Page 3 of Unchained

“I wish you were here, Dad,” I whisper, placing my hand on his headstone.

When I close my eyes, I can see Ace before he passed out, his last words begging me to know if his baby survived. And I can’t stop seeing it.

I suck in a breath, staring at the words “loving father” carved into the stone. My blood fuckin’ boils.

“I hope you’re watching all of this.” My fingers tighten around the bottle neck. “Did you ever stop to think about what would happen to your sons? Did you ever think maybe we just wanted to be fuckin’ cowboys? We had money. We had the land. We didn’t need all this shit surrounding us. Did you see your own flesh and blood kidnap your grandson because of this mafia greed?” I shout.

And I hope he hears me, wherever he might be.

“Did it hurt watching your little baby boy, Ace, nearly die in my arms? Huh? All we did was try and make you proud of us. And this is how you repay us? By giving us an empire with a target on our backs? Sterling Ranch might be on the map, Dad. But it’s going to make all your sons join you early.”

I drink some more whiskey, trying to burn the rage inside me.

“We never asked for this life, Dad. And we’re here, protecting it with our lives, like you asked. I hope it’s damn well worth it,” I say quietly.

The guilt is already eating at me. My father made the deal with Enzo, the leader of this organization, to give us the power we needed to keep on top. It gave us more money than we’d ever spend; in return, we run the arms and drugs. We track men down. We join wars that ain’t our battles.

But recently, they’re becoming our battles. People know that Sterling Ranch ain’t just a ranch anymore.

I stand, then gaze over at my mom’s grave. “Love you, Mom. Sorry for shouting at Dad, but give him a clip round the head for me. I’m still pissed off.”

I kiss my palm and rest it on her headstone.

“I’ll save you two a seat for my wedding,” I call out as I head over to Blaze, my mustang, shove the whiskey in the saddlebags, and mount him. I know they were at Ace’s wedding in spirit; I could feel them there.

That was the happiest damn day of his life, marrying the woman he’s loved basically his entire life. He’s finally got everything he deserves. A wife. A kid on the way.

With my hat back on my head, I stare out over the canyons. Across all of our land, all one hundred and fifty thousand acres. The one thing I’ve always loved about this ranch is the animals. It’s what I’d be doing every damn day if I wasn’t so busy with everything else.

Most days, it’s worth it, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

And now, I’ve got to marry the devil in red lipstick as a debt to keep my brothers alive.

To keep Sterling Ranch here for our future generations. My brothers are knocking up their women quicker than I can keep up with.

And with each niece or nephew, comes more responsibility. To make sure they’re free from this shit.

I’ll make sure of it.

CHAPTER THREE

Gianna

“I told you, I’m not paying a dollar over three million, Robert. So either make that work or I’ll walk,” I hiss, kicking my heels up onto my desk.

I lean back in my chair while taking a drag on my cigarette, blowing the smoke up to the ceiling, while Robert, our acquisitions guy, ponders the answer that will either get him a promotion or fired by the end of the day.

“Three-one? I can probably hit that,” he counters.

I roll my eyes. “Have you had your hearing tested recently? Or have you had a hit to the head, Robert? Three million, flat, or I’ll burn down the whole street. Counter that.”

I hang up the call and stub out my cigarette.

“Do you think you’ll get it?” Dom asks, resting his foot on his knee.

I arch an eyebrow. “It’s listed at seven-three; it's the only offer they’ll take from Milano Enterprises if they want to survive the week.”

This property is one of the last remaining ones left from the Greeks—our enemies here in LA. The Milano name has ruled these streets for as long as I’ve been alive, back to our grandfather.