“No offense, Leda,” I said lightly. “But your brother is a snitch. He’s not a part of this discussion.” If I even aligned myself with Nico D’Agostino, I would be labeled a snitch as well. Business would dry up. My life would become meaningless.
Her gaze narrowed. “I know what you think about my brother, but he’s the only one who has done something completely honorable in his lifetime. He took his life into his own hands and did what he had to for his family, for those he cared about.”
“Is that not what I am doing for myself?” I asked lightly, surprised by her admission.
I was desperately trying to find a way to continue to protect her, protect my investments, and those that were loyal to me. It was my own course of action right now.
“Face it,” Leda said. “You don’t have many options, Lucas, other than my brother. Let me talk to him.”
That was never going to happen. As much as I appreciated Leda wanting to help and drag the rest of her fucking family in with her, there was a selfish reason I didn’t want her talking with Nico.
The moment she talked to her brother, I would lose her.
I wasn’t ready for that.
“If Adrian thinks you are working with the Feds,” she finished softly. “Then he might be willing to strike up deals, deals that have you coming out like roses. Otherwise, you’ll just slip deeper into a hole that you might not be able to dig yourself out of.”
I wiped my palms on my pants, choosing my words carefully. “While I appreciate your thoughts, there’s one thing to remember here.”
“What?”
Looking over at her, I gave her my sternest look. “I’m the Don here, not you. I don’t want Adrian to strike a deal. I don’t want to come out smelling like roses. I want him six feet in the ground for laying his hand on you. And I want the rest of the bastards out there to know that I could do the same to them. And that I could do it without help. Without the Feds.”
The truth was: I needed more help than I cared to admit. But I wasn’t about to jump in bed with the Feds to get that help.
And I sure as hell wasn’t going to hand over my balls to her to do the negotiations with her brother.
“I can handle this.” I assured her.
She watched as I pushed myself out of the chair, no longer interested in spending any time with her right now.
“Can you at least admit to one thing?” she countered as I started to leave the balcony.
I turned to her, arching a brow. “Admit to what?”
There was a smug smile on Leda’s face, and I knew that whatever came out of those lips of hers, I wasn’t going to like it.
“Admit that you couldn’t stand the thought of me going to anyone else but you. That’s why you came back for me.”
I didn’t know what her motive was for wanting to hear it from me. My actions had been blatant enough, but I wasn’t about to make her privy to what I had thought that night, to the panic and regret that still followed me days later. Even now I hated myself for what I had done to her.
“Remember,” I said instead, gripping the doorway. “The house is all yours, but the outside is off limits. Don’t make me chain you up.”
Her mouth parted, but I walked out before I could hear what else she was going to say. The problem was that Leda hit the nail on the head more than once. Iwasvulnerable. Iwasslipping deeper into a hole I didn’t think I could ever get myself out of, losing a grip on the root day by day.
But her demand?
She was right about many things that night. Leda was mine. No one else was going to fucking touch her. I would have burned that fucking club down a hundred times over if it meant walking out with her at my side.
But to say that the only reason I came back for her was because I couldn’t stand the thought of someone else having her.
That was only half the truth.
But to admit the other half frightened me to my rotten core. Leda was making me into something I had no business being. She made me feel things that I had no business feeling.
I didn’t know where this was going or if I was going to survive this war with Adrian.
But one thing was for sure: I wasn’t going to survive Leda either.