Page 67 of Cherished Union

Her mouth falls open as anger flashes in those gorgeous emerald eyes. “Watch it,” she snaps back. “Nothing happened to me.”

“That’s beside the motherfucking point, Ade. Christ, that woman planted a fucking bomb that killed people. You could have been walking into a trap.”

I pull in some deep breaths, trying to quell the rage that is storming inside of me. It’s no use. I turn on my heel and storm to my sister.

“Before you start, Adelina is a grown woman,” Jade says, crossing her arms over her chest.

“What the fuck, Jade? Why would go alone? Fuck that, why would you take Addie?” I growl as I get into her face.

“She wanted to come, and I’ll repeat, she’s a grown-ass woman.”

“My wife is fucking pregnant, Jade. What the fuck is your problem? Why would you even do that? You had no way of knowing that it wasn’t a set up. You were fucking reckless going alone and you damn well know it.” I run my hands through my hair, my anger still palpable.

“I’m going to be an aunt?” she whispers, her eyes wide with happiness.

“Don’t,” I snarl. “Don’t fucking push this under the rug as though what you did was okay.” I take a step back, resisting the urge to throttle her.

“Thanks, Hay,” Adelina hisses. “You’ve just told everyone.”

I glare at her. I don’t give a fuck. Her safety is more important than our announcement.

“The two of you were irresponsible,” Da says. “We understand the need for revenge, but what you did was foolish. Hayden is right. You had no idea of what was awaiting you when you got there.”

Addie’s shoulders slump forward, her eyes fill with tears, and she moves away, Annemarie quick on her heels.

“Now that Lila’s dead,” Rocco says, his eyes narrowed as he glares at me. “Garrant is going to be out for revenge.”

“Yeah,” I snarl. “Had we known what my sister was up too, we’d have been prepared for any attacks that he may throw at us. Now we’re going to be on the back foot.”

“What the hell did you expect me to do?” Jade says, throwing her hands in the air. “She killed Killian.”

“I know,” I say through clenched teeth. “I fucking know that, but right now, our main concern is to keep those close to us alive. Jade, we know where Garrant is. We’ve been trying to make sure that when we take him out, there’s no comebacks from the bitch. You didn’t do that. Had you told us, we’d have taken Garrant at the same time.”

She looks away, finally realizing that she’s fucked up. “You never said anything.”

“Da and I have this in hand. We’ve been working tirelessly since the fucking explosions to ensure that when the time comes, our family stays alive.”

She turns to our da. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You are not the boss, Jade,” he reminds her. “You are my underboss. You are not privy to all the information I have. When it was time, I would have told you.”

“How about we go home,” Annemarie inputs softly. “Addie is pregnant and doesn’t need the stress.”

I nod, knowing that right now, I need to get my wife home and then find out where the fuck Garrant is. I just pray that the asshole hasn’t gone to ground.

“I’m sorry,” she says softly as we get into the car.

“I get it,” I tell her. “But you need to think about shit before you jump in. I had no idea where the hell you were or what was going on.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t bring my cell, and by the time I realized, it was too late.”

“Tell me what happened,” I ask as I begin to drive to the house I own—the one I used to use when I lived in Chicago. We’re staying here for the next few days, as I have a feeling there’ll be yet another funeral for us to be attending. Natalia is deep in her grief for the loss of her husband, and I know the way she’s acting isn’t all that normal. I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes home and ends it all.

Addie recants everything that happened from the moment they left the funeral to when they arrived back. I know that nothing happened to either of them, and I can understand their reasoning behind wanting to do it, but damn, they fucked up.

“Please don’t be angry,” she tells me as we step into the house.

“I’m fucking furious, Addie,” I say as I pull her into my arms. No matter what the fuck happens, she’s my wife and I love her. “But you’ve got to start thinking. What you did was stupid and irresponsible, and it won’t happen again.”

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