Chapter 27

Aurelio~

"Is there any way to bring Ashton to us?" Nero asked. "I mean, I don't have a problem going after him where he stands, but it'd be less messier if he came to us."

When Nero had called me this morning, I'd already known why. Even if Nero wasn't one to sit on something, Kasen's condition had him running the family like a military dictator, wanting shit done and wanting it done immediately. Honestly, everyone was going to give a collective sigh of relief once Kasen finally gave birth, and Nero came back to his senses.

I leaned back on the couch in Nero's office. "I'd like to believe that he's that stupid, but he'd have to be suicidal to come over here," I replied. "Not only does he have his precious image to consider, but he's going to have to wonder if Savina's told anyone the truth. After all, she's been missing for two days, and being the narcissist that he is, he's probably playing the worried boyfriend."

"Morocco is checking all his online presence and it's been crickets," Nero pointed out.

I shrugged. "She admitted to using the burner phone that I'd left her to call her clients and the office, calling in sick."

Nero scowled from where he was sitting at his desk. "If she's calling in sick, then that only means one thing, Aurelio."

I nodded. "She plans on going back."

"And you're going to let her?"

"Fuck no," I scoffed.

He shot me a look. "Does she know that?"

"She should," I replied easily. "She's known me long enough."

"Okay, so how would you like to proceed?"

"Firstly, I have a problem with her parents," I told him. "Paolo and Carla knew that Ashton was beating her, and they did nothing to help her." I had to let out a steady breath. "That doesn't sit well with me, Nero."

He gave me an understanding nod. "I'm not too happy about that, either."

"While I understand pride, everything that this family has built has been built on loyalty," I continued. "Where was their loyalty in allowing an outsider to abuse their only child? Savina came to them for help, and they slammed the door in her face. Honestly, they're lucky that I hadn't killed them both the other night while we waited for Savina to show up."

"I can't demote him," Nero replied, something that I already knew. "Regardless of his personal choices, he's a good Capo, and his men respect him. So, you can kill him, making it clear that it's a personal choice, or we can make it clear that neither Paolo nor Carla are to have anything to do with you, Savina, or any future children you may have."

"Well, since pride matters so damn much to them, I say that shunning them will be more painful than putting a bullet through their heads," I said, making my decision. "After all, even though it's stupid as fuck, I am your consigliere. Becoming inconsequential to the person holding that title should be enough to make them feel as inadequate as they'd made Savina feel when she had gone to them for help."

Nero gave me another terse nod. "Well, if you ever change your mind about the killing, just let me know first."

"Not a problem," I agreed easily.

"What's next?"

"Klive Simpson is the name that Brewster Pushkin gave us as the leader of their little pack," I answered. "There are twenty of them and have no ties to Kotov. In fact, they're a hodgepodge of misfits for the most part. They're dealing in drugs and guns, but nothing big. Before I cut out his tongue, Brewster also mentioned that Klive wanted to dabble in the skin trade, so that's why they'd been checking out our docks." I shrugged. "They sound like a bunch of hotheads, though with nothing to lose at this point."

Nero looked pensive. "That doesn't make any sense." I just smirked. "There's not a criminal or upstanding citizen in the city of Port Townsend that doesn't know how things work here. In fact, most every powerful person in the state knows who pulls the strings around here, so why pick a state or city that is already controlled by other organizations?"

"I was thinking the same thing," I agreed.

"And you're sure that he wasn't tied to Kotov?"

I nodded. "Avgust would never have someone so weak in his organization."

Nero grabbed his cigarettes from his pocket. "There has to be more to it," he murmured. "There are three separate outfits ruling the state of Maryland, even if we operate out of Port Townsend. There has to be another reason that they're here. Twenty men aren't going to unseat the Irish, the Russians, or us. Plus, I understand wanting access to our ports, but why not pick a smaller city, then work their way over after they've recruited a few more people?"

"I already have Morocco looking into everything with Brewster Pushkin's name on it," I informed him. "Klive Simpson as well."

"Did Pushkin say where they were hiding out?"

I shook my head. "Surprisingly, that's the one thing that I couldn't get out of him. He just kept saying that they stayed wherever they could."

Nero lit his cigarette, then inhaled before asking, "So, what about Savina? What's the plan?"

As much as I'd been trying, I couldn't get her words out of my head. "If you take away my chance to stare him in the face while I get my revenge, then I'm always going to be his victim, Aurelio." As someone that understood revenge well, I'd be a hypocrite to argue against her need to get even with that sonofabitch. Nevertheless, the man in me couldn't allow her to get anywhere near him ever again. Knowing that he had abused her in the worst ways, he shouldn't ever be close enough to her to even share the same air.

"She wants to go back and kill him herself," I answered.

"Understandable."

"She's even planning something, though I have no idea what."

Nero arched a brow. "You need to put a guard on her," he said, not saying anything that I didn't already know. "If she goes rogue, then she can create bigger problems."

I eyed my best friend. "She told me that she will always be his victim if I take away her only chance to face him as she gets her revenge."

"She's not wrong."

"What would you do?"

A deep look appeared in his eyes as he thought about his wife, something that always happened whenever Kasen was on his mind, and then he said, "I'd find another way to help her heal."

I nodded, knowing his answer would match mine. After all, we weren't best friends for nothing. Nero and I were close because we were both like-minded, though our executions might differ a bit. Nonetheless, we both knew that there was no way that I'd be able to live with myself if Ashton ever got near Savina again, and that was the priority here. I'd be good to no one if guilt ended up leading me to put a bullet through my head.

"Set up a meeting with The O'Brien," I said. "I don't want to wait any longer."

Nero gave me a terse nod. "Not a problem."

Eyeing him some more, I asked, "How did you do it? Hell, how do you still deal with it?"

Nero snorted, knowing exactly what I was referring to. "What makes you think that I'm dealing with it?"

That got a grin out of me. "Well, before Kasen got pregnant, you allowed her to go back to work and have a life," I pointed out. "I'm just wondering how you managed it."

"By reminding myself every hour of every day that I need to put her happiness above mine, or else I'll lose her," he answered.

"She'd never divorce you," I reminded him.

"You can lose someone way before divorce even enters the picture," he replied evenly. "Kasen threatened to withhold her love from me once, and that one time was more than enough for me to figure out a way to make it work." That look came into his eyes again. "I'll suffer every fucking day if it means that she won't be."

"Savina's going to hate me," I remarked truthfully.

"For a while, maybe," he replied. "But Savina's not a stupid girl. She'll eventually want to choose happiness, and she'll know that the only way to do that is to move on."

"That's the problem," I huffed. "She moves on too easily if you ask me."

Nero smirked. "That's because women are a lot stronger than we are."

"Which is why they're the ones that give birth and not us," I grinned.

"Now if my wife would just hurry the fuck up and give me my son already," he grumbled.

Yeah, nothing made a man crazy like the woman that he loved.