Dinara
I can feel the warmth of his body pressed against mine. Did he move an inch at any point during the night? His arm is loosely thrown around my hip, holding me against him. I can feel his morning wood, and it’s almost tempting to tease him. I give myself a mental shake, though, because I need to focus. He is a distraction, a wonderful and sexy distraction, that I would love to constantly have fucking the shit out of me, but I have duties to perform, and we do not belong together. No matter how romantic the notion may seem.
I slip out of his grasp and get up, getting dressed slowly. Away from his grasp, I realize how safe I felt when he was holding me. I wish we could stay like that forever, but it’s not going to happen. We aren’t the leaders of the family, only the soldiers. At least I’m not a leader, and I won’t be considered good enough for someone with a stake in inheriting the Quinn family after his brothers.
As I’m slipping into my pants, I hear rustling in the bed and glance over my shoulder to see Robbie slowly sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
“Come back to bed, Dina. It’s warmer.”
His sleepy logic is sweet, and then I look toward the window. It’s as though I’ve been living through a stupidity fog the last few days, and I scoop up his shirt tossing it at him. “Get up and get dressed.”
“What’s happened?” He’s alert now because of the change in my demeanor, and I start to run my fingers through my hair before I tie it up in a messy bun.
“The Irish have been attacked, the Russians have been attacked… The Italians will be their next target, and we need to get there first and figure out who’s doing this before it happens.” I hurry to the bathroom to freshen up as best I can.
Robbie appears behind me. “What’s your plan?”
“I’m going straight to Alessandro. I need you to try and account for everyone’s whereabouts.”
“I can do that with Aiden’s help,” he says.
I turn and kiss him on the lips before I look deep into those blue eyes. “Be safe, or I’ll fucking kill you.”
“What about you?” he asks, watching me cross the room. I take the gun from under his pillow and put it in the back of the band of my pants. “I don’t intend to die today, Robbie. Trust me.”
He smiles, and I can feel his eyes on me as I walk toward the door. He calls, “Hanging up at the door are keys to my Mustang. She’ll get you there fast enough. She’s parked just outside.”
I grab the keys without a word and walk out, keeping an eye out for anyone looking suspicious. Nothing happens as I go to the Mustang, and soon, I’m practically flying toward Alessandro’s estate. The guards approach me when they don’t recognize the car, so I roll down the window. Once they’ve established it’s me, they search the vehicle before they let me in.
I park to the side of the house and walk straight toward it. I need to speak to Katya and Alessandro immediately.
“Dinara,” Dominic calls as he comes downstairs, “what are you doing here?”
“I need to see Alessandro immediately. It’s urgent.” Dominic raises an eyebrow. “Are you armed?” he asks.
I frown, “Yes, I am. I’m happy to leave the weapon here. In case you forgot, Dominic, I work for this family.”
“Or the Irish,” he comments, holding his hand out.
I narrow my eyes and put the gun in his hand. “Get the notion out of your head. I am firm in my loyalties.”
Dominic nods toward Alessandro’s office. “Is that why you stayed at Quinn’s last night?”
“You’re having me followed? So you know my house was burnt to the ground.” I tilt my head. “And Robert Quinn was just protecting me.
Lord help us, the Irish do what we pay them to do.”
I walk past him as he mutters an apology, but I ignore him and walk into Alessandro’s office.
“Mr. Sorvino, I must speak with you and Katya.” I walk straight to his desk.
He looks up and leans back. “Katya has gone out with the twins.
What can I help with?”
“It’s the dissent, sir. It’s clearly among the lower ranks, and someone is orchestrating it. I have reason to believe there will be a hit on the Italian soldiers next. The Irish and Russians have already been hit.” I lean on his table. “We need to sort this out.”
“Just because the other families don’t have loyal men, doesn’t mean we don’t. Our men are good people…”
Gunshots sound outside, and Alessandro moves like a flash of lightning around his desk. He pulls me to the ground, protecting me.
The doors open, and Dominic hurries in with Carmine. “You okay?’
“Yes,” Alessandro calls. “Shoot the fuckers.”
There’s the sound of wheels spinning as a car drives off, and Carmine investigates through the windows. “I’ll be back with a report now.”
Alessandro helps me up and then turns to Dominic. “An attack? In my own fucking house? Find out where Katya and the twins are! If anything happens to them, the fuckers will rue the day their mothers birthed them.”
I stay out of the way as Alessandro paces. There’s no point in talking to him. Dominic comes back in first. “Katya and the twins are perfectly fine. The hit was targeted here.”
Soon enough, Carmine is back as well. “Four guards dead. One wounded who says it thinks they were Russian.”
“Volkov’s men wouldn’t dare,” Alessandro roars. “I’m going to see him.”
He turns to me. “I’ll send our men to your offices, keep them calm, and reassure them we will sort this out.”
“Alessandro, just telling the men to be loyal isn’t reassuring. We need to do more to ensure the men stay loyal, give them a reason…”
He glares at me. “Here’s a reason. Show loyalty, or I’ll put a bullet between their eyes myself.”
“I don’t think that’s the answer. I’ll come back when you’re calm.” I turn and leave. The Mustang has a few bullet holes, but it can drive. I rush back to the office, dialing Robbie’s phone.
“There was an attack at Alessandro’s house. Meet me at the new offices.” I don’t give him a chance to respond, but I hang up and try to focus my thoughts. It won’t take long to summon the men to the meeting, and I need to get ahead of this.
I pull into the parking and go to the massive conference room on the first floor. Men are already there, mumbling among themselves. They’re less than happy to see me, but they know I work for Alessandro.
When Robbie walks in, though, they’re even more irate. They might listen to me, but they won’t take orders from the Irish family as far as they’re concerned.
Once the majority of the men are there, I stand on the small stage that’s been put in the front and start to speak to them about the attack and how it’s being done on purpose, that someone is looking to divide the families.
There’s a lot of talking over me and complaining, and I keep addressing them, trying to keep them all calm.
I should have known Robbie wouldn’t take it for that long, and when I pause for a moment, he steps toward one of the men complaining in the front.
“Why don’t you shout your filthy mouth and listen to the people in charge?” he growls. “You don’t know the half of what’s going on.”
The man, whom I don’t recognize, pushes Robbie away from him, swearing at him in Italian.
I recognize the words as an insult to Robbie’s mother, and clearly, Robbie knows that too because he throws a punch straight at the man’s face, and they go down, hitting each other.
Everyone starts shouting the odd word until I get off the stage and try to get Robbie off. I eventually pull a gun off him and raise it, pointing to the back ceiling and firing three rounds.
Everyone falls silent and freezes, looking at me.
“Quinn. Get the fuck out now.”
Robbie looks at me incredulously, and I can tell he’s mad, probably because I’m ordering him around when he assumes he is just helping. I glare at him, and he brushes himself off and storms out of the room. “I’ll be outside.”
I look at the bleeding Italian on the floor and lower the gun. “You’re lucky I don’t shoot you and the Irishman. You have forgotten to respect those of a higher ranking. Do I need to remind you how we, as a family, deal with that disrespect?”
He shakes his head, gets up, and squares off to me. I remain calm as he says, “The Irishman doesn’t seem to mind taking orders from you. Is it because there’s more there than a working relationship?”
I don’t bat an eyelid as I answer, “We’re nothing more than colleagues. I can assure you, you don’t have to worry about the Irish and me.”