A Dark Place (a Tomb of Ashen Tears Book 5)

by Kailee Reese Samuels

  “Vinny was a rapist,” he bluntly points out. “Did you rape Iris?”

  “I didn’t rape Iris, but…”

  “But nothing,” he excuses, handing me a smoke. “Where are you at? Or maybe a better question is, where are you going?”

  “Am I that far gone?”

  “Nah,” he hastens, sparking the fire. “You’re much worse.”

  “Wow…thanks for making me feel better,” I remark, and he smirks, laughing.

  “You are in many ways, though. Certainly, you see that.” I get off the bike and stare at the school—so majestic and proud, built from Old Poppa’s mind and money. “We evolve from where we came from. Our upbringing wasn’t pretty, and contrary to your sexy mug, we’re very unpretty.”

  “By that statement alone, you are arguing that everyone from Baby Raniero to Merritt is going to be super fucking fucked up.”

  “Yes,” he says, nodding with a lone chuckle. “I am. Unless we leave. And you ain’t leaving my ass alone to clean this shit up.”

  “I can’t leave,” I emphasize, swinging my arm to the school. “This is my legacy.”

  He abruptly asks, “You want me to kill Kate?”

  “No,” I reply, laughing and wishing we had a blunt to pass. I won’t ask; I know he does, but one thing leads to another with me. “But don’t think I haven’t considered it once, twice, or six dozen times. But if my father dies, she can make the argument for Luca’s business.”

  “You don’t think she’d do that, do you?” he asks. “Have you even talked to Kate? Are we sure she even knows? They may know, and they’re using her as a scapegoat to make trouble.”

  “She knows.” I kick my feet in the gravel by the driveway. “She hates Serene for the shit that went down with Cassidy.”

  “Have you talked to Cas?”

  “That’s a shitfuck storm waiting to happen.”

  “I like that,” he praises smirking. “Shitfuck.”

  “Thanks,” I mutter. “I gotta tell you something, and you’re going to hate me.”

  He glares at me. “No, I won’t. Say it.”

  “Nicky raped Hannah in Italy.”

  “I’ve only got one thing to say about that, and then we are dropping this conversation.”

  Bracing for the impact of his ringed fist, I agree, “Alright.”

  “When do I get to kill him, Sir?”

  His Ride

  We’re standing side by side, staring up at the stars in the midnight blue sky. He hasn’t said a word since I asked when I get to kill him. I shift my weight and lightly bumping into his hip, jarring his thoughts away from whatever abysmal place he is hanging out in.

  “Why haven’t you hit me yet?”

  “Because Hannah called wanting to see me,” I say. “I went over there before you came up from Houston. I took her for ice cream, and she told me. She is at Lakeside where they took Nicky,” I hiss, popping my jaw. “I cannot believe he is still alive.”

  “You’re assuming way too much,” he alleges. “Hannah has not seen hide nor hair of him. But I can tell you one thing. If Hannah gets hurt on Ma’s watch because of this fucking stunt, I will never forgive her. You might. But I can’t.”

  “You could’ve moved Hannah.”

  “She didn’t want to go,” he replies. “I asked. She said she was fine with Vinny and the boys from RR. Are you mad at me?”

  “I understood why she didn’t want anyone to know and why you didn’t tell me,” I say, quarter-turning toward him. “I’m not mad. Not about this. Not about anything with you, Amber, or Iris.”

  “You were mad at Iris…”

  “I was,” I confide, touching his fingers. “Because I want her treating you better than week-old leftovers. But she called you from Japan. Not me. So I know she is trying hard to make this work.”

  At midnight, the lights cut off on the sign and the school. “I’m going to change that,” he announces in the ebony darkness. “This place is going to shine like a star.”

  “I’ll help you,” I whisper, laying my hand on his cheek. “Anything you want. Anything you need. I am here.”

  “What about Amber?”

  “Passing the time with a likeminded soul,” I say with his breath on my lips and narrowing in. “We’ve got one goal, getting Sal Raniero off the ground, and if our bodies collide in the act, so be it.”

  He mutters, “And if I fall?”

  “You have a Saint and an Angel to give you wings,” I assure. “And Amber, who would steal some for you too.”

  “Do you trust Dom?”

  I deeply sigh. “More than I trust Nick, but not enough to bank on.”

  He rubs his eyes with one hand, outstretching his palm over his nose. “That doesn’t answer the question.”

  “I don’t know, babe,” I reply, distraught. “He’s done some sketchy shit.”

  “Like fucking Iris in Mexico.”

  “Is that wrong?” I ask. “I mean, I get where you’re at. He held her as a baby, and now he likes screwing her. It’s a taboo, their age difference, but I am not going to sit in judgement because I like kissing one boy a lot.”

  “It’s not that,” he stresses. “It’s the fact that he had a hand in raising both of us. There is too much architecture, too much structure, too much infrastructure for this to be passed off as his helping our plight out of the goodness of his heart.”

  “You think there is something sinister at work.”

  “I don’t want to, but my gut instinct knows better because he stacks blocks the way I do.”

  “It takes one to know one,” I add. “Confront him. Point blank. Ask him.”

  “He’ll just lie to me.”

  With a cackle, I snarl. “And that right there is the only answer you need.”

  “Do you know anything about his Nero work?”

  “There are no records,” I reply. “Everything goes up in flames. I didn’t even know Dom was in the brotherhood. All I do is run the books of the dues paid by members for access. I don’t know who is about to get hit or when. You want someone who would know this shit, talk to Quinn.”

  He crouches low to the ground in the darkness, and I squat, following him. My knee loudly pops, and he asks, “You okay?”

  “Yeah, years of playing sports, and it’s been raining,” I admit as his fingers graze over my face. “I need to get you home.”

  “Is my ride turning into a pumpkin?”

  “No,” I ease. “Your ride wants in his favorite hole.”

  With a grin, he jokes, “Christen me here.”

  “Drop your jeans, and I will fuck you until you don’t walk,” I taunt with a growl. “It won’t be the last time I deposit my cum in you on your sacred ground.”

  “You’re fucking dirty.”

  I snicker, “I’ll tow the chapel to my church.”

  103

  The Catalyst of Reckoning

  The Master

  At ten in the morning with my wife, my lover, and my mistress by my side, I walk into the enormous Methodist church in Honey Cove for Madeline Grace’s funeral.

  “This place is bigger than the church in Boston,” I mumble, not wanting to do this. “I hate funerals.”

  “And there is a line of cars six miles deep to get in here,” Amber says, clutching onto Cruz in his navy blue suit. “I hope they don’t all go to the graveside service in Sugargrove.”

  “Juliet will be hopping tonight,” Iris adds, nervously glancing around. She is clinging to me like a life preserver. “According to Ella—Anna offered to open the doors to the cabaret.”

  “I’m not going,” I say, peering down at my bride. “And neither are you.”

  “We should go find someplace to sit,” Cruz suggests. “Before the crowd gets any worse.”

  “We’re on the first three rows with Cristos’ family.”

  “Cristos’ ‘family’ is going to take over the whole cathedral,” Iris cautions as we walk down the aisle. A few people are sitting, but most of the mourners are eit
her in the lobby or the parking lot. “Do we have security?”

  “Everyone is here, except for Berk,” I reassure, squeezing her hand. “He is getting cameras up at the Swamp Shack. Everything is going to be okay, baby.”

  Less than a half-hour later, I turn back to the packed house. Holding my hand, Iris asks, “What?”

  “Don’t turn around,” I mutter, knowing she is experiencing trauma from the shooting. “Just hold my hand and trust me.”

  “Just trust me,” he begged, rubbing my ass. I was on all fours in the damp gravel. “I’ve got you.”

  “This is a very public display for you, Cruz.”

  “Yeah, you make me crazy,” he replied. “You’ve got goals, so do I. Fucking you all over the campus is a high priority on the bucket list.”

  He nudged my exit and slowly thrust inside. “The hell…”

  “We’re going together, Raniero,” he proposed, gripping my hips. “Open your eyes and look around. This is just the beginning of something great. You and me together forever.”

  I peer over at Cruz, sitting on the other side of Iris. He winks and makes a love and peace sign before pointing at me. And then he mouths, “I love you.”

  “Back at you.”

  Amber peers over his shoulder and sticks her tongue out, and I do the same as Iris starts giggling and whispers, “We aren’t fit to be here.”

  “Probably not.” I scan over the horde and spot members of my security team—Swain Mo and Moses Hollister. “Holy fuck.”

  Father Quinn, who is sitting in front of me, turns and scolds, “God’s house, son.”

  “Gwyn Grace is here,” I mumble, standing up and easing past Iris. “Watch my wife.”

  Pacing down the main aisle with little disruption, I pass by the second to last pew and grab her arm. We walk out into the lobby and out the side doors to an enclosed courtyard.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “He won’t let me bury my daughter in Tennessee, so I had to come here.”

  “You aren’t going to the graveside,” I rant, lighting a smoke. “No way are you going anywhere near your son.”

  “My son,” she laughs. “It’s been years since I’ve seen that boy.”

  “He became what you always wanted—a sadistic, sociopathic killer.”

  She shakes her head and tries to walk away, but I block the only exit, back into the church. “I did the things his father wanted to see.”

  I tilt my head curiously. “You encouraged Lisa Akins to rape your son.”

  “Because that is what Delarte wanted!” she fiercely mutters, lying through her blackened teeth. She is a tweaker, using anything and everything she can get her grubby paws on. “All of these people are bowing down before the great and mighty Delarte Cristos, fully prepared to lick the bottoms of his shoes, but I am telling you, it isn’t so easy once you get his attention. Lisa Akins was Nicky’s private tutor that traveled with the circus, and Delarte wanted her grooming that boy.”

  “She fucking breastfed him until he was a teenager. She raped him. He was the nightly entertainment for the troop, and you knew,” I seethe, not buying her story. “You knew every bit of it. You might as well have stamped your blessing of approval on it. You are just as guilty as fucking Akins and don’t goddamn deny it!”

  “To the limo, Raniero,” Dom scolds, cracking open the door. “Now!”

  “Get her the fuck out of here!”

  “I will make sure she leaves,” he says, holding my arm as Cruz swings open the doors to the cathedral. He nods, and I blink but keep following Daddy Dom outside. “Gwyn Grace is not important right now.”

  “Gwyn Grace is important!” I yell, shrugging him off as Gwyn runs off to her car. “Because what you fail to understand is how we become the products of our upbringing.”

  Dom roars, “Do you not think I know that?”

  “I know Angelo Gennaro made you feel insignificant and worthless, and you escaped his wrath by joining the military,” I say, grinding my jaw. “And when you were finally grown up enough to stand against him, it was too fucking late, and you’ve been living out your life goals through Iris and me. And it’s gotta stop.”

  “This isn’t about me.”

  “Everything is about you, Dom.”

  “And I ignored it for so long,” I mutter, staring at the ground. “But I cannot sweep this shit under the rug anymore because I am about to be a father. And everything I do to that kid—good and bad—is going to play out in the future. I must be a better man.”

  “Where is Cruz going?”

  “Delivering a promise I made years ago.”

  “Do not do this, Sal,” he warns with fear in his eyes. “Call off your hellhound!”

  “Why?” I question with a snicker. “Because you haven’t been able to control Cruz since he arrived in Sal’s town? Fucking pissed you off, didn’t it? You thought you had it in the bag. Two sons under your control, but you missed a critical point—Cruz isn’t under anyone’s thumb.”

  “No, he’s up your ass!”

  “Don’t even take this there, old man,” I threaten through gritted teeth. “Don’t fucking even bring that into this! You have no right nor any invitation to sit in judgement!”

  Cruz casually swaggers back to the church, buttons his jacket, and smiles. “Do you need anything?”

  “A cleanup.”

  “It’s already being handled, Sir,” he calmly says. “Is there an issue here?”

  “No,” I snap. “No issue at all.”

  Cruz disappears inside of the church as Dom says, “If you are a follower of Cruz’s dogma, I won’t be able to save you.”

  “I am not a follower,” I reply, insulted. “I am a damned disciple, anointed by God himself, and you cannot stand that fact.”

  His head shakes. “We’re not getting anywhere.”

  “Confess your sins, Bianco Nero Dominic Gennaro.”

  “Fuck you, Boston.”

  “I don’t understand what is going on,” Iris questions as the limousine pulls into the White Rose Cemetery at quarter to noon. “Someone talk to me.”

  “We can discuss everything after the graveside service,” I reply, holding her hand. “It will be okay.”

  “Keishi…” she whispers as the car stops. “Anna.”

  “This is not something you see every day,” Amber admires, staring out the window. “It’s old school,” she elaborates, smiling at Iris. “Look at the respect between them.”

  “Excuse me. I have to go.” She lunges for the door and yells, “Sofu!”

  He smiles broadly and opens his arms as we pile out of the car. With Amber and Cruz flanking me, I put my Bollé sunglasses on and caution, “I’m going to lose her if I don’t pull the plug.”

  Dom’s limousine pulls up behind ours. He gives a sad stare, shaking his head once with a warning.

  “Sally!” Mae-Mae comes running at me.

  I swoop her up in my arms, and Dom scowls, walking away. “What are you doing here?”

  “Serene brought me!” she booms, stealing my shades. “I am famous now!”

  “You are!” I encourage. “Miss Sugargrove!”

  “I am Miss Raniero!” she replies, and I chuckle. “You should kiss me now!”

  With an overly dramatic smooch to Mae’s cheek, I spot Serene’s BMW in the line of cars, and shortly after that, her strawberry hair blusters in the wind as she walks over. “Can we talk?”

  I close my lips and nod once. “Why don’t you go see Deeeee and Bamber for a minute?”

  “Deeeee!”

  Cruz laughs and smiles, taking the adorable doll from my hands. I extend my arm to Serene, and we walk the loop we’ve run so many times. She looks up at me, “When did you figure it out?”

  “When I called Stroker Mullins and asked if he knew you were pregnant with his child,” I inform. “And he doesn’t even know who the hell you are. Plus, no offense, but you aren’t his type. He likes them young and naive like Niamh.”

  “I
am neither young nor naive,” she replies, smiling. “More like old and seasoned enough to know better.”

  “And all of the flights to Copenhagen?”

  “To see the love of my life. Zach is Delarte Cristos’ son, and I am taking Kade and getting on a boat in Greece.”

  “You’re leaving…”

  “I am,” she replies. “I have a limited amount of time left, and I want to spend it with the man I love.”

  “The scans are bad?”

  “I have stage three breast cancer, but I am postponing the treatment until Zach is born,” she confides, squeezing my arm. “I never wanted any of this to go down like this.”

  “What about Nicky?”

  With an exasperated sigh, she says, “What about him? He’s a killer, Sal. Keep your wife and kid away from him.”

  “Who is behind his actions, though?”

  “I don’t know that anyone is behind it, but if I had to guess, I would look at Jaid because I don’t trust her.”

  “… And Kate?”

  Her lips crimp as she shakes her head. “I can’t make excuses. I’m helping to fund several Irish organizations, but I need to be done trying to weave my way around Kate’s attacks. I am not even sure Madeline was behind that.” Her eyebrows lift, and she sighs, “Jaid is diabolical, Sal, and the unfortunate part is she has Cruz tied up in her web with Lukas.”

  She pulls off my sunglasses. “What?”

  “Those eyes are the dreamiest emeralds I ever set my eyes on.”

  “Am I ever going to see you again?”

  “Maybe,” she says. “You never know, but it’s time to get away from all of this.”

  “I can’t believe you’re leaving me,” I mutter, scratching my head. “I feel like everyone is falling apart.”

  “Hold tight to those you love,” she urges, grabbing my hand. “And do not let them go for anything.”

  I glance over at Cruz, bouncing Mae-Mae in his arms, and Amber is making faces. Iris is involved in an intense discussion with The Chairman. “I am in love with her.”

  “You always were,” she acknowledges. “Buttercup had you beat from the beginning, but…” Opening her bag, she hands an envelope to me. “I’m your guardian angel. I found this when I was packing up the house and did some poking around.” She winks. “You’re going to win this round.”