Tirone (The Night Skulls MC #2)(82)

I wasn’t angry at what he said. He had every right to want to kill me. I’d made so many mistakes, told so many lies, kept so many secrets. I thought I was doing the right thing to save our marriage and protect him from doing things he would regret, but all I did was hurt him and stand in the way between everything he cared about. “What do you mean you’re losing everything?”

He drew back and brushed my cheeks with his thumbs. “Don’t worry about a thing, baby girl. I swear I’ll fix everything.”

“Did something else happen? Did you talk to the Bellomos?”

He ran a hand through his hair and nodded. “Sebastiano Bellomo agreed to take the Lanzas’ place.”

“That’s good news.”

A bitter snort erupted out of his mouth. “They have a fucking condition to make the deal.”

“Which is?”

“They want me to go to the Lanzas and screw them over, using you as fucking bait.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Tino Bellomo won’t step in unless I go to the Lanzas and strike a deal with them, giving you up like they always wanted in exchange for avoiding war. A fake peace fucking offering. Then at the exchange, the Bellomos will have arranged for a surprise attack where I can get you back and the Larvins, and they can get the Lanzas.”

“Okay. That doesn’t sound like a bad thing. Why are you upset? I don’t mind doing it if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I do. I won’t use my wife as bait. The mob can never be trusted. If something happens to you, do you think they’ll bat a fucking eye? They only care about getting what they want. It doesn’t matter who gets squashed in the middle. They can all go fuck themselves.”

“Did Michele think it was a good plan?”

“Who gives a shit?”

“If he thinks it is, then I trust him, and so should you. He’ll never put me in danger.”

“He works for Tino. His loyalty is for his boss, Jo. He’d say anything if Tino ordered him to, and Tino Bellomo doesn’t give a shit about you or even Michele. Right now, he cares about nothing but hitting the Lanzas where it hurts.”

“You’re stressed out, Laius. How about you let things rest a little and then rethink their offer?”

“I made up my mind, Jo. You’re my wife. The decisions about your safety are mine to make, not Michele’s. You belong to me. You have my name. Even he understands the rules.” He squeezed my hands gently. “I’ll take care of the Larvins my way, and I’ll take care of Tirone. No one will ever hurt you again.”

An ominous feeling invaded me. “What are you going to do to Tirone?”

“He’ll never come near you again. You’ll never see him again. I’m sending him away.”

“He’s your son.”

“Not anymore. Not after what he’s done.”

“You can’t abandon him. He needs your help.”

“I don’t know how to fucking help him!” He let out a suffering groan. “I wish I knew how before all was fucking lost, but I don’t.” Tears revisited his eyes. “I lost my son, Jo, and I’m about to lose the MC if I don’t act fast. You’re the only thing I have left. I won’t lose you, too.”

He was wrong. Tirone wasn’t a lost cause. Laius hadn’t lost his son yet, and he wouldn’t have to lose the MC. I wasn’t the one thing he needed to save. I was the only thing he should lose.





CHAPTER 46


Furore



“There is a slight damage to the ocular surface of his left eye and mild bleeding that we’ve already stopped, but there’s no nerve or retinal damage,” the doctor said.

I didn’t need a pompous ass medical explanation. “Does that mean he can see? With both eyes?”

“The electro-diagnostic tests confirm he hasn’t lost either eye sight. There are no orbital injuries either. You’ve been very lucky.”

Lucky? My own son scratched his eyeballs until they bled after he’d raped my wife, giving her a nervous breakdown. And it wasn’t the first time.

“However, with self-inflicted eye injuries, the patient must be admitted to a psychiatric hospital,” he added.

“Fuck you. My son won’t be tossed into a loony bin.”

He was taken aback for a second, but then he eyed my cut and swallowed. “It’s for his safety. He needs professional help. This time you managed to bring him to a hospital before the damage is done. Can you guarantee that the next time? And don’t say there won’t be a next time because self-inflicted injury attempts never end unless the psychosis causing them is properly treated.”

Like I hadn’t tried before? He came out worse with a vendetta against the world and me. Tirone’s psychosis was Laius and Jocasta. There ain’t no pill for that. I stared the doctor down. “It wasn’t self-inflicted. It was a fucking accident. You hear, doc? That’s what you gonna put down in your dang report.”

He didn’t argue. He was smart enough to know what he was dealing with. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Yeah. Now, I wanna see my boy.”

He led me to Tirone’s room and told the nurse to undo the straps holding my son to bed. Then he left with her to give me and Tirone some privacy. My son had bandages and a patch over his left eye and looked like the cheese fell off the cracker.