Chapter 29

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Jake

I can see by her face that's she's angry. It's in the defiant tilt of her chin. "Is that what you and your family need? For me to share?"

I might have chosen my words poorly there. What I really want is for her to help me convince them to help us. But I'm threading a needle here.

I don't want either party to think I've switched sides. I want everyone to understand that we are all on the same side.

And that everyone here can help each other.

But I'm also a hundred percent certain, if my family won't help Nia, she and I are gone. So maybe I am switching sides. I'll always love my nephews, but I won't abandon Nia. She is my future.

Which is why, I'd like to be delicate here.

But fuck me, like I've said, I'm an old-school gangster and subtle negotiation is not my strength.

It's Mason's.

I look at my oldest nephew, the lynch pin in our new business, and I hold his gaze .

His brothers and Luke, they all show him deference. Not me. I am their uncle, the patriarch of this family.

I allow him to lead us in business because he's the most apt.

But I am this family's boss, and perhaps it's time that I made that clear. But that doesn't mean I shouldn't offer a few carrots.

"I need them to understand that you, Nia, have the answers and a vested interest in sharing the truth with them."

Her eyes go from defiant to confused, as I gently turn her around and start pulling the hem of my shirt up her legs and around her waist.

Her hands stop me, her gaze meeting mine, now shining with fear.

"Just your torso, love," I whisper close to her ear.

"You know how much I hate for people to see that," she replies, her voice trembling with emotion.

"You're a warrior, Nia. All warriors carry battle wounds."

I hear a few men suck in their breath, but I don't look at them. Nia's spine straightens again, her face hardening in resolute lines as she gives a nod of agreement.

Gently, slowly, I lift the shirt, revealing her lower back and ribs.

"Christ," Mason rumbles as Leo makes a feral sound in his throat.

Holding the shirt in one hand, I turn her so they see the front, both the marks on her body and the hurt in her eyes. They will not ignore her pain as they make decisions.

"You can drop the shirt, Jake," Roman says, his tone clipped as he turns his head to the side.

But it's Nia's hand that takes the shirt from mine and leaves the fabric gathered under her breasts. "Roman."

He looks back at her, as he draws in a long breath through his nose.

Luke shifts. "Who gave those to you?"

"Toni," she answers quietly.

"But only you? Not Jess?" Mason asks as he assesses her.

Nia looks at me and I give her a nod to continue. "Only me," she confirms. "And only when he suffers some major loss. "

"So every time we've hit him," Leo's fists are clenched as he crosses his arms over his massive chest, "he hits you."

She shrugs. "That's about right."

"But not Jess?" Roman repeats.

I had half forgotten that Jess was under the protection of the family. I look at Nia, asking permission, and she gives a small nod. "Nia isn't his biological daughter. Maria had an affair."

"Wait—" Leo rumbles. "Do not tell me?—"

"Nia's twenty. She's not your long-lost sister," I answer back, quickly shutting that down. "But she has little loyalty to Toni and a great deal of knowledge of the inner workings of the family."

"And the business," Nia adds with a shrug. "When you don't talk much, you hear a lot."

Roman leans down on the counter, resting on his elbows. "So you think you can help us…what?"

But Leo holds up a hand. "It's not that I don't appreciate what you've been through, but try to understand, in protecting you, we put the rest of us in danger. And it's not just us as men, our women, my child."

"You put yourself in danger when you took me. Don't put that on me," she says raising up her chin. "What I am offering are real solutions to minimize the damage, which you created," she points a finger. "And like every negotiation, I'm hoping to get something out of this too. This family's protection."

"And if we say no?" Mason asks.

I step closer to Nia, wrapping my arm around her. I love my family, my nephews, but I've been a soldier for them, for their women. "I promised you that I would put Toni in prison. I fulfilled that promise. In addition, I have stood by your side, Mason, and yours, Leo, to help you keep your women safe. If you turn Nia out today, I go with her."

"Jake," Luke bites out. "What the fuck?"

"Nia and I are getting married," my hands spread out on her back as I speak. "She will be my first priority. If you are not going to give back to me what I have given to you, then we are done. "

I slash my gaze over them.

It's Roman who speaks first. "I'm in for helping Nia." Then he looks at Nia. "I am sorry for the text and the damage it caused."

She gives the smallest jerk of her chin in acknowledgment.

"I'm in too," Luke adds. "But I think Mason and Leo should return to their wives once we're done here and let the single men handle this one."

A collective murmur of agreement rumbles through the group.

Over the next half hour, Nia explains which casinos make the most profit, which should be sold, which cousins have the most even tempers and the best minds for business. "You want the three Andriani brothers. They aren't like the others. Smart and level-headed, they'll take a deal that leaves them with a few of the more profitable casinos and gets rid of some dead weight."

By the time she's done, Mason is smiling in the way he only does when he knows he's going to win. "This is good," he murmurs. "And Nia…"

"Yes?"

"Welcome to the family."

Nia blushes, her hand finding mine. I give her the smallest tug, because it's time for my woman and me to go to bed.