“They won’t if she’s married to a Knight. I thought the only way I could ensure you protected her for the rest of her life was if she was the mother of your child. I knew you would do that. But now I don’t have to wait until she’s pregnant to know she’ll be protected.”
Silas’s jaw rippled.
“The name of the man you are looking for is Yiannis Ariti. A civilian. No ties to any mafia that I could find. That is all I know.”
A long look passed between Silas and Parker. They had expected a Greek connection. He and his brothers had wiped out the Kamaras mafia when they had had their father shot in the head. They believed it might have been the Baros mafia who had been allies of the Kamaras before they were rendered extinct. Or even the Galanis gang. Both would have been too stupid to live if they were involved.
This changed things. The name was unknown to them.
Parker came to him and put his hand on his shoulder. He looked almost like his normal self; his lethality more controlled now that he had a name.
“We’ll talk about this tomorrow. Go to her.”
Parker made to leave, taking Davenport with him. The older man gave him a deep look that was filled with gratitude.
“Thank you, for my daughter.”
Once alone in the entrance hall of his house, Silas dragged his hands through his hair.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
He took the elevator upstairs. The scent of her lingered around him.
He had been fighting a losing battle since his gaze had glided over the images strewn on Parker’s desk. That should have been his warning sign that she would become his life. He should have stepped back and let Elliot take over.
But he knew, at that same moment, he knew she was his.
But now he needed to send her away. Put her in a tower that was impenetrable by man. It would be the only way she would be safe because…he … loved her.
And that meant they couldn’t be together. He never wanted to experience what Parker had. He wasn’t strong enough. She had weakened him that way.
The elevator doors opened. He had every intention of packing her clothes himself and sending her off to the furthest part of the world where no one knew his name. Where no one would know she was his one weakness.
But then his gaze fell on her.
Despite being petrified of what might have transpired in a situation where her father could have died at their hands, she had trusted him and obeyed him when he sent her upstairs. She had put her life in his hands.
This beautiful girl. Fierce and courageous even while she’d been scared and helpless.
She had trusted him. She trusted him. And he was too fucking selfish to send her away because he couldn’t bring himself to do that now when it would matter the most. He couldn’t live without her.
He and his brothers had carved out a king-sized throne for themselves in the mafia world. They were untouchable and for a moment they had forgotten their status when Everleigh had been attacked and anyone and everyone had been their foe.
But their enemy was a civilian. A Greek. A misguided one at that. They had cut all ties with Greece but maybe it was time they took over the country in which they had been born. Every threat to the women they loved would be eradicated for good.
“Silas,” she whispered. “My father?”
“Went home. He gave us a name.”
“What? I don’t understand. Why? Did you... Did you hurt him?”
“Do you think I would do that to someone you loved?”
“I—”
He had done such a good job hiding his feelings for her, that his words had shocked her.
“He gave us the name because he believed… I loved you.”