“I need you to come up and watch over Emerson,” Angelo said into the phone, his eyes trained on me. I sat on the sofa, my foot tapping against the floor. We still weren’t back in Angelo’s apartment, and I wasn’t sure if we would ever be. He was talking about moving somewhere else, knowing that the memories of what had happened there made me nervous.

He was right, it scared the crap out of me thinking about going back there and facing the place where Angelo and I had fought for our lives. I knew I’d be waiting, on edge every second, expecting people to start jumping off the roof of the building and onto our balcony, ready to hurt us.

Another part of me told me it was time to face my fears. I wasn’t running from things anymore, I was standing up for who I was, and standing behind the man who had chosen me. I let these monsters break me down once, I wasn’t going to let them do it again.

Angelo hung up the phone and stalked over to where I sat on the bed. I knew his body must have been hurting, but with a fresh pressed suit on and the mess of the last few days washed away, he held his composure like you would never know he’d just about been killed.

Andre had been at my side the whole time, he was the only person that Angelo trusted to leave me with now, and with him still trying to piece together the puzzle that was Tobia, he needed to be focused and not worried about where I was or if I was safe.

Angelo sat on the coffee table, his knees spread and mine fitting perfectly in between them. “You’ll get yours, I promise,” he told me, twisting my gut a little more.

The information Angelo had gathered from Tobia’s man had told him that the brothers were planned to meet tonight. This was where it needed to end, and as far as the DePalmas were concerned, it wasn’t going to be quick and painless. Tobia and Dom were going to feel every single ounce of pain they caused this family, and they were going to feel it all the way down deep in their bones.

I knew Angelo was feeling skeptical now about whether this was something I should be involved in. He wanted to protect me, allow me to keep a little bit of my innocence. But this world had already hardened me, and I was beginning to feel like I wouldn’t be satisfied until I got the absolution I needed for Sophie.

We managed to compromise, he would go without me tonight, instead taking Gio and his crew and Anthony with him, and he would give me five minutes with them later.

I could feel the blood lust that was already circling around him, I knew he was aching to get going, to bring this whole crazy thing to an end so we could both finally move on—together.

I nodded, chewing on my lip. “You promised.”

“I did, and it’s one I will keep.” His hand reached out, brushing back my hair from my face and cupping my jaw.

The hotel room door opened and Andre strolled in, looking a little wary. “Something going on?” he asked as he came through to the living room.

“Yes and no,” Angelo answered cryptically, his eyes still watching me. Maybe he expected me to start freaking out any moment. There had been nightmares, and I was still very much on edge waiting for the second where someone would jump out and say, “Hey, you just got Punked!” They weren’t going to, though, I really had walked into a world that was run by the mafia, and where people really fucking died.

There was no joke.

“I’ve got a lead to go on,” Angelo explained. “I need to know that she’s safe, or my head won’t be in the right place.”

Andre raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall opposite to where I was sitting and staring at the back of Angelo’s head. “I’ll keep her safe.”

“I know, that’s why I’m leaving her with you,” Angelo said, leaning forward and brushing his lips across mine. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain that deep animalistic feeling you get when you feel your man’s beard scratch at your face or body. It just seemed so raw and primal.

My body tingled, and I leaned into him, wishing I could pull him toward the bedroom and not let him walk right out the door. He was being so gentle with me, and gentle wasn’t what I wanted.

“Go, before I change my mind and come with you,” I told him, pushing him away.

He smirked, but followed the instructions and pulled back. “You can come with me later,” he threw back as he stood to his feet and pecked me on the head.

“Man thinks he’s God’s fucking gift,” I murmured, annoyed, because that was right on the damn money.

“I’ll keep you informed,” he told Andre as he moved past him and headed for the door. My stomach twisted again as he stepped outside and closed it behind him. I scrubbed at my face, exhaustion setting in. The nightmares had been relentless, even with Angelo’s body wrapped around mine offering protection and safety.

I could see Tobia raising his hand with a gun in it, and pointing it straight at Angelo’s head. Then pulling the trigger. And as the door clicked closed behind Angelo, it was as loud as a gunshot in my head.

“You wanna play a game of cards?” Andre asked with a smile, digging around in his pocket and pulling out a deck.

I raised my eyebrow. “You carry those around with you all the time?” I asked curiously.

He grinned, making his way over and taking a seat beside me on the sofa. Shaking the cards out of the deck, he began to shuffle them, it was like watching one of those card sharks at a table in a casino. He was good, better than good. “My foster dad used to play a lot of poker, he taught me almost everything he knows.”

As he dealt them out at lightning speed, I chewed on my lip. I wanted to ask Andre about himself, who he was, where he’d grown up, and what made him into the man he was. Andre was kind and caring, he had always managed to make me feel comfortable while I was here, even at times where I wondered what the hell I’d gotten myself into.

I knew, though, he wouldn’t be working for a man like Angelo or the DePalma family without having some kind of darkness brewing inside of him. There had to be something that made him choose this life because it wasn’t an easy one.

I couldn’t hold my tongue any longer. “You grew up in foster care?”

He stilled for a brief second before continuing the flow of cards across the table. “Sort of. It was more like a family friend. My dad died when I was younger, my mom couldn’t cope.”

My heart hurt for him. Despite the issues with my parents, I would never wish to be without them. My dad had done a lot of great things for us growing up, but I felt like somewhere along the line, his focus was lost, and other things became more important than supporting his children or spending time with us as a family. He was driven to succeed, so he pushed us to do the same.

Maybe he forgot what it was like to have a dream and how to persue it with every part of your heart and soul. Or maybe he thought he was helping us by pointing us in a direction where we wouldn’t have to struggle and fight for a future. He needed to realize that I wanted to make my life my own, and from now on I would make sure that he did.

“What were the new family like?” I questioned as I picked up my cards off the table and started arranging them in suits. I really had no idea what I was doing, but I was determined to keep him talking so I could learn a little more about what made Andre tick.

I saw his Adam’s apple bob up and down, and I knew then that if he did give me an answer, it wasn’t going to be a pretty one.

“He was mean, the mom though, she was beautiful,” he finally answered, taking a deep breath. “He used me to make him money. No one really expects a kid to know about cards or how to use them, so he’d send me out onto the streets to do tricks for people. I’d get a few wrong, they’d think I was just some kid playing around, then I’d offer them double or nothing.”

My eyes widened. “Kind of like a pool shark?”

“Yup,” he replied, nodding as he shuffled his own cards. “Problem with that is, most people realize when they’ve been screwed over, and they don’t appreciate it. I’d run, but sometimes they were faster. I’d had the shit beaten out of me more times than I could count. Not just from the people I screwed over, but then again from my foster dad if I came home with no money.”

Talking about that kind of stuff would make anyone’s chest hurt, but Andre just spit it out, like he was telling someone else’s story, totally disconnected from the fact that it was him getting wailed on every other day.

“My foster mom would patch me up, and then he’d beat the crap out of her too for helping me,” he continued. “I remember being locked in my room and listening to him beating her with his empty beer bottle until it smashed over her head.”

I shuddered, just thinking about the life he’d been raised in. It wasn’t surprising that he had been tainted and didn’t balk at the jobs he had to do for this family.

“How did you meet Angelo?”

I caught a subtle smile, it wasn’t a happy smile, though. It was deviant and dark. “Got sick of being treated like trash. So I killed my foster father.”

Deep down I wasn’t surprised by this admission, but I still stared at him with my mouth hanging open. I knew what he was capable of, it just hadn’t been real until now.

“My foster mom stood up for me, she’d been collecting proof of his abuse for years. When I appeared before a judge, he lowered the sentence to manslaughter, and I did two years in prison,” he explained, leaning forward and bracing his elbows on his knees. He wouldn’t look at me, I felt like it was because he thought he might see some kind of judgment in my eyes, or maybe even fear. “I met one of Angelo’s boys in there, and when I got out, he introduced me to Angelo.”

I reached over and placed my hand on his shoulder. “He hurt you, he deserved to pay for what he put you through.”

He finally turned his head to look at me, and his body softened under my touch. “It felt good to finally be free of the pain and bullshit that he put me through, and know that he was never gonna hurt anyone else.”

I nodded in understanding.

“That’s exactly what I want,” I told him, squeezing his shoulder before I pulled away. “I just want to make it so that when this is all over, that Tobia can’t hurt any more people and that he can’t hurt my family again. Sophie didn’t deserve to die in pain… but he does.”

Andre’s eyes suddenly hardened. “No, she didn’t, she deserved to live a long and happy life, free of ever being tainted by this world.”

I took in a deep breath, hearing the words he wasn’t saying.

And so do I.

The difference being, this is my choice. At first it wasn’t, I was thrown into this all, and I could have let it drag me down, but instead, I chose to let it uplift and empower me. In some ways, it wasn’t a choice about being a part of this life, one with danger and death around every corner.

It was about choosing Angelo.

And by choosing him, I was accepting that this all came with him.

It was like baggage, but who was I to judge when I was carrying my own, and he still chose to stand beside me and lift me up.

I tucked my knees to my chest. “I just want this to all be over with. They will find the brothers tonight and then soon, I’ll be able to take what I need from this all and move forward with my life.”

Andre sat up suddenly, his body stiff and still. “The brothers?”

I nodded. “Angelo said the man they captured told them the brothers were meeting tonight. It means they can get them both at once.”

Andre leaped off the sofa, driving his hands into his pockets and pulling out his cell phone.

I frowned. “Are you okay?”

He didn’t answer, his fingers flying over the screen before holding it to his ear. Deafening silence filled the room as I watched him in confusion. “Damn it!” he cursed, tossing his phone to the ground. “They’ve turned their cell phones off.”

“What’s going on?” I asked, wrapping my good arm around my knees and pulling them closer to my body. “I’m sure they’ll be fine, he’s got Gio and his crew as well as Anthony and his men.”

Something was wrong, but I was trying to convince myself that Andre was just overacting even though the terrified look on his face told me otherwise.

“Fuck,” Andre hissed, running his fingers through his short hair and pacing in quick steps in front of me. He chewed his lip nervously. “We need to go find them, they’re walking into a trap. The brothers won’t be there.”

My stomach was so twisted, I had to uncurl my body and get to my feet, scared that I might have to make a run for the bathroom. “You’re scaring me. Are they going to get hurt? How do you know the brothers won’t be there? Tobia’s man told Angelo—”

“Because I’m right here,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. His eyes stared into mine, and I couldn’t move. My brain was trying to register what he was saying.

“I don’t—”

“Emerson,” he cut in, his voice breaking. “I’m Dom, I’m Tobia’s brother.”