For Logan (Chicago Syndicate Book 5) (27 page)

“No, Henry. Now. There’s no one else I can go to.”

He puffs out an impatient breath, yet an empathetic look carves his features.

Why can’t I come in?

“Wait! Is Logan in there?” I suddenly ask, and my palm shoots out against the surface of the door to shove it open.

He staggers backward as I shoulder past him.

“No! Rosalia.”

I’m instantly in the living room, which is stocked with four computers on two desks, and on the couch is indeed a person he wanted to hide. But it’s not Logan.

Mary leaps up, swiping her hand down her rumpled skirt. Her pink blouse is buttoned crookedly.

A grin tugs at my lips. “Oh, I’m interrupting...” I let the words trail off, looking back and forth from Mary to Henry.

Henry sends me a feigned scowl. “This just got awkward, fast.”

True, although this works out perfectly for me. They’ve seen Adam; however, I know about their liaison. All three of us have leverage to blackmail one another.

Adam catches my attention by pulling my jeans, so I scoop him up in my arms.

“Who’s that?” Mary asks me, winking at Adam.

He smiles shyly and holds up his yellow toy. “Look, my car.”

“Oh, wow, that’s the one car I want,” she replies and makes him feel at ease.

I address Henry, “How much does she know about Logan and me?”

“I know,” Mary answers instead. “Don’t worry. I won’t spill the beans. As long as you don’t tell anyone you saw me here.”

Henry gapes at Mary’s forwardness, apparently impressed, and sinks down onto the sofa and stretches his long legs out in front of him, hooking a foot around Mary’s.

“Stop it,” she hisses, stepping out of his range.

“I think we’re a bit late in hiding it from her,” he dryly points out.

I honestly don’t care what these two are doing, so I start, “This is Adam Medlov—”

Henry surges up and snaps, “What? Mykhail’s brother?”

Adam startles and his lip quivers – he has bad memories of angry men.

I cradle the side of his round face. “It’s okay, sweetie. He isn’t mad.”

Mary shoots Henry a scowl and closes the distance between us, distracting Adam by asking, “Can I play with your car?”

He watches her with distrust at first and then glimpses at me. I nod, so he tentatively gives it to her.

“Let’s play on the couch,” she urges, holding her hand out to him.

After a few undecided seconds, he goes with her and she turns on the TV.

“
Cars!
” Adam cheers, forgetting everything around him in an instant. He’s riveted by the TV and chats with Mary about his favorite movie.

“Thank you,” I mouth to her in gratitude, and she tips her head in response.

Henry relocates to the far side of the room, toward the heavily draped window, raising his brows and not even repeating his question.

“Yes, Mykhail’s brother. How did you not know I had him?” Hasn’t he talked to Logan? I thought Logan would’ve informed him.

“How am I supposed to know?”

“From Logan?”

His eyes narrow. “What’s going on between you two?”

“Why?”

“I barely speak to Logan,” he retorts.

“He killed Mykhail after he promised me he’d help us. And I caught him with another woman that same night. He ended it with me.”

“Ended?” Henry echoes.

“Yes, we’ve been in a relationship for four months.”

“Oh, I thought you were, you know, fooling around.”

“No, we’ve been dating for months and didn’t want to tell anyone yet; but he did a one-eighty on me when he found out I lied about Mykhail. At first, he pretended to choose me, and then he followed orders and just dropped me like a bad habit.”

“He’s been in a shitty mood.”

“Well, I asked Logan for help, but that clearly blew up in my face.” I glance at Adam, becoming emotional and bracing my neck. “I don’t know what to do. Adam has no one left. He’s been staying with me for days, but my mom is returning tomorrow, and I can’t keep hiding him.”

“There are no other relatives at all?” Henry probes.

“No,” I say with a sob.

Henry softens and folds me into a hug. “Come on, let it out,” he reassures me.

My grief pours out when someone finally consoles me.

“I’m sorry about Mykhail,” he offers kindly, rubbing his hand up and down my arm before he pulls back.

“Thank you. He was my friend and not a threat to the Syndicate.”

Henry’s nose wrinkles. “I don’t understand why they killed him.”

“Me neither. So what do I do?”

“There aren’t many options, Rosalia. You could give him up for adoption? I can change his name and take care of the technical details.”

I lean back against the wall grimly. “Then he’ll go into the system. I can’t do that to him. I-I love him, Henry.”

Astounded, he takes a moment of quiet contemplation. “Do you want to keep him?”

“I don’t know,” I hesitate a beat. “Yes.”

“That brings a whole new set of problems. There’s a difference between taking care of a little boy for a few days and taking care of him for the rest of his life.”

“I get that,” I defend in good conscience.

Yet he continues, “You’re still in college. If you choose to keep him with you, your entire life will change. I can take care of a lot for you systematically, but what will you tell your family?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t thought it through yet.” My heart, mind, and soul are in a shambles.

Mary shifts over to us and asks nicely with concern, “Are you okay?”

I shake my head. “I’m so alone.”

She surprises me by wrapping her arms around my shoulders. “We’ll help you, Rosalia. You’re not alone.”

“Thank you.” I realize they have ulterior motives for helping me because I caught them. Still, I grasp on to this olive branch since I lost my two best friends on the same day.

“Until you decide on a definite plan regarding Adam, you’ll need to keep hiding him. Think about that,” Henry warns me.

“I know, but I’m not in a good state to make this decision right now. I need at least a few more days to process everything.”

“Okay,” Henry says. “But keeping him at your pool house is too risky.”

“I agree; that’s why I came here,” I explain. “My father is barely home, but I can’t hide a kid from my mom when she returns from her trip. Plus, I have some exams coming up that I need to pass to graduate this summer.”

“These aren’t simple decisions, Rosalia,” he mentions.

Adam stands up on the sofa, and I stride to him swiftly to place him back on his bottom. “No standing on the couch. If you fall, you’ll hurt yourself.”

“Sorry,” he replies, fixated on the TV.

I plop down next to him, and Mary and Henry join us.

Mary’s face turns gloomy as she observes me with Adam. “You’re fond of him, aren’t you?”

“I am. I’m the only mother figure he’s had in his young life.”

She’s a bit shocked at my revelation and changes the topic, “Have you spoken to Logan?”

“No. Why?”

She shows me her phone and taps Logan’s name to call him, but an automated voice states:
this number is no longer in service
.

My gaze lands on Henry. “He has another number?”

He lifts his palms in an exaggerated fake manner. “Don’t look at me.”

“Well,” I muse aloud, “seems like he really doesn’t want anything to do with me.”

“He’s a dickhead,” Mary concludes.

I always knew he had the heart of a tortured soul, yet I willingly plunged into a world of sexual awaking with him.

“I have to go to the club. What do you need from me?” Henry asks.

“Well, nothing until I decide what to do.” Then I look at Mary. “I was kind of hoping that you could help out with Adam for a few days?”

Henry shakes his head faintly, knowing it isn’t wise for Mary to get involved too; but they need me to keep my mouth shut as well.

“You two don’t do anything without discussing it with me, or else I won’t lift a finger,” he states in an imposing way.

Unmistakably, the Syndicate men have rubbed off on him. Mary merely nods before he steps out.

Finally, she redoes the buttons on her top and answers my earlier question, “I can help. Your house is going to be swamped for Cam and Adriano’s party anyway.”

“Shit, I forget about that.”

Adriano has planned an extravagant party for Cam. We’re celebrating all the holidays she missed while she was in a coma: Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day.

“Can you watch Adam during the day tomorrow and Friday?” Again, I set Adam on his behind when he kneels up on the sofa, almost toppling forward.

“Sure. But what about Saturday? We’ll all be at the party—wait, I know a girl that usually babysits my cousins. I’ll call her.”

“Where’s she going to babysit him?” I say. “Not in my pool house. The party’s in the main house. It’ll be too dangerous with that many people around.”

Mary sighs and answers, “It might be your lucky day. I moved out of my parents’ apartment last week and have my own now. She can watch him there.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.”

“No problem. But Henry is right. You have to make a decision fast.”

“Yeah, I should,” I agree.

I could have never foreseen I’d be contemplating the future of a three-year-old at twenty-one. In spite of this, my brain is also working overtime, repeatedly thinking about how I could’ve been so wrong about Logan and wondering what exactly he’s doing now.

Logan

––––––––

“N
o, Rosa!” I yell as she darts out of Mykhail’s apartment with Adam.

Cursing, I swipe the headboard to erase my fingerprints before going after her, stashing my gun in the back waistband of my pants and pocketing Mykhail’s wallet and the small towel I used to clean up. Sprinting out of the room into the hall, I halt, dead in my tracks, when I run straight into the barrel of a gun. James’s furious eyes force me backward slowly. He’s flanked by two soldiers who are also aiming a weapon at me.

“What the fuck is this?” I bark, absolutely astounded.

“Take his gun,” James orders.

The soldiers seize my upper arms and one steals my weapon from my slacks.

“Let me go! I’m your
Capo
,” I roar and struggle, receiving a blow in the stomach and doubling over when the breath is knocked out of me. And without warning, my head is yanked back by my hair.

“Be careful, I don’t want any wounds on his face and neck,” James states, lowering his arm and glancing at Mykhail disdainfully.

“Did you kill him?” I snarl.

His eyebrows lift slightly. “Yes.”

“Why? Who ordered you?”

James scalds me with an incredulous look. “Are you stupid? No one
ordered
me. I had to take matters into my own hands.”

“You’re fucking out of line, James.” Anger sidles over my skin.

“Shut up and listen to me carefully. I had to sit back quietly and watch for months while you wrapped my daughter around your finger.” Pure contempt drips from him.

James is a shrewd performer, because I haven’t suspected once that he knew about Rosa and me. “Are you fucking kidding me? This is about Rosa?”

“My daughter is not a plaything for the men,” he bellows. “I know what kind of man you are.”

“You don’t know me at all. I’m not playing with her.”

He leans forward, gritting his teeth. “I’ve seen pictures on her phone,
stronzo
.” Asshole.

Fuck, she has multiple racy pictures of us together.

“You come from the outside and think you can bed my daughter and cast her away?”

“You don’t even know what’s going on between us.”

“Neither does she. She’s too young. And I didn’t resign the position of boss to have her become
more
involved in Syndicate business. I retired to live a more quiet life. I promised Alessa.”

“Alessa?” That’s why she set Rosa up with Dominic. “Her mother is more obsessed with Rosa finding a traditional Italian than she is about her daughter’s happiness.” Uselessly, I attempt to wrench free from my two captors.

James’s lips flattens into a thin line. “Alessa has worked for twenty-one years to keep Rosalia away from the organization, successfully. Until I discovered she’s been assisting Mykhail. And to top it all off, I find out she’s constantly sneaking around with you. You’ve been helping her, haven’t you? She’s too innocent and impulsive for this life! Within months, you’ve fully immersed her in what her mother and I’ve wanted to protect her from.”

Christ, we’ve been so irresponsible to be together while we knew there was a good chance her parents would oppose. I just didn’t expect James would go mad.

“I didn’t help her hide Mykhail,” I counter. “I just learned about her involvement with him this morning, James! Get your facts straight. You and Alessa treat her like she’s a teenager while she’s actually an independent woman. What the hell is the problem if we want to be together? Adriano is with one of your daughters too.”

“Cam is seven years older than Rosa. I only accepted Adriano because Cam and I have a precarious relationship and all I wanted was to retire, so it worked in my favor. But don’t forget, Logan, that I was the boss for a long time. I can make anyone disappear; I still have connections.”

“But you’re not the boss anymore. And I’m head
Capo
. I outrank you. Don’t threaten me,” I throw back.

His voice is filled with outrage. “I’m telling you this once: stay away from Rosalia, and let her assume you killed Mykhail.”

Does he know Adam lived here?
Apparently not.

I try to twist free, gasping when James digs his fingers into my throat. “You’re betraying your Syndicate. You killed Mykhail without having questioned him, without Adriano’s permission.
You
are out of order. Don’t you fucking dare come between Rosa and me and make demands without knowing the entire story. Do you know that I love her? She’s not just any girl to me.”

“Shut up about love.” His comment reeks of derision. “Rosalia being with a member will get her killed someday soon. I know how this goddamn life works. I will not lose my wife and daughter because I couldn’t handle a CIA agent.” He cups my chin forcefully, pressing his Smith & Wesson against my temple. “You forget that this little set-up was perfect. She thinks you slaughtered poor Mykhail.”