Page 46 of Fragile Union

Maksim puts his cell away. “Call it a peace offering. Had I known that she was your wife, I would have put an end to this. Please pass on my apology to Holly.”

My teeth grind at him using my wife’s name.

“Peace offering?” Dante questions. He too seems to be having a hard time believing that there’ll be no come back for Dimitri’s death.

Maksim rises and his men follow. “Yes, a peace offering. But Dante, piss me off, and we’ll go to war.”

Dante glares at him. “Oh, Maksim, you do not want to threaten me.”

The fucker merely smiles. “Until next time. Please, send my regards to your wives.”

“I’ll fucking kill him,” I grind out, pissed as fuck that the asshole thinks it’s okay to talk about my wife as though he knows her.

“Not before I do. Fucking slick fuck,” Dante says as we rise, I’m ready to get the fuck out of here and home to Holly.

The Russian’s have already left. Carter’s hovering as though he wants to say something but neither Dante nor I are in the mood to listen to him ramble about shit. I’m still pissed at what happened this morning, watching Holly punch the fucking bitch sure as fuck made it a whole lot better.

Who knew my wife had such a good right hook?

As we walk back to our vehicle, the unsettled feeling that I had is back with vengeance. A war is coming and I sure as fuck hope that whoever’s planning on trying to take us down knows what they’re up against. None of us will go down without a fight. I’ll tear anyone a part who dares to even try.

Seventeen

HOLLY

It’s been two days since that skank turned up at Makenna’s house dressed in her underwear and we’ve not heard from her since. Rome’s confident that I put her in her place when I punched her, I however don’t believe she’s run away with her tail between her legs. I have a sickening feeling she’ll be back and when she does, she’ll turn her bitchiness up another notch.

“So…” Makenna drawls, her gaze moving across the room. We’ve all been summoned. Every Irish family member that’s in the US and that’s a whole lot of us, seeing as Da, Danny, and Melissa are still here.

“We’ve not heard anything from the Russian’s and while I’d like to believe they’re all for a peace offering, I’m not that trusting and I call bullshit.”

Jade’s gaze collides with mine and she rolls her eyes. She’s annoyed she’s had to fly in from Chicago with the rest of her family. Her court case is in a few months and if she’s caught out of town, she’ll be in even more trouble than she is. But Makenna and Dante insisted that every Irish and Italian family member be in attendance.

“We still need to be cautious. That’s why the females aren’t to be alone anymore…” Jade’s eyes flash with anger, Makenna holds up her hand before she can protest. “I know, I hate it just as much as you do, but Jade, this is only temporary.”

Jade nods stiffly, agreeing to the terms.

“Good, so as I was saying, no woman will be alone. So, Holly, Jade, and Edwina will have guards whenever they leave the house. No exception. Today, Holly and Jade are going shopping, Finn and Da will be escorting them as will Malachy, Reilly, and Boz.”

Five guards? What the hell?

Romero's hand rests on my nape and I turn to him, his gaze firmly on my auntie, but I know he can sense me looking at him. I narrow my eyes at him and the cocky fucker smiles.

Makenna continues to talk about the new measures the family will be going through and what will happen if we go out without guards. She was saying that more so to Jade than the rest of us.

“Finn, Da,” she says as she looks at her brother and father, “stick close to them today.”

I guess I’m not the only one that has this sickening feeling in my gut that something bad is coming. Everyone has been on edge, especially Rome, which makes me feel even more anxious.

“Doll face,” Romero says softly as the others get ready to leave. “Please stay close to Finn and Seamus.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, how many times am I going to have the same thing repeated to me. “Rome, even if I were stupid, which I’m not. Do you think Granda or Uncle Finn would let me out of their sights? No. So please, relax, I’ll be gone two hours tops and then I’ll be back.”

I hear laughter and turn to glare at Da, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Both Danny and Melissa have amused smiles on their faces. They know what I’m like when I shop. “Baby-girl, you have a shopping addiction. Since you were old enough to walk you’d shop like you were born to do it. I doubt you’ve ever gone shopping and managed to be back within two hours,” Da says through his laughter.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Shut up.”

He winks at me. “I’ve got to go, I’ll see you later. Be safe.”

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