Page 24 of Between Control and Chaos
Nova pulls the covers up over her head, clearly not ready to wake up yet.
“Rhys got in twenty minutes ago. He’s taking over your duties.” Ashton should be relieved, given their recent breakup.
Although I know he’s still pining over Nova.
And after catching them in bed together this morning, I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t need to know.
“Fuck,” he mumbles and pushes himself out of bed. “I’m awake.”
He looks more like a dead man walking, or maybe a zombie, but I leave the bedroom door open and walk away.
Ashton clears his throat and heads out of Nova’s bedroom, heading for his room to get dressed.
I make my way down the stairs, hurrying to the kitchen. My phone buzzes and I glance at the text from Halsey.
Halsey: Did you find them? Or do we have two more missing persons?
Me: They were in bed … together.
Halsey: Knew he couldn’t last ten minutes without her.
I roll my eyes and shove my phone back into my pocket. Ashton and Nova’s love life isn’t my concern. I rub the back of my neck. Funny, considering last year I nearly killed him for hooking up with her.
“Morning.” Rhys nods at me as he pours himself a cup of coffee.
“Surprised to see you back here.” I never thought I’d see him again, especially from what I’d heard about him looking after the boy Dante had abducted.
“Yeah, me too.” Rhys laughs nervously. “I was really enjoying those margaritas on the beach.”
“Retirement too boring?” I joke, and Dante breezes around the corner.
“On the contrary, I know without a doubt Rhys is loyal. I can’t say that about all of my men.”
Exhaling a heavy breath, I nod. “Did any of them crack?” I ask, needing to know if Nico was the only leak inside Dante’s organization.
Dante shakes his head, his brow pinching with frustration. “None of them so much as knew Nico was a traitor to the family or where they were taking Harper.”
“Are you sure she’s en route to Vegas?” I ask, still uncertain about the location on her phone. It could have been intentionally misleading us.
“Livia DeLuca has a residence in Las Vegas; she’s the current head of the DeLuca operations, from what intel I’ve gathered. And this morning, I discovered my mole was found dead. Bullet wound to the head. I shouldn’t be surprised that they’re coming after my family.”
“You think that’s what this is, retribution for having someone on the inside?” I’m not entirely convinced; it could just as easily be revenge. Harper shot and killed Livia’s husband, Santino. “Livia and Santino were married.”
“I’m not denying that, but it’s why I put a bodyguard detail on Nova. I wouldn’t put it past Livia to come after my girls.”
“Your girls?” I repeat, surprised by his remark. Harper is mafia, but Nova, she’s never wanted anything to do with her father, same as me. She shouldn’t be tied up in this mess.
“My family,” Dante says, and waves a hand dismissively. “If Livia wants to get to me, she’ll go after Harper, Nova, Paige, and Nikki.” He stares at me. “I know you can handle your own and you’ll have Ashton and Liam accompanying you to Vegas.”
“Liam is coming with us?” I rub my eyes, exhausted, and know that I’ll need to focus. I can’t let Harper down. “Are you sure he’s ready for that?”
“I need a full team I can count on, and Liam, as well as Sophia, aren’t familiar faces to the DeLucas.”
“Liam’s been living with us the entire time,” I remind Dante. “It’s possible they already have a dossier on him and would know he has a twin.”
“Well the fuck aware,” Dante growls. “But our options are limited, and I need you to infiltrate their organization, not just waltz in and shoot up the place to get Harper back.”
I huff under my breath. “We’re not going undercover.”
