Page 28 of Rotten Men

Now it’s Vincent’s turn to smirk sinisterly.

“I didn’t think it would be,” he nonchalantly adds.

“Enough of this alpha bullshit. What I want to know is why Red came back, and how the hell are we going to convince her to get the hell out of dodge before one ofThe Butcher’sgoons find out she’s here?” Dominic growls, infuriated with the staring match between Vincent and me. As always, I’m the first to concede.

“The only way she’ll go is if we help her.”

“That’s not happening,” Vincent replies stoically.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Vince! We can’t protect her and give her shit at the same time,” Dominic spews, too worked up to keep his volume down.

“Dom, I won’t budge on this. Remember, she left us. Us! She doesn’t deserve our help now when she didn’t ask for it before. She’s smart enough to clean up her own messes.”

“Not this time. And technically, it’s not her mess,” I murmur, thinking this might be my only shot to divulge Selene’s current predicament.

“So you did get something out of her?” Vincent ventures curiously.

“I did. Not that you’ll like her reasoning, but yeah. I know why she’s here,” I mumble, thinking if it’s best to rip off the Band-Aid in one quick pull or use kid gloves instead.

“Not surprised. Anything pertaining to Selene isn’t to my liking,” Vince mumbles under his breath.

“Liar,” I can’t help but retort.

“Just out with it, Gio! What does she want?” Dom asks, concerned.

The love he holds for her is just as deep and consuming as it always was. It bleeds out of him so clearly that it makes Vincent uncomfortable to see it swim in front of his eyes.

I call bullshit though.

Even though Vincent is hurt bybella’schoice to leave us all those years ago, there is no question in my mind that she is still the only woman who has ever lived in his heart. It’s like that for all three of us; Dom unintentionally wears it as a badge of honor and loves our girl the way he does, while Vincent has it buried in the darkest place of his soul—never giving it any light, in fear it will grow to a proportion he may no longer be able to control. We all have our ways to cope with such a whirlwind, lost love.

Years can pass like autumn turns to spring with the changing seasons, and nothing can ever erase the love we have for her. No warm body at night; no fuck can come close to just one of her genuine smiles. She is, and will always be, everything to us. Even with the bombshell she laid on me before I left her room this morning, not for one second did it make me love her any less. And for all Vincent’s pride, I know it won’t make a shit of difference to him either. When she was on the run, she made a life for herself. One that didn’t involve us. But I doubt we ever strayed far from her mind—or her heart.

I’d bet my life on it.

“Gio? I’m dying here!” Dominic continues to grunt.

I sneak a glimpse at Vincent, who still looks unfazed with everything he’s heard so far. I hope he braces himself because this is going to land quite a kick on the balls.

“Selene needs help clearing a friend’s name. Someone she cares about is locked up for a bogus murder charge. Cops aren’t helping since they have their perp, and you know how they like nice, clean busts rather than looking for the actual murderer. The lawyer is even insisting on a guilty plea since the evidence seems pretty incriminating,” I explain, leaving out the most important detail.

“What does she want us to do about it?”

“First, she wants us to get some guys on the inside to offer protection to her friend. Second, she wants us to make sure this all goes away. Either find the real bastard who gave some schmuck the dirt nap, or throw the full weight of the syndicate at it and make the charges disappear. Whatever works,” I explain.

“Shit, that’s it? Don’t see a problem pulling some strings to make that happen. Where is he being held up?” Dom asks hopefully.

“The Cheatham County Jail.”

Dom scrunches his brow, unable to place its location, and grabs his mobile to Google it.

“Don’t bother. It’s in Tennessee,” Vincent informs, his scrutinizing gaze never leaving me.

“Friend, huh? Did she come back to shark-infested waters for a friend? I find it highly unlikely Selene would willingly put her life at risk by returning to Outfit territory because her friend needs help. There’s something you’re not telling us, Giovanni. And I have no time for guessing games,” Vincent warns point blank.

Shit.

“Maybe I’m using the term a bit loosely,” I begin to falter.

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