Page 54 of Lines Drawn
“You are part of that, Antonio. If you need to stay, I'm not letting you do it alone. I don't trust him.”
“I…” He falters. “I can't trust him anymore…”
“Shhh, come here.” Jude helps him up into his lap, the smaller man curling around himself. “It's going to be okay. Whatever happens, he's not allowed to hurt you anymore. I got you. I…” Jude swallows and closes his eyes. “I love you, Bello. And I'm going to take care of you.”
Antonio cries, and I have to look away. Not because my feelings are hurt over Jude sayingthosewords, I don't need them, I know how he feels about me. But the least we can do is give them as much privacy as possible.
Doc steps forward, away from Dr. Ranlen and Soren. “I need to stay. I don't condone what they're doing, but Cristian was the first person to ever believe in me. And I need to see if there's any of that left in him. I can take care of Luca, make sure he doesn't get into trouble, and keep the assholes alive—or put them down. Either way, for now, I'm staying put. Kail and Rose will go to help with the medical stuff, but Daddy and the trips will stay here with me.”
“We can't trust him, Doc,” Ten says.
“I know.” Doc’s voice wavers. “I know. But one of us has to try, Tennant. You need to be with your family, to help keep them alive, and I need to do the same here. Plus,” he looks between Carter, Lio, and me, “I have James, and maybe Jayden, if he's not too pissed to work PT with Cristian and Luca. Joel will obviously follow Ten anywhere. But…the three of them can easily stay in communication with one another. It'll be helpful for us to have that.”
“If they get caught…” Lio says.
“It's a risk they'll willingly take,” Doc replies. “But we'll be careful.”
“I could probably help with that,” Leandro says. “I'd offer to stay as well, but Cristian knows too much about me to trust that. But…the dining room isn't the only place I bugged or have access to.”
“The first move they'll make is having our people lock you out of our systems,” Marcus points out.
Leandro grins. “I like a challenge.”
“I'm more than happy to have the Amatos and De Lucas as allies,” Lio says carefully. Then, one by one, he looks at eachMartelli, and the tension in the room becomes palpable as we wait for their responses.
“Of course, I’m coming with you, Lio.” Benjamin’s announcement doesn’t take anyone by surprise.
“Thank you.” Lio exhales and loses some of the tension in his shoulders.
“Someone has to keep watch of everyone medically. Roman and Ignacio still need to recover, and if anything else were to happen… As Doc said, we’ll have help setting things up, and I’ll take point in that area. And yes, we will be bringing Ignacio. I don’t trust him with Cristian or Allesandro.” Dr. Ranlen’s voice is calm, but she leans into Doc.
I know how hard this must be for her. Il Padrone saved her life, and to walk away is hard…but it’s the right thing to do, and when—because I have to believe it’s when—Il Padrone gets his ass out of his head, he’ll be thankful she went with Lio.
I exchange a glance with Keegan, because we talked about this extensively last night. I shift uncomfortably and brace myself for this to go wrong. “Keegan, Cole, and I will also leave. But we’d like permission to join as De Lucas. If Carter will have us.”
Carter’s eyes brighten as he stares at us. “Of course. It would be an honor to have War and Mayhem. And you know I already consider Cole mine.”
“We know,” Keegan’s deep voice rumbles. “That’s partially why we want to be with you. That, and you deserve to be followed. We will be loyal to you.”
Carter manages a nod, but nothing else. The emotion is seemingly too thick for him to respond verbally. I switch my attention to Lio, whose eyes have tightened, and there’s a slight downturn of his lips, but he inclines his head in acknowledgment. I know this hurts him, and I hate to do it, but Carter needs us. He doesn’t have a solid team. We will provide that for him.
“I…I’ll go. But I don’t want to be away from Jude,” Antonio’s soft voice breaks the strained silence. “I remain committed to the Family, but right now, that’s you, Lio.”
“We will all be at the O’Connel Mansion,” Roman responds, sweat beginning to dot his forehead from exertion. “You don’t have to choose between him and Lio.”
Exhaling, Antonio snuggles even closer to Jude, which I didn’t think was possible. “Then I, and the twins, will follow you, Lio.”
“Thank you. I know that’s hard,” Lio says gently, his fingers twitching as he struggles to stay still. “Just…thank you all.”
“We do need to hurry. They may be drugged, but that will only last for so long,” Dr. Ranlen cuts in, before sending a warning look to Doc. “And giving them more isn’t an option.”
“Even if it would keep them under control…” Doc mutters quietly, and it breaks the rest of the lingering pressure as some chuckle. Fuck knows I do.
The assholes deserve to be drugged. This isn’t the Il Padrone I know. I do wish Doc luck in dealing with them. Getting out is the best fucking option.
There’s a flurry of action, and I grab Keegan’s hand, standing. Carter puts a hand on our chests, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Are you sure?”
“With you? Yes. We believe in you, and have your back.” I have no doubt we’re doing the right thing, even if it feels slightly wrong. He’s a good man, one worthy of being a leader. I’ll forever be grateful to the old Il Padrone, the one who rescued me from my family when I was almost dead, who helped shape me into War. But he’s no longer there, and while I respect Lio… It’s Carter who needs us—and we need him, even if we aren’t sure why yet.
