Page 101 of Vito

Raf palms his forehead in disbelief. He may have guessed that I slept with Eden, but he never even considered contemplating how far down the rabbit hole I had tumbled. "You blew complicated right out of the fucking water, didn't you, Vito?"

The fight goes out of Axin immediately, and his eyes dart over my face, trying to read the authenticity of my confession.

"Shit," he breathes, then shakes his head. "You realize Ohith may very well kill you for this."

"He can get in line." I give him a small shove before letting him go. "It doesn't change the fact that I love Eden and will do everything in my power to protect her, including dying."

Stalking away, I wipe my bloody nose. My need to get to Eden is making me insane. I pull out my phone and text her our code for needing to see her urgently and immediately.

I need you to order more of my preferred bourbon

I'm not sure how long I'll have to wait, but her reply comes almost immediately.

Sorry, that's on backorder right now

I'll be in touch soon for alternative options

Fuck!

"Breathe, brother."

I realize Raf is sandwiched between me and the door, and I'm gripping the handle, trying to leave.

"If you bust in there, staking a claim on her and that she's yours to protect, what will that do?" Axin's hands are fisted. "It will put a fucking bullet between her eyes before sunrise. That'sit."

I know he's right, but I'm a man of action. I protect my family, and Eden is that. She's my family. My fucking world.

Plus, my possessiveness is almost as bad as my protectiveness, and I'm man enough to admit I'm jealous that Lixin was there to protect her. As I acknowledge that jealousy, it brings a wave of clarity.

"Why the hell was Lixin there in the first place?" I ask.

"It's a good question," Axin grinds out. "I don't know at this point."

"How did he seem when he arrived?" Raf asks, catching on.

Axin paces amongst the bolts of fabric. "Intent. Quick to act. He didn't hesitate to kill them."

My jealousy rises another notch, thinking of his behavior in the bar when he asked Eden to join the Chamber heads to sit with them, and he splayed his hand across the top of her back.

Like he was staking a claim on her.

Axin holds his phone for me to see. "Eden sent me these. She took pictures of the assailants before Lixin's clean-up team arrived."

I carefully study the pictures. I don't recognize the men. When I flip to the third picture, I freeze.

Raf notices immediately. "What is it, Vito?"

I'm staring at a picture of a tattoo showing three snakes coiled around each other, looking like they're eating one another with a trident in the middle.

I've seen that tattoo before.

Only it wasn't on the neck like it is on the dead guy in the picture; it was on a wrist.

Manuel Morales's wrist, to be exact.

"I need to talk to Massimo.Now."

Chapter 28

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