Page 105 of Ruthless Savior
"So you're trapped." She holds my gaze. “And you won’t try to chew your way out.”
“I’m devoted to what I’ve inherited. The responsibility that comes with being the eldest.” I run a hand through my hair as I look at her. “A different kind of man would have left you in that warehouse, Leila. My commitment to doing the right thing when I can, to sticking by my commitments, to protecting what I’ve been entrusted with—all of that is why you’re here.”
I can tell she doesn’t have an argument for that. She looks down at her plate, clearly at a loss. We eat the rest of our dinner in relative silence, the weight of what we still haven’t come to any kind of agreement about thickening the air between us. After dinner, I go to my study, needing a drink and some silence to think about what to do next.
Of course, because of that, I’ve barely poured myself my whiskey when my father calls.
"We need to talk," Padraigh says without preamble, as soon as I’ve answered the phone.
"What's happened?"
"Rocco intercepted one of our shipments three nights ago," he says finally. "Down at the railways. Killed four of our men."
Fuck. I sink into the chair in front of the fire, tossing the whiskey back in one gulp before reaching for the bottle to pour more. "Which shipment?"
“Guns,” he says flatly. “They can’t be traced back to us directly, but the message is clear. He's escalating. It’ll be worse next time. Your sister is under twenty-four-hour guard now. There’s no telling what he might do next."
I take another long drink of my whiskey. "What do we know about his movements?"
“Aside from the other Italian families who are allied with him, he’s got backing from a couple of the smaller Russian families, the ones who don’t like Sokolov. He’s gaining allies—shitty ones, but bullets are bullets, no matter who shoots them. If he wipes us out, it won’t matter which names were backing him. He’s gaining resources and men, and since the names won’t help him in any other bid for power, he doesn’t care if he gets them killed. They’re cannon fodder to attack us.”
My mind is racing. We’d gotten intelligence that it seemed like Rocco was building to something new, right before I flew back to see Leila when she called. I can imagine what my father thinks of how quickly I left to be with her, just because she was afraid.
Knowing what I know now, I’m glad I did. But there’s no way in hell I’m going to tell him about the baby.
“It’s time you gave up this foolish determination to keep that girl around,” my father continues, and every muscle in my body goes tense. “Give Rocco what he wants, and he’ll back off. He’ll think you’ve capitulated, that vengeance has become more trouble than it’s worth. You can take him out on our terms, as we’ve discussed.”
“Asyou’vediscussed.” My voice is hard. “Absolutely not. Leila is mywife, and you will speak about her with the respect that she deserves?—”
“Siobhanwas your wife!” My father’s voice rises. “Or have you forgotten? Do you not want vengeance for her and your child any longer? Is that so unimportant, now that you have a new hole to fuck?”
Anger burns through my veins, and my hand tightens on my phone until I think it might crack. “Careful,” I warn. “As I said, that’s my wife you’re talking about. Watch what you say.”
“You’d speak to me that way?”
“I’d speak to anyone that way who insulted her. I’d kill a lesser man for it.”
My father is silent for a moment. “Don't you want to end this on our terms instead of letting him dictate the game?"
I let out a breath. Of course I do. But the cost is too high. “I won’t use Leila to do it.”
“Even if it means less bloodshed? Less loss for our interests?”
“Her life is more important than anything else.”And our child’s,I think, but I don’t say it. I’m not sure if the presence of an heir would make my father more or less inclined to give Leila the respect she deserves, but what I do know is that he’d then want to have a say in what happens. And I refuse to let him have a voice in a decision that ultimately, I believe, is Leila’s to make. "There has to be another way."
"There is no other way!" His calm cracks, and his voice rises. He’s pissed at me, but for the first time in my life, I don’t care as much as I would have thought. "As long as you're distracted by protecting her, Rocco has the advantage. Let her go. Let him have her, then use his distraction to strike."
The suggestion makes me sick. The thought of Leila in Rocco's hands, of what he'd do to her, to our child… “I won’t do it.”
"Then you're a fool." Padraigh lets out a heavy breath. "And you're not the son I raised. I’m disappointed in you, son."
“I hear you.” I throw back the rest of my whiskey, closing my eyes briefly. “But I’m not going to hand my wife over to a monster to pacify him.”
“I’ll be in touch.” That’s all my father says before he hangs up, leaving only silence, and the burn of the whiskey on my tongue.
26
LEILA
