Chapter 13 Declan
THIRTEEN
declan
My finger slides against the trigger, itching to fire off a shot right between his beady eyes.
Goddamn, I want to pull it so fucking bad.
Not just because I don’t trust the rat bastard, which I don’t. The guy’s definitely connected. Even without the tattoos, it’s obvious. He was there in the truck graveyard in Queens, and I’d bet my left nut it wasn’t only to meet Marlowe.
The guy is a slimy ass prick, and I can see right through his bullshit facade.
But it’s not even because of that.
It’s the fucking fact that he turned up outside our place after contacting my wife.
We don’t live in some secret compound, and while our address isn’t a dark secret, we don’t advertise it. But people don’t just randomly turn up here without an invitation unless they’re part of our inner circle, which is damn tight.
By showing up here like he did, he’s begging for a war.
I really want to shoot him.
My fingertip tingles.
And when I’m done with him, I want to take her upstairs and teach her a lesson she’ll never forget.
Which will be hot sex.
That can be a lesson, sure, but not the one I want to convey in this situation.
Scratch the sex. For now.
I drag in a breath. Her fear and guilt is thick in the air, just like his loathing of me.
Calmness takes hold now, just enough to keep me from shooting him dead in place on the sidewalk.
Torin and Callahan aren’t far behind. They’re here, hanging back, letting me handle this. Watching. Waiting.
And the fucker still hasn’t spoken.
“I asked you a question,” I say. “Gave you ample time to come up with a reason, any reason. Truth, lie, whatever the fuck. But you’re just standing there like a goddamn deer in headlights.”
The man’s eyes narrow.
Molly’s lips part, but I cut her a glance, and she snaps them closed.
“You have a gun pointed at me, bodyguard.”
“I’m aware. Still got all the old marbles.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Husband, mafia, bodyguard. I’ll let you work out the most important one on that list.”
“I know you’re a Murphy.”
That wasn’t the one I meant, but I’ll take it.
To my right, Cal murmurs my name. I put the gun away.
We’re in the middle of our street. Not that I give a fuck, but I get his point.
As I slide it into the waistband of my pants, Leon moves the slightest bit.
In a split second, I have my hand wrapped around his throat, his body pressed against the tree that grows near the sidewalk.
“I’m going to ask you one more time—”
“Let him go,” Molly says, words slicing into me as triumph leaps in the asshole’s eyes. “I texted him.”
“Doesn’t really make me want to let him live, Molly,” I bite out.
Her hand touches my arm, burning into my flesh. “I wanted to know about Dad, to see if he found anything out. That’s all.”
I glare at Leon. He doesn’t have a damn thing, that much I’m sure of. I’m a master bullshitter, and I can spot it on someone else a mile away.
This guy has nothing. He showed up here for something else.
“You’re not married,” the guy chokes out, voice thinning a little. I squeeze a little harder to cut off his oxygen.
I don’t even look at Marlowe. I can forgive spoiled, forgive her for jumping to conclusions about me that I don’t feel inclined to set straight.
Heat claws up the sides of my throat. This gobshite could try to fight me. He could have a gun, could take a chance with it.
He doesn’t. Maybe he’s trying to win points with me, or with Marlowe.
But I don’t play those games.
“We’re married. Biblically.” I lean in close, squeezing a little harder for a moment longer. He claws at my hand, sputtering, eyes bulging in the sockets. “So how long have you been a member of the Cinco Cartel?”
“I-I’m not—”
“Then why else would you lure Marlowe to Queens? You’re cartel, that’s clear.”
I loosen my hand a little just in time for Seamus’s motorcycle to pull up. His wife Ava gets off the back and removes her helmet. She and my brother take in the scene. Without a word, she walks over to us, slides a hand under Molly’s elbow, and guides her inside the house.
Cal lights a cigarette, moving into the light along with Torin. Leon’s temperature changes under my hand when he sees my brothers surrounding him.
The four of us together is a scary sight, and I don’t blame Leon for the flash of fear.
Doesn’t mean I won’t use it against him, though.
My lips curl upward. “I think he knows more than he’s saying.”
Callahan blows out a stream of smoke.
Torin doesn’t say a word.
They let me take the lead.
“Why were you there that night? Which cartel are you part of? And who were you trying to kill?” I ask.
His eyes bug out, especially when Seamus opens the garage, revealing a world of excruciating pain if we choose to drag him into that darkness.
We don’t fuck up people on our home turf unless they deserve it. Unless they touch one of ours.
“Y’might want to answer Declan right about now,” Seamus says as he puts his helmet away. The two people walking down our street take one look at us and cross the road.
Our neighbors are aware that this street is remarkably crime free, quiet, and respectful since nobody in their fucking right mind would mess with us.
Leon realizes at that second he’s on his own.
“He’s a real wild card, our Dec. We’ve tried to tame him, but…” Seamus sighs.
“I don’t know a thing. I’m just helping out my friend,” Leon says, his voice rising in panic. “That’s why I came here tonight. I’m worried about her. I know who you are and what you’re involved with. She’s not part of that life, and I wanted to make sure she was okay.”
“Friend,” I mutter as his eyes cut up to me. “She doesn’t need your friendship. Or your concern. I am more than capable of keeping her protected.”
“Now, now, don’t murder him, Declan. It’s messy. Do it inside where we can clean up.” Cal edges closer and blows smoke rings in Leon’s face. “You’d be wise to answer my brother.”
“Look,” he says, “I swear I’m only trying to help Marlowe.
The dude who had information about her dad didn’t show up that night like he was supposed to.
I had no idea there were others meeting at the same time.
Just like I had no idea my family would show.
You and Marlowe weren’t the targets. The Italians were. ”
Now Torin steps up. “Which family?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t fucking lie, dickwad,” Seamus says. “You were there with family. At best, setting up a girl, at worst, double dipping on the night’s activities and knowingly putting her in danger.”
Leon struggles against me. He most definitely doesn’t want to go down into what he probably thinks is the torture garage of nightmares and anguish.
“I had to join my family, to save her. I’m not even really part of the cartel, okay?
Being born into the edges of it doesn’t make me much more than a glorified foot soldier.
And I’m barely that. I don’t do their shit. ”
“No, you just stand shoulder to shoulder with them.” I squeeze his throat hard one last time before letting him go.
He stumbles a little, heaving and gasping for air. “What else am I supposed to do when family calls? I had to be there. It would’ve been fucking worse to walk.”
I press my lips together. That isn’t how family works. Everyone in ours is staunchly loyal. His words tell us he’s loyal, but there’s another note in his voice…
“Keep away from Marlowe.” I offer a tight smile. “I’ll take care of finding her da. I’m discovering I’m the jealous type.” I pause. “So you’d better go. Now.”
He turns and darts away, hands stuffed into his pockets, hunched over.
“This shit gonna be a problem?” Cal asks.
“No.”
Although I’m not really sure if I believe that.
It seems like anything to do with Molly becomes a problem.
A big one. In all caps.
In the garage, as Seamus takes care of the bike, Cal lights up his second cigarette.
“He’s not going to be a threat to the girls or the kids.” Or, I add silently, to the animals.
Mainly because I’ll gut him first.
“You know that?” Cal asks, blowing out a stream of smoke as he inspects some tools on the work bench.
I nod. “I’ll move Marlowe out if I—”
“Your little project’s in danger, too,” Torin says. “And our place is a fortress.”
“We’ll also be taking down anyone who threatens us or our home,” Seamus says, setting a rag down on the saddle. “Not that Ava and I came up with anything after talking to our contacts tonight.”
Cal sighs, leaning against the work bench. “I’m curious about Briggs Energy and the Marcello family. I still want to get that meeting.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Not your business, Dec.
“So you don’t need me, and you don’t want to include me in on this,” I mutter.
Cal stubs the cigarette on a piece of sandpaper, putting it out. He comes up to me as the others find something else to do. Cowards.
“The business I want to talk with Marcello about is private. You don’t have anything to prove here.”
My chest tightens and flames lick my insides. I look my brother in the eye. “I’m not going to let you down again, Callahan. I want…this could be good for us and the job is—”
“Complicated. They usually are.” He sighs. “Just keep your head low.”
Not good enough is what I hear, but I swallow that down. “I’m still part of the family.”
“I fucking got that on the day you took your first breath and became a royal pain in my ass.” He curls a hand around the back of my neck and draws me in. “You’re a Murphy.”
My eyes prick with heat. But I take a breath because I can also see the possibilities of having an actual bodyguard service. It would be great for us.
I just can’t shake my perpetual sense of failure.
I step back. Whatever I’m about to say is cut off by my phone buzzing in my pocket. I grab it and read the message on the screen. “It’s Roark. He has something and wants to meet.”
“Tor, get the car,” Cal barks out, typing something on his phone.
We have two guards stationed at the house tonight, and others are close by. The place is going to be a fortress by the time we meet Torin and the car.