk has settled over the trees, we are ready to go into battle. Only then can I no longer avoid Alexis. There is a chance I won’t return from this mission.

I enter the nursery, where I find Alexis reading to Harry in the armchair in the corner of the room.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, immediately picking up on my stress.

“I have to go,” I say. “I have some urgent business to take care of.”

Harry looks over when he hears my voice and smiles. “Dada!”

Alexis’ eyes flash with concern. “This time is different. Why?”

I walk over, lifting Harry into my arms. He smells like baby powder and innocence. I hold him close, rocking back and forth.

“We think we’ve found Kevin Lynch,” I say. “And if we have, he’s going to be well protected.”

Alexis stands, folding her arms. She looks angry, which surprises me.

“Did you come in here to say goodbye?” she asks in a clipped voice. Her blue eyes narrow on mine.

“I did,” I admit. “Just in case.”

Harry twists his chubby finger in a lock of my hair and tugs. It hurts, but I can’t help but laugh. This in turn melts some of Alexis’ stern expression, though it ices back up again a moment later. She gets out of the chair and stands in front of me, trying to look big and fierce despite the gap in our height.

Alexis reaches up and holds my face in her hands, dragging my chin down to look at her. “You will not say goodbye, Gabriel Bellucci, because you will make sure you return home safely. You will come back to your family.”

She wrenches me closer and leans up on her tiptoes before I have a chance to respond. Her kiss is wild, passionate. Aggressive. It is a kiss that reminds me of exactly who I belong to, and who I am beholden to.

It’s the kiss of a queen.

“Eeny, meeny, miny, mo,” Dom says, pointing between the three warehouses on the map spread between us. “Where to start?”

Dom, Antonio, and I are parked just outside of the Irish docks territory. Three dozen men are awaiting my command, and I don’t hesitate to give it.

“He’s in the middle one,” I say, pointing to the corresponding building on the map. “I’m sure of it.”

Kevin Lynch is a coward. He would want to be at the very center of the territory, surrounded by protection.

“I want us in, and then I want us out,” I instruct. “As soon as we have eyes on Lynch, he’s our priority. I want to bring him back to the mansion for questioning, so keep him alive.”

Dom and Antonio nod in agreement, and take out their phones to send these orders down the chain of command. I check the clip on my semiautomatic rifle while they do, even though I’ve checked it four times already. We need this win. If Lynch slips through our fingers again, we may never catch him.

Orders delivered, we press forward. My pulse thrums. I can feel the vein in my neck throbbing, and my forehead prickles with sweat.

Everything seems to go in slow motion at first as our convoy crawls through the empty dockyard, headlights off, the only source of light from the dim lamps that reflect in the puddles on the concrete.

We stop outside of the warehouse I pointed to on the map. From the outside, it looks empty. Quiet. At least for a moment.

Chaos erupts in the air around us then, and we are no longer in slow motion. Lynch’s men start to shoot at us from what seems like every direction. They are on the rooftops. Streaming out of the warehouse’s yawning front door.

We pile out of our SUVs and return fire. I expected them to be ready. Their lookout at the entrance of the dockyard was anything but discreet in his frantic radioing, and I’m not stupid enough to think that we could actually catch them wholly by surprise. But that’s okay. We came here to fight, not to sneak. And it’s going to be one hell of a fight.

Dom and Antonio flank me as we approach the middle building with a handful of men. Dom and Antonio shoot at the surrounding rooftops while I take out the two men firing from just inside the warehouse door. I shoot one in the head, but the other I only manage to clip in the shoulder. Nevertheless, he stops shooting. Another takes his place, but there is nowhere to take cover, so I shoot relentlessly to keep him from firing back.

“Fuck!” Antonio hisses.

I look over, and he is holding his shoulder, red blooming beneath his hand. “Can you still shoot?” I ask.

“Try and fucking stop me,” he roars, more to our Irish assailants than to me. He manages to hit one of the men on the roof of the building to our left, and his body falls to the cement with a sickening thump.

We keep pressing forward. We’re nearly at the door to the warehouse now, and the thug who was firing at us from just inside makes a hasty retreat. I know that once we get inside the door, there will be more waiting for us. This fight is far from over.

“Spread out,” I order. “Dom, did you bring what I asked?”

Dom pulls the grenade out of his pocket with a wicked grin. “Of course I did. It’s rude to show up to someone’s house without bringing a gift for the host.”