Page 28 of Blissful Devotion

“What do you know about them? Where are they located?” Desmond asks, pulling himself together faster than I do.

“Chicago.” All heads turn to Oliver when he answers. Nobody corrects him, so I assume he’s right. “I read about them in school. They were thought to be gone for a while, but law enforcement didn’t believe it, saying they were simply dormant for now. Despite that, they never caught them. They had a huge hand in the drugs, guns, and trafficking.”

“Have,” Trent grumbles, and I remember Jade saying he was a cop. “They are very much active and a pain in our ass right now.”

“What would a gang in Chicago want with Kat?”

It doesn’t make sense for them to target us. Yes, we have money, but plenty of people in Chicago do as well, not to mention all over the world.

“That we don’t know, which is why we're here hoping maybe you can help us put the pieces together.” Jade goes through a few papers, pulling up one that she turns toward us.

“Are you familiar with Jimmy Miller, also known as Trigger?”

Trigger.

My gaze goes to Alex, who sits frozen. I’d hoped I remembered wrong, but I knew I didn’t even before I saw his reaction.

Someone is talking, probably asking us questions, no doubt seeing our reaction, but I can’t process anything they say as the pieces all fall into place.

What have we done?

“Lorenzo.”

His name tastes like poison, and the whiskey I’d intended to sip suddenly doesn’t feel like enough, even as I toss the whole glass back.

“Who?” Jade asks, seeming confused but willing to listen.

It’s not every day you meet someone with so much power who is humble and kind.

“Our brother,” Nathan answers after a moment, knowing I won’t.

Even saying his name was too much.

“Wait, what?” Des asks, and I hear the disbelief in his voice, but I can’t bring myself to look at him or Oliver.

“Our brother, your uncle. We believed him dead.”

“So if you thought he was dead, why would that change now?” I don’t blame him for being confused. I can’t say I’m not, even knowing what I do.

“Clearly it has something to do with Trigger,” Jade says, always quick to catch on.

“Yeah,” I push to stand, moving to the cart at the far side of the room and grab the first bottle my fingers touch, throwing it back until the burn of the alcohol beats out the stomach acid that threatens to come up as the memories fight to take over.

The room is quiet around me, and I feel their eyes as I pull the bottle away and heave in air, wiping my mouth with my shirtsleeve.

“Because years ago, our brother got in over his head, gambled away money he didn’t have trying to get rich quick…” Nathan says, and I hear the pain in his voice. We haven’t talked about this since it happened; it was easier to shelve it and pretend he never even existed.

That he never betrayed us… betrayed me.

“And he owed it to Trigger, I assume?” Zander guesses, putting the pieces together pretty easily.

“So what? He didn’t have it, and you thought he got killed for it?” Trent asks, and I can see why he would assume that, especially in their line of work.

The room is quiet as they all wait for an answer. Nathan won’t answer him, though; he’d never tell anyone unless I gave him the okay, and even then I’m not certain.

But I’m not sure I can force the words out myself.

Memories choke me, and I feel panic begin to build.