“Thank you, New York!” I exclaimed into the mic and the crowd went wild.
I waved goodbye and left the stage, hardly even aware of where I was going. I simply floated with each step, a blissful smile on my face that felt like it would never go away. Tonight was perfect.
This was who I was meant to be. I would forever be thankful to Silas for helping me to secure such an incredible opportunity as tonight.
Once I reached the side of the stage, I turned left, and someone grabbed my upper arms hard enough to make me cry out in both shock and a little bit of pain. For a moment, it was hard for me to focus and in the darkness, my eyes struggled to focus. When I managed to recover, I blinked several times and finally recognized that it was Damon. He’d been waiting for me in the wings and I stilled, not wanting to do anything to trigger him. I spotted movement over his shoulder and I narrowed my eyes, noticing that Dean was crouched behind him in the shadows. He placed a finger on his lips, signaling me to be quiet and I took heed of it. I saw him level a gun in Damon’s direction out of the corner of my eye.
“Chloe, it’s good to see you again. Silas has been keeping you all to himself, hasn’t he?” Damon questioned.
So he didn’t know that I knew he had given me up. I could use that against him.
“That’s right. He’s kept me rather close,” I admitted.
Another man strode to Damon’s side. I didn’t quite recognize him.
“This is Matthew Lucchese,” Damon offered. “He’s a friend of mine. We know Silas had taken you. We know that you’re essentially his captive and that he lets you out from time to time to perform and continue with some sense of normalcy, but that doesn’t change the fact that you’re still his prisoner.”
There were certain elements of truth to what Damon was saying, but I didn’t make any move to confirm them.
“We have a proposition for you. If you agree to help us, you’d earn yourself a lot of money and your freedom along with it. All you have to do is turn against Silas and work with us,” Matthew began.
“I can’t help you,” I scoffed, and I moved to walk past them. I knew better than to believe the slimy words coming out of that man’s mouth. They’d probably take me as collateral and use me to take over the Genovese family, or they’d kill me and make sure that I never took my place at the head of it. I wouldn’t be safe with them, no matter what they offered.
Damon reached out and grabbed me by the upper arm, stopping me in my tracks. His fingers gripped hard enough to send a very clear message. I wasn’t going anywhere until I listened to everything these two had to say.
“Well, it’s not really a proposition because if you don’t agree to help us, we’ll kill you,” Matthew continued. I glared back at him.
“What do you want from me?” I spat.
“You see, I have powerful friends in many powerful places, and they aren’t happy with Silas. He’s been a thorn in their side for a long time because he’s been shutting down a number of the corporations that they use to launder money. We want him gone. You can either help us and earn a shit ton of money or you die. It’s that simple,” Matthew continued.
I chewed my lip, pretending that the two of them scared me. I rounded my shoulders and crossed an arm over my chest defensively. Damon released me and I took a single step back. I wanted them to think they were intimidating me and when their lips perked up in a smirk, I knew that I had been successful.
“We need to get him on his own and away from his team,” Matthew demanded.
I frowned, trying to come up with a solution. Then I had an idea.
“What about an after-party at Bar Emporia? You can call it to negotiate with him, but you could kill Silas and his men there instead. I could distract him with my performance while your people get into position,” I suggested.
Damon narrowed hi
s eyes thoughtfully in my direction.
“She might be onto something,” he muttered.
“Get Silas to come along tonight and you’ll earn a boatload of money along with your freedom at the same time we eliminate our enemy. Two birds, one stone sort of deal,” Matthew said as he nodded in agreement.
“I understand,” I replied, allowing my voice to tremble just a bit.
Damon handed me a small cell phone.
“I will text you with a time to arrive. If you know what’s good for you, you will do whatever you need to do to ensure that Silas is there,” Damon growled.
“I will,” I said softly, clutching the phone against my chest.
The two men left the wings of the stage and I waited until they were gone before I rushed back to my room backstage where I knew Silas would be waiting. I closed the door behind me and leaned back against it with a heavy sigh. He gazed back at me with concern.
“Come here, kitten,” he said firmly.