Page 37 of Savage Love

“Well then, I’ll call the realtor.” Levin smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “You should text Isabella. We should all go out to dinner to celebrate.”

“That sounds nice.” I follow him out of the room, reaching for my phone, but my heart isn’t in it. I should feel like celebrating, but right now, I don’t.

I don’t know how to make any of this bearable. I don’t know how to spend the rest of my life living for the moments in between, when Levin forgets how much he hates himself for everything he blames himself for. I don’t know how to make a life for us both.

I don’t know how to love someone who’s forgotten how.

Levin

The day after Elena and I settle on the house, I’m called back to the Kings’ headquarters to meet with Connor and Liam, along with Niall. I suspect, from the tone of Connor’s voice, that it won’t be good news, but I’m glad for a moment away to collect my thoughts.

I know Elena is frustrated with how distant I’ve been since the day before. I can feel it emanating off of her, no matter how hard she tries to hide it. It feels like we’re two people locked in an endless battle with ourselves—me with my lingering guilt and grief, and her with her need to take responsibility for the situation we’ve found ourselves in. She’s determined not to blame me, and a part of me wishes that she would.

At least then, we’d be on the same page in regards to that.

The meeting gives me something to focus on, a job to do. I might not have been able to protect Elena from myself, but I can do my damndest to protect her from the lingering threat of Diego, and I intend to do exactly that. I didn’t see the threat coming the last time. I was complacent, certain that I knew what the future held. Now I have some idea what’s coming, and I intend to be prepared for it.

He’s not getting anywhere near her or our child, if I have anything to say about it.

Boston was supposed to be a safe place for her, and I’m going to keep it that way, if it fucking kills me.

Connor and Liam’s faces are grave when Niall and I walk in. I can feel the tension thrumming through Niall as he stands next to me, and I’ve known him long enough to know when he’s angry. He’s served the Kings for a long time, much more closely than I’ve ever been with them, and I know he’s as afraid for his family as I am for Elena and our unborn child.

“What do you know?” Niall demands the moment we’re in the room, not even bothering to sit down. “I want to know what’s going on.”

Connor’s face tightens, as if he’s about to castigate Niall for his tone, but Liam holds up a hand, giving his brother a pointed look. “Diego is furious,” Liam says carefully, “as we expected he would be. From what we’ve heard, he feels as if he’s been outwitted by Levin’s marriage to Elena.”

“So I’m guessing that your next words aren’t going to be that he’s decided to cut his losses and focus on something else?” Niall asks caustically, before I can even get a word in. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him so angry. His arms are crossed over his chest, his jaw tight as he glares back and forth between the two brothers—one of whom is his best friend. But right now, I can tell, he’s not a man having a conversation with a friend.

“Just have a seat,” Connor interjects sharply. “We’re not keeping anything from you, Flanagan. We know you’re worried about what this means for Isabella. Just as we know Levin is concerned for Elena—though him keeping his distance from her might have made all this simpler.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “Are we going to keep retreading this old ground forever, or—”

“If I’d been able to marry her to someone with some actual fucking influence—”

“Alright!” Liam slaps his hands down on the table, shaking his head. “What’s done is done. Elena and Levin are married. There’s no changing any of it or rewriting what’s happened. Now we deal with it.” He looks at me, his shoulders squaring as he takes over the conversation, ignoring his brother’s murderous look. “Diego is taking this personally. He doesn’t want Santiago continuing to trade with us and gaining strength that could be used against him, but this is more than that. Both of the daughters have been taken out from under his nose now, and the fact that it’s been because of men working with the same factions that are allied with Santiago rubs salt in the wound. There are layers to this.”

He pinches the bridge of his nose, looking tired. “His point of view is that we’ve had men working with us deny him both of the Santiago daughters on purpose, as an additional insult to add to the fact that we’re allying with Santiago and not him. That’s not true, of course—both of these situations were borne out of the girls’ rebelliousness—”

“I’ll thank you to keep your opinions about Isabella’s nature out of your mouth,” Niall says sharply, and Liam gives him an exasperated look.

“Niall, we’re friends. Don’t sit across the table and act as if we don’t both know how all this transpired. I’m not going to pretend that I haven’t made reckless decisions in pursuit of Ana. We’re not here to rehash old choices made out of emotion, but itwasIsabella’s choice to take matters into her own hands and Elena’s choice to pursue Levin that got us here—”

“You’re not going to blame her for it,” I interject, and Connor rolls his eyes so hard that they look as if they might disappear for a moment.

“We fucking get it,” he snaps. “You’re both protective over your wives. Liam and I would feel the same about Ana and Saoirse. But put your goddamn hackles down for one second, and fuckinglisten.”

He stands up, running one hand through his hair as he braces the other against the back of his chair, glaring at us both. “There are threats that Diego is going to move into Kings’ territory and attack. He clearly has enough resources here in the States, resources that we weren’t aware of, to do so. How many? We’re unsure. But he’s not going to let this go. Personally, my opinion—and the opinion of my brother—is that he’s a fool to think he has the slightest chance at taking over Kings’ territory. But he’s clearly pissed enough to think he can try.”

“We met with the rest of the Kings.” Liam rubs a hand over his face, exhaustion marring his features and making him look closer in age to his brother. “They’re in agreement that we’ll defend against this, but we’re going to bide a little longer and see what moves he makes.”

Niall’s expression darkens instantly. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he snaps. “Wait and see?That’s the tactic you’re taking with this?”

“You need to remember your fucking place, Flanagan,” Connor returns, his tone hardening, but Liam shakes his head, holding up a hand.

“A direct assault will get people killed, Niall, you know that. Especially since we don’t know exactly what numbers Diego has and where or what he’s planning. We need time to gather intelligence. Beth is on it, and we have Nico, and some of Viktor’s espionage recruits looking into it as well. When Alessio returns from Italy, Luca will have him take point on clearing out some of Diego’s cells of resources, if Diego has made any moves by then.”

“If we hold our ground, he may back down.” Connor looks at us both evenly. “He has a lot to lose, trying to infiltrate our territory like this, for two women who have little value to him outside of a grudge.” He holds up a hand before either Niall or I can say anything. “I’m not suggesting thatIthink they have no other value, and you fucking know that, before either of you come back at me. But to Diego, their value is in salving his hurt pride. Our hope is that he’ll think better of that before it can escalate.”

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