“You’ve had enough of that, don’t you think?” Dante presses his fingers to his temples and massages. “It’s just got a lot of sugar. The Doc said it’ll help calm you down.”
“I am calm,” I reply, but I relent, grasping the teacup and taking a few sips. The hot sweetness glazes down my throat, heat that seeps right into my gut, weaving into my muscles, and my next breath lifts a fraction easier. Okay, so maybe it’s helping a little.
The crash sobered me up immediately, but even though my mind is clear, my body is still bouncing between the dullness of the alcohol in my veins, and the sharpness of pain that sparks every so often from the crash. Our family doctor has cleared me with nothing more than a head wound - that’s been stitched and cleaned - and some mild whiplash. All in all, I’m fine, under observation for the night, but incredibly fucking lucky.
“You could have been killed,” Dante speaks softer this time, dropping his hands to his lap. He looks oddly cozy dressed in blue silk pajamas. It’s late, and my back prickles mildly with shame that my recklessness is dragging Dante from much-needed sleep when he has a toddler to contend with. I take another few sips before replying.
“I wasn’t.”
“You would have been had Archer not found you!” Dante snaps sharply. “Do you think that’s really what we need right now?!”
“Apologies for howinconvenientmy death would have been,” I mutter darkly, easing back into the leather seat. “It wasn’t like I planned it.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Dante sighs so deeply I actually see his chest dip back as if he’s folding right into the chair. Silence falls for a beat before he speaks again.
“The Russians are growing bold,” he muses but as calm as his words seem, I can see the nerve twitching in his jaw from restrained anger. “Daring to hunt you down like that and then running you off the road likecowards.” There it is. The dangerous edge I’m used to hearing. “Maybe the wedding makes them desperate.”
“As if they need a reason for that,” I scoff slightly over the edge of my cup. Everything about the Russians screamsdesperate, the union they’ve stood against for so long is finally sealed, and the power of two families is about to land on their doorstep.
“It secures our family, Killian,” Dante mutters irritably. “It’s the biggest beacon we have to the end of any Italian-Irish conflict. Now both families will be focused on the Russians, and they know they can’t contend with that. Killing you quickly could be an attempt to destabilize us. Take you out and hit hard while we’re scrambling to keep things together.”
“How sweet of them to think me so important,” I chuckle dryly.
“Enough!” Dante barks, “this isn’t funny. Youareimportant. Replacing you would be impossible, and thesebastardsthink they can just swan in and run you off the road to kill you in a ditch? A fucking callous kill even by their standards.”
I should be angry. I should be seeing the same amount of red as Dante after their attempt on my life, but as I sit there, letting the hot tea seep into every corner of my soul, I find myself to be oddly calm. Calm because most of my emotions have already been drained by Cara, and nothing else is important enough to draw my focus from her.
Not even my own life.
“Well,” I muse out loud, “maybe it’s time we focus all our efforts on the Russians.” While my heart isn’t in it, it is what Dante wants to hear. He needs to know I’m focused even if my mind is miles away. “We know that Russian Brigadier Grigory is behind the threats on me before the wedding, and he was the one behind the Irish defectors and Cara’s kidnapping. Wouldn’t put it past him to make a desperate strike like this.”
“Yes,” Dante muses and his brow quirks up slightly, easing the worry lines on his face. I was right; he needs to hear my head is still in the game, and the shameful prickle cursing my spine fades a little. One look at my nightclub incursion and it could look like I’m slipping back into old ways.
“I’ll look into tracking him down. See how the Russians react to an active retaliation,” I state, and Dante nods just once, his eyes on me, unwavering. It’s about time we took care of Grigory anyway. We’ve all been caught up in securing this alliance with the Irish. Even if it’s built onlies, I’m going to make sure we use every ounce of Irish power to help us rid the city of the Russian infestation.
I drain the cup and set it aside, my gaze drifting to the intricate fireplace that decorates the far wall of Dante’s office, and silence falls. If I simply rest at this moment, everything is numb but the low throbbing in my forehead. The doctor’s painkillers didn’t last long.
“Talk to me, Kill,” Dante says after the silence has dragged on. His voice is softer than before. “What happened? You wouldn’t risk a sip at your own wedding, but the night after you tear up the nightclubs so badly, we almost lose you to an assassination?”
The moment of truth.
Silence falls and Dante waits for me to speak.
Thinking of what Cara did makes my head swim and my chest tighten unbearably, like a twisted vine that coils tighter with each passing thought. Archer’s gone to make sure she’s alright since we were on the phone together when I crashed.
And part of mehatesthat.
She’s mine. I should be checking on her. But the shattered part of me still can’t stomach facing her. I lift my eyes to meet Dante’s unwavering gaze as he waits patiently for my answer.
Does he know already? Did Archer tell him?
“Cara,” I start slowly, “sheliedto me. She knew all about her father’s plans to start a war with us. She knew he wanted to take us out and she hid it from me because… well, fuck her reasons. She knew, and she hid it so all our plans would sail through smoothly.” My jaw snaps shut so hard my teeth clack together.
“She told you this?”
“Not immediately,” I reply stiffly, “Callahan was drunk at the party, raving about howswellit was of me to marry her despite his attempts at war and howgoodit was of me to look past her keeping such secrets from me. Archer overheard and escorted him out before he told the wrong person.”
“Shit.” Dante rests his elbows on the chair and clasps his hands together at their fingertips. “I’m… I’m sorry, Killian. I know this hasn’t been easy for you, being thrown into marriage after everything you’ve been through and all that’s happened. It’s hard work, even without something like this.”