Poisoned Rose (Dark Roses #1) (13 page)

Twenty Two

              The night after the restaurant attack, Vince called Aurora and told her the Formal Sit Down was to be held.  He had instructed her to bring her weapons and look presentable.  Then he’d hung up and she was left staring at her cell with half an hour to prepare for her underworld debut.  She decided on a pair of skinny jeans, a white v-neck tee and a black tailored blazer.  Then she grabbed her snake skin boots and tucked her jeans into them, sliding her Family Signet blades into the knife sheaths she’d had sewn in.  She grabbed her Beretta 92 and tucked it in to the small of her back before grabbing two stiletto blades and strapping them to her wrists.  With nowhere left on her body to conceal more weapons she grabbed a black clutch and hid her pocket pistol inside.

              At seven she made her way down the staircase and found her brothers in the foyer.  Vince wore tan chinos with a brown belt and a white shirt, and Johnny wore black jeans with a black cashmere sweater. Vince smiled while Johnny gave her a nod before going back to his phone call.  Vince stepped forward.

              ‘Before we leave there’s two things you should know.  The first is that you’ll have to leave your weapons in the car.  That’s standard procedure and before you ask, you’re bringing them with you because the no weapons policy only applies when we’re in the warehouse.  Secondly, Sit Downs are senior events and every boss will be there with his advisor and captains.  It’s possible you may be the only person inside the warehouse without a senior rank, unless another boss decides to bring in a soldier who has a link to the situation.’

              She felt like she’d been hit in the stomach with a crow bar.  Hawk’s date might be at the Sit Down and if she was, that meant she was a Mason Rose.  Vince cocked an eyebrow.

              ‘You alright kid? You sure you should be wearing those stilettos with a chunk of your thigh missing?’

              She wasn’t doing her thigh, or the stitches, any favors by walking in five inch heels.  But she wasn’t going back upstairs to change, so Vince led the way out to the Hummer, where Bo and Cross were waiting on their motorbikes. As she climbed into the backseat they started up the bikes and flanked the Hummer to the assigned Mason warehouse.  Once they’d parked, she took off her weapons and jumped out of the car. Cross winked and motioned for her to follow them inside.  She was amazed at all the people present, all so different yet all radiating the same power she had felt from Mario at her father’s funeral.

              As the greetings began, Bo led her to her seat, taking the seat beside her.  He would be sitting on Johnny’s left, and Cross would be sitting on Johnny’s far right beside Vince.  The greetings continued until everyone had arrived, but as the invitees took their seats, her heart sank.  Hawk’s date took the seat to his left, and on her right wrist was a tattoo of a blue rose.  Feeling her cheeks start to heat up, Aurora turned her attention to Mario as he welcomed the forum, then handed over to Johnny, who rehashed the events from the previous night.

              ‘We wouldn’t have been able to find out any of this if it hadn’t been for my sister.  Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce Aurora, the first Hannam Rose.’

              She was caught off guard, but when the forum inclined their heads to her, she inclined hers back and her heart rate returned to normal.  After everyone had turned away, her eyes locked on those of Hawk’s date.  The woman’s violet eyes were staring daggers at her, her lips drawn back almost as if she were baring her fangs.  If looks could kill, Aurora knew she’d be much more than six feet under. She’d be twelve feet under with a twenty storey building on top.

              ‘Johnny, it’s a pleasure to meet your Rose.  Mario, my apologies if my memory fails me but I don’t believe we’ve met your Rose.’

              The accented comment came from a dark haired man with a moustache in a black suit.  She had no doubt that he was a boss, his confident mannerisms erring on arrogance.  She would have described him as attractive and magnetic, if it wasn’t for his entourage, whose looks reminded her of the Real Madrid soccer team.  Bo leant towards her.

              ‘That’s Juan Da Silva and his sons.  The one with the ponytail staring me out is Quinn, pretty sure he’s got a hard on for me.’

              She was so surprised by Bo’s statement that she let out a short laugh which she covered with a fake cough and hoped nobody noticed.

              ‘Juan, your memory is as sharp as ever.  The reason my Rose is here is because she was at the restaurant with Hawk last night. Everyone, I’d like you to meet Vivienne, Honor’s Second in Command and my youngest daughter.’

              Shit, it had been Vivienne Mason all along! Talk about an ugly duckling to swan transformation.  But even though Aurora couldn’t believe how stupid she’d been for not recognizing Vivienne earlier, she couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face and she forced herself to look down, clearing her throat as Bo nudged her.  She apologized but knew she had to regain composure fast.  Once the initial elation had worn off, her poker face returned, and she began to wonder what Vivienne’s problem was.  The twins didn’t appear to have any issues with her.  Halo had given her a once over and hadn’t bothered to look at her again, while Honor was looking not so much at her as trying to bury into the depths of her psyche.  Not that either of those were flattering but they were a hell of a lot better than the evil eye Vivienne was giving her.

              ‘Welcome Vivienne, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of you.  Now, back to why we’re here.  How are we going to manage this?  How will we identify who we can and can’t trust?’

              The man sitting across from Aurora was stocky with white hair and small blue eyes.  On his right was a blonde with pale skin, black framed glasses, and pink rose tattoos on both her collar bones.  Aurora shifted closer to Bo.

              ‘That’s Vlad Romanov and his niece Xenia.  His captains are his sons.’

              Mario took it upon himself to answer the Russian boss’s question.

              ‘We will need to be selective in who we reach out to.  I’d like to say we can start with our longest serving soldiers but at this moment nobody is past suspicion.  I think it’s best that each Family decide for themselves how they wish to manage the request for action.’

              The table murmured in agreement before another man spoke.

              ‘We need to make sure that our soldiers know that whoever they identify as possible suspects are to be brought in alive.  We need as much information as we can get from them in order to bring Dallas and Dante home.’

              The man in the navy shirt wearing a large gold cross nodded towards Johnny, and Johnny nodded back.  Even if she hadn’t taken into account the empty seat beside his female advisor, there was no one else he could have been besides Jackson De Matteo.  It was clear that the captain sitting beside him was his son, who was broad with chiseled features but with brown curls instead of his father’s slicked back hair.  The petite blonde sitting next to Jackson, with the purple rose tattoo sleeve from her right shoulder down to her elbow, was also the only woman in the warehouse wearing a wedding ring.  Bo leant towards Aurora.

              ‘In case you couldn’t tell, that’s Jackson.  His captain is his son Jamie, and his advisor is his daughter Maggie.  She gets her looks from her mother.’

              Mario clapped to get everyone’s attention.

              ‘So it’s settled.  Each Family will decide who they wish to involve in the search.  Once we have identified who we believe we can trust, we must ensure to instruct them that should they see, hear, or come across any suspicious activity, both from within or outside of the Family, they are to detain the suspects and contact their captains.  They are not, under any circumstances, to kill the suspect.  The more we work together, the faster we’ll bring these bastards down.’

              She almost expected everyone to give Mario a standing ovation, but instead, they scraped their chairs back, rose to their feet and started saying their goodbyes.  She stood up at the same time as Bo, but her eyes remained on where Hawk was still seated, engaged in a discussion with his father.   She knew she was staring but she couldn’t help herself.  After a few moments, Hawk stood up and Mario turned to speak with Halo.  Aurora started to follow her Family back to the Hummer, but she stopped when a hand grabbed her bicep.  Out of habit she spun around and reached for her gun, only to find there was nothing there, and she didn’t need it anyway.

              ‘Can I talk to you?’

              She knew her surprise was plastered across her face as she stared at Hawk.

              ‘Ok.’

              ‘Do you wanna go for a ride? We can head down to Santa Monica and take a walk on the beach.’

              She could hear Vince’s words in the back of her mind, to never trust anyone outside the Family.  But Hawk had risked his life to save hers, and if that didn’t earn him some level of trust than nothing ever would.  Plus, there was no way she was turning down that offer.  She just hoped she could find her tongue before they got to the beach.  She knew she had to ask Johnny first and found him standing beside the Hummer talking to Bo, who was trying to engage in the discussion while pulling his helmet down over his head.  She wasn’t sure what he was going to say but he gave her the go ahead.

              She strapped on her weapons before saying bye and found Hawk seated on his Ninja at the entrance to the warehouse, a helmet cradled under one arm.  His thumb was flying across the screen of his cell and his eyebrows were knitted together.  He wore black jeans, a white tee, boots, and a black and red leather jacket.  Straddling his bike and with his arm over the helmet, she could see the hard muscles in his thighs and the full width of his chest and biceps, and she realized she could spend the rest of her life staring at him.  She cleared her throat as she approached and Hawk slid his phone into the pocket of his jeans.  He grinned and passed her the helmet, reaching for a second one that was cradled between his legs

              ‘Honor and I keep a spare in the Escalade.’

              She smiled, then climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso.

              ‘Have you ever been on a bike before?’

              Hawk called out to her as he bought the engine to life.

              ‘No!’

              ‘Then hold on tight!’

              He sped away as she tightened her grip around him, her hair whipping out from underneath her helmet as they picked up speed.  The scenery rushed by, the concrete jungle giving way to tree lined streets.  Her heart was racing, the thrill of being on a motorbike for the first time heightened by the fact that she was with him.  She squeezed her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.  They slowed down to a set of lights and he put one of his hands over hers and squeezed back.  It was that moment that she decided to tell him how she felt.  The decision terrified her and even though she didn’t think he felt the same, she knew she had to try.  It was time to put her heart on the line.

Twenty Three

              The Ninja purred as Hawk pulled it in to a car park close to Santa Monica beach.  He chose a spot that was walking distance to the sand yet far enough away that they could still have privacy.  Then he killed the engine and the ride was over.  He wasn’t sure he was ready for what was about to come next.

              ‘That was amazing!’

              Aurora took off her helmet and beamed.  He felt honored that her first ride had been with him.  That she had trusted him with her life.  He smiled and took the helmet from her, resting it on the passenger seat of the bike as he hooked his own through one of the grips.

              ‘Let’s go for a walk.’

              ‘Won’t someone take the helmets?’

              He was surprised by the question.  The number of helmets he and Honor went through a month was in the tens.  They were always tossing them somewhere or leaving them on some club manager’s desk and not bothering to go back.  But when Aurora looked at him with concern, he realized that it wasn’t the material possessions she was worried about, it was what the result would be if someone stole them.  He realized she was worried that he would feel a loss, and once again he found himself wondering why he was about to do what he was about to do.  Was he really about to step away from the one person who could make him a better person?

              He shook his head and took her hand, entwining their fingers together and reassuring her that it was no big deal if someone took them. His words seemed to satisfy her and they settled into a slow pace on the pavement.  The night felt different than usual.  To him, night was the time when evil roamed the streets.  Protected by the cloak of darkness, the monsters that lived inside every human came out to play, shirking away and burying themselves into the far recesses of their owner’s mind when dawn broke.  Things happened during the night that would be unforgivable come morning.

              But when he looked out at the ocean, he saw no monsters.  The water lapped at the shore, reflecting the moonlight, its soft melody background music that he could hear without having to listen.  The fresh breeze carried the smell of the ocean and it enveloped him in its embrace.  It was peaceful, though it wasn’t what calmed him.  It wasn’t what made him forget the horror that was his life.   Aurora calmed him.   Her hand in his was what made his world seem normal, and he was about to throw it all away.  Her voice broke into his thoughts.

              ‘I never said thank you for saving my life.’

              ‘You don’t have to thank me, you killed Marcus yourself, you didn’t need me.’

              ‘Do you always make it this hard for someone to thank you?’

              He avoided eye contact but smiled.

              ‘I’ll always save you.’

              He wanted to kick himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth.  They were both quiet and he decided that before anything else happened, he wanted to apologize for not shooting Marcus himself.  She shook her head.

              ‘I’m glad I was the one to do it.  I’ll learn to live with it.’

              ‘You shouldn’t have to.’

              ‘I don’t want it weighing on my conscience every time I kill someone.’

              ‘No I mean you shouldn’t have to learn to live with it because you shouldn’t have to kill anyone else.  It’s not too late to tell your brothers you don’t want to be a Rose.’

              Her eyes narrowed and she raised her chin.

              ‘If you’re trying to convince me to leave the Family you’re wasting your breath.’

              ‘Aurora, I was thirteen when I first killed someone.  My grandfather was here on business and he thought it was time for me to become a man so I executed someone for no other reason than I was told to.’

              He said it to shock her and waited for her reaction, but she didn’t flinch.

              ‘But everyone you’ve killed since then has given you a reason.  You know what the people you kill are capable of.’

              He let go of her hand and turned to face her.

              ‘I’m sure you’ve heard about the Carter Masons, well I’m about to tell you what happened.  Carter was my uncle, younger than my dad by six years.  Seven years ago he kidnapped Angelina and threatened to kill her if my father didn’t hand over his position as Boss.  My father refused and once we proved it was Carter, my father received approval from my grandfather and other uncles to kill him.  We hunted him and everyone else in alliance with him right down to the very end.  Not only did my father kill his brother, my sisters and I killed his sons, our cousins.  It didn’t save Angelina but we went on to kill another thirty people anyway.  I killed my own blood and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.  Can you stand there and tell me you’re ok with that?’

              He waited for her reaction but once again she held her ground, refusing to break eye contact even though the color had drained from her face. When she didn’t answer his question, he turned away.

              ‘That’s what I thought.  We’re not good people Aurora.’

              She grabbed his bicep and forced him to face her.

              ‘We’re business people.  I know it must have been hard for you to kill your own blood but you weren’t wrong.  You did what you had to do.’

              Why did she have to be so logical? He knew she’d make a great advisor one day, and the thought made him sick.  He’d thought she didn’t have the stomach for their life but she was proving him wrong.  She was smart and brave, with her feet on the ground and her emotions taking a back seat to her responsibilities.

              ‘You’re making us sound like heroes.’

              ‘We’re not heroes but we’re not evil either.’

              He let out a breath and started walking back towards his bike.  He’d known it was going to be hard to convince her to stay away from him but he was in agony, and when he felt her hand slip in to his, and their fingers once again entwine, he thought his heart would explode. He knew he should let go but he couldn’t.  He wanted her hand in his, even if it would only be for that night.  Maybe it was selfish, but he wanted that memory.  When they reached his bike she turned to look at him.

              ‘What you did was just business.’

              Unable to stop himself he took her face in his hands.

              ‘Why are you so convinced that there’s good in me?’

              ‘You saved me when you didn’t have to and… I care about you.  I’ve always cared about you, ever since we were kids.’

              He felt his heart being squeezed in his chest.  It was what he wanted to hear and what he didn’t want to hear all in one.  She was waiting for him to say something but the words wouldn’t come out.

              ‘Do you care about me?’

              That was his chance to say no, to push her away.  Hell that was his chance to tell her that he could have saved her fiancé, he knew he couldn’t keep that a secret forever… but he couldn’t do it.  Instead he did the stupidest thing he could do.

              ‘Yes.’

              His lips were against hers before she could take another breath and she wrapped her arms around his neck.  He sat her on the bike, and she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him in to her body.  He pushed her blazer and let it drop to the ground, and she pushed off his jacket.  Her hands went to the bottom of his tee and they broke their kiss long enough for her to pull it over his head before he took her face in his hands again and deepened the kiss.  She ran her hands down his back, her fingernails scraping his warm skin.  He groaned and his kisses turned to bites down the side of her neck.  Then she moaned his name as he grabbed her hips and he was knocked back into reality.  He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers, both their breaths ragged.  He stepped away and she had to brace herself on the bike.  He didn’t trust himself anymore.  It was time to end it.

              ‘I’m not for you.  You and I will never be together.’

              She bristled and he felt the final nail being hammered into his coffin.

              ‘Ok, you just said that you care about me yet you don’t want to be with me.  Fine, whatever, that’s your prerogative.  But you don’t get to tell me that this life isn’t for me, so when I get up and walk away, you’re not going to stop me.  You’re going to let me, and then you’re going to stay the hell away from me.’

              She jumped off his bike, grabbed her blazer and whipped it over her shoulder, shoving him as she walked towards the street.  He grabbed her hand and she ripped it out of his grasp.

              ‘Stay away from me Hawk, I mean it.’

              She stormed off and he followed at a distance, not caring whether she knew he was there or not.  He continued to follow her until she flagged down a cab, then he stood and watched as she was driven out of sight.  He told himself he’d done the right thing, but the truth was that his heart had been crushed when the cab had driven off with the woman he loved.