Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

Fred

Holy shit! I rushed out of the SUV and raced over to Aiden, who was out cold on the pavement.

"What did you do?" I glared up at Vincenzo. Just moments ago, I'd been beginning to feel like we were connecting on a peaceful level.

"He's not dead. He's tranquilized…though he'll have one hell of a headache when he wakes up."

"Why'd you do that?"

He motioned to Thomas and Eden. "Please carry him inside. Fred, walk with me, please."

"I'm not leaving him with any of you."

"Please." He spoke sternly.

I stood, my gaze going from Vincenzo to Aiden and then landing on Vincenzo again. "Five minutes."

He slowly made his way toward the back of the house—to the garden, I assumed. Once I was in step with him, he began.

"My exercitus are trained to kill anyone who dare lay a hand on me. The fact that Aiden is alive shows that I hold you and those you care about to a higher standard. But in no way can I allow what he did to go unpunished." He stopped at a bench and sat. "No more than you can dismiss any disrespect you are given."

"Aiden is off-limits, Vincenzo. No tranquilizing, killing, none of that." I was standing my ground on this.

He huffed. "No, I can't agree to that."

"Excuse me." I crossed my arms and quirked a brow. The fuck did he say ?

"I am the praeses of Lex Talionis. Fred, I've already rearranged a lot for you. Just being here is unheard of. I won't let your driver push me around, or any of my people. I won't budge."

"I'll speak with Aiden about any physical contact with you, but I don't want you zapping him or whatever you do whenever he says something you don't like." I understood what Vincenzo was saying, but I needed to make sure Aiden stayed alive.

Vincenzo snorted. "He's said many things I find disrespectful, and I never once hurt him." He held up a finger when I opened my mouth. "That's the only compromise."

I relaxed my stance and sighed. All the energy I'd stored left my body, and damn I was exhausted. I looked out over the garden. "My life is a mess, Vincenzo. Aiden is important to me."

"I understand."

"I hope you do." I plopped onto the bench beside him. "I've shown a lot of trust in you, Vincenzo. I'm still in this house. I've agreed to so much. Like I said, I will speak with Aiden."

"Thank you."

"Now, before he wakes up, we should talk about arranging this meeting with the head of the Bleeding Angels. I don't agree with Aiden that it's foolish. Risky, yes, but I think there's something to it."

"I agree."

Axel was watching Aiden so Zion, Vincenzo, and I met up in the library to discuss how this would be set up.

"The leader of the Bleeding Angels is Albert March, also known as Hammer," Zion said.

"Lovely." I snickered.

Zion rolled on. "Their headquarters is attached to March's Mechanics."

"Number?" Vincenzo's question was more of an order.

"Yeah, that wasn't as hard to obtain as it should have been."

"What do you think about contacting Richie to arrange this? He's the one—well, his grandfather, really—that was used in this that led to the Bleeding Angels."

Vincenzo nodded at me. "Good idea."

"I can call him." Zion whipped out his cell phone, obviously already having the number.

Axel stepped into the room and whispered something to Vincenzo. I was trying to hear both Zion and Axel but couldn't.

"Very good, Richie. This will be very beneficial to solidifying the peace between the Brennan family and the Bleeding Angels. I'm sure your boss wants to figure all of this out as well."

He ended the call. "All set?" I asked.

"Yes, he's going to contact me once he speaks with Albert."

"Good." I faced Vincenzo. "Aiden awake?"

"Oh yeah, and apparently he has a lot of colorful words about me." He smirked.

I stood from my seat. "I'll go up and talk with him."

I didn't wait for a response. I needed to fix this issue between Aiden and Vincenzo. They had to work together; it was vital.

I was outside Aiden's bedroom. There was one guy standing guard, and I rolled my eyes before knocking.

"Come in. Lord knows I can't open it!" Aiden shouted, and I glared at the guard, who merely shrugged.

The second I turned the knob and pushed, Aiden was right there and ready to fight. Upon seeing it was me, he stepped back.

"Fred, oh thank God!" He gripped my shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It wasn't an attack or anything…well, not on me, anyway." I turned to the man at the door. "It stays unlocked."

He didn't say anything, just clicked something and shut the door.

"What's going on, Fred?"

"First, I need you to calm down and have a seat."

His nostrils flared, but he took a seat in the wingback chair by the window. His room had a view of the side of the house, but the tall trees provided privacy.

"You're going to let me talk without interrupting me, understand?" I was firm with Aiden. I had a lot of patients who needed me to be a tough doctor, and it was far easier to be that than a mob boss. So, it would have to do.

"Okay." Aiden's voice was a rumble, anger simmering at the surface.

"What you said in the SUV regarding my uncle Sean was hurtful and uncalled for. Disrespect like that has ended people in our family, and you know that. I was too lost in my grief in that moment to speak up, and so Vincenzo did. He is the head of Lex Talionis, a boss in his own right, and you then disrespected him. If that wasn't bad enough, Aiden, you manhandled him out of the car! You're lucky all his people did was tranq you and not kill you."

He was clenching his jaw so hard, I feared he'd crack teeth.

"You're alive because he wouldn't do that to me, but understand—it was a courtesy, Aiden. He won't be lenient a second time." I sighed and stepped closer. He kept his eyes on me the whole time. "I can't lose you too. Please stop reacting like this."

There was silence, and I realized he was waiting for me.

"You can speak."

"Oh great, because this is insane." He gripped the arms of the chair. "Fred, he's brainwashing you. How do you not see this?"

"Aiden, give me some credit. I was raised by the king of manipulation; I know when I'm being played with."

He huffed. "I'm not sure you do." He held up his hands and softened his voice. "I'm sorry I said those things about Sean, and I shouldn't have put my hands on Vincenzo, and I'll apologize to smooth things over, but I no longer feel being here is in your best interests."

"Thank you for the advice, but until the meeting with the Bleeding Angels is concluded, we'll be staying. Afterward, we can reassess."

He jumped out of the chair. "You're actually meeting with them?"

"I said I was. You were there in the SUV, remember? I believe you thought it was a bad idea."

He nodded. "Still do."

"I'll be vigilant, Aiden." I patted his chest. "Besides, I have you watching my back, right?"

Aiden sighed. "Of course."

"Good. Now I'm starving—let's eat."