11. Victoria

I take a deep breath,my fingers tightening around the cool metal of the door handle. The bathroom has always been a place of solace for me, but now it feels like it might hold something sinister. I glance back at Luke and Cian one last time before pushing the door open, the hinges creaking ominously even though I've never noticed it prior to this moment.

The first thing I notice is that the bathroom has been trashed, much like my bedroom. The mirror over the sink has been smashed by a fist, maybe. The medicine cabinet has been emptied, its contents strewn over the counter and in the sink. My tampons have been chucked out of the box and scattered all over the floor. Entering, I look around a bit more, closer to see if anything jumps out at me, figuratively speaking… I hope.

The hand towel is over the closed toilet lid, but something about it strikes me as odd in the disorder of the rest of the room. It's neat—almost too neat—like it has been laid out specifically.

Moving forward, I stare at it and then pause, drawing in a deep breath. "Well, it was definitely a him," I call back to the guys, hovering in the doorway.

"How do you know?" Cian asks, coming closer.

"Girls don't come in quite the same way."

"What?" he roars and practically shoves me out of the way to see the cum splats on the towel where whoever broke into my house had time to jerk off in my bathroom before we came home and surprised him. "That fucker!"

Luke steps in, his usual composure teetering on the edge. His fists clench at his sides as he processes the scene. "He's fucking taunting you."

I nod, feeling disgust and anger ripple through me. This was a deliberate move. This wasn't just about searching for something; this was personal. The bastard had left his mark to humiliate and provoke, but I don't think that was his only motive. He wanted something. The trashing of the room wasn't a ruse to distract from an ulterior motive. It was deliberate. But why? I can't think of anything that I keep here that someone would want, except the few bits of jewellery and those were untouched. Everything I have that is part of the mafia world, files composed of the players, incriminating evidence, anything even remotely tangled up in organised crime, is at my parent's house, which is still my primary residence, locked away in a vault room that is heavily guarded.

"Okay, so we can rule out the three Quinns," Luke says, stating the obvious but needing to talk it out. Make sense of it in that analytical brain of his as he goes through it all as an observer, not a participant. It's pretty fucking sexy. "Not Kellerman. He shat his pants when Victoria cornered him. Not someone from Castle U if you and Eliza ended things on a good note earlier."

I nod, stepping out of the bathroom to get some air. I can still feel the tension radiating off Luke and Cian like a fucking heatwave.

"So it stands to reason it's these Red Reaper dicks," I say, pacing around my bedroom. "Or some rando. Who else would have a vendetta against us, or me personally? Who would get off on this kind of shit?"

Cian crosses his arms, leaning against the doorframe. "Who doesn't have a vendetta against us is the better question."

I can't disagree.

Luke's eyes dart around the room as if mentally mapping out everything he knows. "Someone is trying to make a name for themselves by fucking with us."

My eyes narrow as I consider Luke's words. "Or someone old with a new agenda." I pause, looking at Cian. "Wait, you fucking cunt. Why didn't you kick Kellerman's ass for killing your dad?" Okay, so I'm a bit slow on the uptake today, and my tact has been shot out of the window by this second intruder.

He glares at me and then gives me a kind of awkward smile that seems totally off. "It wasn't him. Come the fuck on. He ran the second we launched our attack. You think him or his mother have the kind of balls to storm Oisin's estate and execute him in his own fucking office?"

Well, when he puts it like that. "Fair point," I murmur. "So, are we going with Red Reapers for it all?"

"It's all we've got. We need to nail this down?—"

"Wait," Luke says. "That's why the elders have circled the wagons."

"Why?" I ask as Cian moves in closer. "I don't follow."

"Because they know who these fuckers are, and they're making a move. They don't want us interfering."

"Oh, fuck that," I grit out. "Who do they think they are?"

"The current bosses," Luke points out.

"Cian is a current boss and needs to start acting like one," I growl, knowing I'm being a bit of a bitch as the tension ratchets up a notch right when Gianluca strides into the room.

"Window is fixed. He's going to board this one up until morning."

"Good," Cian mutters, shaking off the tension. "Thanks, Gianluca."

Gianluca just nods, his eyes flicking around the room, taking in the chaos. He's always been more of a silent enforcer, but tonight's events have even him on edge. The room feels heavy with unspoken thoughts and unacted violence.

"So what would you have me do?" Cian asks me, crossing his arms defensively.

"Do you really want my opinion?"

"I do."

"We fucking storm the castle. My dad's place. Tonight. And you, my love, you are going to show those old fuckers that the new kids on the block are about to kick their asses and take names while we're at it. Load up. It's a two-hour drive away."

"Uhm," Luke mutters, glancing around the messy bedroom.

"It'll still be here when we get back," I say, pointing out the obvious.

"True," he mutters and shrugs. "I'm in."

"The question is," I ask Cian, steadily, "are you?"