Page 119 of Hide Little Traitor

It’s been years since I’ve had anything to do with the Vegas, right back when I was trying to talk Salvatore out of marrying off his son to Sebastian’s sister.

Naturally, he didn’t listen to a word I said, didn’t bother to consider the reasons we shouldn’t get in bed with family so closely linked to human trafficking.

He was convinced that the benefits outweighed the risks, but even now it doesn’t sit right with me, and Damon will never be happy with Mikayla.

I may not have seen my godsons in years, and they may hate me for the part I played in their mother’s accident, but I made a promise the day I stood in front of a church and swore to protect them, and I fully intend to always keep that promise.

It’s always a risk contacting someone that knew me before I disappeared, but sometimes it’s worth it, and this is one of those times.

The phone rings a handful of times before a deep voice rumbles on the other end. “How did you get this number?” he snaps.

“Terrance, it’s been a long time.”

“Who is this?”

“It doesn’t matter who I am or how I got your number. I have a proposition for you.”

“I don’t make deals with people I don’t know.”

“You will if you want your son to keep breathing.”

He’s quiet for a beat, assessing whether I’m a real threat to his family or not.

“Have you heard from him recently?” I ask.

“No, but that’s not unusual for him. The boy is a free spirit.”

“The boy is a rapist who should have a bullet in his skull and will be lucky if that’s all he gets if you decide you don’t want to do a deal with someone you don’t know.”

To drive my point home, I text him the photo my guys took a few hours ago of his son covered in blood and bruises.

He sucks in a breath a moment later. “What do you want?”

“I want your daughter to break off her engagement to Damon Lombardi, and I want you to keep a tighter leash on your shit stain of a son to make sure he never hurts another woman. Because if I find out he has, I won’t pass off his torture to someone else. I’ll gladly do it myself and send you his body piece by piece along with proof of life until there are no pieces left to send.”

“Who the fuck do you think you are?”

“I’m the person that can tear your empire down with just a few calls to the feds. Don’t fuck with me, Terrance.”

I end the call and drop the phone onto the desk.

I’m glad I had the good sense to back up my files before I lost access to the Lombardi servers. It pays to have dirt on your enemies, even the ones you don’t think you’ll need any on.

Glancing at the photo of Caroline, the boys, and me, I allow some of the tension to bleed from my body.

Damon will pay for the pain he caused Chloe, but that revenge will be on my terms, not his shitty father’s, who wants to use his children as commodities.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

DAMON

NOW

Isweep my gaze over the dark street, searching for threats before taking Chloe’s hand and tugging her toward the line of trees on the other side.

It’s not ideal, but there’s no chance we can get to the car, and I’m not taking any chances trying to steal one right now.

We’ll get into the woods, find somewhere to hide, and wait for the shit show happening at the motel to blow over.