Page 1 of The Gentleness of Rage

With one look at Zeno, I knew we were on the same page. We needed to go and get our woman before something happened, before she was lost to us. A sense of urgency took over and my feet were moving back to Dante’s office, Zeno following closely.

I don’t know what my face looked like, but the moment I was standing in front of Dante’s desk, he studied me, then Zeno before sitting back in his chair with a smirk on his face.

“You found your woman?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. I hadn’t mentioned anything about our woman giving us the slip or about going on the hunt for her. I should have known the man would already know.

“You must know nothing happens around here without me knowing. I was surprised to find out she left you the next morning.” He prodded us, “Did Hack find what you needed?”

“You knew we went to Hack?”

Dante leveled his gaze on me with my question. “Of course I knew.” He shrugged. “You told them it was personal, and it was, so I didn’t get involved. I figured if you needed my help or backing you would let me know." He leaned forward over his desk. “We are family. Never forget that.”

I felt my shoulders relax and knew I couldn’t keep the information we had just gotten to ourselves. He kept his face neutral when I told him our woman’s name, but I could see the rage in his eyes flare. The connection to Bernard could be a problem, but it wouldn’t stop what was going to happen because Posy was ours.

“I’ve heard rumors that Bernard is trying to strengthen his connection with Martinez,” his voice was cold and hard.

“I’m not surprised, we were just speaking about the risk they could pose to us and how to deal with him,” I hedged.

Dante shook his head, looking between Zeno and myself again. “I don’t think you understand what I’m saying. We might not engage in such practices in this family and many others have come into the new age, but there are a lot of other organizations and criminals out there who follow the old ways.”

“He’s going to strengthen their connection through marriage,” Zeno’s voice had an edge of panic to it.

Dante nodded slowly and a film of red rage fell over my vision. I saw the way Samantha was trying to get her claws into the Guidice brothers the other night before moving on to other victims. Martinez was there. If she was the one who was supposed to marry him, that shit wouldn’t have been allowed.

Which leaves only one Moreau who could be used in such a way.

I was heading toward the office door with long strides. Dante’s voice followed me, “If you need backup, call me or the boys. We have your back.”

I turned at the door, gripping the jam to hold myself up, with Zeno right behind me. “Thank you, Dante,” sincerity colored my words. “We’ll let you know if we need your help. Martinez might be a problem. So could Bernard.”

Dante smirked, “I have enough to bury Bernard. I’ve had my eye on him for a long time. When it is time to confront him, you’ll have all you need.” He waved a hand dismissively, “Martinez will be a matter for another day. He’s the kind of mouse to run away from the fight until he thinks he can win. He’ll know better to come at us for Posy once Bernard has nothing to offer him.”

Now, sitting in front of the Moreau home, I’m trying to calm down and not storm inside to get our woman back. It’s been difficult to keep myself under control, but for Posy I will.

Zeno points next to the home my eyes are zeroed in on, “Isn’t that Donovan Durante’s house?”

I glance over and grit my teeth, pissed he didn’t give us the information we needed two days ago and pissed I didn’t notice before Zeno pointed it out. “Yes,” I growl.

I would already be out of the car, but the sleek black car in front of the Moreau house has me pausing. I’ve seen the car before. I hope I’m wrong about who it belongs to.

When the door to the home opens and Martinez leads Posy out the door and toward his car, my gut clenches. Her whiskey-colored eyes are round and filled with trepidation. She doesn’t want to be with this man.

Fucking hell, she’s just as beautiful tonight, even as fear she’s trying to mask lines her features. The dress she’s wearing is just this side of indecent and I know, without her even saying, it’s not her style. Our woman should be dressed in elegant gowns, not the dress she’s wearing which makes her look like a whore.

One of Martinez’s guys is there to open the back door to their car and Martinez, the scum, motions for our woman to get in. My hands grip the steering wheel so tightly that it creaks under the pressure and my knuckles turn white.

“Fuck,” Zeno mutters under his breath.

I’m in a haze as they drive off and we follow. When they stop at one of the most expensive restaurants in the city, I can barely control my breathing. It feels like I’m going to hyperventilate, but at the same time my mind is clear. I know what we’re going to have to do.

It might start a war, but I don’t give a fuck at this point.

She’s our woman and there is no way I can watch her be on a date with a man like Juan Martinez. Knowing that it’s a possibility she’s been promised to him in marriage has everything in me on high-alert.

“She’s ours,” I grit out through clenched teeth.

When I step out of the car and stride toward the restaurant, Zeno falls in step with me. I’m glad he’s the one who has my back in this. He’s someone who has never shied away from the violence within our world. He’s embraced it, just as I have, and I have a feeling it’ll serve us well tonight.