Present
I lead Sloane into my apartment, the move reminiscent of the times she was here in the past. She hasn’t spoken a word to me since I picked her up from work and I’m ready to crawl out of my fucking skin.
I watch as she glances around the open plan space.
“You haven’t changed anything?”
I wordlessly shake my head, choosing to remain silent. I have a feeling that if I come clean right now and tell her I couldn’t bear to change anything because of the memories with her attached to it, it might freak her out.
She takes a seat on the sofa and I sit down in the armchair opposite, wanting to give her some space.
“Tell me what’s going on, Sloane.”
She regards me for a moment before digging through her bag and hands me a piece of paper.
My jaw tics as I take the note from her hand and open it. On the page are the same words that were written on different paper than last night, so I know it’s a new note.
“Where was it left?” I ask, my tone gruff.
“My locker at work,” she says, no emotion in her tone whatsoever.
“Do you have any idea who’s leaving them?”
She shakes her head.
“Have you told Finn?”
Another shake of her head.
“Are you going to?”
She stares at me for a moment before letting out a sigh. “I don’t want Finn to worry, he has enough on his plate. I didn’t want to come to you with this, either, but…” She pops her shoulder in a half shrug. “You already know about the note from last night and I know you, Marco. I know you wouldn’t have left it alone even if I begged you to, so I figured I might as well ask you for help.”
You’re damn right, I wouldn’t have left it alone. Any threat—veiled or not—towards Sloane is a threat towards me. Anyone who doesn’t know Sloane the way I do would think the blase attitude towards the whole thing is real, that she’s really unaffected. But I know better. I can see the way her hands clasp and unclasp, and the way she bites down on her lip anxiously. My girl is affected by this, all right, and I want nothing more than to make this whole goddamn situation better for her. And I’ll do everything in my power to do it.
I nod mindlessly before letting out a breath.
“I do think you should tell your brother, but I won’t force you. What does the note mean? Does who know about who?”
Her expression shutters. Any and all emotion is wiped from her face.
“I want your help to figure out who’s sending the notes, but only on the condition that you don’t ask that. I can’t tell you that, Marco. That’s as much for your benefit as it is mine.”
What the hell does that mean?
I don’t voice that, though. I don’t want her shutting me out further. I pick up my phone and send off a text before focusing my attention back on Sloane.
“Tell me everything you can.”
And she does. I sit and listen as she tells me about how she thought she could feel someone watching her last night while she was out with her friend. She tells me about finding the first note that had been posted under her door and she tells me about how she found the second note taped to the inside of her locker, even though it should have been virtually impossible for someone to make it into the hospital locker rooms because they have high security. Just as she finishes speaking, I hear the elevator open and I turn slightly to see Izzy enter the room. Luckily, she came alone and didn’t bring Luca along with her.
Something seems to pass through Izzy’s expression as she looks at Sloane, but when I turn to look at my girl, she’s looking towards the window and I wonder for a moment if I was imagining things.
“Sloane, this is Izzy, Luca’s wife. Izzy this is Sloane,” I say and wave between the two women.
Izzy regards Sloane, giving her a quick reprisal before her lips twist in distaste. I’m about to get up and fucking throttle my sister-in-law when Sloane breaks the silence.
“Problem?” Sloane asks.
“Oh sweetie, how kind of you to ask,” Izzy snarks as she wanders into the room. “My problem is that Marco was the one to text me, not you,” she says with a raised brow. I glance between the two of them in confusion.
“Well, you didn’t exactly leave me your number when you broke into my apartment, Iz.”
Izzy nods. “Okay, true. We’ll have to fix that.”
“What the fuck is going on?” I blurt, completely bewildered at the fact that these two seem to know each other and that—hang the fuck on. “And what does she mean, you broke into her apartment?” I direct my question to Izzy.
“I wasn’t about to just sit and wait outside her apartment, Marco. Of course, I let myself in.”
“So you two know each other?”
Sloane chuckles. “I’ve known Izzy longer than I’ve known you, Marco.”
I shake my head. “I need a fucking drink,” I mutter and head to the kitchen, leaving Sloane to catch Izzy up on what’s been going on and giving myself a moment to compose myself. It’s hard being around Sloane, being the one to help her and not being able to tell her I’ll fix everything for her. Not being able to hold her, not being able to tell her she’s my goddamn world and that there’s so much she doesn’t know.
I may not be able to tell her how I feel, but I can sure as fuck show her.
It’s been a few days since I last saw Sloane. After Sloane told Izzy about everything that was going on and we all ate, Izzy dropped her off at home—because apparently it was pointless for me to leave the house to take her when Izzy was leaving anyways—and I haven’t seen her since. We’ve texted back and forth a little, mainly me checking in to make sure she’s okay and her replying with one-word answers, but I guess it’s better than no communication whatsoever. She promised me she would keep me updated and call me straight away if she received any more notes or if she felt like something was off, and so far, so good.
I still don’t like the fact that she’s just out in the city without a bodyguard, but I swore I wouldn’t breathe a word about what’s been going on to Finn. I also can’t force my own detail on her without her kicking me to the curb for good, so I’m just having to settle for regular check-ins.
I’ve made it a few days without having to see my brother, but unfortunately, I’m out of time. Luca climbs into the car and grunts at me in greeting. We’re heading down to the docks to check on a shipment coming in, and I just know I’m about to get the third degree.
“Why?” he demands, and I stifle a sigh.
“Why what?”
“Why the fuck do I seem to be the only one who didn’t know about this girl? I always thought we were close, but then I go and find out that you’ve been in love with her for years and I had no goddamn idea. Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks. I realize then he’s not only pissed, but he’s hurt, too.
I sigh and look towards him apologetically before pulling into the traffic. “You have to understand, things were different then. Can you honestly tell me you would have understood if I came to you ten years ago and told you I was sneaking around with Cormac O’Brien’s daughter? You’d have lost your fucking shit, Luca. And back then, you could have never even imagined settling down with someone. You just wouldn’t have understood and I didn’t want to take that risk.”
He curses under his breath before reaching over and setting a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t come to me, little brother. I’m here if you want to talk about it, and from what I can gather, you’re in the bad books. If you need any groveling tips, you just let me know,” he says with a smirk, and I roll my eyes.
“Let’s just hope she and Izzy get along,” he says with a chuckle, and I shake my head.
“Yeah, about that…” I say, drifting off and I watch from the corner of my eye as he tilts his head. “Turns out they’re… friends? Apparently, Izzy has known Sloane longer than I have.”
Luca hums quietly. “I think I need to have a little chat with my wife about keeping secrets.”
I grunt in acknowledgement, glad to have cleared the air between us, though we don’t have time to continue conversation as we arrive at the docks. Enzo is standing, waiting for us as I pull up, leaning back against his car with his hands in his pockets with the hood of his hoodie obscuring his face. Enzo nods to us both as we get out and I return the gesture while Luca stares at our little brother.
“What’s wrong with you?” Luca asks.
Enzo grunts. “Robyn’s hormonal as fuck and your wife is turning her against me,” he barks with a glare towards him. I just shake my head.
“Let’s get this over with,” I mutter and they both nod in agreement.
We only make it a few steps before all hell breaks loose. Two men dressed in tactical gear emerge from the side of a building, both with guns aiming towards us. Our men who were stationed around the area start closing in on them, only for two men on the left of us to go down when shots start sounding. We waste no time pulling out our own guns as Luca aims towards the two men while me and Enzo face opposite directions as we’re approached from each side. It’s fucking chaos as shots fire off in all directions, both our men and theirs dropping to the ground as we all get hits in.
“Who the fuck are they?” Enzo shouts above the noise.
Good question.
They’re trained, that’s for damn sure, but I don’t recognize a single one of them.
It dawns on me that this doesn’t seem like one of the other organizations coming down on us.
“I think they’re hired mercenaries,” I shout back.
The good thing about hired guys is that they don’t have anything to fight for. That’s proven when they see that half of their men are down and start to retreat. The noise quietens down and I take in the carnage left behind, confused as hell about what just happened.
It’s only when I spin around to take in the casualties that I see not all of them have retreated. Nope, some asshole has decided to take one last shot, one shot that’s aimed at my fucking little brother.
It’s too late to warn him, and the only thing going through my mind in that moment is my sister-in-law and their unborn baby. It’s a no brainer when I step in front of Enzo just as it reaches us, taking the bullet for myself.
