Chapter 35—Vincent

“You alright?” Claudius asks me as I take off the bandage off my arm the doc put on it. I can’t deal with things like that. They get in the way.

“Jesus, Claudius, I don’t know how to answer that question. I guess I can say I’m alive.”

He laughs.

The guys are all here. My brothers and their crew. They’re outside the office. I came in here when the doctor arrived. He thinks I have a broken rib, and he’s shocked I’m not dead.

Pa is on his way here. My mother was here already. She has Timothy while Marguerite is tending to Ava “Well, at least you finally got to do a daredevil stunt and didn’t end up in the hospital,” Claudius says, tilting his head to the side.

I won’t even think about that. The last time I tried anything like what I did with Ava—fucking jumping bikes over cars—I was nineteen. I busted my ass and ended up missing the first month of college. I’d entered a dare with this devil in front of me.

“I did.”

“That’s why we’re friends. You’re the only guy outside my pack who’s as badass as me. Your brother comes close though, so watch it.” He smiles, but then seriousness enters his eyes. “What do you need, Vincent? Looks like we’re at war again.”

I blow out a ragged breath and think of all that happened in just a handful of hours.

They killed Mark, and they wanted to kill Ava too.

The whole fucking thing was set up so it would take them both out. She hasn’t stopped crying.

“I know,” I agree.

“You didn’t tell me there was a doll worth all this.”

I stare back at him, not knowing what to say. “It’s complicated.”

He smiles. “Gangsters and dolls. It’s always complicated. I look forward to hearing the details. I’m gonna go check a few things out. You call when you need me.”

He puts out his hand to shake mine, a symbol of our friendship and alliance.

“Thank you, old friend.”

He dips his head for a nod and leaves.

When he does, my brothers come in.

It was an all-star cast out on the streets today. Anybody could have gotten killed.

The plan was they’d cover me while I got Ava out.

It was the secret squad who tracked her down, but they saw Mark dead in his apartment before she got there. We had a handful of minutes to concoct the plan we managed to pull off. It’s just luck that we were able to get everyone there who could help.

“You guys alright?” I ask.

“Vin, you’re asking us that? You look like shit,” Salvatore says, taking a seat in the armchair.

Gabe shakes his head at him while Nick nods.

“Vincent, you do look like shit. Why don’t you rest while we go out on the street?” Nick offers.

“I can’t rest. There’s too much to figure out. Too much to go through in my head,” I reply.

I look to Salvatore, who sits forward.

“Vin, they wanted her dead. So, they’re going to still want her dead, and I’m guessing anyone else helping her stay alive. That’s the first part we need to think about.”

I stare at him. It’s an extension of the conversation we were having earlier. The question of why I’m doing this. Why I’m digging.

That was hours ago. That was before I knew she was in so much danger. Before she tried to escape.

When Pierbo called me and told me he lost her, I could have just let her go. After all, with a handful of days left in my care, so to speak, what was the big deal in her leaving early? It could have been goodbye. Except for the worry in my heart.

It’s still there. Had I not gone after her and got the secret squad to look for her, she’d be dead. They would have killed her.

So… now I’m involved, the question is, do I want to be? Do I want to save her?

“I can’t let them kill her,” I answer.

Salvatore looks to Gabe, who stands, and Nick cracks his knuckles.

“We can’t either,” Salvatore answers. “And, we always have your back.” Nothing is truer than that.

“I don’t want to get you guys involved in this. It’s not right to. Fuck knows what the fuck I stirred up today with the Bratva.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re here,” Gabe says.

I look at the faces of my brothers, from one to the next, and feel in complete awe at their support and love for me.

“Thank you. I thank you. I am grateful.” I bring my hand to my head. It hurts like a mutha, but I’ve got to figure things out. “There’s a reason they want her dead. I need to know what that is. I need to know what that is before we do anything else.”

I haven’t had the chance to bring everyone else up to speed on what Gibbs found yet, but Salvatore knows.

“The details on her past are off… completely off,” Salvatore points out. “And it doesn’t exactly tell us much. Not to mention the fact that we saw Uncle Dearest today, and he looked like he definitely put the show together.”

I never missed that part at all. Ilya was in the back of the car I drove on. I saw his face. Hard and horrible. Now I really wonder why it is he wants his niece dead.

“She must know something. She has information,” I say, and he nods. “Salvatore, please show Nick and Gabe the stuff Gibbs found. I–”

The phone rings. The phone on my desk.

It never rings because I don’t give out the number to people. I just have it for the sake of it.

When strange things like my phone that never rings, rings, I can only jump to the conclusion it points to.

I answer it and am surprised by the deep Russian accent that answers me.

“Ilya Lobonov here, Vincent Giordano.”

We’ve never spoken before. He sounds exactly the way I expected him to sound. Like a fucking prick.

“Well, hello there. I’m so glad I had this opportunity to tell you, you can go fuck yourself. Clearly, we aren’t agreeing to any kind of alliance with you.” Tomorrow was the meeting. It feels so liberating to tell his ass no.

He chuckles. “You’re turning us down? Really? Like we’d want to sign up with you after the shit from this week. First you ruin my virgin market, now this,” he growls.

Fuck. Virgin market. I’ve heard it all now. “How do you know that was me you ruined your market?”

“I fucking know, boy. You do not know who and what you’re messing with. You don’t know, so don’t try to think you and I are the same. We aren’t. Give me the girl, and we will spare your lives.” This fucker is the kind that loves the sound of his voice. I have news for him.

“No… there will be no such deal.” I look at my brothers, who now look tense. They must have figured out who I’m talking to.

“This situation does not involve you. There is no reason for you to get involved and piss on us more than you have. Our business deal was actually legit. We just needed to make arrangements for our shipments. That was all you were supposed to be in this.”

“Then things changed,” I fill in with a sing-song voice.

“Give me the girl, Vincent. That is my final warning, or you will not like what happens next.”

Threats… I know they’re not empty.

I know enough, and I’m entering dangerous territory to protect a woman who reached somewhere inside me I thought was dead.

Is that enough?

Is love worth this?

I look over the faces of my brothers willing to go into battle with me. I have my friends who will walk by my side into the valley of the shadow of death. I have my son to think about.

The last part of Sorcha. My son is the love of my life now.

I think of all those people as I contemplate my next words.

Salvatore is my consigliere. He can’t hear what’s being said, but no one has to guess as to whether this conversation is good or bad. I focus on him, and he nods his head.

People used to think it was scary how we all seemed to be able to communicate with each other without speaking. We’re doing it now because as he does it, Gabe and Nick do too, reinforcing their former promises to have my back.

I can’t be with Ava. That’s a whole separate issue that’s on me. It’s separate and different to this… but I can’t allow them to kill her either. I won’t.

That’s the answer and how we will proceed.

“No,” I answer. “Fuck no.”

“Very well, Vincent Giordano. I hope you know you just signed your death warrant. You do not mess with the Ivanezh brotherhood and expect us to lie down and take it.”

“You heard me.”

“And you heard me. Fool, you would sacrifice your people for a piece of ass. For pussy.”

I bite down hard on my back teeth. “Ilya Lobonov, be grateful we are not standing face to face right now. I’d rip your face off with a knife and snap your fucking neck. This conversation is over.”

I slam down the phone, disconnecting him.

The question of what next hangs in the air like it always does.

Fuck, what next though? What will they do next?

“I’m going to talk to her. I’m gonna see what I can get out of her.” I leave them and make my way up the stairs.

Marguerite’s in my room with her. Ava’s still crying, and I don’t expect her to stop. It’s the worst time ever to badger her for answers, but I need to.

Time is of the essence now. I can’t allow her the time she needs to grieve.

I can’t allow her the time she should have to process Mark’s death.

I can’t allow her the time she needs to trust me. I hope that she will trust me enough to tell me what I need to know.

Mark’s dead, but right now, I’m a dead man walking with a target on my back. At war with the Bratva.

Maybe this is what happened to the other family in the past. If it is, I can’t allow these people to kill mine.

So, I have to make her tell me what I need to know.