Page 31 of Explosive Union

I glance away from him because it’s true. Every time I go to sleep, all that replays over and over in my head is what those animals did to me and how dirty I felt. But the one thing that keeps me from sleeping are the sounds of Marcy’s cries when she was raped. How I knew the moment she killed herself because those cries were silenced.

The revenge I seek isn’t just for me, but for those I couldn’t save.

“Once I have them all, it’ll be fine,” I assure him.

His arm slides across my shoulders. “Okay, Sissy, whatever you say.”

Yeah, I don’t believe my words either.

But you have to fake it to make it, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing.

CHAPTER9

ROCCO

Footsteps sound outside the door as I curl the dumbbell into my bicep. I come here for peace and quiet, and yet, it never works. Someone always interrupts me.

“There you are,” Elio says as he steps into the room. “I’ve been calling you for the last hour.”

“Try thirty minutes,” I tell him as I drop the weight to the ground and stare at him. Pissed is an understatement. His jaw is clenched, and his eyes are narrowed, not to mention his fists are balled tightly. He’s dressed in his suit, his hair gelled back. He’s ready for the day. “Who pissed you off?”

He sighs. “I’ll give you one guess.”

I shake my head as I get to my feet. I hate this bullshit. Every other day I get either a phone call or a visit from one of my brothers. Sometimes, both. But the look on his face isn’t down to Dario. No, it’s our father.

“What’s he done now?” I question as I reach for the towel.

“He’s on the warpath, Rocco.” He scrubs his hand down his face and glares at me. “He’s called you twice.”

I nod. “I know he has. I was going to return his call when I was ready.”

“You’re still pissed about what the convict said last night?” he questions with a furrow between his brows. “What’s going to come from it, Roc? I mean, the wedding’s in three weeks. It’s not like it can be stopped. Not that you’d want it to be.”

My nostrils flare at his words. “I’ve had enough of the bullshit and lies. I’m not a fucking pawn in his game. I don’t want to be a part of this fucking shit.”

“It’s fucked up what he’s done, but, Roc, you’re getting Jade,” he says, not understanding the depth of my father’s lies.

“That may be so, but the question is, Elio, what else does our father have up his sleeve that he hasn’t informed us about?” What else is he hiding, ready to spring on us?”

Elio sits down on the bench opposite where I’m standing and runs his hand down his face again. “This shit gets out and there’ll be a revolt. It’s bad enough that we’re making ties with the Irish, but for our men to find out that our father—their boss—has been in bed with them for years—” He shakes his head. “That could bring us down.”

“I’ll be damned if I’m going down because of his lies,” I snarl, getting angrier by the second. “I’d die for this family,” I growl. “But I won’t put up with the fucking bullshit. I’m not dying for a man who doesn’t respect us enough to give us the goddamn truth.”

“Bro,” he whispers. “You know as well as I do that the old man has gotten caught up in the madness that is the Gallaghers. Those fuckers are all crazy as hell. But he’s got a point. When you marry her, you’ll be able to help grow the famiglia.” His eagerness is clear to see, along with the greed in his eyes. The glint is shining brightly.

Christ.

“Marrying Jade isn’t going to bring us a magnitude of wealth. It’s going to add another layer of respect to our name. The Gallaghers are clever about who they marry. None of the women or men are normal people. The last time a Gallagher married below his weight, the man was practically ostracized.”

The gleam in his eyes is gone. There’s one thing I’ll always be, and that’s completely honest and realistic with my brothers.

“Hayes fucked up by marrying Annemarie. It’s why Hayden was appointed the boss of Indiana.”

“All of them?” he questions with a raised brow.

I chuckle. “All of them. Makenna married Dante Bianchi—the eldest son of Matteo Bianchi, meaning New York is solely theirs. No one can compete with that. The two biggest families coming together and joining. Unheard of but completely fucking genius. Those two run the fucking east coast with an iron fist. Then Makenna’s niece, Holly, married Dante’s brother, Romero, making their ties even tighter. There’s not a fucking made man in the Bianchi or Gallagher family that wouldn’t do what they could for their bosses.”

“Is that what our father’s hoping to emulate?”