CHAPTER 8 #3
I sighed again. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? How do you tell your partner you’re married to somebody else and didn’t know it? And not just somebody. The biggest rival we had that took everything from us until we blew him eight different directions.”
He eased the knife away from my neck and staggered backwards, gripping his hair and turning himself in a circle. “So, these fucks are after her for money?”
“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Dan cut in.
We both looked over at him. “I studied what I could to see if I could make myself useful and get you some answers. You seemed really uncomfortable with uncovering it yourself. I’ve got no problem earning my keep.
I’m also an outsider with no prior details. I like challenges.”
“Spill,” Malek ordered.
“If she’s legally his widow, she didn’t just inherit his money and estate.
She inherited every client, every enemy…
every loose end he’s ever had. This dude had a lot of loose ends.
” Dan brought up several scanned documents and email threads, scattering them everywhere like a crime family web at a precinct.
“They’re out for blood to satisfy the debt to everything they lost when he was killed.
That means your girl…and her family. Anybody she’s associated with.
This goes everywhere from guns and drugs to sex trafficking. They want what they’re owed.”
“The Irish were paid off!” Mal snapped.
“Doesn’t mean they’re not still tryin’ to dip their hands into the pot’o’gold, mate.
We slaughtered McKinley and his grunts. He’s still got an angry family out there that’s breathin’ air.
If they’ve figured out that Bridget has ties to that money, they’ll come for all of us until there’s no Byrnes left.
You might have left the family business, Mal…
but your Pops was right every time he tried to tell you that there’s no way out of what and who we are. ”
“They’ll…peel the skin…from your bones…” Vikter’s head hung and he stared viciously through sweaty strands of his hair.
His threat dripped with hate in his accent and the side of his mouth turned up.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little impressed.
Fucker’s gotta be in agony. He’s got balls.
“You kill me…you kill…yourself. We come for you. We come for…your women. We come for your children…and children’s children. ”
Malek’s face went pale and gray. His throat bobbed and the look in his eyes was manic and utterly terrifying.
I’ve never…seen him this way. His hands shook with fear and rage.
His body trembled. Vikter smiled wider and chuckled under his breath.
I guess he thought it would save him. That we’d take the bait and send him back to warn the others.
Wrong.
I snatched the knife from Malek’s hand and closed in on our guest. “Thanks for the idea, pal. Play stupid games…win stupid prizes. I warned ya. This was never gonna end well for you. Slán.”
Mal held the bitch by his hair, and I pressed the edge of the blade to his temple, dragging it across his hairline.
To Vikter’s credit, he grit his teeth, groaning until I made it to the opposite side and started peeling back the flesh from his skull.
I felt the smile slowly take on my mouth when he started to shake violently, inch by inch of his forehead giving way as I tugged the skin away from his face.
More satisfying than peeling a sunburn.
I got halfway down his nose and cheeks before I heard a wrapper rattling from behind me. My chin tipped over my shoulder. Dan cracked open a fortune cookie and stared down at the message.
“Guess this one was for you. Sorry.”
He turned it around towards Vikter, and Malek broke into giggles.
… Your fortune looks bleak …
I took my time killing Vikter Romanov.
Malek’s hands were plenty bloody…but I refused to let him break his vow. We wrapped him in the plastic and put him back in my trunk. I had just closed it when I noticed Mal staring absentmindedly at the gravel.
“Do I need to hold a knife to your throat to make you talk too?” We both turned, crossing our arms at the chilly air and leaned back against the trunk.
“You’re not planning to kill our Hobbit friend, are ya?
That’s where she’s ended up. She’s safe, Malek.
He’s a daft little prick, but I don’t think he’d ever cross you. ”
“Nah, I trust Simon. He’s not as daft as you think. I’m glad she turned to him if she didn’t feel like she could do the same to us. What are you gonna do with Eagle Eye in there?” His head nodded towards the unit where Dan was cleaning up the back corner.
“Dan? I’m gonna put him up extended stay, in the nicest fucking hotel I can find.
Then I’m gonna give him enough money to buy his own wardrobe and find out the true meaning of the term gluttony.
” Malek snorted, and I followed suit, chuckling under my breath.
“Seriously though, Mal. What’s going on?
You looked more rattled than when we were about to storm the O’Dell’s last year. ”
He got quiet and stared down at his untied boots. “I can’t risk it. I can’t, and I want to. So fuckin’ bad, mate.”
“Risk what?”
Longest five seconds ever recorded.
“How do you choose between moppin’ up your sister’s mess to keep her safe and whole…and makin’ life choices that change the way you see everything? The pot’o’gold…it’s not the same gold anymore, Dec. This gold is simpler. And it’s a thousand times more precious.”
“…Sev’s pregnant, isn’t she?”
Malek raised his head and stared up at the darkening sky.
“We were raised to be killers. Even if it wasn’t specifically our job.
We were raised to spit in the face of Death, and take the world however we saw fit.
There’s power in that. I used to blow my load over that high…
I just never wanted it. Never asked for it.
You can be born to be naturally good at something.
It might not even be something you want to do…
but you can even enjoy it sometimes. I like killin’, Declan.
I love it, really. But creatin’ new life?
That’s a whole different high, dude.” He smiled to himself.
“There’s power in that too. I find myself wanting that more.
Not because I’m bitter about the past, or the fact that I’m becoming a marshmallow… but I want it with her.”
I think I realized right then that I understood it on a completely different level.
The kind of love he has for Seven Grey…is the same kind I have for his sister.
The infuriating, ever-changing, do anything required, kind of love that makes everything else seem shit in comparison.
This is why she’s distant. It’s why she’s on the run.
She feels it too…and she won’t allow herself to have it because of this fucking marriage.
“We won’t let anything happen to you guys.
Bridget doesn’t even know I’ve been helping her.
She’s not by herself, Malek. Neither are you.
They always underestimated us, and clearly that hasn’t changed.
The house disbanded. The only difference between us and the O’Dells…
is that they’re dead and we’re fucking not.
Go build your family. Make it bigger. Do what you said you’d do and live your life the way you want it. Let us keep the torch for now.”
He side-eyed me, lowering his brows with a smirk…the one I know well. “You takin’ Sev’s torch too?”
“We hid plenty of bodies before your Pops made that golden call. Don’t worry about it. My kill. My problem. Get outta here and go spill your seed.”
“Gag.” He flipped me off and rolled his eyes while he kicked the gravel the whole way to his car.
“Hey Mal?” He stopped short, turning as he wound his fingers around his door handle. “This particular cure for itch should last a while. If it doesn’t…please consult your physician.”
“You’re such a dick.”
My grin kept until he was out of sight, and I tracked Bridget still at Simon’s.
I have a plan. It’s time my Little Doe ‘fessed up and I’m too wired to calm down.
I don’t give a shit whatever clever tale she’s cooked up with Mister Frodo.
Tonight’s the night. I stood in the doorway of the unit and jerked my chin at Dan.
“Come on, soldier. I’m upgradin’ you. I fully expect to see room service and spa days on this fucking bill. Get comfortable…this is your official ‘thank you’ for your service.”
Dan hung his head. “I can’t.”
“You will. What’d I say about your chin? And if you fight me, I’ll make sure they make you look like a Backstreet Boy. Let’s ride.”