Page 34 of Don't Break My Heart
He turns back to me, leaning into the vanity, looking way too confident for a man who just had a knife at his throat. “You’re a powerful woman, Miss Stryker. We both know what you’re capable of, and now you have been handed the Moretti legacy. You know whoI am, I’m sure you know I’m also very powerful. Together we could be unstoppable.”
I raise a brow. This is a business meeting? “My name is Ava Moretti,” I correct him. I’m not sure why, but him calling me Stryker is unnerving, like he knows more about me than I want him to.
Amusement dances on his lips. “We both know it’s not. The Morettis have ruled over this town for far too long, taking what they want—business, territories, people.” His eyes lock with mine, a flash of pain in his pale blue irises that I feel right through to my soul. It’s the most unusual blue I have ever seen, but strangely, I have seen it before this week, and that alone sends a shiver down my spine. “I know you were forced into a marriage you don’t want to be in. A life sentence for crimes you didn’t commit. My baby sister had the same unfortunate fate.” His voice is shaky now, filled with raw emotion that I can feel right through to my own heart. “I did everything I could to save her, but it was no use. Fucking Emilio had my parents backed into a corner. She agreed to save them.”
“Your sister is Daisy?” I gasp, already knowing it’s true. They have the same eyes, the same sadness in their features. I don’t think he’s the enemy Emilio painted him to be.
The bathroom door flies open with a crash into the marble wall. I turn back to see what the fuck is going on behind me, and in a flash of black fabric Dante slips past me, escaping the same way he came in, right as Onyx and Reef fly through the door, guns drawn.
Onyx fires off a couple of shots in his direction.
“No, don’t shoot,” I cry, surprising even myself.
Reef comes running toward me and drags me out of the bathroom and around a corner, out of sight of the rest of the room. “What the fuck, wildcat?” He looks me over with concern, searching for any signs of injuries.
“Dante Conti,” I gasp, still trying to process what just happened.
Reef’s face contorts in anger. “Did he hurt you?” His hands come to my shoulders, and he pulls me into him. It’s then I realize my body is trembling all over.
“No. I think I hurt him.”
“What?”
“He snuck up on me, and I pulled a knife on him. But Reef, I don’t think he’s the enemy Romeo and Orlando think he is. There is more going on here.”
“What makes you say that?” Onyx asks, joining us.
“I had a knife to his throat, but he could have tried to overpower me, and he didn’t. He didn’t lay a finger on me. He just wanted to talk.”
“No man in his position wants to just talk to the wife of his enemies. He’s after something,” Onyx growls, furious. “No more going to the bathroom alone. From now on you hold it or we come with you.”
Irritation gnaws at me. Can’t he see I had it handled? I’m not some helpless little girl. “Yeah, he does, he wants the power to get his sister back.” I glare at both of them. “Did you know Daisy is his sister? Traded to Valentine just like I was to Orlando.”
I feel Reef stiffen, and I can tell by both their expressions that neither of them had any idea.
“He’s fucking beating her, Reef, I’m sure of it.” He takes my hands in his. “You know this isn’t right just as much as I do. We can’t just stand by and watch him become his papa. All the fucking power to treat people however the fuck he wants. I don’t know Dante, but you get a gut feeling about people, right? I knew it with you the first time I met you, you’re a good person even under all the shit you’ve been through. You have a good heart. I knew from the first time I met Valentine that he was pure evil just like his papa. Onyx, you know whathe’s capable of. You have to agree with me.” I can hear the desperation in my voice. I need them to see what I do, to understand why I can’t just hand it all over to Valentine.
“We can’t just take Orlando and Romeo’s word for it. They’re protecting Valentine because he’s family,” Onyx agrees with me.
“We have to because he’s the only way you and Orlando get out of this life sentence,” Reef says with more urgency to his tone, and I feel the weight of all of this pressing down on him. Is this what he and Romeo are fighting about? He wants us to go home, and Romeo is asking for more time? It sure looks that way.
“Exactly, but what if there is another way?” I shrug.
Onyx’s face turns deadly serious. “If you’re suggesting siding with Dante, they will never agree to it.”
My head drops, knowing it’s true. They will never in a million years agree to something as crazy as what I’m suggesting. “Maybe we take the decision out of their hands.”
“Trouble,” Onyx warns.
I push out of Reef’s hold on me. “I can’t stand by and watch another person’s life be destroyed knowing I could have done something to save her.”
Onyx’s eyes flare with anger. “You can’t save everyone. We’ve talked about this,” he growls, and I know I’m pushing him.
“What if I can?”
Reef’s head drops, and he runs a hand through his long hair. He looks exhausted, and I feel bad, knowing it’s all my fault. “Don’t you want to go home?” he asks, a flash of sadness in his eyes.
I take his hand in mine, giving it a squeeze. “Yes. More than anything. But how selfish would I be, escaping this place and leaving her behind? Daisy is an innocent girl caught up in another Moretti mess. And she’s just the start, we all know there are more lives at risk here,innocent women who have been through hell at the hands of this kind of evil. I can’t do this alone, I need your help, then we can go home.” My eyes plead with them to understand my position on this. This is bigger than us, there is more at stake here than just four lives.
