Page 30 of These Sinful Kingdoms

I watched as Kaito stared at Kenji for a long moment, then closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh, and lowered the gun. He turned slightly to the front door, a small smile on his face.

“You can come in now, Luca. I am not going to shoot your woman.” He said softly and I watched as Luca stepped through the door, gun drawn and cold fury in his eyes as he slowly moved towards me. He had his gun still pointed at Kaito and I touched his wrist as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

“Put it down, Luca. He already said he won’t shoot.” I whispered as I felt Kingston’s warmth at my back.

Kenji nodded, giving me a small smile before he went to shut the front door, giving us privacy. I studied Kaito, the man who was known as the ghost, and saw the similarities between him and Kenji. The man looked young still, hardly old enough to have three children especially as his youngest was twenty-two.

“You have my word that I am not here to cause harm. My son is right, and he speaks with his mother’s wisdom and compassion. This was not an assignment I enjoyed taking.” Kaito said as he sighed, studying Kenji with a look of interest.

“You left the house.” It was as much a question as it was a statement and I saw the look of pride in his eyes.

“Yeah. I guess my need to make sure Aurora was warned and okay overruled everything else.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal.

Kaito looked between us as if he had asked a question that I held the answers to. My phone rang, startling all of us from our little standoff. Frowning at the number for Fabian’s school I answered tentatively as Kenji talked quietly to Kaito and Kingston and Luca started to relax.

“Hello?” I asked, not sure who to look at as the tension in the room slowly evaporated.

“Ms. Moretti? This is Lani. I am calling to inform you that we have had a man by the name of Jasper Franklin who was here talking to Fabian and had tried to remove him from school. As he isn’t an approved person on your list of contacts, we refused.” She sniffed delicately as I sat down in the chair, my blood running cold.

“Fabian has since been a little distraught. I believe it may be best for him to be picked up today. He has asked to go home. Would you like us to report the incident to the police against this man?” She waited for my answer as I stared at Luca.

“Yes. Please file the report. I will be there shortly to come and get him. Thank you for reporting it to me.” I hung up the phone as Luca knelt in front of me, eyes full of concern.

“Jasper tried to take Fabian out of school this morning. Fabian is upset and wants to come home.” I whispered as Kingston swore softly.

“Okay. Let’s go get him and I’ll make a call to Liam on the way. He might be able to pull some strings for us to get this sorted.” We all looked at Kaito and Kenji, remembering the other situation we were dealing with.

“I am going to take Kenji home for now to get some belongings and to reassure Agatha that he is alright. He has mentioned that he is now staying here.” Kaito’s lips twitched as he tried to hold back the smile.

“Yeah. I’ll leave my spare key for you, Kenji. We have to pick up Fabian. I also have another appointment later today with the lawyer.” Kenji nodded, relief in his eyes as though he thought I was going to ask him to leave.

“About that. Your lawyer has been placed on the hit list as well. I would warn her that it isn’t safe. I didn’t personally get handed that contract, but I know there is one out there. Nicolo and Rocco are determined to see you removed from any form of power.” Kaito said and I tried not to scream.

“I don’t understand why. I didn’t even want to take my father’s place. I just wanted to keep the businesses in my name and to keep my financial income.” I said bitterly as Kingston grabbed the keys.

“You are a threat to their power, Aurora. You represent one side of the Moretti line, and you can rise against them. You hold a legitimate claim to the Italian seat and Rocco especially knows that means anyone can flip sides.” Kaito said with a hint of sympathy.

I looked at the assassin, the man who just moments ago held my life in his hands. He wasn’t what I expected, and I wondered why he was tied into the Yakuza the way he was when he seemed more interested in being a family man.

“Kingston, can your guys help out Evelyn? Can we afford to put security on her?” I asked, knowing that Evelyn probably would say that she was fine.

“I can go. She may take the threat a little more seriously from someone like me. I may also be able to give her some information that can help your case.” Kaito said suddenly and we all stared at him, waiting for the ball to drop.

“Why?” I asked, feeling like there were strings attached to this.

“Because if it had been my wife in your situation, I would have hoped someone like me would have stepped in to help her as well.” He said, voice breaking a little as Kenji smiled and gripped his arm.

I nodded my thanks and gave Kenji my key as we left to pick up my son. I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was just the beginning of something far darker and more sinister and Rocco was about to show us just how much he wanted me gone.

Chapter fifteen

Caleb

Idroveinsilencetoward Aurora’s address. It was early evening and after receiving a distraught phone call from her about her ex returning and Fabian being just as rattled, I had agreed to come over and see them both.

Nerves flooded my body as I pulled into her driveway. It wasn’t that this was a house call, it was knowing I was about to step into Aurora’s home.

I had been agonizing over our last encounter, wishing I had the balls to tell her how I truly felt and yet terrified all the same.

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