“Yes.” Aliana pulls back just far enough for me to meet her sad eyes. “She’d been sleeping with my father for over a year. Jorge pulled the trigger while my mother egged him on, calling him all kinds of names until he snapped and grabbed a knife, stabbing her to death a few feet from me.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” Fuck, she should never have seen something like that. Not her. Never her. “Jorge is dead, by the way.”
“Good riddance. My cousin was a pig.” She doesn’t know. And for now, we’ll keep it that way. The less stress, the better. “By the way, it was my mom that put this all together. Her and Rigo, who is also her lover, and I’m disgusted by the level of trash my family has become, and all for greed. They needed the money from that sale to disappear, while Gaspar wants me. They attempted to kill two birds with one stone.”
“I’m sorry, love. I never wanted something like this for you.”
“I know and I don’t blame you. Y-you came for me,” she cries lowly, her bottom lip trembling as she speaks. “I’ve been so scared. She kept threatening us and—”
“Baby, where are your brothers and Lindsey? There’s a second team waiting to take off and grab them.”
“Just Lindsey is with them. But why my brothers?” she poses the last as a question. I’m missing something here. “What about them? She told me they were in a new school…it was one of the agreements we made.”
“Not here in London. Where are they?”
“They let me pick between Nicaragua or Sweden. I chose Sweden with the hope you’d find them first since that was one of the choices you gave my father.”
36
I can feel Casper’s eyes on the side of my head, but right now an explanation will have to wait. There are more pressing matters to deal with than my relationship status, and after all my men regrouped at the meet up, we detoured to a small building near Heathrow.
The place is isolated.
As if the owner closed shop recently and just left everything as is.
Exiting the car, I turn to look at Aliana. “I’m going to need you to—”
“If anyone is going to shoot her, it will be me.” My little firecracker is back. It took us thirty minutes into the drive for her to go from weepy to fuming and every other emotion in between. And I’m proud of her, but right now, that baby inside her belly comes first. “Sweetheart, please. I’ll drag her to the car if you want, but I need you safe.”
“I’m the safest next to you.”
“She’s right.” A female voice comes from our left, and Aliana’s eyes fill with tears once more. “You will protect her like no one else will.”
“Roe Roe, I’m—”
“Shut it.” My eyes narrow at her tone, but I relax when I see the smile on her face. “So, he’s dirty-joke dude?”
“Yeah. Just like one-night stand turned into a solo wedding?”
“Touché.”
“Are we okay, then?”
“I don’t know.” Aurora turns an icy glare on me. “Do you love her, Callum? Plan to spoil her while also accepting that once every few months, we will be having a sleepover?”
It’s hard, but I manage to keep my lips from twitching. “Aye.”
“Then I see no reason why we can’t get this show on the road. Let’s get a move on.”
My cousin chuckles at my perplexed expression. “Is she always this bossy?”
“Pretty much. From my understanding, they both are.”
“Nice.”
“Callum, can we get a move on?”
“Yes, dear.” Aliana exits the large SUV, but before she takes a step forward, I’m kissing her again. Passionate and quick, enough to steal the breath from her chest. “Are you sure you want to come?”
“Please.”
“Then give me your hand, love. You’re a Jameson now, and we don’t hide or cower.”
“Aye,” comes from the other two.
Giannis is a few feet away, smiling wide when we approach with a quiet Kray and Dwayne beside him. They have their weapons drawn, but I spot a smaller Glock at Martin’s hip. At my questioning stare, he shrugs sheepishly and hands it to Aliana. “Just in case.”
“Thank you,” she breathes out before stepping away from me and then hugging all three men; Kray nods to whatever she whispers. All I’m able to catch is Lindsey’s name, and I can’t blame the man for the gratitude shining in his eyes.
She’s his and has been missing just as long.
He already has orders to take a holiday as soon as we’re done here.
“Ada Rubens is Aliana’s kill. No one touches her, but she is not to escape. Is that understood?” Everyone taps their chest once in unison and then we’re moving, walking toward our respective posts. Archie and the Collado brothers will maintain the back while Giannis and Dwayne cover the sides, and the rest walk inside as if strolling through an open garden.
They don’t notice us at first. A grave mistake.
The man they hired to control my Venus is tossed at their feet with a clean slice across his neck. The gaping wound is large and gruesome, his body still warm, and the last of his blood trickles to the floor, creating the smallest of puddles. It’s almost cute.
“Henri!” Ada screams, her eyes widening at the corpse. The others follow suit, and yet it’s the older two of the trio that fail to look up. Gaspar is slowly trying to move away from them. They truly fail at being criminals. “What the hell is going on?”
“Hello, other,” Aliana says from beside me, and Rigo’s head snaps up a second before Ada Rubens’s. “How have you been?”
“Mamita, I’ve been so worried.” The tears begin, fake as the pearls around her neck. “How could you do this to your family? You killed my husband and now…now…” She pauses, a sob catching in her throat. I’m bored by her already. “How could you hurt me so? After everything I’ve done…fuck!” Ada’s scream is loud, a painful wail, and it’s because of the bullet to her right foot.
From experience, I know that stings.
“Tell the truth, or the next one will be to your face.” Aliana’s voice is devoid of all emotions. Her grip is firm, and I’m proud of her. “It’s time for you to come clean. No more bullshit.”
“I don’t know…” My girl shoots past her head and Ada shakes, almost falls if not for Rigo keeping her upright. “Stop shooting!”
“The truth, carajo!” A tear slips down her cheek, but she’s quick to wipe it away before retaking her stance. Her aim is now on her mum’s chest. “Tell them how you blame me for not wanting to marry the man slowly moving away from you. Tell them how you forced me to watch you unload a gun on my dad’s body, all the while saying I drove you to it. Tell them how you planned to make me abort this pregnancy before disappearing with the money to a private island while Gaspar made me his whore.”
Never have I wanted to strangle someone so much in my life. To literally deprive them of oxygen while their body shuts down and eyes bulge out of their head.
I take a step forward, my intent clear, but Casper and Aurora grab my arm, the latter of which shakes her head and mouths her kill.
“Go on, Mother. Show your true colors.”
“We were never meant to be parents, Aliana. That was our biggest downfall.”
“Agreed.”
My eyes shift to Kray when the oldest of the Collado brothers enters the building. I give them both the signal and they move quickly, one darting to the back where Lindsey is watching us from an office behind the three wankers. She’s awake, but tied up, and I know Aliana will be happy once Kray gets her out of here.
“Callum, please!” Flavio’s painful yell catches Rigo and Ada’s attention. They watch as Collado lifts Gaspar off the floor and walks over to a large, dirty sliding glass door. “I’ll disappear. I won’t touch her!”
“Boss?” Collado asks, and I nod. Not a second later, Gaspar goes through the side exit and then doesn’t move. He lies unconscious, small cuts littering his arms and face. Giannis is also there and while Rigo looks re
lieved, his son’s face holds so much ire. “Do we take him to the car?”
“Not yet.”
“As you wish, boss.”
“Giannis?”
“Yes.” He knows what I’m going to ask. I’m giving him the same courtesy as Aliana; Malcolm will just have to deal with it. Their kids get first right to claim.
“You or me.”
“You.” Rigo’s son swallows hard; he looks at his father one last time and then turns his back.
“Son, you can’t—”
“Silence.” Everyone but my queen adheres to the command, her stony expression crumbling a bit. “I can handle them both. You don’t have anything to prove.”
“But I do. No more nightmares,” she whispers, sad eyes glittering with tears she fights back. “She threatened our baby, Callum. A defenseless child.”
“I know.”
“Her daughter’s child.”
“I’ll follow your lead, then.”
“Thank you.” Tilting her face up for a kiss, I give her one before aiming at Rigo’s head. “Together, beautiful.”
“Aye.” A unanimous vote from every member of our family. Not the two pieces of shit crying and whimpering.
“You’re our kids. You can’t sentence us to death!”
“Stop this insanity. We can pay you!”
“Please, give us a chance to change.”
“I don’t forgive you, Ada.” Her mother sobs louder—bangs on her chest as if in pain, while her daughter just sighs. “You’re scum, worse than, and I hope you rot in hell for your crimes. Please know that I’ll live my life to the fullest and become everything you never were: successful and loved. Fuck you.”
She fires a second before I do, and we don’t stop until the two bodies on the ground no longer move. They’re not breathing, both with eyes wide open and blood pouring from their mouths, the multiple gunshot wounds visible on various parts of their body.
The first sob comes from Giannis. I know this is hard, but when Aliana walks over and they embrace, he crumbles. They both do, and we give them a moment. No matter how shitty both sets were, they are blood. It will always sting a little bit.
“So, Aliana?”
“I never hid it, Casper. You just didn’t bloody pay attention.”
My cousin scratches his jaw, lips thinning. “I’ll blame my wife for the lack of awareness, and I extend a sincere apology.”
“Oi, cut that shit out before she hears you.”
“It would be just my luck, too.”
“However, you can do me a favor to make up for the inconvenience…”
“Breathing or unconscious?” Casper asks; he knows me well. He’s also no longer laughing but watching the small woman who’s my world. My family. Mine. “I want him alive and delivered to the property in Dorset. His next job in this life is to be Zeus’s snack.”
“You and that large cat.”
“I warned him, cousin. Told him he’d become my tiger’s catnip.” Aurora looks at us with a weird fascination, but I’ll introduce her to my pets another day. When they’re not hungry. “Come out to the property before heading home. It’s a literal mini zoo.”
Her eyes bug out. “You’re serious?”
“Aye.” I leave her with her thoughts on the subject and pick up Aliana, giving Dwayne room to step in as well. They’ll be fine; it’ll be rough for now, but what matters is that they’re free. No more worrying. No more threats.
“It’s over.”
“You okay, sweet girl?” I ask, pushing her hair back from her face. She’s lost a little weight since she’s been gone, but the slight baby bump is unmistakable against my lower abdomen. My baby. “What can I do for you?”
“A burger and fries with a large cherry Coke?” For some reason, that cracks me up. Dear God, this woman is insanely beautiful. “I’m starving, Callum. It’s been quite a busy few months.”
“Then why the tears? I know this was—”
She places a delicate finger over my lips. “I’m not upset she’s dead or traumatized by being the one to take her life. Not in the least. She’s never been a mother to me. We never had that kind of connection. And before you ask, my father lands in the same category.”
“And the crying?”
“Hormones, Mr. Jameson. I’m tired and hungry.”
“Then let me get you out of here and fed.” The emotions hit me hard then. The months without her, the constant worry, and I close my eyes while hugging her close. I could’ve lost them both without ever knowing about the baby. “I need you to know that I love you beyond all measure, Aliana. More than my own life.”
“I love you, too. I’ve missed you.” Her eyes tear up again, and she huffs at herself. It’s cute. “This hormonal crap is going to be a pain.”
I chuckle. “What can I do to make it better?”
“Never let me go,” she whispers against my lips, kissing me once again, and I forget the world around us. Nothing matters but the treasures in my arms, clinging to me just as desperately as I hold her.
I’ll never stop chasing her.
I’ll never stop loving her.
Aliana Camila Rubens was born to be mine.
Six months later…
I stand to the side and watch with pride as Callum cuts his palm and let’s a few drops of blood fall into a crystal chalice his uncle is holding. My eyes are riveted by him, watch every move he makes, and my heart fills with so much happiness as I take in the people inside the room bowing their heads.
My Callum.
My savior.
Their boss.
Closed fists bang on chests once and he follows suit, his gem-colored eyes flicking to me. But then again, he’s always seeking me out. Even inside the same room, he needs me nearby.
Come, he mouths, and his father places a hand at the center of my back to help me up the walkway and then the small staircase which lead to him. The platform isn’t large, but it’s secure, and I have my own vows to make.
And while not as official and sacred as his, it’s important for the wife of the boss to pledge her loyalty.
I’m his.
Today. Tomorrow. Always.
“Don’t be nervous, little one. We’re not like other families, and the women aren’t shunned,” his father whispers, tone affectionate and sweet. But then again, he’s been like that since I came to live here.
One look at me, and I was claimed by the same parents that failed him. Weird, in a way, but the arse is having too much fun watching them fawn over me. He also gets a kick out of saying I’m the reason he’s not the product of a broken home.
The two bickering old people have united with me as their goal.
Or better yet, to be the kind of grandparents that our child deserves.
“Easy for you to say, Abuelo.” I’m out of breath already, but being nine months pregnant does that to a woman. “I’m the size of a whale, and everything makes me feel like a hundred-year-old chain-smoker.”
My father-in-law bites back a laugh. “Would you prefer to be carried?”
“You wouldn’t?” I turn to look at him, eyes narrowed. “I’ll tell on you so—"
“He wouldn’t what?” Callum asks from the bottom of the stage, his eyes dancing with mirth. “Carry you in front of all these people? You know the answer to that, Venus.”
“Don’t you dare!”
“My apologies, your majesty.” And then, I let out a low squeal that makes those closest to the stage chuckle. Not at me per se, but how often I get caught in this type of situation. The moment he sets me down, though, I smack his arm and walk over to Uncle Jameson. He’s another softie. “Get your nephew to leave me alone.”
“You heard her.”
“I did.” Callum’s tone holds no remorse. “Are you ready, love?”
“Yes.”
He takes my hand in his, and together we face the men and women who work for the Jameson family. My family. Giannis and Dwayne are a part of that group now, as is Kray and Lindsey, who stand a fe
w steps from the stage and to the left of Mariah and Casper.
Everyone is smiling. Happy for us.
“You will lay your life to protect her.”
“Aye.”
“You will respect her as you do me.”
“Aye.”
“I will never forsake my family. We are one blood.”
“One blood.” The last unanimous chant is loud, and it almost drowns out the music coming from the other room where politicians, heads of countries, and a few generals mingle and drink, unaware of what’s happening within this room. We’re celebrating more than just his blood oath, but the grand opening of Jameson Arms.
Don’t let a country at war fool you. They all rub elbows in one way or another.
“My Venus,” Callum’s voice is reverent. So low no one else can hear, but I do.
“I love you, Mr. Jameson.” However, the smile turns into a frown when I gasp a minute later.
“Aliana, baby?”
“Callum, I think…” I feel wet, not a lot, but like I had one of those accidents all pregnant women have. You sneeze or laugh at the wrong time and things happen down there. “Callum, I think my water is about to break.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Out,” his voice booms, and everyone but our family leaves. They’re crowding us now, worried, but Aurora meets my gaze, and she gets it. Gentle hands cup my face, thumbs rubbing across my cheek. “Are you in pain?”
“Not yet, but I feel off. Some pressure, but our doctor said that’s normal.” Callum’s mom stands to our left, her hand massaging my lower back where I’m most uncomfortable, and I shoot her a small smile. “Thank you.”
“I’m so excited, Aliana. My heart is racing!”
“Mum, let me get her to a seat. We need a—"
“Casper, honey. Don’t just stand there. Please bring the car around the back.”
“Gem, what’re you—”
“I swear to God, if my best friend has our niece or nephew here because of you, I will smite you.” At his wife’s words, he nods dumbly but then jumps into action, rushing out of the room with all the men in this family on his heels. “Well, that lit a match under them. Pussies.”
Risqué: Mafia Romance (Beautiful Sinner Series Book 5) Page 29
