“Let’s make this mutually beneficial,” Lachlan says shortly. “A partnership.”
There is no question. Antonio doesn’t get that choice. He’s fucked and he knows it. All he has to decide is when he dies.
The muscles in Antonio’s jaw twitch. He might be trying not to fight as much as we are, or maybe he’s trying not to yell. Maybe he’s trying not to do something stupid.
I wish he would. A part of me—a very big part—wants Antonio to fuck up. I want him to do something stupid so I can end this right here and now. I don’t want to wait just as much as Connor doesn’t. I want Antonio to slip up. I want an excuse to end his life.
I don’t need an elaborate plan of revenge. I just need a life for a life.
Antonio’s eyes flicker between all of us. He looks like he’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. I’m not surprised he’s suspicious. We know he killed our father, and we’re asking for a partnership? I’d be suspicious too.
There’s no way Antonio doesn’t know we have it out for him. He knows the ‘partnership’ is just in name, and he knows it’s going to be bad, but he can’t say no. His life is hanging in the balance.
“Fine,” Antonio finally says. “For silence, I will do it.”
“Of course you will,” Lachlan says.
Antonio leans back, away from his desk. He has nothing more to barter with, nothing more to give. He knows the game is up. He’s stuck with us, and he’s stuck with the consequences of his foolishness.
I can feel the beginnings of a bone-deep satisfaction set in. This is everything I’ve ever wanted and more.
I’ve fantasized about running into Antonio, about him trying to kill me, giving me an excuse to kill him.
This might be better. It’s not as quick, but I can enjoy watching Antonio burn.
“It’s settled,” Lachlan says coolly. “We’ll be seeing you soon.”
My older brother turns on his heel. I can hear Connor and Finn follow. I stay, pretending to take up the back, but I really just want to catch a last glimpse of Antonio’s face.
He doesn’t deflate when we leave. The man still has the spine or audacity to stand upright. But the look on his face and the haunted quality of his gaze gives him away.
He’s a dead man walking. And he knows it.
CHAPTER3
Aiden
I catch a glimpse of myself in the glass doors as I follow the others out. I almost don’t recognize myself.
My leather jacket shifts as I walk, my movements agitated. My hair is out of place. Dark strands fall away from where I neatly pushed them back away from my temples.
I look like a storm.
I feel like a whirlwind. The reality of what we’ve just done is beginning to settle in. There’s a kinetic energy buzzing between each of us, feeding off each other, amplifying the unsettled nature in our bodies. We’ve always been men of action and motion. This is adding fuel to the fire.
I take my place in the front seat as Lachlan starts the car. For a few moments, no one speaks.
Lachlan starts to take the long way back to Tír na Nóg. The club feels like it’s five hundred miles away and right around the corner at the same time. It feels like we left a lifetime ago.
“Do we have him?” Finn finally says. He doesn’t sound amazed. It’s more like finality.
The words break the spell of silence. He’s made this real by talking, by speaking the truth into the world.
Connor laughs, breathless. “We have him over a fucking barrel.”
“He’s one of the biggest players,” Lachlan murmurs.
It’s true that not all six of the families have split their territory evenly. It would be a stretch to ask as much. Power is different to all that hold it. Antonio was given more than enough, yet he still felt like he needed more.
