Page 132 of Vito

"You've always trusted us," Dom reminds us. "Hell, you even reserved Nina for caring for Sophie and the baby here if needed."

Massimo and I exchange a look; neither of us is sure of the next step. If my suspicions about the Chamber are correct, Lixin and Amazu need a third leader on their side.

Which means one of them is against us.

Or both.

Even if it's not Ash, if he finds out about Cutt, we'll be up shit creek without a paddleanda hole in the boat.

Dom rubs his face. "It's time to come clean." He looks at Ash, who dips his chin.

My stomach drops. There's no way they know I love Eden; that I've been secretly sleeping with her these past months.

Massimo and Raf shift closer to me.

But it makes no sense that Ash and Dom would confront me here, on our fortified estate, surrounded by all our guards.

Unless they expect Massimo to side with them as the rules of our world dictate if any criminal crosses the line regarding Gilly's.

"Let's not be so fucking cryptic, Dom," I say calmly, deciding to face this head-on.

His jaw tenses, but then relaxes. "I've been getting subtly groomed."

Okay… That wasn't what I was expecting to come out of his mouth.

"Please explain, Dom," Massimo rumbles.

"Something is off regarding Ed." He shifts his weight between his feet. "My first commitment is to the Saints, followed by my commitment and protection of the Chamber. The Chamber benefits me, as well as all of us, for both power and money. I'm not going to fuck that up."

"Where does the grooming come in?" Raf prods.

Dom smirks. He's cunning and intelligent, although he's okay with people thinking he's only a street thug. "It's been subtle, but it has ramped up over the past weeks. Mygroomersare Lixin and Amazu."

His statement confirms my suspicions. I don't feel smug or validated, just a hungry desire to find Lixin and Amazu and make them fucking pay.

"Do you think they're the ones who grabbed Ed?" Massimo asks.

Dom rakes his teeth over his bottom lip. "I'm not sure. Like I said, they’ve been subtle and haven’t mentioned their end goal. I only know that they’ve been trying to get me on their side to influence the Chamber’s decision on something as the third vote, but I'm not sure for what. After today…" He runs his hands through his hair. "Maybe sabotage of some kind? ButI don't see how controlling Gilly's would help with whatever they're planning. Either way, I suspect they had a hand in what happened to Ed last night; which lends weight to the possibility that they took her today."

Ash isn't reacting to what Dom shares, so these two must have already discussed this.

"You think Lixin is responsible for the attack on Ed last night?" Massimo asks. "He was there so quickly, but so were you, Dom."

A flash of guilt moves over his features. "There was a street race close by; that part was the truth. However, Hugo and I weren't there; we were following Lixin, but we lost him about half an hour before the attack on Ed. If I had any idea that Ed was a target, we would've headed straight for Gilly's after losing Lixin."

"What do you think his plan was?" I ask, keeping my tone neutral. "To actually take her out or to make him look like her savior?"

"I have two theories: he was trying to grab her last night or he was trying to gain her trust by swooping in to save her."

"It seems like they may want something from Ed," Raf chimes in, testing what they know.

"I think so, too." Dom drags his hand over his head. "But I'm stumped on what their end goal is."

"Amazu?" Massimo crosses his arms over his chest, looking at Ash. "And what happened with him last night?"

"The call for one of us to pick his drunk ass up," Ash grits. "Pretty sure we were played, Mass."

Dom looks between them. "There really is internal fighting happening with the Fire Clan. I think Bill doesn't like whatever Amazu is getting them involved in, and there are fires of rebellion brewing. I've considered going to Bill with my suspicions, but I need hard evidence for them to go through with mutiny and denounce their leader.

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