Page 93 of The Devil's Den

“Whoa,” one of the guys says, rolling down the window enough for me to hear him, but not see him. “We aren’t here to kill you, baby bro.”

I shudder back a step, my heart rate kicking up.

When I don’t say anything, he continues, “So like, can we come out now or are you still not sure if you’re gonna ice us?”

With a shaky hand, I lower my weapon, and doors open. One by one, they shuffle out, the guys from the warehouse.

My brothers.

My lungs grow heavy with the breaths I can’t seem to take, not believing that I’m seeing them again.

Why did they come?

“I like what you did there.” Enzo lifts his chin toward the burning house, and I realize it was him talking to me from the car. “But we probably should get you both out of here before someone sees the fire and calls the po-po.”

Dom and Dante are right next to him, their faces grim.

Aida comes out, stepping almost silently until she’s holding my hand, sticking out her free one to them. “I’m Aida,” she tells Enzo. “You’re Matteo’s brothers I hear.”

“Wow, the famous Aida,” Dante says. “Raquel and Chiara are really worried about you. They’re waiting for you at the house.”

“Is Robby with you?” Aida’s tone swells with hope.

“Yeah,” Enzo tells her. “He’s with Jade, his mom. He’s safe.”

She lets out a huge sigh of relief, her body practically sagging. “Thank God. I was worried he lied about that too.”

“Nah.” Enzo smirks. “We found him before that son of a bitch could hurt him.”

She peers up at me with a radiant smile. “He’s safe,” she trembles out. “We did it.”

“Yeah.” I brush her cheek with my knuckles. “We did.”

“Look,” Dante throws in. “The girls hope you can come back to the house with us.” He stares at me now. “Both of you.” There’s a pause in his words. “Matteo…I’m so damn sorry. Fuck,” he strains, turning away, clasping his hands around the back of his neck.

Dom steps up to me. “There’s so much I want to say to you.” Grief thickens his voice. “But if I ever thought you were alive, I wouldn’t have stopped looking for you. Never. I would’ve raisedhellto find you.” His eyes drift to a momentary close before he opens them again. “Every day, it’s like I saw you get shot all over again.”

“You were there?” I finally manage. “With Dad and me?”

“Yeah.” He nods. “I was there hiding, and when I heard Faro threaten us all, I ran home and we left. But I thought you were gone. I had no idea you survived.” His jaw flexes. “I’ll always regret not staying long enough to see whether you were still breathing.”

“So you never traded my life for all of yours?”

He cants his head. “That’s what he told you?” A fist forms at his side. “Son of a bitch.” He takes a second to control his plundering breaths. “You think I’d ever leave the only brother I actually liked?”

“Fuck you, man.” Enzo elbows him from behind.

An invisible pull slices into the back of my throat. Part of me wants to fight it and the other part wants to let go.

Dom clasps a palm on my shoulder, desperation for me to believe him clinging to his eyes. And I do believe him. When I look to him, I find the same broken man reflected back at me. We may have had different paths in life, but it didn’t leave one better than the other. Agnelo had lied. He has spent his life lying. To himself. To us. To everyone.

“We fucking love you,” he promises. “We always have.” Dom’s arms fasten around me hard, and I let my arms hook around him too.

This heaviness in my body that I’ve worn since the moment our father died, it just vanishes.

As he holds me, it brings me back to that boy I once was. The one who’d run to his brother for a hug, who’d look up to him above anyone else.

And I let go. Of the hurt. The anger. The gripping fear. I let go of it all, like I’ve burned away the last of my chains.

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