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“It’s about to be your kingdom, and no one will take it from you,” I promised.
She leaned over and kissed me. Her eyes sparkled brightly. “Fuck every last one of them. We’re about to own New York City.”
Chapter 10
Storm
Gavin rested on top of me while we bathed together. He’d fallen asleep in the warm water, and I continued to gently wash him and massage his shoulders and his arms. I wanted to be his comfort as he had been mine. In less than twenty-four hours, our whole world as we knew it had been destroyed. Watching the swiftness in which he avenged my brother’s ambush and the anguish beneath the cool exterior Gavin tried to portray melted the last of my resistance. He’d been betrayed by the very person he trusted. I’d known that feeling when Gavin killed Cain. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
I hadn’t had the energy or the heart to call Pierre, my parents, or even Petra, Xavier’s woman. I couldn’t take it if my fierce big brother and protector no longer walked this Earth. Losing Cain damn near destroyed me. Losing Xavier seemed impossible despite the dangerous life he lived. Like my father, he had the business under control. Burglaries and murders under his watch in Harlem were down. If he knew any of his men were the ones causing drama or trauma, he took them out with no hesitation. He only wanted his soldiers to deal with others in the game and not take out innocent people who happened to inhabit Harlem. I was grateful that I had no phone, and the only one we had, we’d muted it while we soaked in the tub and rested.
I had no idea what awaited me back home. I just knew that the St. James Empire would not fold. I would use my resources, including my father and Gavin, to guide me if I had to step up and run the family business.
He stirred in his sleep, and I kissed his forehead, which startled him. “Sh...sh...baby, it’s me.”
Gavin slowly opened his eyes, which seemed more piercing in this light. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
“You needed it,” I continued to run a warm cloth over his chest when I noticed a tat of a twister with a glimpse of a heart right under his rib cage. “Is this for me?”
“Yeah. I wanted you near me even if I could never have you again.” His head rested on my chest, and he kissed my neck. “It really is me and you against the world. I used to think that Romeo was insane to kill himself because he believed Juliet was gone. I remember snickering as a teenager and wondering why he just didn’t go on to the next girl until you. When you left me, I was a miserable human being. Angry, sad, and bitter. Got into fights, and some ended in death. You were the only cure to my ailment, and you wouldn’t take my calls or dare speak to me again. I was doomed to a life of unhappiness, and because I’d been a savage to others, I figured it was my lot in life. My cross to bear for being a loyal soldier for the DeLucas. I accepted that you weren’t coming back and only fucked around with other women because I had needs. Other than that, I had no desire to make another woman mine or have a family.
When my father was poisoned, I wanted to call you and tell you how upset and afraid I was. Upset because the commission refused to allow me to get revenge on who poisoned my father, and then I wanted to be the next Clive Davis, and instead, I was thrust into a position I never wanted nor was intended for me to have. A position that my brother believed should have been his, and he has hated me ever since. I’ve considered that he wouldn’t attempt to save my life if I was in danger. I never thought he would set it up like he did, and then he wanted me to die violently. Brocco could have drugged or poisoned us. He chose to riddle my bedroom with bullets and blow up my home, trying to kill me and my new wife.
We have no choice but to go back and reclaim what’s ours. It won’t be easy, and we may die, but we won’t go down without a fucking battle.” He rubbed my forearm, which held his chest to mine. “If something happens to you, I’m burning the motherfucking commission down, and then I’m taking myself out. I can’t be a Romeo without my Juliet.”
“Then I better make sure we don’t get killed.” I turned his head and opened his mouth with my tongue while my hands drifted to his growing erection. Using both hands, I stroked him up and down as we kissed, and he moaned in my mouth. I moved up and down his hardened shaft over and over, his breathless pants urging me to jerk him even faster. His dick began to pulse and grew even thicker, and before I could bring him to completion, Gavin turned over. He slipped inside of me so hard and fast that I lost my breath. He fucked me aggressively and relentlessly. My pussy hadn’t fully recovered from last night and from the shower this morning. And yet, I knew stopping wasn’t an option. My husband needed an outlet. He needed to feel like a man and that he possessed me. So, I allowed him to do whatever he wanted to do to my body.
THE FOLLOWING DAY, after we were dressed in clothes we had delivered from Amazon, we strategized in bed. We compiled a list of what we needed and where to shop. We needed a laptop so that we could access our electronic information. We both needed to transfer money from off-shore accounts. We composed a list of all possible allies within the commission, neighboring gangs, police officers, and politicians. We need to check in on our respective businesses outside of our family business. I needed to delegate my talent to other people to manage, and she needed to ensure that the hotel continued smoothly. We worked side by side, planning our next steps like the team we were becoming.
Because we were seven hours away in Virginia, the explosion and death of a mobster made the news, just not the headlines. We would be able to move around more than we originally thought. Gavin found one of his old contacts who lived an hour away to replace our IDs and create fake ones if we needed to truly go on the run. We found another connection to buy more weapons, which we would keep in one of his properties under a pseudonym in Queens. We would hide in plain sight as we righted the wrongs that just happened.
“You need to call your parents.” Gavin rubbed my shoulder gently after we’d eaten a lunch of spaghetti I’d prepared. “It’s time we know what we have waiting for us in Harlem.”
“I’d rather call Pierre. Xavier is Mama’s favorite and her first-born son. She will make it worse. Pierre will state the facts and keep his emotions intact.”
“Alright. Then call Pierre.”
The cheap phone lay on the glass kitchen table between us. I stared at it, unable to pick it up. I wanted to remain in denial longer.
Gavin picked up the phone, scrolled through missed calls, and hit one of three of the numbers that had gone out earlier today. The phone rang several times, and when I thought the voice mail would pick up, Pierre panted, “Storm? Storm?”
Hearing my little brother’s worried voice brought tears to my eyes, so I took the phone. “I’m here. What’s going on?”
“I can’t stay on this line long because it’s traceable, and I only answered for you. Next time, use the other one.”
“I can switch now.”
“No. We don’t have time. I’ve left the country. Don’t know if I can come back. Xavier is gone, and they would’ve got me too if I hadn’t stopped and got his coffee...” His voice broke. “I saw them as they ran out of the shop... the fucking mafia killed him, and his shop has been burned to the ground. They think we had Brazino killed.”
Trying desperately to follow his lead and speak plainly as if our worlds hadn’t been destroyed, I commented, “I don’t understand why they think that. We were all ambushed at the same time.”
“It doesn’t matter. The mafia wants blood and to take Harlem while they are at it. Stay with Gavin. You’re protected with him. Call the parents because they’re worried. Love you, Sis.” The phone clicked.
I wanted to scream again. I wanted to yell and fight. Anything to get rid of the knives, daggers, and bullets hitting every part of my soul. I started rocking with increasing speed. My brother was dead. I didn’t know if I would ever see the rest of my family again. Brazino’s death meant nothing when he didn’t set this all in motion. Brocco had to pay regardless of the bounty that would be placed on our heads. Suddenly, I couldn’t take it anymore and ran as fast as I could out the sliding door to the beach.
The sun shone yellow, and the skies were a perfect blue when it should have black skies and storms. I wailed at the water and the sky. I fell to my knees in the sand, and the waves washed over me. The warm water attempted to soothe me when I wanted to remain furious. I beat the muddy sand with my fists. It didn’t matter that I married Gavin. It didn’t matter that I now wore the DeLuca name. My brother was killed. And we were almost killed. No one would fight for us or protect us.
Gavin crept beside me, pulling me up to my feet and into his arms. “Channel all that lust for revenge and death. Channel that aggression, violence, and rage. Suppress it for now. Pretend that Xavier is still here. Pretend that Pierre is smiling in Harlem. Our families are still intact. We were married yesterday, and we’re just beginning to fly.” My chest heaved up and down as he stared down at me. “I need those painful and tragic emotions to be trapped in your heart and use your magnificent brain to lead us to the top. Queens strategize in times of war and fight only when their back is against the wall.”
