Page 86 of Venomous Throne

And I wasn’t doing that down here.

Taking a plate of dinner, I hurried back to my room. Where I was alone. Part of me hoped Jaxon had come inside, followed me, and waited to see if I’d come back to him.

I should have asked him to wait.

The window slid up, and I peered into the dark. The roof was empty. Sighing, I slid it shut but didn’t lock it. I sat on the bed, food balanced on my thighs. My lips and tongue mumbled a blessing on the meal, but too many thoughts ran through my mind, and I couldn’t focus on the prayer.

A new soldier, who could prove himself to fill the position of the fourth captain I was missing, was a great surprise. But the news he brought, that there were more assassinations coming.... I counted on my fingers. Four didn’t add up. I shivered and counted again.

Something bright orange caught the corner of my eye.

I nearly gave myself whiplash; my neck snapped so quickly. Sitting on the nightstand, where I couldn’t possibly have missed it—but clearly had—was a bouquet of bright tiger lilies. Their speckled petals stretched open in greeting. Dusky pollen perfumed the air.

A smile spread across my lips. I knew exactly who’d left them.

I pulled out my phone and sent a thank-you text to my midnight stray. He didn’t respond, didn’t open the message immediately. I chewed on my lip.

“If you’d like to come over later, you can wake me up,” I tested the words before I typed them.

They sounded good. Casual. Not too pushy, but letting Jaxon know that I wouldn’t mind seeing him again.

Chapter 33 – Isabella

“Johnny is working twice as hard as any of the others,” Donnie observed as we stood on the street corner.

The houses on 4thand 5thAvenue were freshly painted, and we’d started cleaning up 6thStreet just this morning. I considered the soldier, pulling his weight alongside the others. Several of Johnny’s buddies, who’d been under his command since my husband’s era, had joined. Each had sworn an oath to me, and I put them to work. They weren’t the only ones. The families of the Made Men encouraged their sons to abandon Bonetti and fight for me.

The strategies were working.

Slowly.

Meanwhile, my enemy was disrupting the cash flow of our organization. Bonetti would rather take a loss in profit if it hurt me. The frustrating part was that we didn’t know where he’d strike next.

“Keep an eye on them,” I said. “But…make sure they know they’re valuable. Because they are.”

“They know that, donna. That’s why they’re here,” Donnie said with a grin.

What started as a snowball rolled into a boulder. We stood a chance in this hell.

“Good.” Whatever else I was going to say was interrupted by a vibration in my pocket. I pulled the phone out and immediately angled away from my capo. The unnamed number, which I hadn’t dared to give a title to in my phone, sent a text.

Jaxon wanted to meet.

My heart skipped a beat.

As I considered my response, I glanced at the captain. There was no way my men would let me go away this evening. Especially with a stranger. I chewed on the inside of my cheek.

I can sneak out.

Even as a teen, I never did anything this forbidden. The urge to do something wild and reckless filled me, tempered with a burst of longing.

“Is everything alright, Donna Isabella?” Donnie asked, brows knit together.

I slid the phone back into my pocket and rubbed my head. “These late nights are getting to me.” I gave him a lame smile. “Headache.”

“Ah, well, you can go back to the house,” my capo offered. “We’ll make sure the work is finished before supper.”

And just like that, I deceived a loyal soldier.