Page 80 of Shield and Savior

“No, thank you,” Phoenix says. He opens his mouth to say more, but stops and turns away.

Once he’s gone I mutter, “Asshole” under my breath.

She peeks inside and whistles. “He bought you box seats for a year. Sounds like a real fucking asshole.”

I grumble, “Don’t let the expensive gifts trick you. He’s the Devil.”

She leans over and kisses me, and her hair tickles my face. “I vote for the guy who blew you up as the Devil.” She taps me on the head with the envelope. “This guy is thirsty for attention.” She turns the envelope in her hands before returning it to the table. “What did he do? Sleep with your mom?”

“It’s not my story to tell.” But I don’t like keeping lies from Izzy either. “He left.” She watches me for a few seconds, waiting for me to expand on that. I don’t.

“That’s your trigger, isn’t it? Men who walk away?”

Mother fucker, are you kidding me? Not only do I hate the guy, but it’s all because of my fucking daddy issues? “When shit gets tough, real men don’t run.”

She drops the envelope on my stomach and grabs my hand, careful with the cord. “Do you still want the tickets?”

Maybe Drew and Ian would like to see a game or two. Dimitri has been watching both boys for the last few days. Drew was a wreck when he found out what happened, but at least he’s had Ian to help him. I think it’s even helped Ian, too, to not feel like the victim for once. “Yes. But you can let the Four Families use it too.”

“And that’s how you win boyfriend of the year.”

Between the beeps of the machines, the fuzzy edges of my vision, and the pounding of my heart, I know this is my future. I want her and only her, for as long as she’ll have me.

But where does that leave me?

My mind is swirling with questions, and none of them have logical answers. Thumbing through my phone, I pull up a picture of Delta and Sage, the former owner of Mastodon, trying to figure out the connections.

Izzy lifts her head up from my chest, and her eyes narrow. “Um, why do you have a picture of my cousin on your phone?”

My heart stops.

“What?”

She points to Delta. “He’s one of Rita’s sons.” She squints her eyes. “Actually I think they both are. Different dads, but they’re both Rita’s. You can tell because they have the same nose and their earlobes are unattached.”

Holy shit. A new level of panic hits me, and my heart monitor sounds like the beat dropped at a club. “Who’s Rita? Is she part of the Four Families?” Why don’t I know this name?

Izzy furrows her brows, concern and confusion on her face. “Hold on, Joey knows the whole story. I was out of the loop for a while.”

She FaceTimes Joey, who’s all smiles. “Lance, nice to see you alive.”

Pleasantries go out the window. “Tell me about Rita and her sons.”

The smile vanishes to his more natural facial expression. “What’s to tell? She spawns shitty humans. They open shady businesses. One of her kids went on the run with his family after he was busted scamming widows out of their husbands’ pensions. A tip to the FBI got him thrown in prison for a few years. Came to us for a job when he got out, and all four families sent him away.”

My mind spirals. “Why didn’t you hire him?”

“Rita’s kids are always trying to manipulate for more power. I think she’s pissed she was never brought into the fold.”

My head throbs, and the beeping from the monitor isn’t helping. I turn my attention to Izzy. “Did she ever contact you?”

The color drains from her face. “She sent Drew cash for Christmas.” She covers her mouth. “Oh no.”

I lift up my phone and show the screen to Joey. “Do you know either of these guys?”

He nods slowly. “The one on the right is Cunningham, the one who asked for the job.”

“We called him Delta.” I talk out my thought process. “So Rita’s angry her kids were never brought into the family business, gives her motive to work with The Deviant. Sage opens up a security company and hires his half-brother, an estranged member of the Four Families. Sage uses his connections to help The Deviant push Majesty when the Four Families reject the offer. The Deviant reaches out to Rita who gives Mike Bringsea Izzy’s address to fully punish and destroy the Four Families.”

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