Chapter 38
Lucas
“Go over it again.”
I ran a hand through my hair, attempting to keep my emotions in check. “It’s an easy raid. The butcher shop on 42nd is just a front for the money laundering business behind it. I’ve been there a thousand times myself.”
Leda arched a brow. “I don’t care, Lucas. You know that this is more liable to go wrong now that Adrian is aware we are after him.”
We were sitting in the apartment above the warehouse, ticking off the final preparations for a raid this evening at a well-known establishment that had been a Cavazzo front. It felt fucking weird to be hitting up my own businesses, but I had to constantly remind myself that they weren’t mine right now. They were functioning under Adrian’s directive, which in turn made them my enemy.
One day, the fucker was going to pay for this.
Leda, however, was paranoid that something was going to go wrong. She had relented yet again about letting me participate in the raid tonight, and I was trying to placate her that I wasn’t taking any unnecessary risks by doing so. “You’re right,” I told her, taking her hand. “Adrian isn’t there tonight. He’s been spotted heading upstate. Our sources confirmed it, remember?”
She let out a breath. “I just wish they could find a bead on my father. I find it hard to believe that he’s disappeared off the face of the earth.”
Yeah, I did too. Carmine wasn’t a hard one to miss, but there hadn’t been any sign of him lately. We had his mansion being watched, as well as some of the restaurants he liked to frequent, but no one had seen him.
That worried me a lot. I would rather know that I was keeping Leda safe enough, but if we didn’t have a fucking clue where her father was, none of us were safe.
The news was wearing thin on Leda too. There were dark circles under her eyes, and I knew she wasn’t sleeping well. Not all of it was because of her ever-growing belly either. “I promise you,” I told her. “We will find him.”
She gave me a little smile. “I can’t convince you to stay, can I?”
I let my eyes roam down her body, paying close attention to the way her nipples puckered in response under her top. “I don’t know,” I said, dropping my voice a notch. “What are you willing to do?”
Leda rolled her eyes, socking me on the shoulder. “I’m being a bit extra, aren’t I?”
I grabbed the back of her head and pressed her forehead to mine. “It’s okay. I can understand.” I felt the same way the moment I walked out of this warehouse, worried every second that someone was going to find her while I was away and take her from me. It made my stomach knot painfully, and I didn’t breathe properly until I saw her face again.
“I can’t lose you,” she whispered, tugging on my fucking heartstrings. “I don’t want to live without you.”
“Nothing can take me away from you,” I stated before pressing a kiss to the center of her forehead. “Understand that I will go to the ends of the earth to come back to you.”
She huffed a breath. “You always say the right things. When did you become such a poet?”
Ever since she stole my heart. Pulling back, I brushed my lips over hers. “I have to go.”
“All right,” she said thickly. “I will let you go.”
Her words didn’t sound reassuring, but I stood anyway, grabbing my coat that was draped over the back of the sofa. “Am I wasting my breath telling you not to wait up?” I asked, shrugging it on.
Leda smirked. “You know it.”
I let out a growl. “At least make sure that you stay off your feet.”
“I will try,” she promised.
I systematically tucked the knives against my body, as well as the two guns that were ever present at my armpits and one pressed against my spine.
“You know,” she said as I finished. “Something must be seriously wrong with me, but I found that a bit arousing.”
My cock pressed against my trousers insistently. “You can take them off me in a little while then.” It was crazy how she flipped the switch for me. One moment I was worried about her safety, and the next I wanted to fuck her hard against the wall.
Yeah, something was seriously wrong with both of us.
“You have a deal,” she said, pushing herself off the sofa and following me down the stairs to the main warehouse. Emil was there, checking his AK, and I grabbed one as well, doing the same.