Page 34 of Cherished Union

Rocco walks over to his father, whispering something in his ear. But it’s not good enough. These fuckers have purposefully gone out of their way to ensure they harm my wife in some way today, and I’m not going to let that fly. Fuck no. It’s time to make it known that Ade is off-limits once and for all.

Aldo and Natalia glare at Adelina before they say their goodbyes to Aldo’s men, all under the pretense of something important coming up and they must leave. Da, Killian, and I follow them out, Rocco, Elio, and Dario close behind us. Not one of us is happy about the shit they’ve pulled today.

“We don’t need an escort,” Aldo grumbles.

“Trust me, Aldo, you do not want to continue to push me. You have hurt your daughter once already today. I’m not going to allow it to happen again.”

“You were warned,” Da says, his arms crossed over his chest. The two men used to be friends, but when you treat your family like shit, you lose the respect you have gained. “You’re a long way from being the boss, Aldo. The sooner you give everything over to your son, the better. Your days are numbered, and there’s only so much longer I can hold my son back.”

Aldo blanches, his cheeks red with anger.

“As for you, Natalia, what you did today is unforgivable, and you’ll be dealt with accordingly.”

I stifle a laugh as her eyes widen with fear. The threat hangs in the air. Everyone here knows that my da wasn’t joking about Natalia dying. Her time is coming, but the fear is going to get her paranoid before we come for her. She has no idea when it’ll be, and she’ll be jumping at shadows.

“This is the very last time I see you,” I warn them. “Next time I do, you’ll be looking down the barrel of my gun.”

The man scurries away, his wife hot on his heels. How far the mighty have fallen. This is what happens when you think you are God’s gift. You fall lower than you could ever imagine.

Aldo’s going to die, and I’m counting down the weeks.

Ten weeks to go.

CHAPTER12

HAYDEN

“Busy?” I ask Killian.

My uncle smirks. He knows me too well for him to know that I’m not asking casually. “Not at all. I fucking hate wearing suits. What do you need?”

“Find out where Ethan and that bitch are traveling to. I want their plane to go up in smoke on the way.”

My uncle knows all about bombs. Being a part of the IRA, he learned the art of making explosives, something my brother, Hayes, also took an interest in. The two of them could bring down the entire city of New York if they wished.

Killian grins at me. “Already know,” he says, and I shake my head. “Knew you’d want it, although, you should truly thank Melissa. That woman can hack anything with just a few keystrokes. Their flight leaves in twelve hours.”

“Then you know what to do,” I say. He claps me on the back before walking out of the room. There’s no doubt in my mind that my uncle will have everything I want done within an hour. By the time those assholes get ready to take off, he’ll be at my parents’ house with his feet up and drinking whiskey.

A gentle hand touches my back, and I look to my left to see my wife staring up at me.

“Everything okay?” she asks softly.

“Yes, Dove, everything is fine. Have you said your goodbyes?”

She nods. “Yes, your mom is taking Vivi for the night. She seems genuinely happy to have Viviana stay.”

“That’s because she is. The woman is child mad. If she had her way, Jade would be pregnant already and I’d impregnate you this evening.”

She blinks. “Are you?”

“Dove, do you want children?” It wasn’t something I had thought very much about, but when the subject of children did crop up, I always assumed that she’d not want them yet.

She wrings her hands together. “I’m not sure. I’ve always wanted to be a mother. I don’t really know you and bringing a child into this world is a huge undertaking. It ruins relationships, and ours isn’t really a relationship.”

“Our marriage is forever, Addie. You and I both know this. Have known that there’s no such thing as divorce. You want out of this life, there’s only one way.”

Death.

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