Page 11 of Savage Reign

“You're trying to kill away the emotions you’re feeling right now.”

“Whatever,” he muttered, moving over to the minibar in the corner of the room. He opted out of a glass and drank directly from the bottle.

I watched him for a beat. “You don’t think so? Did you interrogate them? See if we can find out where Sebastian Cline is hiding?”

He didn’t answer me, but fuck me, I didn’t need him to. I shook my head. I tried to rein in my anger. Fuck, but what the hell was I supposed to do? Silas was a former shell of himself, throwing himself into work and on the streets, hoping he would gain any information on Mila’s whereabouts, and Killian just fucking disappeared, only to come back hours later covered in fucking blood. Had the fucker Agent Jones caught sight of him, our lawyers would have a hard time explaining this away.

“What are you doing, Killian?” I asked, resigned.

He didn’t answer me. Just took another sip.

I knew how he was feeling. He was angry Mila left and scared she wouldn’t come back, or something might happen to her without our protection, or fuck me, might be gone from us for good. I knew because this was how I was feeling, but to do shit like this? How the hell was I supposed to hold us all together if they both kept acting like loose cannons?

“You know, I would have gone straight home if I had known all you were going to do is lecture me.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You should have gone there to wash off all the blood and lie low. Why the hell are you driving around town and coming in and out of this place like that?” There was no doubt the Feds were watching this place. We were supposed to have opened this new club last week, but the date had been pushed out when Mila left.

No one knew why there was a delay, and no one questioned us about it, but I was sure this would have drawn the attention of the Feds.

“Didn’t want to scare Rachel,” Killian answered.

I pointed to the private bathroom attached to the office. “Go clean up.”

He left without a word. I grabbed the bottle out of his hand when it looked like he was about to take it with him to the bathroom. He shot me a look but smartly kept his mouth shut. The last thing I needed was to try and haul his drunk ass out of the shower because the fucker fell and couldn’t get up.

I waited until the door closed behind him before I leaned back on the desk and took in my surroundings.

Fuck, but I missed her.

The last thingI fucking wanted to do was work, but the world didn’t stop running just because it felt like my world had imploded.

We got out of the car when it stopped at the back entrance to the Late Night Oasis, the small tavern owned by one of our men and also the place of the first meeting with the Cadorna Famiglia.

Setting up a second meeting here was on purpose. It reminded Vincent Cadorna that he was in Tiernan territory, and he would be wise to keep that in mind when he spoke to me. And with the way I was feeling now, it wouldn’t do if he provoked me.

I glanced from one side to the other at my brothers. Hell, with the way things were, I doubt I could stop Killian or Silas from doing something rash.

We walked through the tavern’s doors, and Cian, the owner, greeted us with a slight bow of his head.

Vincent had already arrived and, from the looks of it, drank more than half a bottle of wine. Silas pulled his lips back in a sneer at the sight, and I quietly brushed over his arm, reminding him to keep his face neutral. The last thing I wanted was an all-out war in Chicago. Not when we were already warring with the Heartless Saints, or whatever was left of them.

Vincent didn’t stand when we got close, and I narrowed my eyes at the show of disrespect. He smiled at me, even as his second in command didn’t show any reaction.

Giovanni DeMarco was a little harder to read than his capo, but what I did know about him made little sense to me on why he was working under a man like Cadorna. If things went to shit, he would be the first one I took out.

“Gentlemen,” I greeted, taking a seat. Killian and Silas followed suit. Vincent’s beady little eyes followed the men I had spread out over the restaurant, his eyes sticking to Emilio, who had taken position standing behind me.

I didn’t need to turn around to know my men were sizing his men up. Last time, we came here in good faith and left our men outside the restaurant.

This time, Vincent decided he needed an entourage of men to protect him, but I wondered if he realized just how…vulnerablehe looked. I smirked a little at that, and the fucker squirmed in his seat. It was a surprise he even made it this far as capo. But this position was one he inherited from his father, and old man Valentino was known for his cruelty. A man who had even made my own father look like a schoolboy.

My eyes shifted over to Giovanni. He was expressionless, but his eyes were sharp as they took in the room and all the men surrounding them. It was as if he was trying to assess whether or not he would make it out of here if Vincent said one wrong thing.

“How good to see you again, Maverick,” Vincent said, taking a huge sip of his drink. I held in a sigh. I loathed making business deals with drunks. His lack of self-control was already making it hard for me to see the good side of this business deal.

“Have you thought about what we discussed?” Killian asked, getting right on topic. I briefly glanced over at him. I knew he was one trigger away from exploding but hid it well, at least.

“Of course. And we decided to take you up on the offer.”

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