Page 43 of We Will Rise

“Everything okay?” I ask.

She nods. “Yeah, the girls are starting to get into bed for the night, and I’ve managed to get in touch with some of their families. A few of them either don’t have anyone to call or their families are the ones that landed them in this situation, so once they’re ready, we’ll give them enough money to start a new life wherever they want in the world.”

“You do this often?” Chloe asks, finally releasing my hand to get back to stacking the dishwasher.

“Unfortunately.” Emerson sighs. “Not as much as we used to, thankfully, now that Elijah’s uncles and father are gone, but still more than we would like to.”

The dejection in her voice makes my chest ache. Even though I’ve lived in the midst of Mafia life since the day I was born, it seems I was still sheltered from the darkest parts of society.

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

KAOS

Camilla offered to stay with the girls tonight so Emerson could get some sleep considering how far along she is. She’s so heavily pregnant, I’m shocked Rayne let her get on the plane in the first place, but he’s watching her like a hawk, never letting her out of his sight.

I yawn and crack my neck from side to side. As much as I would like to trust the literal army of men that surround the estate, I have no faith in anyone outside of our family, not when it comes to Camilla’s safety, which is how I’ve found myself sitting by the front door with a gun resting on my thigh.

Kovu is at the back door in a similar position, while Crew and Bishop are meant to be sleeping so they can take over for us in a few hours.

“I can’t sleep, want to swap?” Bishop asks as he approaches me.

He’s changed into a pair of sweatpants and a tight black T-shirt that stretches around his biceps the same way mine does. His feet are bare as he moves closer to me, pulling up another chair to sit across from me.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to either,” I admit. Today has been fucked. In all the years we’ve been doing this, I’ve never seen half the shit we have today, and it only makes me more confident in the decisions we made when we formed the Syndicate.

There’s no place in this city for trafficking of any kind.

His eyes flick to the living room, where Camilla was asleep on the couch the last time I checked on her. “I want to get her surprise finished. After this, I think she needs it.”

I nod. “She deserves it.”

He taps his fingers on his thigh, and he looks like he’s about to say something, but then he snaps his mouth shut like he’s decided against it.

“What’s on your mind?”

“Camilla.”

“Isn’t she always?” I scoff.

“Our future.” He looks up, meeting my eyes for the first time since he walked in, and I see the fatigue staring back at me. I nod for him to continue, and he sighs. “I want it all with her. I want what Rayne and Emerson have. I want a family. I never thought we’d have the chance, so I never let myself want it before. But now I do. Now I can see everything I’ve ever wanted staring back at me, but it feels so far away.”

A small smirk tugs at the corners of my lips. I think we all had the same realization today when we saw the way Camilla looked at Emerson’s swollen belly with longing. Something I personally never thought any of us would want. “What about Crew?”

“I don’t know what he wants, only that he wants her.”

“Once this is all over, I want that IUD out of her,” I admit, and his eyes flick up to meet mine.

“That quick?”

“Why waste time? If the last few years have taught me anything, and especially since Camilla came into our lives, it’s that time isn’t guaranteed, and I want to live every minute of it with our girl and our kids.”

“Kids plural?”

“Sure.” I shrug. “I have a feeling I’m going to get very hooked on our girl growing our children.”

He chuckles. “I think we all will.”

The door to the living room opens, and a sleepy Camilla appears. She’s dressed in a pair of loose sweatpants and a band shirt that doesn’t appear to belong to Kovu for once.

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