The Foiled Plan (War of Sins Book 2)

‘He’s insane,’ Cisco utters behind me. ‘Don’t listen to him.’

My hand tightens on my own gun, and as much as I’d like nothing more than to draw it and shoot him right between the eyes, I can’t. He’s baiting me. I’m sure of it.

I scan Noelle’s figure, looking for anything amiss, or a sign that what Michele is saying might be true. Because I refuse to believe it.

If anything happened to my pretty girl because of me…

I don’t care if she saw me with Armand. I don’t care if she’s disgusted with me. And I certainly don’t care if she never wants me to touch her again.

Anything as long as she’s safe and untouched.

If this motherfucker dared to defile her…

‘I can see your brain working, Rafaelo. Are you trying to see if I’m lying or not?’ He challenges. ‘Not to worry, I can do another demonstration.’

Before I can even blink, his palm makes contact with Noelle’s cheek. The slap is hard enough to move her head to the side, but also to wake her up. She startles, her eyes going wide as she blinks repeatedly. Looking around, her gaze settles on me, her mouth parting in an o.

‘Look who’s here, sleeping beauty. Your husband’s ready for the showdown,’ he says as he tugs her forcibly to her feet.

‘Don’t you dare Michele. I get it. I’m guilty of whatever sins you’ve convicted me of. But she’s innocent. Please… Just let her go,’ my voice breaks as I implore him, especially as my eyes meet Noelle’s terrified ones.

Fucking hell. What did he do to her?

That alone is enough to make me want to explode.

I should have protected her. I should have fucking protected her.

I failed her…

‘Hmm, what are you willing to do if I let her go?’ He asks with a raised brow, his gun still trailing over Noelle’s skin,

‘Anything,’ I take a step forward, my arms spread open in a gesture of surrender. ‘Just let her go,’ I tell him in a gentler tone.

‘Keep him talking,’ Cisco whispers, ‘It will buy the snipers time to get a good angle.’

I give him a small nod, hoping they will act in time. If not…

Michele has a wicked smile on his face as he ponders what to ask of me. Although I already know what he will demand, I wait for his words.

‘Kill yourself,’ he drawls. ‘Kill yourself. Right here, in front of me. And I’ll let her go.’

I swallow hard, bobbing my head up and down in acquiesce. Didn’t I know he would go for the most extreme punishment? It would be only fitting after he’s made me suffer for years.

I put one foot in front of another, my gaze flittering to Noelle. Her features anguished, she keeps shaking her head, willing me to reconsider.

But I can’t.

How can I, when I would do anything to see her safe?

My life ceased being my own the moment I realized the depth of my feelings for her. She’s had me in the palm of her hands since then. And maybe this way, I can atone for some of the things I’ve done to her.

‘Forgive me,’ I whisper the words, knowing she can’t hear me.

‘No,’ Noelle yells, wildly moving her limbs around and trying to run towards me. Michele is quick to stop her, pulling her back. A yelp escapes her as he handles her roughly, his touch bruising. That is enough to make my blood boil.

‘The snipers don’t have a clear shot without getting my sister,’ Cisco tells me, and my lips flatten in a thin line.

‘Two choices, my dear brother. You either put a bullet through your brain right here and now, or you watch me fuck your wife while I put a bullet through her head. How about that?’ His lips spread in an arrogant smile, his grip on Noelle tightening.

Leaning closer to her, he whispers something, and I note the tears falling down her cheeks as she nods, her eyes still on me.

My entire body is wound so tightly, the tension is ready to blow up. More than anything, there’s the fear and anxiety at something happening to Noelle.

Just as I get ready to meet his demands—hoping somehow that Cisco’s men will end this in a timely manner—Noelle moves.

Her robe is wide open, her bra and panties visible. Through a mass of sobs, I watch flabbergasted as she pulls down on her panties, sliding them down her legs and throwing them to the ground. She’s trembling, her legs visibly shaking, and my heart hurts to see her like this.

The intent is clear, and without even thinking, I drop to my knees.

‘Don’t!’ I shout. ‘Don’t you dare, Noelle,’ I tell her.

I can hazard a guess as to what he told her, and I won’t let her do that. I won’t ever let her do that for me. I’d rather die a thousand deaths before allowing her to whore herself for me.

‘I’ll do it!’ I say as I raise my gun to my forehead.

‘Raf,’ Noelle’s cry resounds through the air, but I try to ignore it.

‘Damn, brother. I could say I’m shocked to see you so gone for pussy, but I’m not,’ he chuckles. ‘Not really,’ he shrugs, his gun still aimed at Noelle. ‘Of course you’d be the most likely to end up pussy-whipped,’ he laughs derisively. ‘Now let’s end this once and for all,’ he nods towards me.

I pull the safety off the gun, meeting Noelle’s terrified gaze one last time.

There are so many things I never had the chance to tell her. Most of all, I want her to know how much I love her. My lips part as I mouth the words, but there’s no recognition on her face. She keeps shaking her head at me, begging me with her eyes to stop.

But I can’t. Not when it would be either me or her.

Next to her, my brother has a smug look on his face, already anticipating my brains staining the concrete.

I squeeze my eyes shut, a prayer for the time I’ll never get with the woman I love.

But as I bring my finger to the trigger, a loud cry permeates the air. My eyes snap open, horror overtaking me at the sight. Noelle dashes towards me, her robe tearing as she pivots forward, half of the material remaining in my brother’s grasp, the other half still on her back.

‘No!’ I yell. ‘No, no, no,’ I keep chanting. ‘Stop!’

A few steps forward and a gun goes off, followed by a few more shots.

I act faster than ever, lurching forward to catch her. But as I bring her to my chest, it’s to see my brother’s gun drop to the ground, two bullet holes in his chest as he teeters towards the edge of the roof. His eyes are unblinking as he looks at me, surprise, shock and regret written all over.

Our eyes meet, and for a second, the connection is there.

It doesn’t last though, not as he trips on the ledge before dropping over the edge.

I blink, my eyes widening at the realization. But I don’t let myself dwell on that. Not when I have my pretty girl in my arms.

‘Noelle,’ I shake her, quickly shedding my shirt to cover her with it.

‘You’re alive,’ she sighs, relieved.

‘What did you do, pretty girl?’ I ask softly. I can’t muster the strength to tell her off. Not when seeing her so close to death took off years of my own life.

‘I couldn’t let you,’ she shakes her head. ‘I couldn’t, Raf. I would have done anything to avoid that,’ she says as she looks at me with those big eyes of hers.

‘Damn it, Noelle. Don’t go there,’ I breathe out. ‘Don’t tell me you would have…’ My voice breaks and I can’t even bring myself to say the words.

‘I would have,’ she confirms, tears falling down her cheeks. ‘I would do anything for you. Anything. You don’t know how strong my love is for you,’ she licks her lips, taking in a deep breath to prevent the sobs from taking over.

‘Not that, Noelle,’ I shake my head, feeling myself near tears too. ‘Never that.’

‘You don’t understand, do you?’ her voice is low and anguished. ‘There’s nothing left if you’re not there.’

I want to shake her. Take her in my arms and shake her so she can see reason. So she can understand that I’m not worth defiling herself for. That there’s nothing more precious than her.

As I bring one hand to her shoulder, though, it’s find it damp and stained with red.

‘Pretty girl?’ My voice trembles as I quickly pull away what’s left of her robe until I’m able to see her injury.

‘I don’t feel so well, Raf,’ she murmurs, her eyes straining to stay awake.

‘Noelle, stay with me,’ I order her.

‘Sleepy,’ she whispers, before she slumps down in my arms.

For a moment, panic overtakes me. I feel my heart in my throat as I lift my hand to her cheek, caressing the bruised flesh and trying to get her to react. But as I bring one finger under her nose, it’s to realize her breathing is even.

Not in danger.

I release a relieved breath.

If something had happened to her… Not going there.

Forcing myself to stay in the present, I use the remaining material of her robe, ripping it in long stripes, tying them around her shoulder to keep the bleeding to a minimum.

‘How’s she?’ Cisco asks as he crouches by my side.

‘She got hit,’ I say, my eyes on her shoulder. ‘I don’t think it went through, but we need to get her to a doctor.’

From my initial inspection, the bullet only grazed her shoulder. I’m more concerned about her fainting, but that could be attributed to shock. God knows, she’s had enough of that today.

‘Good,’ he grunts. And as I rise with her in my arms, he helps me by placing my shirt over her naked body.

‘He’s dead,’ he says as I take a step towards the door.

‘Is he?’ I stop briefly, the news hitting me harder than I’d thought.

‘My men are down as we speak. He fell off the roof. Dead on impact, if he didn’t already die from the bullets.’

‘At least you got what you wanted,’ I reply dryly.

His hand comes to rest on my shoulder, his expression grim.

‘We both got what we wanted. All things considered, I’d say this day is a success.’

‘A success,’ I laugh. ‘A success?’ I swivel towards him, my features tense. ‘It’s not a fucking success when my wife got injured. Your sister.’

‘She’ll be fine,’ he shrugs.

‘Right,’ I nod, pursing my lips. ‘She’ll be fine…’ I add sarcastically, barely resisting the urge to fucking punch Cisco in the face.

But my pretty girl is all that matters now.

‘Keep everyone with access to the servers on retainer. We need to see who the mole was.’

‘Already on it.’

His words are almost an echo as I walk away, only one purpose in mind. Getting into the car, I place Noelle on my lap, holding her tightly to my chest and murmuring loving words to her.

‘I’ll take care of you, little one. I promise,’ I whisper as I place one kiss on her forehead.

But even as I feel relief at everything being over, I can’t help the hurt in my heart.

He’d been my brother. Once upon a time.

We’d been close.

I’d…loved him.

As fucked up as that sounds, maybe I still did.

And as one lone tear made it down my cheek, I decide to remember the good rather than the bad.

The time we were still brothers…

‘You can’t be serious,’ Carlos comments as I close the door to Noelle’s room.

‘We’re still checking, but we can’t discount anything right now.’

‘Panchito’s been with us for a long time. He would never do something like that.’

‘If not him then someone else. How would Michele have control over the video feed if not? He knew about the plan and targeted our weak spots,’ I add grimly.

We’d borrowed extra people from Marcello and Vlad. We’d had the best of the best in charge of the operation. From the outside, the plan was solid—more than solid. The only explanation for this abysmal result is an inside job.

‘He wouldn’t do that to you,’ he shakes his head.

‘That’s what I hope too. Because it’s not me he hurt, it’s Noelle. And goddamn…’ I bring my hands to my face as I release a big breath. ‘That must have been the most nerve-wracking experience I’ve ever had.’

Carlos grunts.

‘What about Michele? How do you feel about his death?’

‘I don’t know yet…’ I trail off.

I’d brought Noelle home to be seen by the family doctor, and luckily her injury had been superficial. He’d administered some antibiotics to stave off an infection, but had told me not to worry moving forward.

While she’d slept, though, I’d gone to the morgue where my brother’s body had been taken.

It had been…awful. Downright awful.

He’d collided face-down with the ground, and there hadn’t been much of him left to recognize.

I’d stayed for a minute by his side, willing myself to forgive him, at least in death. Considering we’d stopped being close a decade ago, I’d felt his absence deep in my soul. Like a rift opening in my heart, I mourned his loss.

Regardless of what happened between us. Regardless of whether we share blood or not. We were brothers.

And that pains me the most. The memory of those long departed times, and the fact that I’ll never get the opportunity to mend fences with him.

‘You need to give yourself some time,’ Carlos says, startling me from my thoughts. ‘He was still your brother.’

‘I know. It just doesn’t feel real. I’ve thought about all the ways I would kill him once I escaped the hacienda, and now he’s really dead. And not even by my hand.’

‘Does that bother you? The fact that you didn’t kill him yourself?’

‘I can’t say for sure,’ I give him a sad smile. ‘If anything, I wonder if I would have been able to do it…’

‘He would have killed you,’ he counters.

‘I would have killed myself,’ I chuckle. ‘He knew how to play me.’

Carlos is quiet as he regards me thoughtfully.

‘I think that’s the difference between me and my brother. I planned and planned yet he won…’

‘What do you mean?’ He frowns. ‘How did he win?’

‘He would have pulled the trigger. Me?’ My lips stretch into a tight smile. ‘I guess we’ll never find out.’

Cisco, ever the enterprising man that he is, has already started the chain of succession to ensure that I get my rights as the new Guerra head as soon as possible.

As fucked up as it sounds, I don’t care. At this point all it matters is that Noelle is safe and we won’t have to hide anymore.

That means the first thing on the list is to get rid of the bounty on my head.

I spend the rest of the day solving the logistical issues arising from Michele’s death, including dealing with his body and subsequent funeral. And as the next of kin, I can ensure that both him and my parents are buried in a family mausoleum.

‘She’s awake,’ Greta announces over the phone.

‘Thank you. I’ll be there soon,’ I tell her.

Quickly wrapping up the business of the day, I head home to Noelle.

As I open the door to the room, I find Noelle seated against the railing of the bed, a book in her hand.

‘You’re back,’ her lips tug up in a blinding smile.

My heart thuds in my chest, an immediate reaction to seeing her well and healthy. My initial assessment of her injury had been right. The bullet had only grazed her flesh—a lucky occurrence considering the mayhem of the day. The shock had been more powerful than the injury though, likely a result of her past trauma too. I know she’s not overly fond of guns and fists.

The biggest relief, though, had come from knowing that Michele hadn’t done anything to her—his words had been empty threats meant to rile me up. In a moment of brief awareness, she’d told me that he hadn’t touched her.

Fuck, but I’d like nothing more than take her in my arms and kiss every inch of her body. Yet I can’t. Not when she needs to understand that what she did was not ok.

Whether we want it or not, we are confined to this life, and this won’t be the last dangerous situation we’ll be faced with. It’s unavoidable. And I can’t have her putting herself in danger to save me.

‘How are you?’ I ask as I take a seat on the bed next to her.

‘Much better,’ she wets her lips as she bats her lashes at me.

She knows she’s in trouble.

‘I heard what happened to your brother,’ she continues when she sees I’m not continuing the conversation. ‘I’m sorry. I know that despite your enmity, you cared about him.’

‘Thank you,’ I murmur. ‘I’ll miss him,’ I admit. ‘Well, the memory of him.’

‘That’s right,’ she places her hand on top of mine, the touch searing. ‘But no one can take your memories away,’ she gives a tremulous smile.

I don’t have the heart to move her hand away, so I stay still.

‘You know what’s the funniest thing,’ I shake my head, amused. ‘Growing up, he always wanted to become a superhero. He had this idea that he would save the world,’ I swallow hard, the memories painful.

‘Ironic that he ended up becoming the villain.’

‘Was he?’ I purse my lips. ‘I doubt that’s how he saw himself.’

‘You’re right,’ she nods thoughtfully. ‘He claimed it was justice for what had happened to him.’

‘Maybe in his mind it was. Who knows,’ I sigh.

‘What did he mean by what you did to him? He said he was only paying you back…’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ I cut her off. ‘It’s all in the past,’ I give her a tight smile as I get up.

I can’t help myself, though, as I lean down to lay a kiss on her forehead.

‘Rest. I’ll be in the other room,’ I say as I go.

Confusion swirls in my head as I make my way to the other room. I hadn’t meant to shut Noelle out like that. But some things… Some things are not easy to talk about.

Although I’ve shared more with her than I’ve ever shared with another human, some memories are too painful to bring up—and some too shameful.

Michele’s descent into pure madness and his subsequent actions might have been extreme, but they were never not unwarranted.

Even as it pains my heart to admit, I am partially guilty of the way he turned out. Because what I’d done to him had hurt more than what anyone else had done to him.

He’d trusted me, and in a moment of weakness, I’d betrayed him.

I threw him to the wolves, and it’s my fault he ended up more feral than them.

Shame eats at me, just as much as regret.

I wish I could let Noelle in—tell her everything that happened.

Everything.

But she would never see me in the same light if she knew.

‘Fuck,’ I curse as I bring my fingers to my forehead.

Maybe Michele was right.

We’ve both been chasing our own justice from the beginning, forgetting how that would be seen by other people.

Me? I’d caused Michele to lose faith in humanity—shed the last bit of it he had. I’d acted like a coward and then behaved like a victim.

And then there’s Noelle. My brand of justice had brought her more suffering than I can ever atone for.

In the end, am I any better?

Unscrewing the lid of a bottle of scotch, I pour myself a glass, bringing it to my lips and reveling in the burning sensation as it travels down my throat.

‘Cheers, brother,’ I bring my glass up, toasting to the moving shadows on the wall. ‘May you rest in peace now,’ I whisper.

Because I certainly won’t.