Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

ELENNA

"Do you understand the difficult position this has put me in?"

I sat on the couch between Finley and Orion, while Aidan was addressed by Reuben Brantley himself. As the head of the Brantley family, he usually left things like this to his younger brother, Caleb, or one of his henchmen.

For him to come here personally, this was a big deal. Especially given that Reuben was very obviously pissed. His piercing blue eyes bored holes in each of us in turn, lingering on me, and Finley’s arm around my shoulders. He was around the same age as Aidan, in his early forties, with the same anger, burning right beneath the surface.

"It wasn’t my intention to create trouble," Aidan said evenly. If he was intimidated by Reuben, he showed no sign. "My goal is to protect my wife and those we care about. The Fiorelli family has been a thorn in all of our sides since?—"

"I’m well aware of the trouble they’ve caused." Reuben’s voice was low, but cut straight through Aidan’s. He was used to having people do exactly what he said, without question. Leaping to obey, to avoid his wrath. He didn’t need to raise his voice to be heard. When he spoke, everyone listened.

I thought Aidan might snap back, but he didn’t. He knew when the puck was already in the goal and there wasn’t any point chasing it down. Not to mention that Reuben could have us all killed, with nothing more than a couple of words. Watching Aidan keep his anger in check was fascinating. He was going to lose it later and I couldn’t wait.

"They haven’t been as big a problem since Dante’s death," Reuben continued. "Until now. I’ve managed to keep them more or less contained, with close eyes on everything they do."

"Like my brother," I said without thinking.

Reuben’s gaze turned to me. He was even more of a closed book than Aidan. He made an indeterminate sound in the back of his throat and turned away.

Finley squeezed my shoulder, to reassure me, or perhaps to stop me from getting up and punching Reuben in the face for putting my brother in a situation that got him killed.

Doing that would only achieve exactly nothing but getting me and my guys killed, so I wasn’t even tempted.

Besides that, as much as I hated to admit it, Ike knew what he was getting into. He would have jumped in with both feet and enjoyed the ride. Until it ended abruptly and painfully.

"Geneva Fiorelli contacted me, demanding I hand over the person who killed her stepson." Reuben toyed with a button on his perfectly tailored suit. He carried an air of danger and violence, but enough of his dealings were above board to convince some people he was legitimate. Nothing more dangerous than a successful businessman. Everything was perfectly legal.

For those of us who knew better, he was one of the most powerful men in Australian organised crime. The Australian mafia, or near enough. He’d order a bullet in someone’s brain and not even blink.

"Cute that she’d pretend to give a shit about any of her stepchildren," Finley remarked. "I’m guessing this is less about Oscar and more about her trying to flex muscles."

"That’s exactly what it is," Reuben said without looking away from Aidan. "I don’t need her flexing muscles."

"You need her to stay in her cage, theoretically speaking," Aidan said.

If I wasn’t watching closely, I would have missed it, but I could have sworn Reuben flinched. It was the most minute movement, little more than a twitch of the side of his face. Half a second later, I thought I must have imagined it. Men like him didn’t flinch.

"Theoretically speaking, yes," he said evenly. "All of this has stirred up trouble and I don’t like trouble."

"I have the situation under control," Aidan assured him. "I appreciate you coming all this way to pass on Geneva’s message. We can sort it out from here."

Reuben’s expression didn’t change, but the sense of annoyance increased. "You claim Orion was the one who killed Oscar." He wasn’t asking.

"Yes, it was me." Orion sat back on the couch, his legs crossed at his knees, looking every bit the cool, calm, arrogant hockey god. "You’re welcome." He smirked when Reuben turned to him.

"You also helped my youngest brothers in their crusade against human trafficking." Again, Reuben wasn’t asking.

Orion’s body stiffened, his thigh pressed against mine. "Yep. And I’d do it again."

Finley muttered something that sounded like, "Cocky little fuck." He sounded approving.

I squeezed his leg. He turned and smiled.

Reuben toyed with a ring on his right hand. It looked expensive. Like everything else about him.

"You can assure me that handing Orion over to the Fiorellis will settle the matter." Reuben looked back at Aidan.

"You have my word," Aidan said. "We’re taking responsibility for that situation. It was a miscalculation on my part and I’m fixing it." He looked pained to say words like those. Especially when none of it was that simple.

"If any of this comes back to bite me on the ass," Reuben said, "I will hold you personally responsible. I don’t need to tell you what the repercussions of that would be."

"Not at all," Aidan agreed. "We fully understand the situation and the consequences if I fail. But I won’t fail. The wheels I’ve set in motion will get the job done to the satisfaction of all of us."

"Except Orion." Reuben glanced my way, clearly trying to gauge my response. "The Fiorellis won’t go easy on him." He didn’t seem too concerned. I couldn’t rule out the possibility he thought they’d deal with one of his problems, saving him from having to bother. Why though, I didn’t know. Unless helping Hunter and Parker was something he disapproved of. There didn’t seem to be much love lost between him and them these days. I didn’t know why and I didn’t much care. That was their problem, not mine.

"I can take it," Orion said. "I’ve dealt with worse than them before." He glanced at Aidan, who snorted.

"You have no idea." Aidan rubbed his hand over the back of his neck. "I’m curious what Caleb thinks about us surrendering the team’s best defenceman. I’ve started to turn the Demons around."

"Caleb wants the Fiorellis to go away more than he wants the team to succeed," Reuben said coolly. "However, I’m certain you can achieve success without one player."

For some reason, that sounded like another threat.

"I’m certain I can too," Aidan agreed. "I appreciate you confirming where his priorities are." We all knew he was trying to goad Reuben, but the oldest of the Brantleys didn’t give him much to come back with. Not without saying Caleb didn’t give a shit about the team. He probably didn’t, but the team doing badly reflected on him. He had to put up some pretence.

"We all want the Fiorellis to go away," I said. Me in particular. They created trouble for Reuben, but they hadn’t murdered any of his brothers. From what I gather, they tried, but so far they hadn’t succeeded. What would Reuben do if they had? I had a feeling he wasn’t the type to leave blood on the street, even in retaliation for the death of one of his own. Not his brothers anyway. Fuck only knew if he cared about anyone else. That was his business.

"If we could achieve that without unnecessary expense and bloodshed, we would," Reuben said.

In that order, no doubt.

"Just necessary bloodshed," Orion said lightly. "You’re welcome." His dark gaze watched Reuben like a lion waiting to pounce on a mouse.

Reuben was far from a mouse. The consequences for attacking him would be worse than death. I didn’t want to think what he’d have done to any of us. Okay, all of us. Any retaliation would have repercussions beyond Orion’s actions.

I put a hand on Orion’s. "No one wants this to happen. Least of all me."

"Like I said, necessary blood," Orion said. He shrugged like it was no big deal at all.

"I’ll send you the details outlining where the transaction will take place," Reuben said. "A location insisted upon by Geneva."

"Of course," Aidan agreed. "We’re only too happy to give her exactly what she wants."

"I’m sure you are," Reuben said. "I don’t want to hear about any of this again until it’s dealt with."

"Leave it to me," Aidan said. "Everything will go as smoothly as I planned." His confidence was almost contagious. If I didn’t think this could all go horribly wrong so easily, I’d be as calm about this as he seemed to be.

"Of course it will," Reuben said. He looked as though he was about to once again remind Aidan of what would happen if it didn’t, but he decided he made his point already.

He wasn’t the kind of man to waste time or words. As long as I’d known him, he never had been.

If I was honest with myself, I’d say that was part of the attraction. I wasn’t immune to the lure of a powerful, good-looking man. It was one of the things that drew me to Aidan in the first place. I hated the bloodshed, but I loved the power and danger these men carried with them. It was an addiction I’d never tried too hard to break. If I was honest with myself, I wanted more of it. Not with Reuben now I had my three guys, but there was a time when I would have gone there.

"Can I offer you a drink?" Aidan asked. "I have a bottle of Macallan waiting for just the right opportunity."

"No, I have another meeting," Reuben said. "Don’t fuck up." He nodded to his henchman Damon. Without a backward glance, they left the apartment. Their presence lingered long after they were gone, like a dark cloud.

Aidan closed and locked the door behind them. "Good, I didn’t want to give them my best whiskey anyway."

Finley chuckled. "Yeah, that would have been quite the waste. However, I’ll have a glass, neat. Thanks for the offer."

Aidan smirked. "Not a chance. That can wait until after we pull this off."

"If we do." Orion turned his hand and laced his fingers in mine.

"We will," Finley said. "We’re staking your life on it."

"I noticed," Orion said, giving him a particularly dry look. "Nothing important."

"You’re very important," I told him. "To me and to Aidan and Finley. And the team."

"Then we really better not fuck this up," Orion said. "Like Aidan said, I’m the best defence the team has. Lose me and the Demons go back to losing." He looked smug.

"You really are a cocky fuck, aren’t you?" Finley grinned.

"A cocky hockey fuck," Orion agreed.

"How about that, you know how to rhyme," Aidan said, his tone flat. "You should have joined a rock band or taken up poetry."

"I can play a mean set of drums," Orion said.

"Shame this place is too small for one of those." Aidan stepped over to the kitchen and poured himself a drink of cola.

"Time to get a bigger space then." Orion ran his thumb back and forth across the back of my hand.

"Not if it means having drums in the house." Finley grimaced.

"We can agree on that." Aidan toasted Finley.

"If the house was big enough, you’d never hear it," I pointed out.

"Whose side are you on?" Finley asked, pretending to be offended.

"I’m on the side of everyone getting what makes them happy," I said. "If drums make Orion happy, then I don’t see the harm." He was the one taking the biggest risk all too soon. Why shouldn’t he get something in return for that?

"That’s a problem, you don’t see the harm," Finley said. "You hear it. Thud, thud, bang, bang, and all that bullshit."

"That sounds like the music you listen to," Orion told him.

Finley looked affronted. "You clearly don’t know good music when you hear it. There’s nothing wrong with what I like."

"If you say so." Orion shrugged.

"I do say so." Finley nodded.

I glanced up to see Aidan regarding us all thoughtfully. I cocked my head at him questioningly.

"I was just thinking about everyone getting what they want," he said slowly, but with darkening eyes.