Claimed (Blood Ties Book 6)

The tiny thrumming heartbeat filled the speakers. I felt that flutter…all the way to the center of my chest. “I’m the father.”

“You’re the father,” Vivienne whispered, her eyes wide.

My knees trembled. I clutched hold of the side of the bed, staring at the tiny black and white image moving on the screen. I wanted to be happy…I was desperate to be happy. I was, for a fleeting second, until Vivienne turned her head and looked away.

“What is it?” She just shook her head, but I saw the tremble of her chin. “Hey.” I reached around and brushed my finger along her jaw, gently turning her back toward me.

There was a shake of her head, but there were tears in her eyes, shimmering against the brown. I tried to stop from sounding desperate as I urged. “Talk to me.”

“What if it…” she started, then swallowed once, twice. That thick huskiness made my chest hurt. “What if it’s a girl? What if they’re both girls? How can we bring our daughter into this world when there’s…when there’s…”

When there are men like Haelstrom Hale.

That’s what she meant.

Soft curls, a button nose. The same splattering of freckles as her mom. But dark, intense eyes…ones that looked exactly like mine. That’s all I could see. Jesus fucking Christ. Our daughter.

I tilted her shimmering gaze to mine, swallowing my rage until my chest was a wall of damn fire. “That’s for me to worry about, pet. I promise you, on my goddamn life I will never let anything or anyone hurt you or our children, son or daughter. Your safety and well-being are my only purpose now and forever.”

There was that swallow again.

I pulled her into my arms, pressing her head against my chest.

It was pure self-preservation.

Because I couldn’t let her see the savagery I felt inside.

My body quaked with the need for blood.

Because her fears were real. Very fucking real. Hale was out there. I knew that with every fiber of my soul. He was plotting, scheming, watching my every goddamn move. My gaze shifted to the monitor and the still image of the two little blips on the screen.

He was just waiting for an opportunity, and right now I was looking at two.

Two babies.

Two of our babies.

Haunted eyes, gaunt cheeks. A belly that was far too big for her frame. The image of Ryth blazed in my mind. She was worn down by all the running, a shell of herself. I couldn’t let Vivienne end up like Ryth. I refused to allow that. Always in fear. Always waiting for the hand around your mouth and the needle in your neck. Always waiting for men like Hale to take your entire world from you. Always vulnerable.

The sons and I wouldn’t let that happen.

We’d find Hale.

We’d find them all.

And tear the world apart to do it if necessary.

“That will not happen,” I whispered, that fire now in the back of my throat. “I give you my word.”

WHAT IF…WHAT if it’s a girl.

Those goddamn words haunted me as I pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. Vivienne had barely spoken on the drive home, just stared out of the window with a numb, shell-shocked stare.

“Carven’s inside waiting and Guild has your favorite hot chocolate on standby.”

She turned her head toward me, giving me a ghost of a smile. Fuck, it just looked sad. I reached across the seat, captured her face in both my hands, and drew her closer. Her soft lips met mine. She grabbed my arm, clinging to me tightly.

I wanted nothing more than to take her inside and make slow, consuming love with her. I wanted her mindless and quivering under my hands. I wanted her empty so I could fill her again.

So she might taste the malice I had inside.

So she would know the lengths I’d go to just to keep her safe.

But none of that mattered. Words were pointless.

Action was all that mattered.

I eased my hold, letting her pull away. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” I whispered.

She stared into my eyes and nodded.

In the space of a breath she was gone, shoving open the door and stepping out, closing it behind her with a soft thud.

I swiped the screen on my phone, watching her stride toward the door. But it opened before she even got there and Carven stepped out to meet her. He glanced my way and gave a slow nod. I shoved the car into reverse as the call was answered.

“I’m here,” Harper stated, his voice clipped.

“The Priest,” I answered. “Has he spoken?”

“Unfortunately, no. But his brothers are circling and, by the carnage they’ve left behind to find him, they’re pissed. But it’s done, the tracker’s inserted. So when they come, and it’s only a matter of time now, they should lead us all the way to Hale and the Order.”

“Good.” I hit the end of the driveway, then stopped the car and put it into gear. “That’s exactly where I want them.”

“Everything okay with Vivienne?”

What if it’s a girl, London?

“Looks like we’re having twins,” I answered, still numb.

“Congratulations, brother.” The lilt in his voice echoed through the speakers. “You’re going to be the very best father. You all will…even Carven.”

“Yes.” My focused shifted to the twins, but it wasn’t Carven I worried about, it was Colt. “Even Carven.”

“Have you heard any more about the Ares murders?” he asked.

“I’m heading there now.” I turned the wheel and pulled into the street, remembering the red and blue flashing lights of the emergency vehicles last night. “I’ll let you know.”

“Hale has to be connected, London,” my friend growled. “Because that…that was far too brutal to be anything else.”

“I agree,” I answered, braking to a stop outside their house. “I’ll call you the moment I’m out.”

This morning we’re rocked by the tragic and horrific news about one of our shining stars in the corporate world. In the wake of the terrible news of Haelstrom Hale’s death, we have two more. Corporate mogul, Dante Ares and his wife, Meredith, have been found deceased in their luxurious home. First reports are of an unconfirmed murder-suicide, but we will have more on this shocking incident as the investigation unfolds.

“Murder-suicide, my ass,” I muttered as I killed the engine.

Hale was behind this.

I needed to find out how.

I climbed out of the car and took a second to lift my gaze to the expansive house as I adjusted my jacket. But why? What would Hale gain by taking out one of the most influential, connected Mafia families? I shifted my thoughts to Cerberus. According to Ben and the information obtained thanks to our new alliance, Dante Ares was the main instigator involved in the abduction.

If that was the case, was this the Banks brothers? They were all capable…especially Tobias. But to do something like this took a degree of carefulness, and that’s something Tobias wasn’t. He was a hothead, wired to shoot and keep shooting.

I stepped up to the door and pressed the button. No, something like this took skill and cunning. Something like I did. Heavy steps came from inside before the door opened and Silas Ares stood there, those unflinching eyes meeting mine.

He stepped to the side without saying a word, letting me enter.

Clack.

The locks sounded before the eldest son turned and headed along the hallway to the sitting room. I scanned the house as I followed. Empty. Cold. Our steps echoed like they had in the damn morgue. That’s exactly what this place felt like, a morgue. I inhaled, tasting the remnants of carnage, and suppressed a shudder as Silas led me to the same sitting room I’d been in before.

My focus moved to the same leather sofa where Dante had sat, which seemed like only yesterday. Silas gave a wave of his hand. For someone whose parents were just brutally murdered in the same house we sat in, he was terrifyingly calm.

I remained standing. Instead, I offered my hand. “I’m really sorry for your loss, Silas.” My gaze automatically shifted to the closed door at my right and the bright yellow police tape across it. The same study where it had all happened. “Do the police have any information?’

He didn’t grasp my hand, just stared at the very expensive Rothschild rug under our feet before he lifted his gaze to mine. “You mean, if it’s true? If my father—” A nerve twitched in his cheek. “If he…if he murdered my mother…”

I didn’t react, just searched his eyes. Because none of this felt right. Memories of the last time I was here slammed into me. The way Dante had looked at his wife told me he wasn’t just a man in love. He was fucking smitten. There wasn’t a hint of trouble under the surface, certainly not the kind that spilled blood.

“I don’t believe that, and I know you don’t either.”

There was that tell again, making his cheek tremble as the eldest son of the Ares empire settled that dangerous fixed stare on me. “It’s what everyone says. So it must be true.”

“Your father is not the man who’d…” My words stuck in the back of my throat.

“Blow a hole in my mother’s head, then turn that same gun on himself?” His voice was so quiet, I barely heard it.

Still, I didn’t need to, did I? It was written all over my face as I glanced at the study once more. “I need to know.” My own sense of desperation roared inside me. I hated this, hated how I was pushing him. “I need to know it was your father.”

He suddenly turned and strode across the sitting room before he ripped the police tape aside and threw the door open wide. “I dunno…does that look like my father’s fucking brain matter to you? I can’t fucking tell.”

The room was chaos, upturned chairs, blood splattered across the desk. My eyes were drawn to the bright pink markings on the floor in front of the desk. The ones in the outline of a body.

Blood pooled underneath, dark brown, bits of white amongst the mess. His mother…it had to have been.

Desperation drew me closer. I shot Silas a panicked stare, but it was the hitman in me that mapped out the room. I glanced at the door, searching for markings.

“No forced entry,” Silas muttered, standing in the doorway with his back to the room.

“Windows?”

He glanced at the towering panes of glass, ones I knew would be fitted with magnetic switches. The moment they were opened or smashed, an alarm would be triggered. Silas gave a shake of his head. Then, in an instant, his gaze whipped to the right.

From the corner of my eye, the sitting room door opened and Angelica Ares stepped in. If I thought Silas was cold to her before, now he was damn well frostbiting. His top lip curled as she lifted her head, froze, then met his stare. Something passed between them; hate, desperation, pain. She glanced my way, those intense green eyes brightening until they shifted to the open study door.

Her throat muscles worked, as her breath caught.

Silas unleashed a low snarl and took a step forward, making her flinch. The tension between them was terrifying. She whirled around, grabbed the door handle, pulled, and disappeared once more.

“Is there something I need to know here?” I turned to Silas.

“It’s a family matter,” he growled.

Whatever was going on was dangerous…for her, at least. My gut clenched. I’ve seen her…at The Order. Vivienne’s words resounded. She not only knew the Ares daughter, but she’d seen her with The Principal. The same bastard I wanted to lead us back to Hale. I fought myself not to get more involved.

But I couldn’t.

I already had enough on my own plate.

Whatever was happening here wasn’t my problem.

The door closed, leaving Angelica Ares to slip away…like a gazelle bounding away from a lion. I turned my head, seeing that deadly stare fixed on the door—for now, at least. How long she avoided the menacing Ares sons was another matter altogether.

“You’ll contact me if you need anything?” I offered.

He didn’t look away from that closed door. “I appreciate the offer. But we take care of our own.”

A chill raced along my spine, so I gave a nod and headed toward the door.

He didn’t follow, just continued to stare at the door where his adopted sister had left like he was contemplating spilling a little more blood. I shook my head as I yanked the front door closed.

The Ares daughter wasn’t my problem.

God knows I had enough of my own.

Beep.

I grabbed my phone, swiped my thumb across the screen, and looked at the message.

Caleb Banks: Ryth isn’t well…she wants to see Vivienne. Make it happen, London.

Make it happen.

I strode toward my car in the driveway, knowing I’d avoided for long enough telling Vivienne her sister was back. “Shit,” I grumbled as I yanked open the driver’s door and climbed in.

I typed out a response:

I’m on it.