Chapter 38
A few days later, Liam is back at the house, going over things for my reemergence into the world's seedy underbelly. Liam, Declan and I are all actively ignoring the awkwardness from a couple of days ago. Like adults, we pretend it didn’t happen. Declan, however, seems to find it amusing, which pisses me off and annoys the hell out of Liam. Our discomfort entertains him even more.
“How do you want to do this? I can put the word out that you are available for new jobs. Or Ben could make a post on the dark web? Do you have a preference?”
“Honestly, I don’t. Your call.”
“Works for me, Little Villain. I had Ben put the announcement up three days ago.” I look at him, scrunching my eyebrows, trying to decide what to call him, but instead, I just shake my head.
“Are you always going to do things first and then tell me about them after? ”
“Probably. Why?”
“Because while I’m working under you, I don’t work for you.”
“Oh, Little Villain, if only I could work you under me.”
Declan enters the room, leans over me, and lifts my chin up to his face. He drags his lips across mine softly. Liam clears his throat."Hello, brother."Declan says ashe winks at me and gives me a quick peck on the lips.
“Love you. See you later.”Declan says, shrugging at his brother.
“Love you. Save lots of lives!”I call after him as he heads to the door. The door closes behind Declan, and I turn back to Liam. There’s a tick in his jaw that wasn’t there a moment ago.“Sorry.”
“Sorry for what, Mo Ghrá?”
“I don't know,"I tell him honestly. "I just feel like I should apologize." He doesn’t say anything, staring at me momentarily before refocusing. I choose to do the same, not willing to open the can of worms Liam being here is causing within me.
“There are four jobs available. Three are legit. One is Marcus.”
“Well, fuck, that didn’t take long now, did it?”
“No, he pounced on it. It was up for six hours before Ben got alerts it was being opened and responded to.”
“How do we know it's Marcus?”He shows me the message.
~~~ It's time to come home, A. I’d hate to have to paint the ranch in red.
~~~~~M
“He’s threatening Harry.”
“Yes. Harry and I have been talking. Beth is on her way here. He forced Parker to leave with Beth. He told Parker it was his job to keep her safe. Sebastian won’t leave. Wes and Theo are out on a job and cannot be reached for another 36 hours.”
“I need to call him.”I take my phone and head outside to call Harry.
Liam follows behind me quietly.
“What? Why are you following me? I can talk to Harry just fine on my own.”I see his jaw tick again.“What!?”
“My guys tell me Marcus got on a plane this morning with 25 men. Their flight plan was Billings.”
“Why the fuck are you only telling me about this now? What the fuck? I can’t do anything from here! There’s no time for me to get to him! Why would you wait so long to tell me?”I go after him. My anger turned physical. I punch him in the face, connecting with his jaw. I throw another, and he blocks it.
I keep going after him, hit after hit, kick, punch; some he blocks, others land.“What the fucking hell, Liam? How the fuck am I supposed to trust you? I could have got there in time. I could be there right now to help him.”He blocks my last hits; I’m panting, my anger alive under my skin. He says nothing and stands there panting, blood dripping from his lip and eyebrow.
Matt and Ben have come to see what’s happening. Liam raises a hand to stop them from getting involved.
“FUCK!!!” I scream.
I picked up the phone from where I had dropped it and dialled his number.
“Little Fury,” he answers.
“Harry, I’m so sorry I didn’t find out until right now. I can’t get to you in time.”
“I know, Ava. I asked Liam not to tell you. I asked him to keep it to himself, so don’t be mad at him. He owed me a few favours. It cost me all of them to get him to agree to hold off telling you. He didn't seem keen on making you mad at him. Even with all the favours, the Irish asshole still told you before I told him he could.”
“Why, Harry?”
“Because the idea of my son trying to kill the woman I consider my daughter is not a sin I want weighing on my soul when I meet my maker, Ava.”
“How long have you known?”
“Since he killed Enzo. Enzo had a couple of bombshells delivered to a few folks upon his death. Marcus’s parentage was one of them.”
“Cars coming up the lane, Harry,”Sebastian says.
“Tell him, Harry! Fucking tell Marcus you’re his father. Please tell him.”
“I can’t, Ava. I can’t and won’t put that on him.”
“But he won’t kill you if he knows.”
“Ava.”
“Harry, don’t! Just fucking tell him!”
“Ava, he wouldn’t believe me if I did. Or he would, and then he would realize how I was never there for him. I can’t put that on him, Ava. I did nothing good for that boy. I won’t make my last act one that causes him more pain.”
“Goddammit, Harry.”
“Six cars, Harry,”Sebastian tells him. I hear a couple of guns cock.
“Ava, I need you to promise me something.”
“Fuck you, Harry. I’m not promising you that. The minute he pulls that trigger, he’s fucking dead.”
“Ava! I will never find peace if I know my daughter killed my son out of revenge for my death. I need you to promise me.”
“Harry–”
“Promise me, Ava!”He yells at me.
“Fuck you, Harry. You’re a son of a bitch. You have no right to make me promise this! He deserves to die for all of it. ”
“Maybe he does, Ava, but then so do we all. We’ve all done enough bad in this life to warrant our deaths. But I will not have his death be because of me. Promise me.”
“Please, Harry.” I sob.
“Ava, I’m sorry it lands on you. I’m sorry it's always been on you, so much of the shit of this life. As much as I wish your life had been different, I can’t seem to make a wish to change it. Raising you and training you was the best thing I ever did. I love you, Ava.”
“I love you. Thank you for the life you gave me.”
I hear the screen door open and close.
“Promise me.”
“I promise,”I tell him as another sob leaves me. Liam’s arms are around me as I crumple to the ground. He takes my phone from me and puts it on speaker. He holds me tight, rocking me slightly in his arms.
“Hey, Harry,”I hear Marcus shout in the distance.
“Marcus,” Harry says.
“Where is she, Harry? Tell me where she is, and we’ll turn around and head back home,”Marcus tells him. His voice gets louder the closer he gets to him.
“I can’t do that, Marcus. But you feel free to go back home anyway.”
“I wish I could, Harry. But you gotta understand something. She won’t engage with me. She’s decided to go back to work, and just let bygones be bygones. While I’m sure that sounds like a great plan to her, I disagree. I started something, and I will finish it even if I have to burn the entire fucking world down to find her. She’s mine. She has always been mine, and she will always be mine. And she will die how I want.”
“Why Marcus? You loved that girl from the moment you met her.”
“I did. I loved Ava. I still love her. But she never loved me back. Sure, she fucked me. She let me use her body however I wanted for years. But she never gave me her heart.”
“You were her best friend, Marcus. She loved you so much. She only wanted you to be happy and find peace in your life.”
“Ha! She moved on from me, Harry. I didn't want to move on from her.”
“Marcus–”
“Enough. It's done. Tell me where she is.”He notices the phone in Harry’s hand.
“Is that her on the phone, Harry? Has she been listening to us this whole time?”Marcus sounds giddy, knowing I’m right there listening.“Put it on speaker.”
Harry puts the phone on speaker.“Ava, Ava, Ava. Tell me where you are. Tell me where to find you, and I’ll let the Scotsman live. You for him. Fair trade. One for one.”
“Marcus, please don’t hurt him. He fucking raised us. Loved us!”
“I know that, Ava. I was there. I know he raised us. He loved you; he raised me out of obligation, not being able to just let Enzo put a bullet in my head. Sometimes I wish he had just let him kill me.” That last part is said barely above a whisper. “But none of that matters. You tell me where you are, or he dies. It’s that simple.”
“Why Marcus? What happened? When did you decide you hated me so much?”
“See, that’s just it, Ava. I don’t hate you. I fucking want to hate you. I want to hate you so badly, but I don’t. I still fucking love you.”
“Then why are you doing this? This will hurt me, Marcus. This will break my heart.”
“Why? Aren’t you supposed to have a genius-level IQ? How are you this stupid? The day you caught me with that woman in our bed, you just looked at me and her. I figured you would kill her when you caught us. It's why I fucked her in our bed. I wanted you to kill her for fucking what was yours. But you didn’t. You just walked in and watched her ride my dick for a minute, looked at me, and left. It was the look you gave me, Ava. That look? That look started all this.”
“What fucking look did I give you that could deserve all this as payback?”
“Relief Ava. You looked relieved when you saw us. And then you left me. No fight, no argument. You just left me.”
“I didn't leave you, Marcus. I just stopped fucking you! I was still there with you every day. I was still there talking with you every day. The business was still us. Nothing changed except you could no longer stick your dick in me. That's it!”My anger is so overwhelming right now that if Liam wasn’t holding me, I think I would have passed out. I can feel Liam breathing. I can feel his breath in my hair. I can feel his heart beating against my hand. And it’s keeping me here, keeping me grounded.
“You changed after that, not me. You stopped talking to me. Alexi was the only person whose opinion you cared to hear after that. You started using all the time. Fuck. Marcus, do you realize that you sent me to a job that didn’t exist? There was no target. It was never a contract. And another time, you sent me on a job alone where I almost died because the intel you gave me was so bad that there were an extra eight guys on the property! Eight! Fuck, Marcus! But sure, I stopped letting you cum in me, so it's all my fault. My body was no longer yours to use whenever you wanted; that’s what fucked us.”
“Enough Ava! Tell me where the fuck you are, last warning.”
“Ava, remember your promise.”
“Fuck you, Harry. I love you.”
“You did this, Ava. Remember that when you tell Beth why Harry is dead, tell her you decided your life was more important than his. You let the man she loves die because you were a fucking coward.”
A sob leaves me that is full of nothing but anguish. Liam tightens his arms around me like he’s trying to give me his strength. Tears are running down my face, and my breathing is painful and ragged.“Please don’t, please don’t, please,”I whisper like a chant in Liam’s arms as he rocks me. I hear him murmuring. I feel him kissing my head. I raise my head to him, looking into his eyes, pleading for him to stop it.
“I’m so sorry, Mo Ghrá,”I hear him whisper as a single gunshot goes off, and a thud follows as body and phone hit the ground.