“Boss, those two girls have been busy. Very busy. Your soldiers are on standby to move in at any moment.”

Benny’s call woke me from a dead sleep, right in the middle of the best fucking dream I’d had in a long time.

“Tell me.” I glanced over at the clock and scrubbed my hand across my face. Two thirty in the fucking morning.

“They’ve arranged a meeting with Lorenzo in about thirty minutes. They convinced him they’re a friend of the family who’s willing to take him in and help him clear his name. After the shit hit the fan with that news article, I’m not surprised he jumped at their offer to help him. He has to be desperate right about now.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. They’re meeting him alone?” My voice echoed off the walls. I was wide fucking awake all of a sudden. Throwing my feet over the side of the mattress, I propelled myself out of the bed. With my phone help between my cheek and my shoulder, I threw my clothes on in the dark in a rush. “Where?”

“Geno’s garbage distribution station in Queens.”

“Pretty smart move, I have to give them that. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to throttle them both when I get there. Get over there, and have the men surround the building now—and I mean they better be close. I’m on my way.”

“Figured you’d say that. We have the block surrounded, just waiting for our special guests to show up.”

Benny and I disconnected as I rushed out to my car. I knew something more was up than their internet stalking of Lorenzo. Both Jillian and Carrie had acted very strangely over the last few days. Stranger than usual, that is. I’d dropped by to see Jillian a few times, to ask if she needed anything and see how she felt, and she did her best to get rid of me as soon as possible every fucking time. Had I not known they were already targeting him, I would’ve sworn she had another man sneaking in her bedroom window at night.

One or two nights of sitting outside Carrie’s house all night, watching said window like a fucking hawk, convinced me otherwise. While I had faced the fate of our relationship, I wanted to be the first to know if she’d moved on. I didn’t want to find out from anyone else.

But tracking Carrie’s keystrokes on the dark web had been harder than we thought it would be. We had the words she used, but finding where she used them was pure hell. In a virtual world that was designed to preserve anonymity, we searched everywhere and anywhere we could imagine she’d frequent. We found a few spots and were able to piece enough together to make an educated guess that she’d found Lorenzo.

Thank God Benny stayed on it until he found all the bread crumbs Carrie had left in various online private rooms. He must have been at it all night since he followed them to the empty building in the middle of the night.

For the entire drive, I wrestled with my anger over the situation. Carrie was slightly better able to handle herself against Lorenzo than Jillian was, but not by much. She way overestimated her abilities while far underestimating her opponent. Jillian had no business what-so-fucking-ever being there, especially at four months pregnant. Had she told me she wanted to execute her revenge against Lorenzo herself, I would’ve arranged it for her. I would’ve walked her through every step. I would’ve ensured her safety while ensuring his demise.

But she didn’t come to me.

She trusted my sister’s lead instead of mine.

She was about to walk into a situation she couldn’t just turn and walk away from. Once Lorenzo saw her face, he wouldn’t stop until she was dead. Even the two of them together couldn’t control him—not physically and not mentally. He’d prepared for his role his entire life. Every action was second nature to him. Where Carrie and Jillian wouldn’t be able to read the situation at a glance, Lorenzo could. They wouldn’t be prepared to face any backup he may bring with him, or for the very real possibility that he’d gain the upper hand and use one of them against the other.

They’d stand and fall together, not leaving the other behind to call for help. And that very weakness would end up getting them both killed.

My sister liked to play mobster, but she had no real-world experience in man-handling a six-foot, two-hundred-plus-pound man made of muscle. She thought she could easily best them because she’d had years of a military-style defensive combat training. But she didn’t understand these men wouldn’t give her the chance to get that close to them. They’d put a bullet between her eyes at first glance. She was a known Marchetti, a natural enemy.

I wanted to whip her ass and Jillian’s ass for even thinking they’d have the upper hand in this bullshit scheme. There was no way we’d all walk away unscathed. That knowledge alone jacked my blood pressure through the roof.

I finally spotted Benny’s car, parked in the complete blackness in a side alley, and turned off my lights as I parked behind him. After I made sure my interior lights were off, I silently exited my car and crept up to Benny’s open window.

“What’s the story?” I kept my voice low and my eyes trained on the darkened building across the street.

“Carrie and Jillian just went in about ten minutes ago. Lorenzo made a few passes around the block, I’m sure looking for a trap and a way out, but he parked on the other side of the building. He stopped and checked out my car. The hood was cold, though, so he didn’t bother to check inside. He’s sloppy, Damon, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t dangerous. Tony has eyes on him. Said Lorenzo’s smoking a cigarette and pacing in front of his car. He’s not convinced he’s safe yet.”

“Of course not. The building is still dark. That’s a sure sign the person waiting inside isn’t friendly. What the fuck were they thinking?”

Rookie mistakes. Telltale signs. No one whom Lorenzo would trust would make the kind of mistakes they made. Lorenzo was desperate for a friend—someone who would protect him and hide him from the rest of the world. But desperation made him even more dangerous, because he knew he had nothing else to lose.

“Think you should try getting in the back door and help them out?” Benny cut his eyes over at me, though he already knew my answer.

“If we don’t all get killed tonight, I’m going to beat both of their asses when I get them home.” I swore under my breath and took the black ski mask from Benny’s outstretched hand. Then I slid my black leather gloves on my hands and made my silent trek through the shadows.

My decision to enter the building was risky—for many reasons. The majority of Lorenzo’s family and soldiers had turned on him, but there was always the possibility a few remained loyal—or at least helpful. There was a fine line where family was concerned. If he were reinstated as a capo later, he’d retaliate against those who blatantly shunned him in his time of need. Eventually, anyway, though not openly. Several of the men would have unexplainable accidents.

There was no way Carrie went inside the building unarmed, and I was sure she had Jillian armed to the teeth. Either of them could shoot me, not knowing I was the one sneaking in the back door instead of Lorenzo. The slightest noise could set them off, shooting first and asking questions later. Fear coupled with a spike of adrenaline would either make them freeze up completely or empty their magazines into me.

Then there was Lorenzo himself. I had no way of communicating with my men, so I had no way of knowing if Lorenzo had taken another stroll around the block for a second or third pass. Crossing paths with him would definitely lead to an altercation, though I’d rather run into him face-to-face, outside in the darkened alley and away from the girls. But if he entered from the front around the time I entered from the back, the girls would be caught in the cross fire between us.

The entire scenario had too many variables and too many dependencies for me to feel the least bit comfortable with what I had to do. But there was no fucking way I could leave them in there alone. Not my sister…and not the mother of my unborn children. Risking my life was worth their safety a million times over. And, if I was being honest with myself, maybe I also hoped my actions would help redeem my past behavior in Jillian’s eyes.

Maybe she wouldn’t want that big house all to herself anymore.

Maybe we could have our own family.

You know, if she didn’t shoot me first.

My eyes scanned the area as I approached the fence surrounding the building, putting me out in the open and vulnerable to being seen. After making sure it wasn’t electrified, I picked the lock on the gate and hurried inside. The pitch-black night gave me cover inside the privacy fence, but every little sound caught my attention as I approached the huge metal door. Rats scurried around the enormous garbage bins, squeaking and clawing at the metal. Their noises would help cover mine, but they also covered for anyone coming up behind me while I picked yet another lock.

When I felt the tumblers in the lock give way, I sensed the moment of truth had arrived. Opening the large metal door would reveal my presence—there was no way around it. The concrete at my feet showed wide, arcing marks from where the door had previously scraped against it. The rusted metal hinges would creak loudly from the weight of the swinging door.

With my hand firmly gripping the lever door handle, I pushed it down and jerked the door open in one swift motion. I stepped inside the building, closed the door behind me, and then took a few long strides into the room. The silence in the large office was deafening. Years of experience told me I had guns trained on my chest, ready to blast holes in me at any second. Tension filled the air, even though they held their breath.

“Doll, it’s just me. Don’t shoot.” I pulled the ski mask off and let it fall to the floor.

“Damon?” Shock filled Jillian’s voice, the quiver her voice revealing her underlying fear.

“What are you doing here, Damon?” Carrie hissed at me with the same fear, plus anger, in her tone.

“Keeping you two from getting yourselves killed. Lorenzo’s outside right now. He’s here to meet a friend—not someone he doesn’t know. Don’t you think a friend would have a light on inside, so he’d know it was safe to come in? You two need to get out of here right now and let me handle this.”

My eyes adjusted to the total darkness of the room, and I was finally able to make out the outlines of their shapes.

“No.” Jillian’s voice was firm and sure, with no hint of lingering anxiety. “I need to do this, Damon. For my mother.”

“And I will let you do whatever you want to do to him, doll. I won’t try to stop you. Just let me make sure he can’t touch you first. Please, Jillian.”

That was the first time I’d ever begged anyone. But she was more than worth it to me. My pride meant nothing if she and our babies were gone.

She was silent, weighing my request and her options.

“Jilly, listen to me. If anything happened to you and our babies, I could not handle it. Do you hear what I’m saying?”

“I hear you, Damon.”

From her softened tone, I knew she understood the entire meaning behind my words. Losing her would result in more than sorrow, more than depression. I’d have no reason to go on.

“Where do you want us to wait?” Carrie asked.

“Go out the back door, through the gate, and to the end of the alley across the street. Benny is waiting in the car there. I’ll come out and signal when it’s safe for you both to come back.”

“Okay. As long as I have your word that he’s mine soon.” Jillian moved to stand directly in front of me. “Swear it, Damon.”

“You have my word, on my honor as a Marchetti capo. He’s all yours as soon as it’s safe. Please go now, doll.” I placed my hands on her face and pulled her lips to meet mine. “I love you, Jillian.”

Her jaw dropped open and a quick gasp followed. She brought her hands up to mine, her smaller fingers covering mine. “Damon, I lo—”

“Now this is just too fucking sweet.” Bright, fluorescent light filled the room, temporarily blinding me when my involuntary reaction kicked in and made my eyes squint from the sudden harshness. “And how fortuitous that I’d find the Marchetti family in my father’s business establishment. I mean, I really couldn’t ask for a better setup, could I?”

Fucking Lorenzo Sanfratello.

I snatched my Glock 19 from the waistband of my jeans with one hand and began to move Jillian out of his line of sight with my other arm. My aim stayed trained on Lorenzo as I stared down the sights of my barrel.

And that was when all hell broke loose.

Doors opened and closed from every direction. The shouting of angry voices echoed off the cinderblock walls, creating more confusion and chaos. Multiple feet shuffled and scraped across the concrete floor, making it impossible to keep up with who was where. The loud crash of office furniture breaking after being overturned or knocked out of the way came from every direction all around me. There was no way I could shield Jillian or Carrie. We were completely exposed from every angle.

The earsplitting bang of multiple shots fired in close quarters sent my adrenaline through the roof. The loud cries of pain just before the sickening thud of bodies hitting the floor filled my ears. Though I’d heard it many times before, knowing the love of my life and my sister were unprotected made my gut churn.

Then the urgent scream of my name quickly became a muffled whimper.

And my blood ran cold.