Page 70 of Ruthless Heart

“He’d have to be crazy.” Liam shakes his head. “He might’ve wanted an exchange, figuring I would agree to trade myself for you. Which I would have.”

“Maybe,” I say, but my voice sounds as unconvinced as I feel. “Or is the message, you killed the Di Luccio woman you were supposed to marry, so now you’re not allowed to marry anyone?”

“If that’s the message they’re trying to send, they’re going to lose everything. Boston doesn’t belong to them. And there’s not a single family, Irish or Italian, who would sanction the targeting of innocent women and children. That isnotdone. If they wanted revenge because I killed Frankie, they could kill me. But they cannot kill you or Brady. It would bring the hammer down on them from all sides.”

* * *

LIAM

The ragethat roars through me is hard to contain. I’m almost overcome by the urge to set up an operation where Aiden and I kill every last Di Luccio male who works for the business. That would put an end to their vendetta-spinning.

When we get to my house, I give Olivia a quick kiss and send her upstairs to check on Brady who’s with my mom. When Luke came to rendezvous with us for the rescue mission, he brought her so she could watch my son.

Aiden leans in and says in a low voice, “I can feed the hardware to the fish.”

“Yeah.” I hand him my weapon.

Aiden turns to Ash and holds out his hand for the gun she took from Di Luccio’s man.

She shakes her head and whispers, “Gotta follow CC SOP. Standard operating procedure.”

My brows rise. I wonder how long Trick has been using his little sister as one of his crue. I don’t ask her any questions because I know it won’t be long before I see the men in charge.

Sure enough, by the time Aiden comes back in from his walk out to the end of the long dock, two black SUVs pull up. One remains on the street, idling, and one backs into my driveway.

Sasha Stroviak, aka Anvil, and Scott Patrick, aka Trick, climb out of the SUV that’s in the driveway. I open the front door before they reach it.

“Hey,” Trick says, shaking my hand as he enters. Anvil gives me a nod and stops just inside the door.

Ash jogs down the hall to the entry.

“Hey, baby,” Trick says, giving her a hug.

“Hi, Scotty. And Sasha’s here, too? How many guys came?” she asks, looking out the window. She turns back with a concerned expression. “Two trucks? Wait, who’s watching our babies?”

“Moms and kids are at C’s,” Trick says.

The corner of Ash’s mouth twitches. “C’s thrilled about that,” she says with a small smirk. “Guess he’s not happy with me right now?”

Trick glances around. “Let’s step out back to talk.”

I lead the way to the French doors that open to the yard. The five of us head outside, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Anvil’s got a hand on Ash’s shoulder. That surprises me. Wasn’t aware that showing emotional support was in the grizzly enforcer’s wheelhouse.

“Phones,” Trick says, tossing a pair of phones on a deck chair. We all follow suit.

Trick walks to the edge of the patio, so the sound of the ocean is almost louder than his voice, when he says, “Huddle up.”

It’s a standard move of the C Crue founders. Standing outside, heads together and looking down to have a sensitive conversation. That’s the best way to avoid the prying ears of federal agents who might have gotten a wire inside a house or who are lurking nearby with surveillance equipment.

We form a huddle, facing in.

“Ash, what’s the word?” Trick says.

“So, yeah… who knew dress shopping could get so exciting?” she jokes nervously.

The corner of Anvil’s mouth quirks.

“Ash.” Trick says, flipping his hand over to indicate she should get on with things.

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