Page 58 of Shield

Vin, on the other hand, has tattoos climbing up his neck and down to his knuckles like Matti does. In fact, a few of his tattoos are similar to the ones that Matti has.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Franco is Aurelio’serrand boy,” Matti snaps, stepping in between us so Tommy can’t make eye contact with me.

Tommy shakes his head. “I don’t think he is.”

Matti frowns. “Why?”

Vin shoves Tommy in the chest and gives Matti a meaningful look with a hesitant glance at me. “Franco didn’t…. complete the jobs he was assigned, and flouting a direct order is all Aurelio needs to go on the attack. But for what it’s worth, I don’t like what happened to your girl.”

His comments on Franco definitely track, and I appreciate his sentiment when it comes to me, but I notice he won’t look at me or speak directly to me. It wasn’t exactly an apology, and I’m not forgetting the way he ordered me to take my clothes off, implying I was wearing a wire when I went to ask for his help. Dick.

Valentina leans forward. “You mean his fiancee,” she says mockingly, laughing .

Vin darts a glance in my direction, then back to Matti. “Is that right.”

Matti says nothing, and Vin watches him for a moment, then nods, clapping him on the shoulder. “That makes sense. Congratulations, brother. Seriously. I’m happy for you. Now we just need to keep you and her alive long enough to make it to the altar and give me some nieces and nephews.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Matti asks, but his tone is a little softer.

I’m still trying to understand why he’s telling people that I’m his fiancee when he has yet to fucking ask me. And the closest thing I’ve gotten from him in the way of an engagement ring is a butt plug that, by the way, is still uncomfortably lodged in my ass. Unless there are such things as engagement buttplugs, I don’t think that counts.

Tommy speaks up. “Aurelio has been tearing up the town, trying to figure out who killed Mikey, who made the flash drive he had, and where it is now.”

Vin laughs. “The old man has lost his fucking mind. He used to say he sent you down to the plane crash site because he could trust you to keep quiet about what you found, but now he’s saying you played him, that you took out Mikey, you made the flash drive, and now you’re keeping it from him.”

Tommy gestures in my direction with a grin. “When he sent you down there, I don’t think he was prepared forwhoyou found. Congratulations, by the way.”

Matti follows his gaze and moves to the couch to sit next to me, but he sits at the edge of the cushion, his arm over my legs protectively, blocking me from Tommy and Vin.

I look at the side of his head, trying to read his response, but his expression is impenetrable. Does Aurelio really not know who killed Mikey and Emily? Do they not know as well? I frown. I was sure it was someone in the Demonio family. If not them, then who?

Matti glances in my direction without meeting my gaze as if trying to guess my thoughts on the sly. When he squeezes my thigh, I wonder what he’s worried about. Does he think I still blame him for her death? Is he just worried that it might hurt me to hear Vin talk about Emily’s death so casually? Something feels off.

Valentina sucks her teeth and glares at us. Keeping my eyes on her with a deadpan expression on my face, I slide my arm around Matti’s back and nip the back of his arm with my teeth.Mine, bitch.

She scowls and looks away.

Vin moves to sit across from us on a matching couch. “Fucking Franco.” Vin lifts his chin at me. “No offense, but your brother is a douchebag bitch boy.”

“No, that didn’t sound offensive at all,” I say drily.

Vin leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, addressing Matti again. “I know you want payback when it comes to the old man.”

I glance at the side of Matti’s head, thinking about the video of Liana. Payback is needed even more than Vin knows.

Matti squeezes the outside of my thigh farthest from him and pulls me closer. It hits me that seeing what Aurelio did to Liana likely increased his drive to make sure the same doesn’t happen to me.

“So what he did to me doesn’t deserve payback?” Valentina hisses.

“There’s a long list of things that fall in that category,” Tommy interjects, then glances at me as if thinking better of what he was about to say. “But that can’t happen in our… usual way. Not yet. But sooner than we previously thought.”

Matti and Vin exchange a look, and Matti nods. I furrow my brow. I’m not sure what’s going on, but Matti seems to.

“So you’re here to make sure I don’t go rogue and take out Aurelio,” Matti says gruffly.

“No,” says Vin. “In fact, we’re here to let you know that we’re ready to pull the trigger on the other thing.”

“Really.” Matti’s energy brightens dramatically.

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