Page 55 of Fiercely Protective

“Not yet but give me time.”

“Perhaps you should call Tomas. I’m certain Alessio will not object.”

“Fuck you, Rogue. I don’t need that bastard’s help!”

I held up my hands in surrender. Tomas, Alessio’s second in command, and Blaze disliked each other immensely. Isuppose dislike was not a strong enough word to describe their relationship; they despised each other. The hate between them was deep, but so far, they had been able to put it aside whenever their services needed to be unified. While I trusted Blaze with my life, he was not as skilled at planning out an attack as Tomas. Blaze liked going in with guns blazing while Tomas carefully planned out each aspect of an assault, leaving nothing to chance.

“Relax, it was just a suggestion. I knew you would not happily accept help from anyone, especially Tomas.”

His hands were still clenched tightly by his sides and his jaw set firm. “Damn right. But putting your bad sense of humor aside, I’m afraid you have bigger problems than Petros just being a pain in the ass.”

I walked over to the bar on the other side of the room. If the expression on Blaze’s face was any indication, I was going to need a drink. “Does it have to do with the man that is stalking Bri?”

“It does. I found out exactly who he is and if you kill him, you may very well start a different war. You will need to tread carefully.”

I picked up one of the glasses from the bar and threw it against the wall shattering the glass. Blaze never even flinched.

“The fucker almost killed her! He stalked her, scared her, beat her, and nearly raped her. Do you think I am going to let that go? I held her in my arms last night while she fought against an invisible attacker in her dreams. I have never seen someone have such vivid nightmares. She clung to me, her body shivering as she recounted the details of that night. You think I will cower to that bastard. Allow him to walk this Earth freely while mywife looks over her shoulder constantly wondering when he will reappear, if he will come for her. No, he has to die. I don’t give a shit what war starts because of it. It is the only way she will have peace and me the retribution I seek.”

Blaze’s lips lifted into a one-sided sardonic smile. “I was hoping you would say that.”

“You have his name, who is he connected to?”

“Tony Galante is the stepson of Frankie Ballantine.”

I filled my glass and drank down the bourbon. “Frankie Ballantine, the mafia hitman?”

“One and the same. They say he has had over three hundred hits. I’m sure that is an exaggeration, but his resume is still impressive. If you go after his stepson, he might take offense and you do not want to be on his list.”

I walked toward my desk. “I don’t give a fuck who he is or who his family is. He hurt her and will pay for it. I’m not afraid of Ballantine. If he makes trouble, I will kill him too.”

Blaze walked over and poured himself a drink. “I thought you would feel that way, so I put in a call to Alessio. His father knew Frankie, perhaps Alessio can get more information.”

“Alessio doesn’t use hitmen. He prefers to handle matters himself.”

Blaze’s face darkened. “Or he has Tomas do it for him.”

I frowned down into my empty glass. “You and Tomas really should put aside the dislike you have for each other. You work well together…when you aren’t trying to kill each other.”

“I didn’t come here for you to lecture me. We have two problems that need to be addressed. My question is which one concerns you the most, the threat to your business and empire, or the one to your girl?”

I walked toward him. “I don’t plan on losing either one.”

“Then you should know that security at the club said there was a man there last night with a picture of Bri. He was asking people if she had been there lately. Of course, none of your employees gave him any information, but it sounds like Tony knows she has been there, or he wouldn’t be looking.”

My anger returned full force knowing that the son of a bitch was so close. The fact that he dared to come into my club looking for her showed that he was either overly confident or overly stupid.

“Keep this between the two of us. I don’t want her to know. I gave the men who were following us yesterday an ultimatum. I expect their boss to present himself at the club tonight either with information about where to find Galante or if we are lucky, he will hand him over to us.”

Blaze rolled his eyes as he took another drink. “You know it won’t be that simple. We are never that lucky.”

“Speak for yourself, my friend.”

“Where are you going?”

I tried and failed to hide the smirk that formed on my lips. “I am going to spend the day spoiling my wife before I meet Michael for dinner. Care to join us there?”

His face took on an almost ashen look. “Dinner with the priest? No, I think I will shy away from all things sacred andsaintly. You can seek redemption if you must, I will remain with the sinners.”

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