Page 2 of Under His Embrace

“So it’s a Constella vehicle this employee took,” Liam guessed.

I nodded. “They probably figured it was the quickest escape, since the keys are always in it when it’s parked out back.”

“Then let’s go,” Liam said.

I appreciated his g0-get-’em mentality. He wasn’t impatient, but I already knew that he liked to be a man of action—in action. I was the same, and that was likely a reason we got along so well and had from the beginning.

As we walked outside, I tossed him my keys. He could drive while I followed the route the Constella van had gone. “It’sfortunate the employee did take the van,” I told Liam as we got into my SUV. “All the vehicles are equipped with tracking.”

And the route the A&J van had gone was recorded. I didn’t oversee too much of what the hackers did for the family. A wickedly smart technician named Sheldon handled the cyber warfare of our organization. All I ever had to do was ask, point, and tell them what I needed to know in order to do my job.

“Convenient.” Liam started the SUV and pulled out of the lot. “Lead the way.”

I scrolled through the route that Tony had just sent me. When I reached the end of the route, I did a double-take and brought the phone closer to see it clearer.

Beckson? Beckson, New York?

The destination was out of the city, which wasn’t surprising. If that terrified—and potentially wounded—employee wanted to get away from danger, speeding far from New York City was a logical move. I had to wonder if this survivor was a witness to the attack or complicit and wanting to hide. Either way, we had a destination, and we would get answers about this employee’s involvement. If they were a witness, they’d be interrogated. If they were an accomplice, they’d also be interrogated but then disposed of.

What I wasn’t expecting was the proximity to the small town I used to live in. Beckson, my stomping grounds that I never returned to after I moved into the Constella organization’s properties.

My surname was Constella, but I wasn’t closely related to Dante or his son, Romeo. I wasn’t too close to Eva, who was Dante’s niece, either. I was a distant cousin, however many times removed, but I didn’t spend much time in the city with them until I officially worked for them.

“Huh.” I frowned as I typed the address in for where the A&J van had stopped.

“What?” Liam asked, glancing at the navigation screen.

“Nothing. Just thinking.” I wasn’t about to tell him that I was thinking that the small town of Beckson, New York held a plethora of memories. Memories that I’d rather cram back into a recess of my mind to never revisit.

The day I left Beckson was the last time I allowed myself to think ofher. Of Chloe. Of the girl who broke my heart when she decided to choose a life without me.

She was never far from my mind, always lurking there as a reminder of what I’d lost and would never have again. I did my best to avoid recalling her, but it was no easy feat to erase all thoughts and recollections of one’s true love.

Truelostlove.

Bitterness crept in—again—and I sighed as I looked out the window.

“Thinking about what?” Liam prompted.

About whether Beckson has changed over the years. If Chloe’s parents are still there acting like judgmental assholes. If she ever came back home since I left. If she ever misses me at all.

“Nothing,” I lied again.

“Yeah, right.” He huffed but didn’t push for more. Another reason I befriended Liam so quickly and so well was because he wasn’t stupid. He was sharp and observant, clued in to when he should drop a topic. “Now that it’s just you and me in here, who are you thinking for that attack? Who do you think shot up A&J’s?”

Thank you.The man deserved a medal for intuiting when to change the subject. “Donny Domino,” I answered.

“Isn’t he the guy from the Family that was killed?”

It happened before Liam came into the family, but we’d all filled him in on the basic facts. Stefan Giovanni partnered with Donny Domino. Donny got it into his head that he could killthe Devil’s Brothers MC after lying to them, but the MC men annihilated the Domino Family. Afterward, recouping from his losses by siding with the Dominos, Stefan two-timed and was now trying to ally with the MC.

“Yeah, but some people think he’s just lying low and isn’t actually dead.” I checked my phone, dismissing the message from another capo to stay focused on this talk with Liam. “Edward, one of Tony’s best soldiers, mentioned something about the attack resembling how Donny used to operate. Without mercy and with maximum bloodshed. He was a sadistic freak.”

“If anyone from this Domino Family is still around, why would they be motivated to attack a Constella business?”

I have no fucking clue.“I don’t know. If any members of the Domino Family are still alive, they won’t have many to rely on. The bikers damn near killed them all, and they targeted all the leaders and men. It would make more sense for Donny—or any other Domino—to fight back against their so-called former allies in the Giovanni Family or against their killers in the MC. Not us. Dante stayed out of all those deals for a reason.”

Liam nodded, accepting what I said as he drove on. I appreciated having him almost like a partner. He was competent and loyal, and while he handled navigating to Beckson, I was freed up to deal with the many messages I’d received while checking over the crime scene.

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