Page 11 of Dangerous Devotion

I ran a hand through my hair and sucked in air between my teeth. How pissed would Craig Donnelly be once I told him I’d be the one marrying Jemma? “What’s his ETA?”

Hawk shrugged. “Around the same?”

I sighed. “Two hours suddenly feels really not like a lot of time.”

Hawk smirked. “Not ready to meet your future father-in-law?”

Yes. Maybe? At least I wasn’t ready to die—which was a possibility. I raised an eyebrow. “I was born ready.”

Dante and Hero chuckled, and I gave them a death stare, which sobered them right up.

Hero leaned forward, his eyes sharp. “Any ideas on who might be behind this? It’s not like we’re short on enemies, but this is a little much…out of the blue.”

“Could be the Russians,” Dante suggested. “Matt told me Zotov’s been acting very weird lately.”

I shook my head. “This doesn’t feel like Zotov’s style. It’s too…flashy and too messy; also, why would he do something like this when he’s already in Father’s ear?”

Goofy, who’d been quiet until now, spoke up. “Are we sure who the target was?”

I cocked my head. “They didn’t know you guys would be on that roof,” I said, then focused on Hero. “Same for you and Dante.” I sighed. “That pretty much leaves me.”

I needed to make a shortlist. And in all honesty, I didn’t know who—aside from Zotov and my father—would be on top of that list. Not that our family didn’t have enough enemies. But I avoided making new ones, if I could.

I shrugged. The Salvini family had been on top of the food chain for quite a while, so it was always possible that some hotshot wanted to prove himself by taking out the number one candidate to become the new boss.

Peaches, who was still a bit pale but alert, chimed in. “What if it’s not about you? What if they’re after Jemma?”

The thought sent a chill down my spine. I glanced at Jemma, fast asleep on my lap, and tightened my hold on her. Did she have enemies who would stage something like this? If so, it was related to Donnelly—and he would be here soon enough to answer that question.

“We can’t rule anything out,” I said, my voice low and dangerous. “But whoever they are, they’ve made a big mistake.” I turned to Hero. “How about you go check if our guests are still asleep?”

Hero got up, and Goofy joined him. “Let’s check on our sleeping beauties.”

Hero nodded, and together, they left.

Hawk’s grim smile probably resembled the one on my face.

“I can’t wait to get some answers from them.”

“Vince,” Hawk warned, “let’s be smart about this. I know your methods are not the same as ours. But let’s play by the rules for now.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You want me to play clean?” I growled and could feel my stomach harden because I wanted nothing more than to kill those bastards with my own two hands.

Hawk nodded.

“I’m not sitting on my hands while someone out there’sgunning for me.” Or her. I looked down at Jemma again, my resolve hardening.

“Let’s get your wound checked, and then find out who’s behind this,” Hawk said, his voice sharp as steel.

“And when we do, they’ll wish they’d never heard the name Salvini,” I said and matched Hawk’s gaze.

I could play clean for now. But I wasn’t ready to promise anything.

Because if it came to my family’s safety, I didn’t take half-assed measures. And I sure as shit had no problem playing as dirty and deadly as needed.

CHAPTER THREE

Iwoke to a gentle sway of movement, my cheek pressed against something warm and solid. And there were bands of steel wrapped around my back and my feet.

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