Chapter 30
Busted Windows
Deja
I should have packed my things and left, but I couldn’t just walk away from two years of my life. I’ve given Cole my all. So nope.
I didn’t pack and leave like I should have. Instead, I slipped an AirTag in his pocket and one in his car so I could get some answers for myself.
I’ve been watching his location all day. For the most part, he’s been at the O’Brien Manor. However, an hour ago, he moved from there to Cork.
This has my attention as it’s not in the direction of our home in Galway. When I google the location, it comes up as some swanky apartments in a little quiet-looking neighborhood. My gut is telling me this is where I need to be; these are my answers.
“Hello?”
“Hey, Pricillia, I need a favor,” I say as I move through the house to head for the storage room where my old things have been since I moved here.
“Hey, boss. What’s up?”
“I will pay ya double yer shift if ya cover for me tonight. If anyone asks ya, I’m in the back handling the books and I don’t want to be disturbed. Oh, and I need to borrow yer car,” I say with a smile on my lips as I get my hands on my old bat.
“No problem. I’m there,” Pricillia sings.
“I’ll meet ya up the road from the pub. Park in front of O’Malley’s.”
“Got ya.”
I hang up and call for a car to get to O’Malley’s. Checking the AirTag one last time, I nod my head as Cole hasn’t moved. I will have answers before the night ends.
Brooklyn
“Yer so good with her. I know she’s happy ya stopped by again today,” Aisling says as we walk back to the apartment building after getting Shauna an ice cream cone.
“I’m happy to see her too. Isn’t that right, love?” I croon as I lift Shauna into my arms.
She gives me that bright, pretty smile, looking so much like both her mother and father. My brother is a lucky man and doesn’t even know it. I wanted DJ to be my wife by now.
She should be pregnant with our second baby at this point. However, she’s not even speaking to me. She barely allowed me to kiss her goodbye this morning.
The only reason I’m not home trying to make things right is because I think I need to give DJ and that temper some space. Besides, I wanted to come and check on my niece. I plan to hang out in my apartment here for the night.
I need to plan the move to New York. I don’t think I should move Shauna. No one has found out about her as far as I know. The McGowans will watch over her if I ask and one of my sisters will be back here before I leave.
I need to give DJ something tangible. No more empty promises. However, I know the moment she hits the city, she’s going to be a target.
For years, people have looked for my weakness. I’ve never had one, not until now. When I first got to America, everyone thought my accent was my weakness.
Then they thought I couldn’t fight back. I proved them wrong on both accounts. I became a terror in those Brooklyn streets and earned the name. There wasn’t a place in Brooklyn I couldn’t go.
After all the trouble I’ve caused, those streets are just waiting for me to offer up a soft underbelly. If I’m taking DJ home, I need to have a plan to keep her safe. Add the Alliance and those I’ve pissed off here who have family back in New York, I have a lot to think about.
It’s not like I can be everywhere at once. Still, there’s no doubt about it, I’m taking DJ home. We’re not going to be apart like this anymore.
“Sorry, Uncle ’ole.” Shauna pouts as the rest of her cone lands on the ground, but not before making a trip down my shirt.
I smile and peck her cheek. She’s still trying to learn to say my name, but gets tripped up on the C. The tears that well up in her eyes take a stab at me.
Placing her back on her feet, I then hand her my half-eaten cone. She smiles brightly as Aisling takes her hand. Placing my palm on the top of her head, I then smooth it over her curls.
“Phanks,” she sings as she smiles up at me.
“Yer welcome, love.”
“Do ya want to have dinner with us?” Aisling asks.
“I’ll think about it. I have some things I need to handle.”
“Oh, okay.”
I purse my lips and shake my head. I will not miss this one when Logan does get home. I swear her ass called my name on purpose yesterday while I was on the phone with DJ.
This shit is becoming the problem I told Kate it would be. I’m not here for her, I’m here for my niece. I wouldn’t feel comfortable having dinner with her with no one else around.
***
I didn’t have dinner with Shauna and Aisling. Instead, I’ve been in my apartment next door making calls back home to check the temperature on things. I want to get DJ out of here as soon as possible.
LaSalle believes things are going to heat up soon with Logan’s return. Apparently, they are getting closer to getting him out. This could be good.
“You want to tell me what all this is about?” LaSalle asks on the other end.
“It’s … it’s nothing,” I murmur. “Just have some things I want to move around.”
“You know you can talk to me. I’d rather know now than later when you need me to step in.”
“Aye, I hear ya. It’s fine. I—”
I knit my brows as the sound of my car alarm goes off. Shirtless and shoeless, I rush to look out the window. It’s been raining for the last hour. Now it’s not as heavy as earlier, but I can still see the mist falling.
“Fuck, I need to go,” I rush out as I focus on the sight before me.
Deja
A fucking girlfriend and a baby. He has a girlfriend and a baby. Not any girlfriend either. He’s fucking Aisling.
My old friend from the softball team. The way she used to drool at the mention of his name makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t believe he did this to me.
I watched from Pricillia’s car as they walked down the lane like a little family. I’ve been stewing in her car for hours waiting for him to leave, but he’s been here all this time. Hours, he’s been here for hours.
I’ve never felt so hurt in my life. I’ve gone from hurt to confused to raging mad. He needs to feel how I feel.
I put in my EarPods and play “Bust Your Windows”. Then I saunter toward his car with my bat in hand. As Jazmine Sullivan sings, the rain is falling, and tears are streaming down my face.
I wind my wrist as I get to the car then swing with all my might at the driver’s side window. My insides are crumbling to pieces as I see images of them walking together in my head.
I swing again and again until all the windows on the driver’s side are smashed out. Then I climb onto the car and get on top of the roof.
I then beat the hell out of the windscreen. I lift the bat over my head and bring it down as hard as I can. I have loved that man for most of my life.
I gave myself to him despite my mother’s warning. He didn’t take my life, but this feels like he did. I trusted him and he hurt me.
I’ve taken lives for him, and this is how he repays me. How could he? What didn’t I do for him?
Why come to find me and destroy me like this? That little girl looks to be about two. He’s been fucking around behind my back for as long as we’ve been together.
“Ya love me? This is yer love?” I sob as I beat the doors in after jumping back down to the ground.
I swing at the passenger’s side windows and take them out, then I walk around the car and examine my work. With my chest heaving, I toss the bat into the back window and walk off.
“You’re motherfucking right, I bust the windows out your car,” I say in my best New York accent. “Fuck you, fuck New York, and fuck your car.”
Brooklyn
I’m standing in the rain, no shoes, no shirt. Staring at my trashed car as the woman who trashed it tosses her bat into the back window and walks off with her hips swaying as she shakes her neck, talking to herself.
My hair is plastered to my face, but all I can do is throw my head back and laugh. I thought I loved DJ before. Now, I know I’m in love with her.
I press the key fob to turn off the alarm. I continue to laugh and shake my head at the rage she just took out on my car. I lift a brow as she speeds away in a car I don’t recognize.
“So you’re jealous, baby girl,” I snort to myself. “I love your ass too.”
I smile and laugh some more. We’ll see about that temper. I can’t wait for the makeup sex.