Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

ELENNA

"This is the place." Aidan parked his black SUV behind the long warehouse.

According to the sign across the side, the warehouse housed appliances. Another one across the back said not to trespass. The building itself was in a good state of repair, suggesting it wasn’t abandoned, just out of the way at the end of the industrial complex. Nothing about it suggested any shifty activities took place here. Naturally, this was the perfect location for it.

We didn’t say anything as we climbed out of the SUV. All of our senses were on alert for anything out of place. Any sign the Fiorellis changed the plans in some way, or decided against showing up. Given how adamant they were about finding Oscar’s killer, the latter seemed unlikely.

The former, on the other hand, was a much bigger possibility. We trusted them as far as we could actually spit their bones.

The guys arrayed around me, Aidan led us to the back door. He tapped on it three times, then three more.

A minute or two passed before the door opened.

Nicholas stood just inside the door, Celine a few metres behind him. Neither had a gun in their hand, but they’d both have them, ready to use in a heartbeat.

"You’re late," Nicholas said.

Aidan shrugged. "So what? We’re here."

Evidently Nicholas had no answer for that. He stepped back and waved us inside. His gaze lingered on me for a few seconds longer than necessary. Longer than he looked at my guys.

I gazed back at him as if I wasn’t intimidated as hell. I was sure he could see right through me. That he knew I was the one who pulled the trigger, blowing his brother’s brains out. Did I have guilt written all over my face? Aidan was right, I should have stayed back at the apartment. I was going to give everything away.

Nicholas turned away and stepped over to Celine.

"We appreciate you coming here to surrender our brother’s killer," Celine started.

"That’s not what we’re here for," Aidan said coolly. He stared them both down.

Neither flinched. The only indication of Nicholas’ annoyance was the tick of a muscle in his cheek. Celine’s hand hovered near her hip, presumably where her gun was.

"What are you here for then?" Celine asked. Her voice was colder than the ice on the hockey rink. It could have frozen a candle flame. She reminded me of Oscar. Would she cry the same way he had when he was bound, duct tape over his mouth?

Was it wrong that I wanted to find out?

"He’s stalling," Nicholas snapped.

"Not at all," Aidan said easily. "Condolences for your brother’s death, but you have higher priorities and I believe it’s something we have in common."

"I don’t want to discuss—" Nicholas started.

Celine cut him off. "What are you talking about?" She turned a narrow-eyed glare to Aidan, before looking at the rest of us, one by one. Appraising us as though discerning each of our weaknesses, learning them, so she could exploit them.

"First of all." Aidan strolled around the inside of the warehouse, glancing at boxes that may or may not contain fridges or washing machines. "Getting revenge for Oscar will only continue the cycle of retribution and death. If you kill one of mine, I’ll have no choice but to kill one of yours. And so on. The continued cycle doesn’t help anyone. I’m sure you’ll agree with that." He turned back to face them.

"It doesn’t have to continue," Nicholas snapped. "It can end here, with Oscar’s killer."

It could have ended with Ike’s killer, but Aidan and I both wanted justice. Hell, it could have ended before Ike died. I wanted to yell at them, to ask what killing him actually achieved. They could have exposed him as a spy and kicked him out. They didn’t have to tie him down, put a gun to his head and pull the trigger.

I bit my lip to keep from speaking out. From crying out. He was my baby brother, nothing would convince me he deserved to die like that.

"I’m not going to let you get the justice you think you need," Aidan said. "If you do, I’ll kill one of you, or one of your siblings. That will significantly weaken your family and your position in it."

"What are you talking about?" Nicholas snarled.

"He’s talking about our stepmother," Celine said softly. Apparently she was the brains between the pair of them. That made her more dangerous.

Aidan didn’t say anything for a few moments; he let Celine’s words sink into Nicholas’ mind.

Nicholas turned to stare at her, but realisation wasn’t long in sinking in. A range of emotions flashed through his eyes and on his face. Finally, he settled on wary.

"What are you proposing?"

"We’ve all seen Geneva’s power rising," Aidan said. "How many times has she undermined you and operations Dante put in place? I’m well aware Orion here tried to disrupt your human trafficking operation, but she was already making inroads there. Wasn’t she?"

Orion grunted. "She made it easier for us to do what we did."

Nicholas looked ready to pull out his gun and shoot someone. I didn’t think he knew exactly who, either. Maybe Aidan or Orion, or maybe Geneva. One thing was very clear, he didn’t like having his weaknesses exposed like this. Who did?

"We suspected she’s been working against us for a while," Celine said. "Or at least, working to further herself and her biological children. Ever since Dad died, the family has become more and more fractured. Some of our biological siblings have taken her side."

"Like Oscar did." Finley spoke for the first time.

Heavy silence fell.

Nicholas glared at Finley with undisguised resentment. Obviously Oscar’s allegiance was a sore spot, and Finley poked right into it.

"Ike exposed that fact, and that was what got him killed," Finley said. "Because Oscar was betraying you. That would piss anyone off."

"But Oscar isn’t the only one," Aidan said. "You’re both still more powerful than Geneva, for now. Oscar’s killer did you a favour. Wanting revenge for his death is to save face, I understand that. But losing your legacy to Geneva and your other siblings would be much worse. Wouldn’t it?"

Nicholas and Celine exchanged glances.

"What are you proposing?" Celine asked again. Her dark blue eyes were full of scepticism, but she wasn’t walking away. Not yet.

"First of all, stop wanting Oscar’s killer dead." Aidan counted the points off on his fingers. "Second of all, I propose an alliance between us, to prevent Geneva from becoming more powerful."

"What’s in it for you?" Nicholas asked.

"You know where our loyalties lie," Finley said. "Reuben doesn’t want Geneva to take Dante’s place. Or surpass him. That would be bad for business. He’d rather deal with one of you two."

Reuben would rather deal with neither of them, but Aidan and Finley had a point.

Dealing with Geneva before she became a problem would be better than waiting and letting her become a bigger, more destructive and disruptive force.

"I vote for letting them all fight it out between themselves," Orion said. He stood with his arms crossed, looking unimpressed. "Why should we bother to help them?" His dark eyes took in everyone, while giving away nothing. Only the press of his lips together suggested he’d rather kill Fiorellis than work with them.

"Because chances are they won’t do us all a favour and self-destruct." Aidan glanced at him quickly. "I’d rather work with these two so we can bring down Geneva than take the risk. Then comes the added bonus that both the Fiorellis and the Brantleys will owe us some big favours."

Now I understood the full extent of Aidan’s plan. He was right, he was never going to hand Orion over to these two. He wasn’t going to let the henchmen dotted around the warehouse kill any of us. The offer to help Nicholas and Celine was the perfect opportunity for all of us.

The idea of working with them wasn’t quite so terrible now I knew Oscar was working for Geneva, not them. That knowledge assured my agreement too. Not that Aidan needed it. If I disagreed vehemently with this whole plan, he’d push on with it anyway. I might pretend to disagree later, if it got me another spanking. At the end of the day, this was the right thing for all of us.

If Nicholas and Celine agreed.

Nicholas grabbed Celine by the arm and pulled her aside. They talked in low, harsh whispers for a few minutes. Every so often, he’d gesture with his hands, chopping the air and indicating his frustration or annoyance. Gradually, the gestures reduced and he crossed his arms over his chest instead. His whole body looked tense, tighter than a guitar string.

Hers was only slightly less so. Her temper was much more in check than his. Whatever she was saying was based on rational thought, not emotion. I wasn’t sure if that would work in our favour or not. She could just as easily have been reasoning out why they should kill us now and stuff our decomposing corpses in one of the boxes to ship off somewhere else.

"You think they’ll go for it?" I asked Finley, keeping my own voice low.

He shook his head. "I dunno. If they know what’s good for them, they will. What choice do they have? Geneva will be the one to chew them up and spit out their bones. She’s becoming influential enough to get noticed and that draws in all sorts of people. People who want their slice of the pie and can’t get it from the Fiorellis. Plenty will turn to the Mancinis, especially if some of the Fiorelli kids can convince them."

I wasn’t sure Orion was wrong in his suggestion that we should step back and let them implode. If Aidan thought for a moment that was possible, that’s exactly what he’d do.

When it came down to it, he understood the way these people worked better than I did.

Nicholas and Celine stepped apart. She walked back to us while he stood and scowled.

"We accept your help," she said. "Only in dealing with Geneva and our siblings. That’s the extent of the deal between us. We owe you nothing more."

"We want a promise," Aidan said. "We’ll help you if you don’t come after any of the four of us. In turn, we won’t come after either of you two." He didn’t add ’unless we’re forced to.’ That was a given.

They weren’t trustworthy people, but they, like us, would keep their word when they gave it, up to a point. Promises were never given lightly and only broken when they had to be. If they agreed to this, Orion and I could sleep safely at night. For now.

Celine glanced back at Nicholas, who nodded reluctantly.

"You have a deal," she promised. "Like you said, Oscar betrayed us anyway. We’ll put the word out that we’ve dealt with his killer and the matter is done with." That way, they’d save face and Geneva wouldn’t come after us, believing Oscar hadn’t been avenged.

"Whatever you have to do," Aidan said. "It looks like we have some talking to do and plans to make. Let’s deal with Geneva before she realises what’s going on under her nose."

"As long as you realise who is in charge here," Nicholas said.

"I’m absolutely confident I know who’s in charge here," Aidan said, his tone clearly saying it was him. "I’ve been doing this a lot longer than anyone else here. If anyone knows how to get to Geneva, it’s me. I am, however, open to suggestions." He spread his hands like this was their chance to have some input into what happened.

Nicholas growled, but Celine waved at him to back down.

"We’re happy to hear what you have to say," she said smoothly. "I suggest fighting amongst ourselves would be counterproductive." She arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow at Aidan as though he was the one causing the tension.

"I agree completely," Aidan said. "Let’s sit down and have a civil conversation." He turned that same look on Nicholas.

"Well, it’s going to be interesting," Finley said under his breath.

I snorted softly. It was definitely going to be that. A few egos might need to be put aside for a while.