Page 99 of Vito

He answers and speaks quietly. "Gilly's has been hit. Ed is fine. Stand the fuck down." Then the motherfucker hangs up on me.

But a different kind of alarm goes off because Massimo knew to tell me Eden was okay and warned me to stand down.

Does my big brother know?

I can't worry about that right now.

I gun my engine, tires squealing on the concrete and echoing in the parkade. A guard opens the door just in time for my beast on wheels to squeeze through. I crank the wheel hard for the turn, gunning the engine once I'm on the street. I quickly relay the little I know to Raf.

"Fucking hell," he hisses, then twists his head to me. "Listen to Axin and Massimo. Don't go blazing into Gilly's."

"Raf—"

"No, fuckingno, Vito." He slaps the dash. "I'm not an idiot. You don't do complicated, right?" He scoffs, shoving his hand through his dark hair. "But if what I think has happened the past two months has happened, you'll put a bigger target on her back. Do you want that?"

My back molars feel like they'll crumble with how hard I grind my teeth.

His hand grips my shoulder. "I got your back, and Ed's, too, in whatever this is."

We're silent as I speed toward 915 Dumont. My mind is racing with a horror-picture-show of what could have possibly happened to her.

She hadn't even called or texted me about what happened.

Because she couldn't. It was too risky to pick up the phone and call or text me without our code. We couldn't have a fucking normal relationship. I bang on the steering wheel in frustration.

My phone dings with a text, and Raf grabs my phone from the console.

"Focus on the road," he grunts. "It's from Axin. He's giving us an address where to park. Telling us to come to the back of the building from the alley. He'll take care of the CCTVs."

I focus on calming myself while not killing us as I break about ten traffic laws. I have to get into predator mode and hide behind my unreadable mask. One mistake and things could become deadly for Eden. The other Chamber heads will be on-site with Massimo. I can't be reactive and panicked; I need to be focussed and be strategic.

I pull into the parking garage Axin told us to, trusting that he'll take care of the CCTVs.

Raf and I get out and move to my trunk. I grab a jacket with a hood, and he's already pulling up his hood. I grab another knife and gun to add to what I already have on me, and Raf takes what he needs.

I slam the trunk shut, and we start walking, Raf matching me stride for stride. We follow the route Axin told us to take so he can erase our presence if anyone thinks to look. We keep to the shadows, though, because if someone sees us 'live,' that's a whole other complication. We enter the black alley like two monsters in the night and approach the back door of 915 Dumont. The door opens, and we slip inside without hesitating.

Axin locks it behind us, his ghostly pale skin looking more so in the hallway's dim light.

"What is this place?" Raf asks as we take off our hoods.

"Ohith bought it when Eden took over Gilly's, so we had a base to keep an eye on her." Axin is as unreadable as me as he stares at me. "Care to tell me why Eden wanted me to contact you?"

Okay, that answers one of my questions—and eases some of my tension, thinking that I hadn't been as unreadable and clandestine as I'd thought I was these past months. Ohith andAxin didn't know the lines Eden and I had crossed; they only knew we were connected somehow through what happened with Cutt and Jax.

"No," I say flatly.

His jaw works as he stares at me with narrowed eyes, trying to see inside my head. Finally, he jerks his chin down the hallway. "Come."

He walks ahead of us with a slight limp. He's lean and could be mistaken for harmless.

"What did she say, Axin? What the fuck happened?" My hand is itching to pull my knife and make him talk and give me more than what he is.

We come out of the hallway and enter a small fabric shop. It's dark in here; the only light is from the streetlights coming in the front window. He pulls out his phone and shows me Eden's text.

I'm fine. Gilly's was attacked. Please relay this to our mutual friend and tell him to STAND DOWN

Fuck that, and everyone telling me to stand down when my woman was fucking attacked.

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