Desolation (New Rochelle Mafia #1)

27. CHAPTER 27

CHAPTER 27

DRAKE

I was nervous as hell when I told Elodie what I did to her parents. I knew she wouldn’t be upset that they were gone, but I was worried she’d be upset that I was the one who did it, that she would have to look at me everyday knowing I killed them.

I definitely was not expecting her to profess her love.

But I’m so happy she did.

It’s early. The sun is just peeking through and starting to come through the shades of the bedroom window. Elodie is laying on her back with her face turned slightly to me in her sleep. She is so beautiful. Perfect in every way. I don’t understand how anyone who knows her could ever treat her less than.

I know what I did could have ramifications in the future. But I will still walk the path I always have, until the time comes that I need to make changes. My hands are dirty now. I still wouldn’t change what I did. They needed to die and I wanted to be the one who did it. No one else was going to take that away from me.

Gently running a finger down her cheek, I try to wake her. “Hey, do you want some coffee and some breakfast? We’ve got a lot of stuff to plan today so we need to get an early start.”

She groans and stretches. Opening her eyes, she remembers that she is naked and her cheeks redden.

“Stop that, you better get used to it because this is how we are going to wake up every day. Or with my mouth on you, or me buried inside of you,” I say with a smirk.

She rolls her eyes. “You are incorrigible,” she says with a laugh. “It will take some getting used to for sure, but I think I’m up to the task. What was this about coffee?”

I roll out of bed, stretching, and watch Elodie’s eyes trail down my body and she swallows. Well at least I know I’m not the only one that’s a little hungry this morning but it’s going to have to wait for now. I wink at her and head to the closet. Opening the door to my room, I grab a few things and then walk back into the closet to find Elodie grabbing a few things too.

“Let’s both get ourselves ready for the day and then meet back in your room,” I say. She nods and then heads toward her bathroom.

I take a quick shower and brush my teeth. Once I’m dressed I walk back over to her side to see that she’s just coming out of the bathroom too. She slips on her teddy bear slippers and takes my hand.

Ellen has a huge breakfast already laid out when we get there. My father and Anthony are already sitting at the table. They both say good morning when we walk in and things are silent for a while as we all drink some coffee and gather our thoughts.

Dad clears his throat and says, “The information you gave us had led to a discovery, Elodie.”

She looks shocked. “Already?”

Dad nods. “We had him followed as soon as you told us and he met up with Dominic at one of my warehouses.”

“Wait, what?” I say.

My dad looks at me and says simply, “Aiden is a traitor.”

I’m shook. I know I asked Elodie to talk to them about things that she saw, but I never imagined it would be something like this. Maybe a glimpse into how Dominic runs things and what problems they might be having. But this? Then it clicks. “The dinner. It was with Aiden wasn’t it?”

She nods. “Though I didn’t know who he really was at the time. Just his name and his wife’s name.”

Holy shit. “So what are they using the warehouse for?”

“I think they are planning to house people there for auctions,” my dad says.

I’m instantly nauseous. I know we have always said I will stay out of business matters but I just can’t do it anymore. “I killed Elodie’s parents,” I blurted out.

Dad and Anthony just laugh. “You think we didn’t already know that? Louis drives you around and he is loyal to you, but at the end of the day, he is still my man, not yours. Who do you think got the fire department to let it burn?” my dad asks.

Well shit. I just thought it was because it had already gotten so far and they called it a loss.

“So what now? I can’t stay out of things anymore. Everything that’s happened has taken me farther away from where I was supposed to be going. There’s no way I can just be a lawyer now.”

“Which is why we are being so open with you now. As of this moment you are now my third. You will be Anthony’s second when I retire. That is, if you want to. Though you are still going to finish school,” my dad says, looking at me solemnly.

I know this isn’t what he wanted for me. But sometimes we don’t always get what we want. I knew in the beginning that I would do anything for Elodie. Nothing has changed. Now I just have the means to protect her at all costs. More than I already did.

She looks at me, brows drawn together. I know she’s worried, I told her I wasn’t in this life, but let’s face it, at the end of the day, there was never going to be another way for me to protect her and stay out of it.

Zeke and Eren walk in. I am so relieved to see them. I tried to call them to be sure they got away safely. Zeke says, “We dumped the car and then got debriefed by Gio. Dominic is furious that Elodie never made it to her appointments and we are now missing as well as her.”

I see Elodie wince.

“We took the car to an underground lot and left it. Wiped everything. It will be days or even weeks before they find it unless it has a tracker, which is highly likely. He of course has a hit out for the both of us,” Eren says. “Elodie is to be brought in unharmed. But that’s only because he said he wants to deal with her himself.”

This is nothing we didn’t already know. There was supposed to be another guard with them. He is in the trunk of that car. Though Elodie doesn’t know that. The three of them wouldn’t have been able to get away as quietly as they did if they hadn’t killed him.

So the chase is on.

“Things are only going to get worse from here on out,” Dad says. “Elodie, you will have guards at all times, as will all of us. No one needs to do anything routine. Make your schedules as erratic as you can. Drake I know you have school and work but you’ll take the armored car both places just to be safe.”

I nod. I figured all of this was coming anyway.

“Eren and Zeke, you’re on Elodie at all times, unless she’s with me,” I say.

They nod and then leave the room. Elodie looks terrified. I can’t blame her. Everything just came to a head pretty fast. She went from worrying if her parents were going to beat her any given day to suddenly becoming a mafia wife by force. Now her life is truly in danger and a war is about to happen.

“Evan called. He has your divorce papers and the protection order ready to sign. We can get the ball rolling on that, though if I have my way about it you won’t need to get a divorce,” my dad growls.

Same, Dad. Same , I think to myself.

I help Elodie stand and my dad says he will let us know if anything changes. In the meantime, he and Anthony are going to come up with a plan for shutting down the warehouse.