Page 39 of Into The Darkness

“If you did have a choice, what would you do?”

He let out a slow breath. “I never really thought of it. I can’t see myself doing anything but being a leader. It was what I was born to do.” I said nothing further because it was clear by the way his body was shifting beneath mine he was getting uncomfortable.

“I want to ask you one question and answer honestly. I just need to know the answer to this one.”

He cast his gaze downward, his eyes narrowing with a clear and stern warning. The intensity of his expression communicated a cautionary message without uttering a word. “I don’t know if I can give you the answer, mi sol.”

“Just one question,” I begged, parting my lips slightly.

“One answer.” He caved, pushing a strand of hair off my face.

Chapter fourteen

When I was preparing for this, I felt like an idiot, then felt like even more of a sap when I had to hoist Ember over my shoulder to get her here. But as she sat between my legs on the rock I had been coming to for years, I realized I would do anything for her. She was the definition of perfection. Her innocence shone like a light inside of her, but her curiosity hinted at a darker part that was desperate to come out.

The way her hair flowed with the gentle wind, the way her lips puffed in question, the way her body molded into mine as if we were always meant to be together. She had a myriad of questions, and promising her the answer to one meant no lying or half-truths. Whatever came out of her mouth next, I knew I had to give an answer because it was a promise I wanted to keep.

“Why is it dangerous for us to be outside of Isles? You seem to know why, but I don’t get it. We all have to graduate eventually, and we will be out anyway.”

I took a deep breath, figuring out how to tell her the truth without revealing too much.

“When you lived at home, were you not surrounded by protection?” She nodded quickly. “Right, because in the real world, we have systems to keep people safe.”

“I don’t get it,” she uttered, her eyes downcast, shoulders slouched, and a palpable sense of sadness and defeat etched across her features.

“Our parents are in the same types of businesses. They can be dangerous.” I treaded lightly, trying not to say too much. I still had my father’s voice in the back of my mind telling me I needed to make sure we took Walsh out for what his father did.

“Eyes on the bigger prize,” he would say if he were sitting here watching over us. But my father wasn’t here, and I was the fucking leader of the Den. I was supposed to use her to get to the top and get close to her just so I could infiltrate the Alphas and kill her brother.

Yet something about Ember Solis made me pause and appreciate her. I was born and bred to be a leader. My father raised me to have one goal in life: Be the leader of the cartel just as he was. Eventually, I would have been gifted a bride after I graduated, something to help keep our allies closer—a political move. But Ember? She meant too much for me to ever imagine a life without her.

“The systems in the real world are set in place by our parents to keep everyone safe. When we graduate, we go back into those systems to lead them. Your brother will lead your dad’s, and I will lead my father’s.” She nodded, as if she was following my train of thought, so I continued, “When our great-great-great grandparents wanted to have their kids get a real degree, they took this sleepy town and university and created a city to give us degrees so that we could be educated while we lead these empires, so to speak.”

“Is what our parents do . . . dangerous?” she asked, furrowing her brows. Damn, she really didn’t know anything. It was so wild how sheltered her dad had kept her.

“What do you think, mi sol?” I encouraged her to come up with her own conclusions.

“I think my mom died brutally, with no police involvement ever. I was forced to live inside my home, forced to walk around with bodyguards. I guess I always just assumed my dad had enemies, but I didn’t realize he was part of a complex underground world.” Sweat was beading down her forehead, so I linked my fingers with hers and pressed our hands against her waist.

“So Isles became a haven?” she asked, and I nodded.

“Yeah, there is a rule set here. As long as you are in city limits or are coming into Isles, then you are considered safe and in neutral territory. If you venture out into the woods, that is when it’s considered fair game.”

“So, us being out here is dangerous . . . Are there lots of criminal organizations that rule Isles?” she whispered, as if someone could hear us out here.

“Sure. Tons. Most of the heads of these organizations learned about Isles and got together to send their kids here to get an education. It is the one thing they all managed to agree on to keep this place safe.”

“My entire life just changed, Ash. I had no idea. I mean, maybe I did deep down, but I think I was too naive, too sheltered to even realize that my father and grandfather would be involved in anything but stocks and some shady dealings. I always just assumed they dealt with people’s money, like laundered it. I never realized it was far deeper.”

“I am sorry that they kept you in the dark like that. You deserved to know the truth,” I stated, leaning down so my mouth was hovering over her forehead. Her back was snug against my chest as our hands interlaced across her waist. The way we were sitting was so familiar yet something I had never done before.

I’d had my fair share of women, fucking women, but the moment they displayed any intimacy after sex, I pushed them away. My dad had always warned me about getting too close to people because you never knew who was going to backstab you. Now look at me, I was in bed with the literal enemy of the cartel. The daughter of the head of the damned Italian Mafia, a princess in the making.

“A-are you okay?” I asked.

She let out a deep breath. “Yeah, it just changes my perspective on everything. I guess that is what Walsh meant when he said, ‘Isles changes everything about you.’”

“It does.” It had to be the one time I agreed with the asshole.

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