He left me like that, pondering all the deep thoughts I didn’t want to have to think about right before waiting for her at the altar.
And now his words are haunting me even more.
I know it in my soul.
Somebody in this room is guilty.
But who?
My eyes glance around all the smiling faces; nobody’s doing anything suspicious, which pisses me off even more.
Del grabs my hand, then drops it and turns, so her face is pointed toward me, her body away from the dinner. “How did it happen last time?”
“What?” I don’t look away from the group.
“The betrayal,” she says, and it feels like a bomb going off, just remembering the De Lange betrayal and Chase’s dead wife. People who know our story know that the poor guy’s happy and so powerful now that it’s ridiculous, but years agp his wife betrayed the Five Families for power, for prestige and tried to use the Russians to do it.
“Money,” I finally realize. “There was a trail of money. We didn’t see it until later, but in her private accounts, she was getting paid and trying to refill the De Lange Family coffers the only way she knew how—sacrifice.”
“Okay,” Del says quietly. ”So since it’s safe to say none of you need money—who needs the most power?”
My eyes search the group again; one by one, I go over all the different faces only to continuously come back to one.
He would never.
Would he?
I think back to his face when we walked in and shake my head. “No. I won’t believe it.”
“Who?” she asks.
I shake my head again.
“Who?” She grabs my arm and squeezes just as my eyes lock on his, and I don’t like what I see there when he looks away, nor the expression on his father’s face when they share a look I can’t decipher.
I can’t believe I’m about to say it.
But I say it anyway, because if I can’t trust her, who can I trust?
“Ash,” I say. “The only person I can think of—is Ash.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
“I’m in an awful pickle! I’m King!”—The Sword in the Stone
Roman
I thought it would be cooler, being pulled into the most powerful Families in the universe… but yeah, as of right now, I’m cleaning ranch dressing off the family table with a napkin and listening to everyone’s conversations while the old Capo lies upstairs in a deep sleep like Sleeping Beauty but, you know, with a horrible twist.
People are still smiling, but you can feel the heaviness in the air, and I can’t help but look over my shoulder every few minutes as Del and King talk.
I know I need to pull her aside tonight. I need to tell her that this is bigger than whatever the hell happens after the end of the week.
Will she stay with him or come back to me seems laughable compared to what we’re possibly dealing with.
I know I can trust mostly everyone, but something keeps setting me off when it comes to the entire situation. Nothing feels right, not even some of their behaviors.
Who would bomb the wife of the Capo?
What would they have to gain if she died? At the end of the day, the bomb was meant for her, not Tex.
I frown into my wine glass.
“Stop thinking so hard.” Junior tosses a piece of bread at me. “And you missed some salad dressing next to your fork.”
I almost toss the bread back but glare instead. “Thanks.”
“So, you’re super fun,” Ash says to my left. “Just in case you were wondering, we won’t treat you any different now that you’re one of us.”
“One of you?” I think I’m confused. “I’m just a made man.”
Junior and Ash share a look while Tank goes, “Wait, are you telling me you don’t know?”
I shake my head. “Know what?”
Valerian laughs into his wine while Maksim stares me down in a creepy way that has me wanting to hide under the table.
Ash stands. “Let’s go.”
They all listen to him like he’s their leader. The rest of the table isn’t paying attention to us as I follow them out of the kitchen past Del and King.
They both look at me, and then King follows; at least that part makes sense. What do they have, like some secret hangout I don’t know about?
A bat cave?
I laugh at my own joke when I’m led toward a door I’ve never seen before, it’s behind the stairs, but when it’s opened, it leads into another door and a hallway beyond that.
Every one of the guys walks through, me included.
The wives or girlfriends of the guys are already in there, drinking wine, hanging out, and lounging around a large living room.
A huge TV hangs along the far wall, and a sparring ring takes up most of the far corner. A bar occupies the space just in front of me, and there’s also… a hot tub and a lap pool.