I storm from the kitchen and out the side door to where the limo is awaiting me. Climbing in quickly and swiftly, I rattle off Ava’s address before we take off. If it takes everything I have in me, I will protect her at all costs. The ride across town is grating on my nerves. How could I have been so stupid as to let him get near Amelia?
What the hell kind of person am I to risk my own family? Once we arrive, Nikolai climbs out and heads toward the apartment to retrieve her. I wait in silence, my mind running through so many scenarios that I almost lose myself in them.
“She’s refusing to come out, Cord.” Nikolai looks as though he wants to laugh at the predicament that I’m in when he returns to the car. In other circumstances it may very well be laughable but not right now.
“Is the area secure?” I ask. When he nods his head, I storm out of the back of the limo and into her building. I’m not at all happy about being on this side of town, let alone in this shithole she calls home. She deserves way more than this. I stalk my way to her door and knock.
“Go away, Nikolai!” Ava’s voice booms through the door igniting a fire deep within me.
“It isn’t Nikolai and I will only say it once. Open the fucking door.” She should be able to tell by the tone of my voice that I am certainly not playing games right now.
“Go away, Cord. I wouldn’t open it for him, and I sure as shit won’t open it for an asshole like you!” At another time, I would walk away. Better yet, in other circumstances I wouldn’t even be here. I let out a soft sigh before squaring up with the door. Ramming my shoulder into it, the hinges splinter and the door falls in. Ava stands on the other side with her friend Taren, their mouths hanging open.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You really are insane!” Ava stomps towards me when I grab her around the waist. Yanking her off the floor, she flails trying to get free.
“Right now a fight wouldn’t be in your best interest!” I growl into her ear, but she doesn’t stop.
“What are you going to do, Cord? Huh? You going to kill me too?” Her screams cause Taren to flinch. She knows the stories from the look on her face or at least what she’s heard around town about me.
“You are the one making that an option!” When the words leave my mouth, her body goes limp in my arms. The fight is over, at least for the minute.
“If I set you down are you going to stand here like a good little girl?” I ask her in a condescending tone. She rounds on me as soon as her feet hit the floor.
“You have no right coming in here like that! This isn’t your home. You are nothing here.” The fight in her eyes stirs my cock up.
“This is my city, Ava. Everything in it belongs to me and that includes you!” Her eyes widen before I look away.
“Trust that the door will be fixed within the hour. You haven’t seen Ava in days, and you have never spoken to me. Understood?” Taren looks between Ava and me, unsure as to how she should answer that. “I said, is that understood!” It wasn’t a question this time. It was a demand. A demand that she answers.
“Yes. I understand.”
“Good.” Lifting Ava in my arms once again, I drag her out the door and towards the waiting limo. I toss her body inside and ignore her as the car pulls out into traffic. I watch out the window, far too many scenarios running through my head right now. None of them are good.
I haven’t spoken a word to her, and she seems to be doing the same. She’s lost in herself as we ride back to a safe house. I can’t go back home, not yet and not with Ava. She doesn’t look up at me the whole ride, not even when the car comes to a stop at a location unknown to her. The driver waits as the gates open up to allow us access. As soon as we are in front of the house, Jordy is there opening the door for us. Ava starts to move towards the door like she’s trained for this all her life before I grab her wrist.
“I know you have questions and you don’t understand fully what’s going on. As soon as we are secure, I will explain it to you.” Her eyes meet mine with a silent feud lingering.
“You owe me that much,” she snaps. I owe her more, a lot more than that. Ava jerks her arm away from me before taking Jordy’s extended hand. I follow her out of the car before taking a deep breath of the cool night air.
I look up at the one place that I’ve never had to go to until now, the place that only the Vitale family know about. A part of me wonders how many of the other Vitale men had to take cover here.
“She’s all kinds of pissed.” Cutting my eyes at Jordy, he needs not state the obvious for me.
“Have we heard from Gambino?” Jordy shakes his head before I make my way into the house.
It’s beautiful to say the least. It’s as big as the house we have that we normally live in but with far more security in place. I guess they figured if we were breached in our own home the safe house needed to be that much safer. I nod at the extra security that Nikolai had brought in before heading down the hallway. I find the kitchen with ease before pouring myself a drink.
“We’ll get her back, Cord. I know you claim to not have feelings and all, but I can see how torn up this has you. Don’t forget we were best friends before this.” Were best friends. He doesn’t consider himself a friend anymore. He’s a colleague. I down the bourbon in one gulp before pouring another. Setting the bottle on the counter, I look over at Jordy.
“You’ve seen me through a lot of things and a lot of darkness, Jordy. She’s like you. She can see through me and it scares the hell out of me.” I don’t need to say Ava’s name for him to know who I’m talking about. He’s saw it since day one.
“Why not let her in, Cord? Maybe your life could be different. She isn’t like the rest of those women you’ve fucked for no reason.” Looking at the amber liquid in my glass, I think on that. Tossing it back, I fill up once more before sitting on the stool.
“You see what happens to people that get close to me, Jordy? Look at Amelia. She’s going through God knows what right now because of me.” Jordy shakes his head before demanding my attention.
“That’s bullshit, Cordae and you know it! Amelia was destined to this shit just the same as you were. She carries that Vitale name now. It doesn’t matter if you’re with her or not, someone was going to go after her.” His words do little to ease the feelings that have crept their way out of hiding. My stomach clenches at the thought of anything happening to Amelia. I may not have shown her the love that she needed and deserved but I did it with good reason.
“What if I did let my guard down, Jordy? What if I let her in and she takes the wrath of it?” Jordy huffs out a breath before standing and facing me.
“Are you that selfish, Cord? She’s a grown woman for fuck’s sake! Let her make her own decisions on that. Maybe, just fucking maybe, she feels something for you. Maybe she doesn’t care about the repercussions. Have you ever thought that maybe that girl just wants to love you?” His words shatter what’s left of my soul. Jordy walks away as I stare at the empty glass.
“I’ve thought about it more than you know but I won’t see her dead because of me.”
Chapter 25