Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Cormac
When we get to my parents’ house and walk in, we find my aunts already there. After a round of introductions, which included properly introducing Joey to my parents, my dad gives my mom a kiss rivaling the one I gave Joey when I got to her in the library, and my mom wasn’t even in any danger. He gives me a quick hug and offers Joey one, too.
Then he takes off for a meeting with my uncles that’s been on the calendar for weeks. My mom and aunts practically yank Joey from me, and within moments have her laughing hysterically at my expense. You will never find three women more devoted to their family than my mom and aunts, and part of that devotion includes teasing the men in our family ruthlessly and mercilessly.
Even my ears are aflame. I can feel heat radiating from my cheeks, my forehead, even my chin as I listen to them tell stories about me from when I was little. The kindest thing any of them have said about me so far is Aunt Siobhan calling me precocious.
Tears stream down Joey’s face as she listens to these stories, and I’d do anything to melt into the floor. It’s hardly the best light I’d like my girlfriend to see me in. But hearing her laughter and seeing her smile after I know how scared she was today is everything to me. So, if they want to have a hearty laugh at my expense, I can live with that.
By the time Seamus arrives with Finn and Shane, I’m ready to escape into my dad’s study. We wait there for Dillan and Sean to arrive. Then we close the door to the sound of the women clinking wine glasses together.
Lord, that’s all I need is my mom and aunts getting my girlfriend sloshed. I should have warned her they can drink all of us under the table. They’ve been imbibing Irish whiskey since they were old enough to hold their own sippy cups. It almost tempts me to go back and warn Joey, but I know she’s in excellent hands with them.
I turn my attention to my brother and cousins.
“I want to know who the feck did this to Joey. I want them at the station in the next thirty minutes.” I know that’s an unrealistic expectation, but my temper is about to get the better of me.
“I’m already working on it, Cor.”
I nod to Dillan, and I believe him, but that doesn’t make me any less impatient.
“If I have to scour the streets on my own to find these motherfeckers, I will. There’s no way this was some accident or some coincidence. They definitely targeted Joey.”
“We don’t doubt that, Cor. But the little you gave us in the texts isn’t enough to really get a solid picture of who we’re looking for.”
“I know, but it’s the best we have right now.”
“We’re working with what we have. It’s just not much.”
I turn my attention to Finn, who cocks an eyebrow at me as he asks the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question.
“Do you have any idea who?”
“Of course, I have some thoughts on who it might’ve been, but I have no proof it was actually them.”
“Does that mean you assume it was Pablo?”
“That’s certainly the first person who comes to mind, if not one of his fucknut relatives.”
“I know you’ve said Jocelyn was on his radar for a while, and he taunted you by saying she was involved with Javier. But that’s a pretty massive jump to make from suggesting she’s fecking the guy to actually having two of his guys approach her. Do you really think it’s come to that? Is he that pissed about us being in their neighborhoods? Is Jocelyn really of that kind of value to him?”
“I don’t know, Finn. I don’t have an answer to any of that, but I sure as hell plan to ask and find out.”
“And if it wasn’t him?”
Seamus quirks a brow just like Finn did. It’s one of those nature versus nurture things. We don’t even realize when we’re doing it. It’s an inherited paternal family trait, an expression we all share.
“Well, if it wasn’t Pablo or even Javier, who else do you think tops the list?” I sweep my gaze around the table as I look at the guys.
The list of candidates is so long, we could put each name on individual sheets of an entire roll of toilet paper, which is fitting because whoever did this is on my shitlist.
“Well, I suppose we won’t know unless we ask.” Dillan pulls out his phone as he speaks.
I listen to it ring as he holds it up, so we can see the name on the screen.
“What do you want, ni?o ?”
“It’s a pleasure to hear your voice, cucho .” Old man.
“I’m in the middle of something. What do you want?”
“I can guess what you mean by that. I’d call back at another time if I could, but this is important. Why’d Pablo send guys after her?”
“Who?”
Enrique’s clearly not interested in playing guessing games. We all know that tone. We’ve known the guy since we were infants. Most of us can remember him since we were toddlers. He was the cool uncle who used to bring the unhealthy snacks to soccer games when he was filling in for his brother and sister-in-law.
However, once we each turned twelve and our parents gave us our own pocketknives—that’s a fucked-up tradition in all Four Families—things changed. He was no longer the cool uncle, but the guy who issued orders to have the shite beaten out of us by his psychotic, reprobate nephews.
“Get on with it, Dillan. Spit it out, whatever it is you want to know.”
“Why’d Pablo send men after Cormac’s girlfriend?”
There’s a long pause that unnerves me, and it takes a lot to do that. I look around the table, and all the guys shrug before I look down at Dillan’s phone where he put it on the table since he has the call on speaker. Just when I’m about to ask Enrique if he’s still there, he speaks up.
“Cormac, undoubtedly, you’re listening to this call as well. If you’re asking me whether it was Pablo or one of my other nephews who did this, then you don’t know her nearly well enough. I’d have a conversation with your little girlfriend and get a little more information about her family tree. Don’t look to mine as the scapegoats for this.”
“I’m not looking for a scapegoat. I’m looking for the perpetrator.”
“Well, you can look for whomever the hell you want. You just won’t find them in my family.”
“So, Port Richmond’s not still pissing off you and Pablo?”
“Pablo and I are definitely still pissed about that, but your girlfriend isn’t how we’ll get our retribution. Remember, our families are not the same.”
Seamus grimaces before he chimes in. “Yeah, our family owns up to our transgressions. We don’t wallow in hypocrisy. Maybe you haven’t fecked over any women recently, but your nephews sure have. So, don’t play as though your family is any better than the rest of ours.”
That leaves Enrique quiet for a moment because, unless he’s going to deny the truth in that or lie, there’s nothing he can say to refute my brother. We know how much it irritates the other families when we say feck instead of fuck, so we throw it in for extra measure. They may taunt us about it, but that just means our provocation works.
“Look, Cormac, I’d talk to her about her family because it seems like there’s still plenty for you to learn. But in the meantime, I’d ask Niko what he’s been up to lately.”
“Niko? Why him?”
“From what I understand, your little scheme in court last week cost him two million dollars, so I’d say he’s probably pretty pissed right now.”
“Do you think he’d take his anger out on my girlfriend?”
“I think they’re not as perfect as they want everybody to believe.”
“That’s true. But I have a hard time believing two million dollars is enough for them to break their cardinal rule since they’re the only family who hasn’t targeted women and children outright. They may have disturbed the peace and caused some fights, but they’ve never endangered any of the women.”
“Okay, ni?o , if you say so.”
I can practically hear Enrique rolling his eyes. I can picture the disdainful look on his face without even seeing him. I’ve witnessed it enough times over the past three decades.
“If I find out you’re lying, Enrique, and your nephews have anything to do with this, you’ll discover why everybody believes I have the worst temper in the family.”
It’s not true. None of us really have a bad temper, but because Seamus and I have always been so much bigger than everyone else and grew taller than most of the kids in our class by second grade, it was easy for us to cultivate a reputation for having the shortest fuse. That, coupled with our size, means people leave us alone when, in fact, we’re really the shyest of the family and don’t want people picking on us for it.
That reputation stuck with us thanks to our role in the boss’s family. Neither Seamus nor I intend to change it anytime soon, so I play upon it to my benefit.
“Simmer down, ni?o . Make your call and speak to Niko, then speak to Jocelyn.”
It’s one of the few times I’ve heard anybody say her full name with a Spanish accent yet. The huh sound rather than the juh, and the long vowels sounds seems so fitting when I think of her. Soft to start, but strong to the end. I love her accent. Even though she speaks perfect English, and it’s pretty neutral, it’s still noticeably there. Pablo and his cousin Alejandro have the New York Spanish speakers’ accent, but Tres J’s —Javier, Joaquin, and Jorge—and Enrique have a similar accent to Joey’s.
All four men and Joey grew up speaking Spanish before speaking English somewhere besides America, and the few times I’ve heard Joey speak Spanish are about the sexiest things I’ve ever heard. The way she rolls her r’s makes me think of what her tongue does when she’s sucking me off. That’s hardly the direction my mind needs to go in right now.
Dillan hangs up with Enrique, and I sit back in my seat. He asks what everyone’s probably thinking.
“Are you going to go talk to her right now?”
“No, not yet. Tonight, when we’re at home.”
“Home?” Shane’s smirk makes me want to slap it right off of his face.
“Don’t even give me any shite about this. I was the last man standing until a month ago. How all the mighty have fallen. You’ve all said and done the exact same things, so don’t give me grief when I learned from the rest of you.”
I point to each of them as I speak. All five guys grin at me and nod.
“Should we call Niko?”
Shane speaks up, bringing us back to the subject. I noticed him glancing at his watch a few times. Something must be going on with Carys that’s making him want to leave because normally he’s not so impatient.
“Do you need to go somewhere?”
“Not yet, but I want to be home when Carrie gets back. She got called in for another interview. I think they’re going to try to make her testify, even though she gave up her badge.”
My cousin-in-law was a former federal agent who had to give up her job in order to be with Shane, considering her agency’s sole mission is to crack down on people like us since they run drug interdiction. Things didn’t go smoothly when she was leaving her position, but every once in a while she’s still getting called back into the office. She goes willingly rather than have a judge compel her to show up. Shane likes to be home when she gets there after days like that because he knows that just like us, she won’t show her feelings, but those meetings always upset her.
“Okay, let’s call him now and get this over with.”
I pull out my phone, but Dillan shakes his head.
“No, we’ll call from mine again.”
It’s not just to avoid being obvious we’re calling about Joey if he has anything to do with it. I know some of it is the weight that comes from him being the mob boss. The guys from the other families are more likely to answer when it’s him. He’s right. I don’t need to play my hand quite yet by Niko seeing my number on his caller ID.
That’s part of how fucked-up this world is. We’ve had each other’s numbers in our phones since we were kids. Not only that, we’ve had each other on speed dial, and we were among each other’s first non-family contacts. When we all got cell phones, we were young enough to still get along well and were naive enough to think there was a possibility we could be friends. All of us got phones younger than most people would think was appropriate, but considering the danger in which we all grew up, our parents knew just having us wear trackers wasn’t enough. We needed a way to call for help just like Joey did today.
“What do you want, Dillan?”
“Top of the afternoon to you too, Niko.”
“Cut the crap. What do you want?”
There’s a time and a place for bullshitting, and most of the time it’s not when we’re dealing with other syndicates. I’m used to Niko’s brusqueness, and so is Dillan. He ignores it as he carries on.
“I hear you’ve taken a bit of an interest in the newest addition to our family.”
“Why the hell would I care about the dog Shane got his wife?”
“That’s not who I meant.”
“What other recent addition to the family do you have?”
“Niko, as dumb as you look, nobody here thinks you’re stupid, so don’t act like it. You know just as well as everybody else in the other families that Cormac has a girlfriend. So, what’s the deal?”
“What do you mean, what’s the deal? Shouldn’t you ask your cousin what the deal is? I don’t know what he’s been up to with her—at least I don’t want to—even though I can guess.”
“Yeah, the same thing you’re always up to with your wife. But why is Jocelyn important enough to you to pay attention?”
“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, Dillan. You make no sense, even less than usual. It’s a bit early for you to have been dipping into the whiskey.”
“Two guys followed her today, Niko, and I have it on good authority you’re still pissed at my cousin. Scaring his girlfriend would be a great way to get back at him.”
“What would I be pissed at Cormac about?”
“Don’t be obtuse, Niko. The two million you guys just lost in litigation.”
“If anybody’s pissed about that, it’s Laura. That was her case. Despite that, you know she won’t go after another woman. And as I recall, you might have gotten the two-million-dollar settlement, but you forfeited far more in property value. I’d say the win goes to my sister-in-law, not you or your deadbeat cousin.”
He’s not entirely wrong. His sister-in-law, Laura, is married to his oldest brother, the pakhan —the bratva’s leader. She’s a legal shark—ruthless and vicious. She worked in corporate law for years before meeting and marrying Maksim. Now she represents all the bratva’s legal enterprises. If she were married to anybody other than that arsehole, I’d fully respect her. She and I have gone back and forth in court before.
I handle our corporate cases, and Seamus handles our criminal. He has his own equivalent to Laura, but she’s Cosa Nostra . Sinead Scotto is Gabriele’s wife. He’s their chief enforcer. She and Laura went to law school together along with Lorenzo Mancinelli’s wife. Sinead can smell blood in the water from a mile away. She’s not somebody to underestimate any more than anyone should underestimate Laura Kutsenko.
Dillan senses I’m getting impatient. He holds his right hand up and pats the air, telling me to hang on. I take a breath before I dive in.
“Niko, if you’re not pissed at me, and I’m not pissed at Laura, then why follow Jocelyn?”
“I didn’t have anybody follow her. I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I resent the accusation. There are plenty of other people who loathe you just as much as I do. There are plenty of other candidates for who would want to fuck around with your girlfriend. Remember my family isn’t your family. We still have boundaries.”
“Sure, you do.”
“Whatever, Cormac. I’m about to have dinner with my wife, and she’s far more interesting than you are. I gotta go.”
Before I can say anything, he hangs up, and I’m more than fine ending the call that way. However, we’re back to square one as I look around the table.
“Well, that leaves the Mancinellis. Which one of those dickwads do you think it was?”
Sean’s been typing away at his computer, so he doesn’t look up as he speaks. I know he’s had street camera footage pulled up on his screen while we’ve been on the phone. He spins his laptop toward me and points to Joey on the steps up to the library. Then he points to two figures half a block away. He zooms in, but the picture gets too grainy to recognize faces. At least we have an idea of what they look like.
Finn leans forward to peer more closely at the pictures. “Sean, send me those files. I’ll see what I can do to clean them up a bit.”
Sean’s grad degree in national security means he can find a country’s nuclear codes and keep them a secret from even the devil. But Finn is the one with the degree in computer science. Between his forensic hacking skills, regular programming skills, and overall computer knowledge, and Sean’s high-level international organization hacking skills, there’s not much we can’t find out. Sean nods to his older brother.
Dillan slips his phone back into his pocket and rests his forearms on the table as our gazes meet. “What do you want to do now, Cormac?”
“I guess there isn’t much to do until I speak to Joey and find out what Enrique meant about her family tree.”
“What’re you going to do if you don’t like what you find? You know I ran the background check on her, but there wasn’t a whole lot to know beyond where she grew up and what universities she went to until she got here a few years ago. Not all the record keeping is that great in the part of Mexico she’s from.”
“I know there were no red flags with her, and I don’t think there are any now, but I’ll talk to her when we’re alone. Then we’ll go from there. Thank you guys for coming so fast.”
I know my thanks aren’t necessary for my brother and cousins, but good manners dictate I say as much, and my appreciation is always genuine. People may say Seamus and I have the best manners—even if we supposedly have the shortest temper—but we had the same manners drilled into us as everybody else. We were just the ones no one ever had to tell to write and send thank you cards.
We were also the ones who stayed out of trouble the longest, but that’s because we’re the shyest in the group and never felt the need to lead the charge. We’re not followers, but we’re also smart enough to survey the scene before diving in.
“Do you guys want to stay for dinner? Shane, I know you need to get home to Carys, but what about the rest of you? I’m sure Mom’ll have enough for everybody. Do you want to have the girls come over too?”
Since our three sets of parents still have open-door policies, it would be no surprise if everybody showed up even though it’s not my parents’ night to host Sunday dinner.
“You don’t think meeting the entire family in one day won’t be too much for Jocelyn after the scare she had?”
“Maybe. I’ll ask her what she wants. We can go from there.”
We stayed for dinner, and the wives came over just before my dad and uncles returned. Joey took everything in stride, but she’s nearly asleep as we drive home.
Home.
My place.
Our place.
That’s how I’d like to think of it. I’ve gone over to her apartment a few times, but we mostly wind up at my house in Boerum Hills. It’s a quiet area in Brooklyn; hardly what most people would expect for a mobster bachelor. Only Finn lived in the city—Soho—for the urban life. Seamus and Shane lived in East Harlem, but that neighborhood’s vibe isn’t the same as the main part of Manhattan. Shane was already in Queens, and Dillan was in Brooklyn, too.
We prefer the relative solitude rather than the constant noise and lights in Manhattan. Members of the other families lived in Manhattan before marrying and moving back to the two neighborhoods we grew up in. Dillan’s house sits on the corner where they meet. From the outside looking in, it probably appears like a massive syndicate compound with that many individual residences all next door to each other.
“ Cailín , we’re home.”
Her eyes flutter open, and she offers me a sleepy smile. It’s sexy as fuck, but she’s exhausted. As much as I want to discuss her family now that we’re at the house, it won’t be productive. She knows to wait for me to open her door, so I walk around to her side. Even though we’re in my garage, she knows I won’t take any chances.
“Do you want to go straight to bed, little one?”
She nods, but she perks up. I know that expression. We haven’t spent a night together without having sex before we fall asleep. We’re yanking each other’s clothes off before we even make it to the bedroom. It won’t be the first time we have to pick up a trail of clothes in the morning. Our foreplay is the kissing we share as I back her into the room.
Tonight, we go slow. It’s entirely vanilla. I’ve discovered I enjoy it as much as our kinky sex. It’d been years—college—since I had vanilla. Once I discovered what I was into, I looked for partners who wanted the same. No woman I was with once I got into BDSM tempted me. Even when things weren’t fully kinky, there was always an element of power exchange. Right now, Joey and I are equals, and it’s erotic as hell.
We’re breathless and spent when we’re done—with this round. We haven’t made it through the night without a couple rounds. Joey snuggles into my chest as I spoon her. We’re both asleep within minutes, but my last thought before I doze off is that my cum is inside her. It brands her as mine.
MINE.
God help anyone who takes her from me.