“You can call me Matty.” He brightens for a moment, and it’s then that I remember one of the guys who died was his neighbor. They grew up together.
“How old are you?”
“Just turned twenty-two,” he tells me, and I turn around and motion for Jared to come closer. “Get him as many drinks as he wants all week. A birthday should be celebrated. Every day alive should be celebrated.”
“Thank you, Boss,” Matty tells me and I shake my head, not wanting any gratitude.
“The man who’s responsible for your brother’s death,” I look to James and then to Logan as I continue, “and your cousin’s death, Nicholas Talvery, will die the second I have a chance to end his life.”
I pause as the memories of how he tried to kill me, how sneaky the fucker is, spring to mind. Always preparing and setting up his men to blindside the unsuspecting, like my brothers, when we were only kids. “No one,” my voice hardens, “will take from us without having consequences.”
My heart races as I look the two men on my right in the eyes. “He killed your family and I’ll have his head for it.”
“To the end of Talvery,” Matty raises the shot glass in his hand and the other men do the same.
Talvery.
I’m numb as they throw back the shots and commiserate together.
“To the end of this war,” Jase speaks up, grabbing another shot glass and filling his and then the others.
The guy’s spirit picks up, although Logan still looks lost. James pats him on the back as Logan hunches over, shaking his head and crying again.
This war is useless. A fight between two men, Romano and Talvery, who already have enough. Greedy, selfish men who will risk lives to hurt the other.
And I supported it.
And Jase wants more of it.
And Aria lies in the middle of all of it.
“If you need anything, you know who to call,” I hear Jase speak quietly to the two men on the right and then he stands, and I do the same. Buttoning my jacket and taking a good look at each of the men sitting there.
None of them blame me and that’s the worst part of it. I’m bitter knowing they don’t blame me when they should. I brought them into this.
For her.
I agreed to this… for her.
The sound of Jase walking ahead of me is all I can follow as I feel like I’m suffocating. Maybe that’s how I’ll die. I’ll choke on every fucked-up decision I ever made.
I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket. It’s been going off since the bar, but I wanted to get in and out and give the men the respect they deserve. That’s the least I could do.
Feeling it go off again as we step out into the night air and wait for the car to come around, brings on the restlessness and unease that hasn’t left me since I left Aria alone on the bed.
“That brunette’s gone,” Jase comments, leaning against a post by the curb that details all the drink deals inside.
As I pull out my phone, I glance at his profile and for a moment I see the look of loss in his eyes. He’s looking out into the parking lot and past it to the busy street. I know what he’s thinking about. I know what that look means.
“You all right?” I ask him, and he clears his throat, coughing into his fist and kicking off the post.
“Yeah,” he answers and runs his hand down the back of his neck. “I just can’t believe Talvery would waste a man like that. Did he really think he’d get out alive?” he questions, and I wonder if he’s telling me the truth about what he was thinking, or if I was right.
The rumble of the engine and the soothing sound of my car pulling up grabs our attention and saves me from asking him and prying.
It’s not until I walk around and open the door that I check my phone and see the missed calls and texts. Eli never texts, and he knows not to.
A’s safe and sound but shit happened. Call me when you can.
It’s the only text I’ve ever received from him. And I read it over and over, not breathing.
She’s safe. Anxiety creeps up and doesn’t leave me, forcing me to unbutton my collar as I walk around the other side and tell Jase to get out and drive. My hand slams on the roof when he doesn’t move fast enough. “You drive!” I scream at him and feel raw fear at the back of my throat.
She’s safe.
“What’s wrong?” He doesn’t object but stares at me the entire time he moves around to the other side.
With the key in the ignition, he sits there staring at me while Eli’s phone rings.