Page 87 of Convenient Mafia Vows

Only then will everyone in my employ know what happens when they disappoint a Murray.

“Let me handle it.” Terry is already out of the door, flanked by Cash and Bash, cell phone raised to his ear. “You stay here.”

“No can do.” I follow him into the corridor, everyone else on my heels.

No one asks how—the details are unimportant. We know why, and we now have a location. Sitting around and waiting for more information to land in our laps isn’t an option.

“You’re too involved,” Terry shoots back. “Mistakes will happen.”

“Caleb, wait.” This is Mom. “You know Terry is right.”

I stop and turn around to face them. Terry will handle this his way, and I’m not about to stop him. He always gets results. But Victoria is my wife, and this is personal. No one touches the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with and walks away unscathed.

“The only mistake here is Olivia Dragonetti thinking that she can win.” My voice is cold. I’m calm. Calmer than I’ve ever been, because I have a purpose, and that purpose is Victoria. “Go home, Mom. Keep Abigail safe.”

“Caleb.” She shakes her head, and I can see the same fear in her eyes that I saw when I was a little kid, and she was scared that our father would hurt us.

“Don’t worry about me, Mom.” I pull her into a hug, kiss the top of her head, and then walk away.

Kyle matches my stride. “I’m coming with you.”

“I’m doing this alone.”

“Caleb, for fuck’s sake. She has Sienna too. Five years I’ve wasted wishing that I could go back and change what happened; you can’t take this away from me now.”

I don’t slow down. Terry and the twins have already disappeared, and I’m grateful to have them as backup, but how do I tell my big brother that it’s my duty to keep him safe. That I worry he’s too fragile to get involved in this situation. That holding a gun to the head of our family’s enemies isn’t his strength.

“I’ll bring her back, I promise. You’ll get your chance to tell her everything.”

I use portable flashing lights on the roof of the car to beat the traffic. In the basement parking lot at the Wraith, I switch the car for the Harley, fasten my helmet, and head to the exit, the engine thrumming between my legs.

I don’t know what makes me stop, but I slide my cell from my pocket and check the tracker on Abigail’s phone. My heart skips a beat when I find that it’s moving. Heading north, towards Lake Placid. Good girl—she’s learning.

It almost feels wrong to be heading out of the city without Victoria behind me. I focus on the moments we’ve shared in the short space of time since she agreed to be my wife, watching her in the dressing room mirror, tasting her for the first time, burying my face between her legs in the elevator, fucking her in the rooftop pool. But it’s when I picture her eating lamb on rice out of greasy paper, the tears in her eyes in the theater, the way she nestled against me on the Byway with the city lights in the distance that my cool resolve almost crumbles.

Fuck the alliance.

Fuck this way of life if it means that I can’t have her.

I promised to keep her safe, and I’ve not done a great job of it so far.

There’s no sign of Terry when I stop at the abandoned warehouse in Lake Placid that he mentioned before, but I’m not the first to arrive. Vans with black-tinted windows block the entry points, and half a dozen guns are pointed at my head before I even dismount and remove my helmet.

I raise my hands in front of me, palms facing outward. “I don’t want any trouble. I’m here to find my wife.”

A man steps forward from behind the weapons. Unarmed. I recognize the thick dark hair, prominent eyebrows, and narrow lips. Lev Petrov. Ivan’s father.

“We can’t let you through.”

There’s a pistol in my inside pocket and a knife tucked inside my boot. I’d maybe take down one, two if I’m lucky, before they kill me, but if they wanted me eradicated, they’d have done it already.

“This isn’t up for debate.” I lower my hands slowly. “I meant what I said: I’m not here to cause trouble between our families. But my wife is inside that warehouse—” I nod in the direction of the building behind Lev and his men “—and I’m not leaving without her.”

“My son is also inside that warehouse.” Lev remains where he is, protected by the guns still pointing at my head. “You may not wish to form an alliance between our families, but I take no chances when it comes to my son’s life. No one enters the building unless I say they do.”

“I wish Ivan no harm… So long as my wife is safe.”

Lev’s mouth twitches at the corners. “My son is hotheaded, but he does not kill without good reason.”

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