Bain must have known we would come for Ciana. There was no way we would leave her, especially not with a monster like him.
We went in prepared for war. Every man on our payroll who could shoot a gun, other families who were loyal to us pledged their own men, as well as Theo’s and Adrian’s own soldiers. If Bain had come in like a militia ready to go into battle, then we had arrived to give him exactly what he’d asked for.
But when we reached the gate, the men who walked along the wall with high-powered rifles called for me to step out. Without hesitation, I opened the door, ready to negotiate if that was what they wanted. We had men already hidden on our side of the wall. All of them with sniper rifles trained on those walking along the top. But it wasn’t them we worried about. It was what awaited on the other side.
Mom grabbed my arm. “Be careful,” she whispered. From the way her nails lightly dug into my skin, I knew she was fighting all her instincts to grab me and not let me out of her sight. But I didn’t need her to protect me, and she knew it.
I kissed her cheek and stepped outside. From the vehicle behind ours, Zio stepped out as well, his shotgun already lifted and aimed at one of the men on the wall.
“Just Vitucci,” the guard who had instructed me out of the van called down.
“That’s my daughter in there!” Zio yelled back, the red beam from the sight on his gun marking the guy’s forehead. “I’m coming in for her one way or another.”
“You can try,” the guard laughed, not even the least bit worried about his brains leaving his skull. “But you’ll be dead before you even step foot on this side of the wall without permission.”
I grabbed Zio’s arm, making him lower his weapon. “It’s okay. I’ve got this.”
His blue eyes scanned my entire face for a long moment. “Do you?” he asked. “Or do you have a death wish?”
I straightened my shoulders but ignored the question. Maybe I did have a death wish, maybe I did want to die and join Nova in the afterlife or wherever the fuck she had ended up. My guess was that she was in heaven and I’d never get to see her again, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t try to get back to her somehow.
Yet, as desperate as I was to see Nova again, I wouldn’t put anyone else I loved at risk to do it. “I’m here to save Ciana.”
Another tense moment passed before he finally gave a stiff nod and stepped back. A door on the huge gate opened, and I walked over to it before ducking my head and crossing over to the other side of the wall.
Three men were waiting for me. One patted me down, disarming me of the three knives I had strapped to my body and the two guns I carried. Once they had all my weapons, one of the others lifted his hand and pointed to the car waiting a few yards away. “Bain is expecting you.”
A driver was already behind the wheel, and two of the three guards got in with me. The drive only took a matter of minutes before we were stopping in front of a house that could qualify as a castle. If Ciana were there under different circumstances, I was sure she would have been all too happy to stay in this fairy-tale–style home. How many times as kids had she told me she wanted to be a real-life princess and have her own castle?
One of the guards got out and waited for me to exit the car. As I stepped out, the front door of the house opened, and Bain walked out, stopping at the top of the stone stairs. His long, dirty-blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail, and he was dressed in black slacks and a white button-down with the top few buttons undone. He had several days’ worth of scruff on his jaw.
The two of us looked nothing alike, which I was thankful for.
At his side was Ciana. Her mangled hair had been trimmed and styled into a pixie cut. It was cute on her, but knowing my cousin as well as I did, I knew she must have been mourning the loss of her long locks. She was wearing an outfit she normally would have worn before she’d started hiding her pregnancy from everyone. The dress was black, designer, and hit her mid-thigh. The material stretched over her slight baby bump, showcasing her pregnancy.
It was the way Bain’s hand went from Ciana’s wrist to her belly, rubbing over the bump possessively when he noticed where my gaze had traveled, that caught me off guard. But only for a moment, because the sun hitting the huge diamond on my cousin’s left hand was what I couldn’t wrap my mind around.
“How are my brothers?” Ciana asked, her voice trembling and pulling my gaze back to her face.
I noted how pale she was, the way her eyes were glazed with tears and the dark shadows beneath them. She looked sad, scared, but worst of all, sick. Her chin trembled, and she quickly bit her bottom lip to stop it.
“Vito is fine. He was released from the hospital the same day. Bennie…”
Ciana began to tremble and tried to step away from Bain. He grabbed her wrist once again, holding her in place. “No, please.”
“He lost a lot of blood,” I told her. “He had to have surgery, and it was touch and go for the first twenty-four hours, but he finally came around yesterday. He should make a full recovery.”
She sagged against Bain in relief. “Thank God,” she whispered brokenly.
“I told you I didn’t kill him,” Bain muttered in his Irish brogue, his voice laced with annoyance. “The idiot shouldn’t have gotten in my way. I wouldn’t have had to shoot him if he had just let me have you.”
“Shut up!” she snapped, slapping her hands against his chest. “Just shut up.”
With a predatory grin, Bain captured both of her hands and held them behind her back. “We’ve already had this conversation, a chroí. Sheathe those claws before your beloved cousin thinks you don’t want to be here.”
Ciana went still in his arms. I couldn’t see anything except the side of her face, but I could feel her tension, the hate she felt for him. As she turned to face me, she struggled to mask her feelings, but I knew her too well and could tell she wasn’t happy.
“Has he hurt you?” I asked her, keeping my tone neutral so as not to scare her with my simmering rage.
Bain drew himself up, offended by my question. “I would never harm her.”
“Bullshit,” I thought Ciana muttered, but when I looked at her, her face was completely blank. “He hasn’t physically hurt me in any shape or form,” she assured me. “Ryan, I-I’ve decided to stay here. After what happened to Nova…” Tears filled her eyes, and she couldn’t stop them from falling. “I keep seeing her, Ry. Lying on that table… I can hear Sheena cackling like a hyena as she did those horrible, horrible things. I can’t sleep because of it.”
I understood her being unable to sleep. I hadn’t been able to rest since we’d found them in that cabin. Every time I closed my eyes, all I could see was Nova on that table. The blood, so stark against her pretty white romper. My necklace around her neck…
Bain lovingly wrapped Ciana in his embrace, pressing his lips to her temple and whispering to her that it was okay now. That there was nothing left to fear, and she actually clung to him.
“You want to stay here?” I demanded in disbelief. “Ciana, he’s just as bad as Sheena. He—”
“Ryan, please.” Ciana’s voice quavered as she focused on me. “I want to be here. It’s better for everyone.”