I redirect my attention to Orlando, needing answers. “How do you intend to take the crown from your papa?”
Orlando rolls his lips, and I know this isn’t something he wants to talk about. “We take care of him, then our younger brother Valentine steps into his place.”
“Is he willing to?” I ask, knowing he’s making it all sound so easy, but there is no way reality is as simple. Their papa has been in charge for a long fucking time. You can’t just take someone like that out, not without huge consequences from the rest of the family. From what I can see, he has sway in Italy and in the States, more businesses than I can count on my fingers, and with that would come powerful allies. No matter what these boys’ last name is, they don’t have the influence their papa does.
“Valentine’s been groomed to take over since Orlando disappeared. I’m sure he’s just waiting for him to be knocked off his perch so he can take his place,” Romeo agrees with him, their eyes locking.
I eye the two of them more suspiciously, getting the distinct impression they are keeping shit from me. There is more to this plan. There has to be.
Reef takes my hand under the table, distracting me. “We won’t let them find out who you are.”
I nod, offering him a half smile. I believe he will do everything he can. It doesn’t mean my secret will be kept safe. Too many people know now. It’s why there is a hit on me. And if they don’t shut down their papa soon, it will be too late for both of us. Reef will lose his job, and I will end up the talk of all Ravens Hollow and probably the whole country—either that or dead, with any new threats that brings on me. My life won’t be my own anymore. I will be the missing daughter of the vice president. The thought makes my heart ache so hard I feel sick. I’m Sloane Stryker, not Ava Kingsley. I grew up a badass biker chick, and that’s who I am down to the bone. I won’t ever be that girl I was supposed to be.
Chapter 29
Wesaidgoodbyetothe twins right at midday. Ever since, I have been down at the jetty, unable to go back into the house without Orlando by my side. I feel strange in a way I can’t explain. A heaviness sitting in the pit of my stomach. I think I’m afraid that I will never see them again. I know it’s silly, Romeo and Orlando know what they’re doing. They’re both trained killers and can take care of themselves. If they say they have a plan, they do. But I still can’t help feeling that something isn’t right.
Reef stayed with me, quietly holding my hand as the two of us gazed out over the small waves lapping at the shore. I think he feels it as well, this oppressiveness. Either that or he’s worried about the work call he took earlier, but I can feel the stress sitting on his shoulders, in how quiet he is.
Onyx didn’t wait with us. Instead, he took off for the house, but when the two of us didn’t follow him like he wanted, I could see him lurking near the front door. He’s been quiet since Orlando said too much at breakfast, short and snappy with me. I know he’s fighting for control; it’s the only way he feelscomfortable. Orlando gets under his skin, especially when he tells me stuff about his past he clearly doesn’t want me to know. It hurts to know he doesn’t want to open up to me. That our relationship doesn’t go both ways.
After breakfast I have more questions than answers, and I wish I had a way of doing my own research, because I know the boys aren’t so willing to tell me what I want to know. I don’t get how Emilio Moretti, the boys’ papa, has so much pull here. Yeah, I get that he owns a heap of high-profile businesses in the States, but how did he control that home they all grew up in? What kind of fucked-up world lets that kind of place even operate?
“Reef, what would happen to you if you lost your job?” I ask the question that’s been sitting at the tip of my tongue since he uttered it at breakfast.
He stares out to sea, kicking his feet, and for a while I don’t think he’s going to answer me. “I’m as good as dead, wildcat. I’m no use to them anymore.”
I tilt my head, trying to capture his gaze. “The family?”
“Yeah, they own me, they have since I was a kid.” His head drops, and I feel the gravity of the situation. He’s fucked, his life isn’t even his own.
“Would you have become a cop if you weren’t forced to?”
“I have never allowed myself to dream of a different life, Sloane. Emilio controls everything. You have no idea the power he has, even over parts of the force. It’s why I got this transfer. As soon as Harley and the Moretti brothers took out Commissioner Palmer and all their inside men, they knew they needed someone new working for the other side. I knew what this transfer was from the start. So did Romeo. We had six months to research Ravens Hollow, find Ava Kingsley, and make inroads into the underworld network that the Morettis have controlled for so long.”
“That’s why Romeo was working with my brothers.”
“Yeah, except when we worked out who you were, we kept it to ourselves. There was no way we were going to turn you over to Emilio.” He grips my hand a little tighter. “I fell in love with you the first day I saw you, wildcat.”
I glance up at him and I can see the sincerity in his eyes. Even if I know that’s not possible. “Reef…” He cuts me off when I go to say as much.
“You were out the front of your club telling Jagger off. You had on this fitted off-the-shoulder dress in white, and your hair was in a high ponytail. Your legs were so damn long in the killer heels you had on. I swear my heart stopped for a second when I first saw you.”
“You just wanted to screw me.” I huff a laugh, knowing that’s all it could have been.
His hand moves into my hair, brushing the strands away from my face as he tucks them behind my ear. “It was so much more than that. I had never seen a woman who captivated me so entirely before. I had been in love with Romeo for years and until that moment, never even considered I could feel that way for another person.”
I stare up at him, my heart kicking up a beat because I know how he feels. I feel it as well, every time I gaze into his green eyes. It’s a flutter of my heart, millions of butterflies taking flight in my stomach and feeling like I have come home all at the same time. “How is this possible?” I whisper.
“Don’t question it.” He presses his lips to mine, kissing me deeply in a way that I know there is no question, I’m in love with him as well. When he pulls back, he holds my face in both his hands, staring into my eyes. “If Romeo and Orlando can pull off their plan of taking down Emilio, things could change for all of us.”
My heart kicks up a beat. “If? Are you worried they won’t be able to do it?”
“I have been a cop for a while now and lived in this world since I was a kid. I know how this shit works. Emilio Moretti is a powerful man, Sloane. I know it’s not going to be as simple as they are making out.”
I squeeze his hand a little tighter. “I know you don’t like talking about your past, but can you help me understand this chaotic world you all grew up in? How did you end up in that home when your mom died?”
He leans back on his elbow, watching me as he thinks on it. “I honestly don’t know, but I have my suspicions. I think my mom was somehow working for Romeo’s papa, and when she died, they took me and placed me in that hell hole to pay for a debt she owed him. I have looked into other cases much like mine, other kids who ended up there as well, and they all have ties to the Moretti organization in one way or another.”
