Page 26 of Fallen Rook

This chess game had been going on since, and would probably continue for years to come.

Pouring myself a vodka, I downed it like water, the liquid scalding its way down my throat.

It’d been three days since I blocked Tom’s number, and I couldn’t stop thinking about him. More specifically, about how I wanted him to spit in my mouth again. I even tried chewing sugar-free cinnamon gum. Needless to say, it didn’t have the same effect.

“The fuck is with you?” Tiernan, my brother-in-law, snapped, not peering up from his phone.

“Yeah, what crawled up your ass?” Achilles echoed.

Not one damn thing, unfortunately.

“Nothing. Let’s get this meeting over with.” I touched the flame of my lighter to the tip of my cigarette. “I have to collect a 250k debt from that idiot senator who got caught with a high school chick before they toss him in the can.”

I was going to rearrange his facial features just to make a point. He had no business touching a fucking minor, and I was in a piss-ass mood. Win-win in my book.

Luca sighed, moving his bishop, then pushing up to his feet and taking my father’s seat behind the desk. It was strange, yet perfectly natural, seeing him there.

“First item on our agenda.” Luca wove his fingers together. “I’m going to kill Jeremie Rasputin.”

Tiernan choked on his whiskey mid-sip, nearly spraying it across the table.

“What the feck?” He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“The fuck is that my wife moved with the Russian to the suburbs this morning, taking Ciro and her pregnant belly with her,” Luca supplied taciturnly. “It’s a farce that will taint my new position as don, and I won’t allow it. I will slaughter him myself.”

“Your peace with the Russians is too fragile.” Tiernan ran his thumb across his jaw. “This is one tantrum you cannot afford.”

“Nonsense. My pride is pricele—”

“Hold your horses, stronzo.” Achilles raised his palm to stop him. “I’ve come here to deal with Dad’s funeral and tie up some loose ends. I’ve postponed my honeymoon for this shit. Let me be clear—Tierney and I are heading back to Europe at the end of the week, and turning our phones off for the next month. If you start a war, you’ll be fighting it on your own.”

Ever since Achilles married Tierney, his childhood sweetheart, he’d been on cloud nine. Despite his being Satan’s spawn, I was glad they found a way back to each other. They were cute together. In a Harley and Joker sort of way.

“You can do whatever the hell you damn please.” Luca suspended his steady gaze on our scarred brother. “But Jeremie Rasputin is not going to live through the next twenty-four hours for what he’s done to me. As for Sofia—she’ll regret testing my patience and good nature.”

A shudder ran down my spine. This better be his anger speaking, because if he wanted to hurt a woman, he’d first have to go through me.

“They just upped and left?” Tiernan cocked his head in disbelief. “Both of them?”

“Yeah.”

“Where?” Achilles asked.

“Already told you, the house in the suburbs.”

“We didn’t know you had one,” I clarified.

“I just purchased one.” Luca’s molars were clenched so tight, I was surprised he didn’t ground them into flour. “With a bocce court, sprawling stables, and an indoor pool. Not for my wife to run off with her fucking bodyguard to occupy it.”

Tiernan considered his words. “What do you care, though? Cut your losses. Get yourself a pretty mistress. Move her in. Parade her for the world to see, so it is obvious you and Sofia are just married on paper, and move on with your life.”

“Easy for you to say,” Luca bit out. “You would burn down every male species on the continent if Lila as much as shared an elevator with another man.”

“Not the same.” Tiernan shook his head, probably to rid himself of the image of Lila in an elevator with another man. “Lila and I became a love match. You and Sofia are just business.”

Luca stared into his drink, jaw tight.

Achilles chimed in, sensing that humiliating Sofia back was a much better option than a full-blown war with the Bratva. “This is your ego speaking. It’s not like you love her. She gave you an heir, a healthy son, with another on the way. Move on from this.”