I swallow hard, tears springing to my eyes as the memories of that night come crashing back. “When was this?” I ask, despite the date being clear across the top. My head is too fucked up to go back and try to work out exactly how many days ago Lucas attacked me.
Roman lets out a heavy breath and I can all but see his heart breaking as his trust in Ariana crumbles right before us. “That timestamp is from the night before Lucas attacked you,” he says, his head hanging forward, refusing to meet my eye. “This is on me. I told her where we were going to be, thinking she might be up for a night out. She bailed, said she already had plans. I never fucking thought those plans were stabbing me in the back.”
My hand fists around the phone, squeezing it tight as the need to rain hell over Ariana crashes through me. She did this. She told Lucas where we were going to be. She set me up and that’s why she was so fucking smug seeing my scars this morning. She put them on my body just as much as Lucas did and that bitch will pay.
Rage pulses through me as I stride across the room, putting myself right in front of Roman and grip his chin just as he does to me. “Believe me now?” I spit, having every fucking ball in my court and holding back on the childish, I told you so. “That bitch will go down, right along with your father, and if you think for even a second that I’m bluffing, you’re going to be sorely mistaken.”
29
Barely a moment has passed since learning of Ariana’s betrayal when I find all three of the brothers storming down their massive staircase dressed in black, telling me that shit is about to go down. “What are you doing?” I rush out, following them as they storm into the garage, throwing the door wide and barely working out who will pass over the threshold first, their determination to make heads roll shining brighter than I’ve ever seen.
“The only reason we haven’t moved on our father yet was because of Ariana,” Roman mutters as they all stride toward a locked door within the garage. “She’s shown her cards, and from here on out, our protection no longer extends to her. We move on our father tonight.”
My eyes bug out of my head as I watch the guys break through the locked door to a room full of weapons. It’s a fucking armory in here. Machine guns, pistols, daggers, throwing stars, things that I don’t even know the names of. They’re lined against the wall just like I’d expect at the freaking CIA or SWAT headquarters. No, more than that. The military. The goddamn SEALS. This shit is insane.
I gape at it all as I look around, absolutely amazed yet terrified at the same time. There are grenades and boxes of dynamite, things that I would have been thrilled to never see in my entire life. “This,” I breathe, losing my words. “How?”
Levi glances back at me for a brief moment, too distracted to give me his full attention. “We’ve been preparing for this for ten fucking years. What you see here is only a portion of the weapons we have on standby.”
“Shoes,” Roman cuts in, his gaze sweeping down my body. “Go and get proper shoes. Black hoodie and whatever the fuck kind of pants you’re comfortable in. We’re not fucking around tonight. If you’re coming, you need to be prepared.”
I swallow hard, my eyes bugging out of my head as I realize just how out of my league I’m going to be on this, but this is their shining moment, their victory, the one moment they’ve waited the past ten years for. There is no way in hell that I’m about to miss it.
Without another word, I race out of the garage and dart up the stairs, passing a wide-eyed Jasmine on the stairs. She gapes at me, her brows furrowed, clearly able to see that something is about to go down but having absolutely no idea what. Knowing damn well that those boys will leave without me, I make quick work of stripping out of my sweats and following their lead where the uniform is concerned.
I pull my hair out of the way and add a pop of red lipstick. The boys may make their black uniform look so damn good, but I need the crimson lips to remind myself that I’m not the weak, pathetic girl they kidnapped a few months ago. I’m a warrior, and I will stand at their side.
Nerves rock through my body but I push them down. What could possibly go wrong? We’re only four people standing against Giovanni’s whole damn army.