Page 8 of Whispered Desire

“What the hell? I thought he wanted to bring you into the family business.”

Enzo D’Amora is the head of Boston’s Italian mafia, and despite abandoning Luca at Blackchapel Manor, the don has made several overtures to his bastard son, inviting him into the D’Amora fold. Because if there’s one thing the Italian mafia loves more than wielding power, it’s blood ties.

Out of all of our fathers, Enzo was the closest to Conrad. He may have gone along with The Syndicate’s decision to blackball Conrad, but he’d trusted the man enough to leave Luca with him after his mother died.

Sometimes I wonder if Enzo regretted that choice, since his friend’s bitterness toward The Syndicate became more obvious over the years.

Like Enzo’s trying to make up for years of neglect by welcoming Luca back into the family fold.

“Maybe he changed his mind after I attended his birthday celebration. Perhaps the fallout of associating with an illegitimate son is too much for his old heart to weather.” Luca shrugs, as if learning his father ordered a hit on him is an everyday occurrence.

“Let's set up extra surveillance on D’Amora in case he plans to send someone else to finish the job.”

“Jonah’s on it already. He and Dmitri have a Blackthorn team heading there now. Oh, and the jet is ready when you are. I called ahead to move up our departure.”

“Good thinking. Let them know I want wheels up in thirty.” That’ll give me enough time for a quick shower and to pack my carry-on. Then I can relax for six hours.

And absolutely not dwell on the woman I'm leaving behind.

***

Once our private jet lands in Boston, I text everyone to meet me in the main living room of the manor. What used to be a twisted sort of home school for us has become our base and shelter.

A vast improvement because Conrad Steele is gone.

"Rafe, I need you to run a background check on Allison Fields."

"The woman who risked her life for you?" he asks from his spot on the couch playing a racing game on the huge TV mounted on the wall.

"Yeah, and I want to know why. Even if the attack was meant for Luca, it's still suspicious how she leaped in front of me. Maybe it's a distraction from another trap lying in wait."

“Always so paranoid."

"For good reason." I smack the back of Rafe's head. As the youngest of our brotherhood, he gets the little brother treatment. "We're the Blackchapel Bastards. They don’t call us that because we're fucking choir boys. We have enemies, and the only way to stay alive is by remaining multiple steps ahead of them."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Rafe groans, keeping his focus on the screen where a red car flies past his black one. He's heard this spiel before. They all have. But I'll repeat it until I'm blue in the face if it means keeping my family safe.

"Has anyone heard from Alek today?" I ask, changing the subject to our brother currently locked in prison.

He's been undercover the past eighteen months to infiltrate his and Dmitri's father's organization.

Sergei Petrov is the world's premier arms dealer and a dangerous son of a bitch. He's aware of Dmitri's existence, but their mother escaped Sergei's hold before he learned of Aleksei. We're hoping that secret pays off by having Alek climb the ladder of men leading straight to Sergei's place on top.

The rest of us don’t have that advantage with our fathers. They’re well aware of our identities, and while a few are curious about bringing an illegitimate son into their business, the majority remain ambivalent, focused on what matters to them: money and power.

Like my dad, Louis Petit.

Too bad he'll be losing both things soon enough.

"I called him this morning," Dmitri says. "Oleg Kasik approached him at dinner last night. With Alek's release in three months, they're planning on taking him to Petrov where he'll learn his next mission. It's a good sign. Means he's gained Sergei's trust enough to see the inner workings of the compound. That’ll help when it's time to burn it to the fucking ground."

We all nod, looking forward to the day when the game of revenge we've been playing since boyhood finally comes to an end.

CHAPTER FIVE

ALLISON

“Have you seen my glasses?” The hospital is finally releasing me, so I can fly home later this afternoon, but I really don't want to travel blind as a bat. I gently shake the bedding again and pray the glasses appear.

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