Cade Burns
Aria told me nothing about her meeting with her brother, just that he was unhinged and not thinking clearly. I could tell that something else had happened, but I couldn’t decide how to address the situation, so I sat on the front porch, drinking a black coffee and considering all the options that lay before me. Serg would be in for a meeting at noon, and we’d discuss the repercussions of calling off the alliance, but there was still one factor of it that kept me from making that decision.
If we called off the alliance, keeping Aria here would be a liability. Matteo would demand her back, and the thought of sending her back to a man who hated her-one who she didn’t trust-didn’t sit right with me.
The true liability would come if something happened to her in his care. I knew I would damn all the consequences and kill him.
When had all of this changed? When had Aria engrained herself here so deeply that I would think like that?
The patio door flew open, and Elizabeth came striding outside, still in a silk nightgown. It only reminded me of another, more substantial problem. She had a death wish, and I didn’t know what to say to change her mind- to make her see that her husband’s passing didn’t define her worth.
She sat in the seat at my side and leaned into me, taking a shaky breath.
I whipped my body around fully, finding her face streaked with tears.
“What happened?” I asked.
She chuckled lightly and shook her head. “I didn’t think anyone would remember,” she said with a shrug. “Fern was the only one who ever remembered our anniversary. I didn’t even remember it most years.”
Fuck. I had forgotten their anniversary today. My chest ached as I considered the disappointment she must be facing, so I gathered her in my arms and tucked her into my side, hoping that I could at least offer a bit of comfort this way.
“I’m so damn sorry, Liz,” I told her.
She didn’t say anything as she took in my comfort and shook under the weight of her sobs.
“I thought that his death would mean something when we took out Ruso. I thought he’d be the reason that we finally have peace, but that’s falling apart now, too.”
“I know,” I comforted. I couldn’t even imagine how disappointed she was to lose her best friend and husband at such a young age, but to know that his death didn’t accomplish anything tore at her above all else.
But when she looked up, there was more in her eyes than just sadness and grief. “He didn’t die for no reason,” she cemented. “I won’t let that be the case. Something is still happening with the Rusos.” “Liz,” I started.
“Stop with the bullshit, Cade. We wouldn’t have been attacked if the alliance was worth a damn. Frankly, it’s not. Matteo fucking Ruso is scheming, and you’re letting him do it because you have false hope for what’s happening. If you let this go, he’s going to walk all over you and kill all of us.”
Typically, I’d tell her to stop conspiring-to focus on her own life and leave me to handle our businesses. But this was her life. The implications of this falling through were just as grave to her, and I wouldn’t delude myself into believing she was unaffected.
“Then give me facts,” I told her. “If you want me to do something to put this alliance at risk, give me a reason.”
She clenched her jaw, raising her brows. “You act as if it’s doing anything beneficial for us. It’s not. If it falls through, we’re going to be in the exact same position as we’ve been for the past decade. This gave us no reprieve, and we both know it. Now, we have all the Italian families at our back, and the Rusos are at our front door. If we let them in, we’re not going to make it out of this situation alive.”
“What do you propose I do?” I asked. “My hands are tied. The potential of ending this is worth the risk. Nothing good will come out of going back on the arrangement.”
“I’m telling you that something is wrong. They are moving as if they’re still in conflict. We’re in the middle of whatever is happening on their end, and the middle of this mess is the last place I want to be.” She shook her head. “Cade, I don’t want you to trust them.”
She had no idea how little I trusted Matteo, but she was right. I needed to do something.
***
Monitoring the situation had gotten us nowhere every time we’d done it before, and it told me nothing now. There was only one way to figure out what was going on with the alliance, and it was straight from the source.
Matteo had his men on the move, patrolling extra routes and crowing our entire territory, and I knew that it wasn’t under a ruse of helping us. After all this time, he hadn’t offered his people in a helpful way once, going as far as allowing them to attack my men. I didn’t believe that the alliance was worth much, but I was willing to settle with the idea it may be useful eventually.
Now, though, I believed I was being played for a fool, and I wouldn’t stand for that.
I picked up my phone and leaned back in the seat of my car. I’d parked within view of the front of his home, and as the phone rang, I imagined him sitting inside and staring at the caller ID before picking up the line.
“Cade,” he said the moment he answered. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“What the hell were your men doing picking fights with mine at the bar?” I asked. “We lost three men there.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t be in control of my men all the time,” he said.
“You’d better learn to be. Or at least tell them that we’re no longer your enemy so they can back the hell off.”
He snorted, as if what I was saying was somehow a joke or humorous in some way. “And you can keep an iron grip on your men? You’re telling me they don’t act out sometimes?”
My jaw clenched. Rarely. They rarely went against my orders, and when they did, it was always out of spite. When they did, I made sure they were punished appropriately. I thought back to my lieutenant who had tried something on Aria, and my chest burned with rage. “How did you punish the people who made it back?” I asked, knowing that there hadn’t been many who made it back alive. There had been at least one person who had slipped out the door, though. I recalled seeing him and being unable to find him afterward.
He went silent for a moment, and I knew precisely how little punishment the man had faced.
“In your shoes,” I told him, “I would have executed the man involved in going against my orders. Allowing for disobedience allows for weakness.” “You aren’t in my shoes,” he replied evenly.
“No, I’m not. I’m trying to make this alliance work, and so far, we’ve been attacked more while allying with you than when we were alone against your father.”
“The other families aren’t happy about this. They want nothing to do with the Irish, and they are doing what they can to break the alliance. I am not responsible for them and their actions,” he said, and I could hear him shuffling around on the other end. Was this conversation so unimportant that he didn’t feel he needed to give me his undivided attention?
“Even when it’s your sister they’re targeting?” I asked. He didn’t reply. “I know you’ve heard the ways they plan to get to us. Your sister may be under my protection now, but Aria is in danger, and that sounds like an attack on you, too.”
He huffed. “I don’t have the resources to allocate to you right now for frivolous measures.”
“Then what the hell good is this alliance?” I shouted.
He didn’t answer, and I chuckled deeply at that lack of response.
“Friendship can only get us so far in this business, Matteo. When we’re attacked again, I expect you to provide assistance. If you don’t, I will consider it a breach of contract. I was pleased to work with you, but if you’re the only one who benefits, I’ll find someone else to be my alliance.” “There is nobody else,” he shot back.
“There is always someone else.”
I ended the call and took a deep breath, watching the front of his manor closely. For a few moments, nothing important caught my eye. But then, as I’d anticipated, two teams of people left and began loading into cars.
This alliance was certainly not going to work.