Page 54 of Drowning in the Deep
“And what is that exactly?” Dezzy asked, folding his hands on the table. “What do you need us to do?”
“I’m glad you asked.” I gave him a sly smile before moving into the plans I’d been developing while I lay awake all night with my arms around Elisa. “Dezzy, you get the word out. Everyone in the syndicate has to choose a side now. Whether they want to stand with me and the family or that usurper Alexander La Rosa, now is the time to decide. The penalty for choosing the wrong side is death. Let everyone know it was me who killed Yushenko and every cocksucker that supported him. The same fate awaits anyone who thinks they can take on the real Petrov family and win.”
Dezzy nodded, his hands folded neatly in front of him on the table. I had no doubt my brother would carry out his task just as described. I moved along to Mikel, who was looking at me eagerly, awaiting his task.
“Mikel, you’re in charge of setting up our new headquarters. We’re going to the mattresses—literally. Make sure everyone has a place to bed down here, though we probably won’t get much sleep until this thing is over. Anyone fucking stupid enough to come here looking for a fight will meet an instant death, no questions asked. We’ve defended this place before. With all the cameras, weapons, and other alarms we have on the place, I’m confident we can hold it against whatever La Rosa and his minions are stupid enough to throw our way. Make sure there are armed guards on patrol twenty-four seven, got it?”
“Of course,” Mikel said with an assured nod. “I’m on it.”
I gave him a satisfied smile before I turned to Vin, who still had that savage look in his eyes. “You’re in charge of security—and I don’t just mean double-checking the cameras and shit. Mikel can handle that part. I need your ear to the ground. Any grumblings or rumors of grumblings on the inside or outside of our loyal troops, I need to know about it, all right? I want to know where La Rosa is about to strike before he even raises his hand. Understand?”
Vin’s grin grew wider. “You got it. I can’t wait to squash that asshole like the bug that he is.”
I took a deep breath as my brothers chuckled in agreement. Of course, I was ready to get rid of the La Rosas once and for all. But before I could move on to all that, I had a personal matter to attend to. “All right. I’ve got an errand to run. I’ll be back in a bit.”
“An errand to run?”
The sound of Elisa’s voice sent a ripple of both longing and agitation down my spine. Yes, I was glad she was here, and I wanted to be with her, but I wasn’t used to a tether. Turning, I saw her step into the room, looking much better after Janis and Tilda’s work and a shower but still clearly in pain.
“That’s right,” I told her. “I won’t be long.”
“No, you can’t leave without me,” she said, flying across the room and grabbing my arm. “You have to take me, too.”
Letting out a sigh, I looked into her eyes and saw nothing but fear there. “I’m not going anywhere dangerous,” I told her, but she already had me convinced to let her come along. After all, the errand I was about to run was for her. Why not get her out of the warehouse for a little bit?
“We are safer when we are together,” she said, looking into my eyes.
I opened my mouth to protest, wanting to tell her to speak for herself, but something about the look she gave me made me think maybe she was right. I did feel better when we were together, and she was tougher than I had given her credit for.
“All right,” I told her with a shrug. “You can come, too.”
Her face lit up at the news. I took her hand and led her out to the car I’d driven to Nico’s club with her the other day. I’d had the foresight to move some of my more expensive belongings to this compound of warehouses before everything went down.
I opened the door for her, and she muttered, “Spaceship car,” as she got in. Once I was settled behind the wheel, she asked, “Where are we going?”
Grinning at her, I said, “It’s a surprise.”
CHAPTER37
ELISA
The sports car sped away from the warehouse. I didn’t care where we were going, as long as I was with Daemon and we weren’t going back to find my father. Not at the moment anyway. As we drove toward the highway, my mind went over exactly what I wanted to say, and do, to my father, and I realized that I needed to tell Daemon I’d changed my mind about everything.
I wasn’t a La Rosa anymore. Any bit of me that still claimed to be part of the family had died while I was hidden away in that basement storage closet. With every pounding of my father’s fists, with every application of torture, he freed me more and more from the burden of my last name. It was as if the seltzer, Tabasco, and blood that spilled all over the floor had washed away any shred of him or his family from my DNA.
My eyes were focused out the window, though my hand rested on Daemon’s arm. I didn’t recognize where we were going, but that could’ve been because my eyes were still struggling to focus. My vision had improved significantly after Janis had treated me. I had no idea what he’d given me, but I felt much better, and the shower had helped as well. Just being in a fresh change of clothes after several days in the outfit I’d put on after work days ago was heavenly.
I considered asking Daemon where we were going, but it didn’t matter. As long as we were together, I’d go wherever he needed to go. I trusted him completely. After all, he’d risked his life twice now to save me from my own family. He wouldn’t do that if he didn’t care about me.
It was time for me to let him know just how very much I cared about him.
Taking a deep breath, I turned my face toward him, doing my best to take him in through the slightly swollen state of my eyes. “Daemon,” I whispered before clearing my voice and trying again. My voice was still dry from all that time with no water. “Daemon?”
“Yes?” His name seemed to snap him out of some very deep thoughts. “What’s up?”
“I think you should know, I’ve had plenty of time to think recently, and I’ve reconsidered your proposal,” I began, licking my lips. They felt like sandpaper, split and chapped.
Daemon glanced at me but looked away quickly, not to concentrate on the road, I knew from experience, but for some other reason—like he was uncomfortable. “I don’t remember asking you to marry me.” He snickered after he spoke, but I couldn’t tell if he thought that was what I was really talking about or not.
