Chapter Seventeen
“Get your fucking hands off her!”
Damon glared at the man currently holding his woman. He’d already encountered Glory, but he’d figured Milah was aware of him using the maid to get close to her.
Milah wasn’t stupid. He never thought she was, but she had only heard part of the conversation with Raoul. She hadn’t heard the part where he confessed to how he felt about her. How he wanted to make it work with her.
Milah turned toward him, and he saw the anger in her eyes. “What part of I don’t want to see you again don’t you understand?”
“All of it.” He looked at the soldier. “I will kill you.”
The soldier merely glared at him, as if he had a right to do so.
Damon pulled his gun, ready to shoot the little prick, but Milah stepped in front of him. “No, you’re not going to kill him.”
“I’m not? I’ve got a soldier disobeying orders.”
“He’s my brother,” Milah said. “I know all you want to do is wipe out every single last Russo, but he is my brother. Do not kill him.”
Damon looked at the soldier, and sure enough, he detected the eyes, the distinctive brow.
“Don’t,” Milah said. “He has been working for you for months.”
“I had a rat amongst my soldiers, feeding Russo information.” He thought he had found the fucking vermin. He’d killed a soldier he’d detected on Russo payroll.
“I was the one who pointed him out,” he said, finally speaking up.
“Yeah, and now knowing you’re his son, I have a hard time believing it. Step away from my woman.” He wasn’t going to risk killing Milah.
“No!”
“I didn’t give Russo anything,” Ricky said. “I had nothing to do with that old bastard. Not ever. He never claimed me as his. I heard him yelling at my mom once and he said she was a whore. That I could have been anyone’s. That is not a man I want as a father.”
“Why work for me?” Damon glared.
“You’re his enemy and that made you my friend.”
Ricky grabbed the gun, and Damon was ready, about to shoot when he lowered it to the ground.
Damon heard more of his soldiers approaching.
“I only wanted to see you tear down Russo. When you brought Milah here, I wanted to meet her, but I didn’t know if she was like our father. She’s not, and now, I just want to protect her. Family should take care of each other.”
“Ricky, stop it,” Milah said.
“Take him,” Damon said.
“No!”
Milah threw herself toward him and started to beat at his chest. “Stop this. Just stop.”
He grabbed her arms and shook her. “Do you think I’m going to trust the word of a man I don’t know? This is your safety. Your life.”
“No, all you care about is your child.”
“Of course, I care about my child, but you’re fucking blind if you think that is the only thing I care about.” He nodded at his men, and Ricky was escorted away.
Milah sobbed, and he pulled her against his chest, but once again, she fought him like a wildcat. There was no giving in. No surrender from her. “Let me go.”
He wrapped his arms around her, not allowing her to leave. He pressed his face against her neck, breathing her in. “Milah, please.”
“No. You took him away.”
“You know nothing about him. You don’t know if he is lying to you. He is a stranger, Milah. Anyone could find out about the Russo and De Luca feud.”
She slowly lost all of her fight.
“I’m going to find out who he is first.”
“I hate you,” she said.
Milah pulled away from him and started to walk away. He captured her arm and pulled her in close, but she spun around and slapped him hard across the face. “Don’t ever touch me.”
“Milah.”
“I don’t want to talk to you. I don’t want to look at you. Just stay away from me.”
He watched her go, and his hands clenched into fists.
Damon followed her as Milah rushed back toward the house. He didn’t stop, seeing where she would go, and she stumbled back into the room where he’d put her when she was first given to him.
The door slammed shut.
He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Genius immediately, requesting all the information linked to the soldier named Ricky.
Damon hung up, and Raoul waited for him near the entrance of the basement. “Have you told her?” Raoul asked.
“I think it is best if you leave.”
“Eavesdropping is never good for anyone, but avoiding your feelings is even worse.”
“Raoul, leave, before I regret what I do.”
His friend nodded and bowed, taking his leave.
Damon entered the basement. Ricky had been chained to a chair.
There were no cuts or bruises on him, and Damon was surprised. “You didn’t put up a fight?”
“I have nothing to hide. I imagine you’re running all my information through your guy, and you’ll know everything soon enough.”
“Yeah, what I’m not getting is why you’re here. Why with me?”