A minute passes before Roman finally nods and veers into the outside lane, preparing to pull off at the next exit, unknowingly sending a wave of panic soaring through my chest. The last time I saw Phillip, I was playing dead on the dirty ground while listening to the sickening sound of him assaulting Ariana in the worst possible way. The last thing I want to do is see his face again, but I can’t possibly skip the opportunity to save her from the fresh hell that he no doubt rains down on her night after night.
“Ariana is there,” I remind them, though something tells me that they’re not the kind of guys who would simply forget something like that. “She saved me from him. We’re taking her home.”
Roman’s gaze meets mine through the rearview mirror and I see the indecision in his eyes, wanting to keep focused on finding his son. In the big scheme of things, Ariana is nothing but scum on the bottom of his shoe after her betrayal. She was once his rock, but that’s all in the past now.
“You know it’s the right thing to do,” I state, just in case he surprises me for the millionth time and decides to leave her ass there.
He rolls his eyes as the softest huff pulls from between his lips, warning me that he’s really not in the mood to argue right now. Though there’s no need, he’ll do the right thing. He always does … you know, when he’s not doing things like murdering people and kidnapping innocent women from their shitty apartments.
The added half hour to our drive is painful and I silently wish for Marcus to snap out of his jealous fury and allow the tension to seep away, but he needs time to stew. He’ll eventually come around … I hope. Levi on the other hand just stares out the front windshield, and every now and then I catch him curling his hand into a tight fist as he side-eyes his eldest brother. But just like Marcus, he’ll get over it.
We drive down a long, private road that gives Phillip plenty of warning that we’re here, though with our tinted windows, I doubt he knows it’s us. He probably assumes it’s Giovanni coming to discuss business after everything that’s been going down recently.
Roman slows as we approach the massive home, which was no doubt built with blood money and slave labor. It’s just as beautiful as Roman’s home was, and I can’t help but wonder if this was originally intended for Marcus or Levi.
The SUV comes to a stop right outside the door, and as we pile out of the car, the massive front door peels back. Phillip stands in a black business suit, and judging by the disheveled state of it, along with the heavy bags under his eyes and the glass of whiskey in his hand, he’s had a bit of a long night.
We walk toward the front door and as he gets a good look at his early morning visitors, suspicion creeps into his dark gaze. “Nephews,” he says in greeting, his back straightening with unease as his gaze flicks to mine. Surprise flashes in his eyes but he does what he can to mask it. He holds my stare a moment longer, realizing that not only am I alive, but that I know his dark little secret.
Phillip’s eyes narrow with a silent warning that I immediately disregard, and assuming he got his point across to keep my mouth shut, he turns his attention back to the boys, the clear threats that stand on his front doorstep. “What are you doing here?” he questions.
Roman eyes him cautiously before striding straight past and welcoming himself into Phillip’s home. Levi follows and Marcus pauses a moment to allow me to go first. Not wanting to hold up this little pissing contest, I scurry along, unsure of how this is going to go.
Following Levi into the big house, a shiver trails down my spine. This isn’t exactly a home that I want to be in, but we have a mission and I plan to see it through.
Despite Phillip’s disheveled appearance, he clearly still has a little energy to cause shit as his lips twist into a wicked grin when I pass him. “Come to see what you missed out on, hey?” he murmurs, his deep, low tone sending shivers down my spine. “You’re supposed to be dead.”
“What’s the matter?” I challenge, pausing to glare at him. “Disappointed that you never got a chance to fuck my dead corpse?”
His face drops and a flicker of anger appears in his eyes as his body goes still. “You don’t know what you’re talking about, girl.”
A smirk pulls at my lips. Apparently, his little dead girl fetish is a bit of a secret. “Don’t worry, pervert. You don’t need to be shy. It’s nothing that I haven’t already told the boys all about.”
Before he gets a chance to fire back some appalling comment, Marcus steps into my back and gently urges me to keep walking, not wanting to set him off before they get a chance to interrogate him. We walk in through the front foyer and the boys fan out in a way that puts Phillip directly in the center, leaving him no easy escape. “What is all of this about?” he questions, though I’m sure he already knows. “Where is your father? Has he sent you here?”
Marcus narrows his gaze. “Tell us what we need to know, and we will leave peacefully.”
“Why don’t you tell me what I need to know,” he starts, way too confident in his current company, proving that it’s definitely in the genes. “I find it peculiar that just two hours after a blaze tore through my brother’s home, you three show up on my doorstep.”
“What are you suggesting?” Marcus questions.
Phillip’s gaze narrows and slowly glances from brother to brother, skipping by me as though I couldn't possibly know what the hell is going on. “Don’t play coy with me, boy, I am not in the mood. You know exactly what I am suggesting. You killed my brother and that poses an issue for me.”
Roman raises his chin. “How so?”
Phillip’s voice lowers and the tone that sounds through the large foyer sends a chilling shiver through my veins. “That kill was mine,” he growls. “I’ve stood in Victor’s shadow my whole life. I had big plans for him.”
Marcus shrugs his shoulders. “Snooze, you lose, old man,” he says, provoking Phillip and making Levi’s face twist into a cringe. “Victor had many enemies, and if you wished to end his life, then you should have moved a little faster.”
“What was your grievance with my brother?” Phillip spits. “He did not owe you anything.”
“On the contrary,” Roman says, stepping forward. “He had information that I needed and his failure to share earned him a one-way ticket to hell. So I will warn you now, if you don’t tell me what I need to know, then you will be meeting with your late brother sooner than you had anticipated, and I promise you will not enjoy it.”
Phillip narrows his gaze, looking over the brothers in a new light. “It is true, isn’t it? You’re taking over the family business.”
Levi’s lips pull into a wicked smirk and a darkness settles over his gaze that has me oddly turned on despite the dull ache that’s been pulsing between my legs with every step that I take. “It was about time, don’t you think?”
Interest sweeps over Phillip’s face, and I see the exact moment he decides that this new turn of events could work in his favor. “Where is your father now?” he questions, his eyes going far away as the wheels start turning inside his head, probably trying to figure out how he can gain from this.