Page 19 of Sweet Revenge

Nodding, I asked, “What do we do about it then?”

“We get to them first. They can’t knock us off if we take them out of the picture before they get a chance to strike. I’ll take out every single one of the threats against us. Anyone who has a problem with that will be dealt with in the same fashion. Then, when no one is rising up against us anymore, we’ll see about that tropical paradise.” Daemon brushed his thumb along my cheek as if to say he really was trying to give me what I wanted.

I shook my head, though. “We both know it doesn’t work like that. You can take out a hundred threats, and another one will pop out of the ashes. As long as you have money, power, and control, there will always be some bastard who wants to take it from you. Even if my father is dead, and all of my brothers, there will be someone else. It might even be someone within your own organization.”

Daemon nodded. “We’ve already been dealing with that. I know it, baby. I’ve been fighting on more than one front since my old man died. I hear what you’re saying. I’m just not going to stop until I’m running things, and I’ll surround myself with the type of people I know I can trust, give them what they want, their own power, money, and control, and then they won’t need to take mine.”

I wished he was right, that his plan would work and his capos would be happy with what he gave them, but I had a feeling that would never be the case. Until he decided to leave this world behind and run away from it, neither one of us would ever be free.

But I wouldn’t be able to convince him to leave right now, not when someone was messing with everything he’d tried to build. Especially since that someone was my father, the biggest enemy his family had ever faced. No, Daemon wasn’t going to run off to the islands with me while he had Alexander La Rosa to deal with.

“Can I at least have one more night here?” I asked before he had a chance to declare that it was time for us to go home. “It might not be a tropical island with a fruity drink, but at least there’s a roaring fire.” I gave him a seductive grin, and he smiled back at me.

“Sure, baby. Let’s share one more night out here in the woods. You go do what you need to do to relax for a few more hours. I’ll take care of dinner and make this evening one you’ll never forget.” Daemon’s hand came up to cup my cheek, and I leaned into a kiss that started off slow and built to a fever pitch, just like the roaring fire in my mind’s eye.

With a deep breath, I pulled away from him, still smiling, anticipating a lovely evening. We’d be back in the fight soon enough, but one last night of just me and him would be heaven. Even with our rotten luck, I didn’t think that was too much to ask for.

Shaking my head to clear the paranoia, I pulled myself up off the porch, reminding myself that just because everything always went wrong for me in the past, that didn’t mean things couldn’t change. “I’ll see you inside.”

“See you later, baby.” Daemon followed me into the cabin with his eyes. I gave him one last smile before I closed the door and headed to the main bedroom.

In the ensuite, I ran a bath, thinking that would be the perfect way to relax before we got back to the world of mobsters, power struggles, and blood. Lots and lots of blood.

CHAPTER12

DAEMON

After Elisa went in to take her bath, or whatever it was girls did to make themselves smell so damn good and feel so smooth and silky, I spent a few minutes staring out at the woods. We’d been here for several days, and I felt much better than I did when we’d first arrived, both physically and spiritually. This place healed me like none other. I was ready to get back to it, the war that I’d left behind. But if my girl needed one more night of renewal, so be it.

Pulling myself up off the porch, I headed inside to see what I could do to make things nice for her. I heard the bathtub running and walked into the bedroom, but I didn’t go inside the room she’d claimed as her oasis. “Elisa, I’m going to make dinner something really special tonight, so just stay in here for a while, okay? Don’t come out of the bedroom until I tell you.”

“All right,” she called back to me. “I’m planning on soaking for a while. I may even take a nap in the tub.”

“Don’t drown,” I called after her, and we both laughed at the dark joke. Heading back to the dining room, I considered how close the two of us had gotten in the last few months. I’d been leery of her at first for so many reasons, but now, when I thought about the rest of my life, it was difficult to picture it without her by my side. As terrifying as that should’ve been to me, I was slowly starting to accept the idea that Elisa and I made a good team.

I headed back outside for a few moments, deciding now was as good a time as any to call my brothers. I’d tried not to talk to them when Elisa was around because I didn’t want to worry her. I’d fill her in later with any updates, but hearing my brothers go on about all of the threats wasn’t good for her, not when she was trying to relax.

Dezzy answered right away. His smiling face greeted me, and I couldn’t help but grin back at him, even though I knew that he wouldn’t have anything good to tell me. It was just nice to see my brother, someone I trusted with my life.

“What’s up, bro?” Dezzy asked. “How are the woods treating you?”

I hadn’t told anyone where we went, so I ignored his question. “What’s going on?”

Before he could answer, Vin and Mikel were there. “Hey, Daemon. Nice of you to check in. How’s the shoulder?” Vin asked.

I rolled my eyes. “I got shot, you dickhead. It’s not like I’m out on a Sunday stroll. I’m okay. What’s going on there? Any updates?”

“Not really.” Dezzy edged Vin out of the frame. “None of the capos are calling for your head at the moment. The warehouse is completely locked down, so nothing much going on here either.”

I let that sink in. “Interesting. What about La Rosa?”

Vin was back, shoving his way into the picture. “He’s settled his wide ass in our house, so we can’t really go back there. It’s like the mansion is his now. Bastard.”

I nodded. “I figured as much.” Perhaps I was too hasty to burn his old house down. “Well, we should assume he’s up to something at all times. He’s not going to stop until he controls the entire family and everything we’ve worked so hard to establish.” Damn Ma for letting him suck her in and convince her that he had her best interests in mind. “In the end, only one of us is going to be left standing.”

“And that will be us, brother,” Dezzy said with a confident nod.

I smiled at him. “With you guys by my side, I can’t fail. All right. I just wanted to check in with you. I’ll probably be heading back that way soon. Shoulder is healing up, and I’m ready to start knocking heads together.”