Chapter 23
Lina
Chapter Twenty-Three
I’m exhausted. More from that text conversation with Justin than everything that happened with Lucy. That took mental and physical strength. Texting Justin took emotional strength. Sixty minutes is going to cut it tight to get back into Manhattan. I feel badly that I wasted the drive into Queens.
Sean’s explaining to the others the change in whatever their plans were. I’m upstairs getting cleaned up as best I can without spare clothes here. The way I killed Lucy ensured the blood splatter went away from me. I’m not at my best, but I’m also not covered in anything gory. I don’t expect a knock.
“Come in.”
“Nikki?”
“In the bathroom.”
I step out to see Ally with some clothes over her arm. She holds them up.
“I know we’re not the same size, but we’re close in height. Maybe something will work. When Finn told me Mair and I needed to come here, I knew it could be an hour or a few days. I brought stuff with me. You’re too tall for Mair’s clothes.”
“Thank you. That’s kind of you.”
She lays them out on the bed, and I find a pair of pants with a drawstring waist I think I can cinch tight enough. There’s a top that should work well enough. I just won’t be able to lean too far forward.
“I’m going to take a quick shower now that I don’t have to put this back on. Can you tell Sean I’ll be down in five minutes, please?”
“Sure.”
I’m walking into the bathroom as Ally leaves. The water’s frigid since I don’t wait for it to warm, but I scrub myself from neck to toes. I’m in and out in a couple minutes. Then I’m pulling down the shirt and grabbing my shoes as I walk to the door. Sean’s waiting for me at the bottom of the steps.
“You and I will take a town car. Shane, Seamus, and Cormac already took off to scout the place and get in position. We’ve all eaten there before, so they know where to hide. They just have to make sure they can. Tommy’s going to drive, and Ted’s your guard. He knows the restaurant too. He’s already picked out a spot where he can see you and get to you, but it’ll look like he doesn’t have a clear shot. Four steps to the left, and he will.”
“There’re going to be too many people there to start a shootout. Justin knows that. I have to meet him outside and go in with him. I need to call the restaurant and make a reservation to get the table I want.”
“I already did. I want you in there and seated before him.”
“That won’t work. If he’s already in Manhattan, he’ll get there first. Plus, I have to meet him outside. He won’t go in without seeing I don’t have a gun. He knows there’s not a chance in hell I’ll go in without him showing me he doesn’t have one either.”
I noticed someone picked up my purse from where I dropped it in Lucy’s place. I snap it open and show Sean the hunting knife I carry when I can’t carry my gun. When I know I need protection, but don’t want to carry my gun.
“Nikki?”
I turn to see Sean’s mom approaching. Sean has his arm around my waist, his fingers pressing into my waist. Breda looks at her son and tilts her head. When Sean doesn’t let go, she shoots him a look that makes him release me. He looks down at me as I look up. I nod, but he’s still reluctant.
“Nikki, Sean told me what’s going on. I believe he hopes I’ll stop you. My son’s not na?ve, but sometimes I think he forgets who I am. I’m not just his mom. I am you, but thirty years older. My dad was the boss. My brother was the boss. I married a mobster. I understand you better than anyone but Saoirse and Siobhan. My sisters and I are the same. Who’s loyal to you among your brother’s men? Someone who would follow your orders?”
“I don’t think there is anyone.”
“There has to be. Someone who may not like you but hates your brother more. Someone who thinks they’re important enough to weather any storm. Someone already taking bribes. Who is that?”
“I don’t know. I know my grandfather’s men who would help me if I asked. But I don’t know about Ewan’s.”
“You do not want your grandfather involved in this. He’s more like my father than any of these guys realize. We’ve never done enough business up there for my sons and nephews to know your grandfather well, but I do.”
She cocks an eyebrow at me, and I nod.
“It has to be someone from Boston if for no other reason than they can get to Justin faster than someone in Montreal, and they know him. Before you get to that meeting, you need to put a hit on him. If you can’t get to the money easily, I can. I have more than enough to kill off most of the men on the Eastern Seaboard. Call it a rainy day fund my sisters and I started before we even met our husbands. They know, and they’ve contributed. If you truly can’t think of anyone, I know a guy.”
She winks. I stand there like an owl staring at her. I know a guy.
“Nikki, think. Do you have someone you can call or text before you get to that restaurant? If you don’t, I need to make that call now. You cannot go into that meeting without having this arranged. If Sean and the others can’t get to him for some reason, there has to be someone waiting for him. It needs to be one of your brother’s men. Ewan needs to know you can turn his men. His men need to know you’re a threat. Being with Sean makes you untouchable to most. But things in New York aren’t the way they once were. A mob family is as much a curse as it is a blessing. Do this, and you make yourself untouchable. That scares the shit out of men way more than anything they can do to each other.”
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. That has nothing to do with romance.”
“Exactly.”
She waits for me as I consider my options. My mind bounces from one person to another in my brother’s organization. Finally, a name comes to me.
“Colton Flaherty, Senior. He’s my ex-fiancé’s father. He did three tours in Iraq and was a sniper. He taught my ex-fiancé. He was loyal to my grandfather, but he couldn’t stand my dad. He liked Ewan before he became boss because Ewan and Colt have been best friends since preschool. But he doesn’t agree with Ewan now. I can barely be in the same room as Colt without antagonizing him on purpose. But I’m still close to Colt’s mom and dad. If Colton Senior knows Justin threatened me—and honestly, even worse, threatened an O’Rourke—he’ll kill Justin without a second thought.”
“Make the call. On a burner.”
“I will. If he agrees, it’ll be pro bono.”
“What’s the chance he’ll turn on you?”
“None. And if he does this, no one will know it was him. He’s a ghost. Ewan doesn’t know half the jobs Colton Senior did for my grandfather. I had access to records no one but my employer knew I had. I know Colton’s kill record from his deployments. There’s no way he’s told anyone that number.”
She hugs me, and I lean into it. I miss my mom. I’m used to not seeing her for months at a time, but today’s been a lot. Breda’s hug is what I need. It nurses a part of me that Sean can’t, and it’s the closest I have to my mom.
“Thank you.”
“I’m a boy mom through and through. I didn’t realize how nice it would be to have a daughter. If one is good, two is better.”
She offers me a smile that could make any boo-boo better. But this is a lot bigger than a scraped knee. She squeezes my hands as her gaze hardens. She gave me reassurance. Now she’s giving me strength.
“Lina, we have to go.”
The guys say goodbye to their parents, and Finn and Dillan say goodbye to their wives. This is a mission of sorts, so we all know things could go wrong. I can tell the O’Rourkes never miss an opportunity to show their love. It’s refreshing and foreign at the same time. I like it.
Sean and I get in a town car, and I expect him to ask me what I meant earlier. I’m ready to explain, but he says nothing. When I dart my gaze up to him, I know this isn’t the time. He’s focused, and I sense he’s running through his plan again.
“I need to make a call, Sean. It’s your mom’s advice, and I agree with it. It’s not a reflection of you or the men in your family. I don’t doubt anyone’s capability. It just needs to be someone from Boston.”
His eyes widen before they narrow. He doesn’t like it, but he nods. He knows what I’m going to do. He watches me enter a number into my burner and wait while it rings.
“Hi, Colton. It’s Nikki… It’s nice to hear your voice too. It’s been a long time.”
Sean’s hand goes around my wrist like a manacle. He’s not hurting me, but he wants the phone away from my ear. I change sides and shake my head. He reaches again.
“No, I haven’t spoken to Colt in a few days. Not since I left Boston.”
Sean’s brow furrows as his hands drop. I put a finger to my lips and put the call on speaker as Colton continues the conversation.
“He asked if you called.”
“Did he say why he thought I would?”
“No. But he told me you’re involved with an O’Rourke. He wanted to know if I’d heard. I had.”
“Still watching out for me?”
“Always. My son might have screwed up the best thing that ever happened to him, but I don’t blame you for his shortcomings. I blame your brother and father, but not you.”
“We’re still more alike than either of us is to Colt. I want to chat and catch up, but I’m calling for a reason. I need something.”
“Anything.”
“Hear me out first before you make any blind promises.”
“Nik, tell me what you need, and it’s done. I won’t ask why.”
“Justin.”
There’s a long pause, and I’m certain Colton’s wishing he hadn’t just said he wouldn’t need the reason.
“Justin is working with someone. It’s not Ewan or Colt. He hired a guy to take Sean. He used a woman from Sean’s past to get this man into one of the O’Rourke clubs. Justin had his guy drug Sean, but they underestimated him. Neither the woman nor the man involved survived. But Justin wants me to leave him and either go to Boston or Montreal. He’s still threatening him.”
“Do you want it done here or there?”
“I’m going to meet him right now. It’ll be a public place, so he won’t take me. But if something happens, and the O’Rourkes can’t scoop him up as we leave, then I need you when he goes back to Boston.”
“Does Sean know all of this?”
I’m watching him, and I can tell he’s more pissed than he’s ever been with me. More than about me leaving his parents’.
“I’ll fill him in.”
“It’s gonna piss him off that you’re involved, and it’s gonna piss him off that you think he can’t handle this.”
“It has absolutely nothing to do with the second part. Sean alone can deal with Justin. With his entire family, any trace Justin ever lived will disappear. That’s not why I need you. Anyone who knows I’m involved with Sean knows I’m untouchable. But there will always be people like Justin and Ewan who believe that doesn’t apply to them. If I can get one of Ewan’s men to carry out a hit for me, then I make myself untouchable.”
“You’ve been talking to Breda.”
“How’d you know?”
“She’s Sean’s mom. Dillan’s already married, but if you were with him, Siobhan would tell you the same thing. If you were with Cormac or Seamus, Saoirse would tell you what Breda did. I doubt Breda knows the lads discovered she ordered a hit on a guy who worked for Donovan, but it’s been a poorly kept secret for the past decade. You sound like her. Count your blessings she’s your mother-in-law.”
“She’s not?—”
“Nicolina, you’ve met Breda. You’re as good as married to Sean. The O’Rourkes don’t bring people home to their family unless it’s permanent.”
I’m watching Sean. His expression closed off as soon as he realized I’m talking to Colton Senior. I can’t read his feelings. This distance scares me more than anything until now. I fidget. I’m uncomfortable hearing Colton make these assumptions while Sean can hear.
I’m unprepared for Sean to reach across me and unfasten my belt. He sees the flash of worry in my eyes. He kisses my temple before lifting me onto his lap. I lean my head against his chest, listening to his heartbeat for a moment before responding.
“Breda spoke to me before I left her house for this meeting. She explained it to me, and I believe she’s right. Will you do this for me?”
“I’ve known Justin his entire life. He’s had his struggles, but he’s been a good guy. He’s also been in love with you since you were fourteen, and he was fifteen. Puppy love back then. It’s more now. He hated you being with Colt, and it devastated him when you accepted Colt’s proposal. But he stayed silent. I’m certain it relieved him when you left Colt. I’m certain he was ecstatic when you moved down here. He believed you’d always turn to him whether you were with Colt or alone. The moment you chose Sean O’Rourke, Justin knew he had no place left in your life. You know he can’t accept that.”
“I do. If he’d only threatened me, I wouldn’t be on my way to use that against him. But he went after Sean. I’m not interested in forgiving, and I’ll definitely never forget. He’s a threat to Sean. Whoever he’s working for—whoever’s feeding him false encouragement—is a threat to the O’Rourkes. Whoever this is won’t let Justin live once he’s no longer useful. Justin will die. That’s inevitable and unfortunate. I won’t let whoever this silent partner is have the satisfaction of tying up that loose end. If Sean doesn’t do it to remove Justin as a threat and to prove to this unknown person that the O’Rourkes aren’t to be effed with, then I need you to do it for me.”
“And if I can’t?”
“At least you didn’t say you won’t.”
“Nikki.”
“The only way you can’t is if something logistical messes it up. Your skill is unquestionable.”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
“Because you know the answer. Sean doesn’t want that for me. I killed someone today, Colton. He doesn’t want me forced to do that again, especially not to a childhood friend.”
“For your sake and your sake alone, I will do this. But Sean needs to know you’re capable.”
I watch Sean as he listens, his eyes on my phone. I’m not sure what to make of his shift in focus.
“He saw what I did today.”
“But does he know I taught you?”
Sean’s gaze jumps to me. I offer him an apologetic expression, but I’m not sure why. Maybe because I hadn’t already told him. But there’s still so much we don’t know about each other. Maybe because I have the skills a sniper taught me.
“Not the details.”
“I don’t want you having to do this. I know you’ll put Sean first, but you’ve still known Justin for most of your life. Contact me when you know if I need to make a move.”
“I will. Thank you, Colton. Outside of Sean’s family, you’re the only one I trust.”
“We love you, pipsqueak.”
“Love to you and Daisy.”
I hang up the call and lean away to see Sean’s face clearly.
“Explain, Lina.”
There’s no bite to his tone. It’s the opposite. His voice is soft as though it’s full of regret.
“I will, but Sean, I didn’t ask Colton to do this because I don’t have faith in you.”
“I know. I know my mom, and I get what you told me and him. I’m sad that it’s coming to this. I can tell Colton doesn’t want this for you, and neither do I. Why’d he train you? And what did he mean ‘capable of’?”
I sigh and look out the window.
“My maternal grandfather used to take me hunting once I turned twelve. We only killed what we could store and eat. It was never for antlers or trophies. I took to it easily and got good at it. Eventually, Granddad taught me to fire a handgun. I had a permit to carry in Quebec only because of who my grandfather is and got one in Massachusetts. When I visited my dad in Boston, one of the few things he’d do with me was go to the range. I met Colt’s dad, Colton Senior, there the year I learned to shoot a 9mm. I was fourteen. Ewan, Colt, and Justin were fifteen. Justin was around, but he had other friends.”
Justin said that’s when he fell in love with me. Colton confirmed it. I never realized. I was completely oblivious all these years.
“Ewan and Colt teased me because they’d never gone hunting with me. It took one round for them to realize I knew what I was doing. They stopped teasing. They also found something else to do because they hated I scored better than them. Colton noticed I was standing alone because Dad was talking to his men, and Colt and Ewan left me behind. I told him about hunting and fishing. He listened to me. I love those things, but no one in Boston ever cared except for Colton. He had his rifle and let me shoot. It didn’t shock him I was good. Like really good. He was proud of me. No one else there was.”
I hate remembering these parts. Or rather, I hate remembering how I felt during those trips. I’m fine remembering going to Boston and even the things I did or people I saw. It’s reflecting on the loneliness and alienation that I’m not so fond of.
“His wife, Daisy, became a second mom to me whenever I went to Boston. My stepmom, Maureen, was awesome to me, but I clicked with Daisy. I know she regrets ever suggesting her son ask me out. She feels guilty despite how many times I’ve told her Colt is his own man and made his own choices. They had a cabin in the Berkshires, and they’d bring me along when they took Ewan and Colt out there if I was in town. By then, the guys drove and went off to do their own thing. I hung back. Daisy loves carpentry, so she taught me woodworking. Colton would take me shooting. The better I got, the more challenges he found for me. The distances increased, the angles got sharper, the targets got smaller. I excelled.”
“He trained you to be a sharpshooter.”
“Yes. I made it more than that.”
Sean’s hand rests on my hip while his other arm is slung around it. He moves his hand up to my ribs and presses me back against him. The only way I can tell when he gets upset is his heartbeat. It’s back to racing. His breathing is even. His body feels relaxed. His touch is light. But his heart is about to pound out of his chest.
“The summer after I graduated high school, I went to Boston for a month. The friends I’d made were my age and just graduated, too. Colton and Daisy let me go out to the cabin with four girls. They’re all mob daughters.”
Let someone call me a motherfucking mob princess. Show me the fucking castle. Show me the lavish excesses. The only thing making me a princess is my very own Prince Charming, whose lap I’m sitting on right now.
“The entire property has invisible fencing and security cameras. The alarm went off while we were in the hot tub our second night there. Each of us had a guard. Mine was Justin’s older brother, Stuart, who was in his mid-twenties. Two of them went out to check while I led the girls to the cellar. I was about to go down with them when a different sensor triggered. This one was way closer than just the perimeter. Stuart knew he couldn’t convince me otherwise, so he ran to the gun locker with me. I got Colton’s rifle—not the one he hunts with—a box of rounds, and the NVGs.”
“He keeps NVGs there?”
“For the same reason he keeps more than a hunting rifle and has invisible fences and cameras. I went up to the loft with Stuart, and we pushed the bed beneath the window. With my NVGs, I had a clear view to the south and east. I saw four men converge on the two guards. The guards took out two intruders, but they didn’t make it either. I waited until the men stepped under a tree with a light sensor. I flipped up the goggles and could see the intruders’ faces. I didn’t know them and neither did Stuart. I picked them both off. I went to the master bedroom balcony, which was on the side where the single guy tripped a sensor. We saw him moving away from the house. I thought he was retreating. He wasn’t. He got a gear bag. He lifted out rope, an ax, and some other shit before he took out what Stuart told me were flash bangs. He intended to disorient us when he broke in. He never took a step toward the house.”
I inhale until my lungs can’t take any more. Then I exhale as though that might be my last breath.
“Were you hurt? Did anything happen to you?”
“No. We told the other girls and guards Stuart took the shots. Once we were back, we let people think it was Stuart and the other guys who died who got all of them. The moment Colton and Daisy got the security alerts, they got in the car. They watched their live feed in the car on their way to us. They both knew there was only one person at the house that night who could take those shots. Neither they nor Stuart ever breathed a word to anyone that it was me.”
“Who were they?”
“O’Briens.”
Pieces of trash. The O’Malleys pushed their sorry asses out of Boston a few generations ago when they thought they could run Boston and take over NYC. They failed at both. Now they’re the O’Rourkes’ lackeys in Trenton, New Jersey.
“Why go after you and your friends?”
“Because they knew Rowan’s daughter was there. I was the target.”
“So those men and Lucy. Anyone else?”
“No. Sean, I’m not proud of what I did if I’m talking about the body count I’ve racked up. But I’m grateful I can protect the people I care about.”
“Cailín, I know. I understand better than most.”
“That’s why I knew I could tell you, and why I could text Justin and talk to Colton in front of you. I definitely wouldn’t be comfortable confessing all of this to anyone else in your family. Even your mom. I could with you with me, but not alone.”
“What did your dad say when you and the girls got back to Boston?”
“Gave each guard a ten grand bonus. Stuart wanted to give his money to me. I refused. He went to the bank and deposited it into my account. After that, I was gracious with anything he offered me.”
“Where’s Stuart now? Can’t you get him to make Justin back off?”
I look out the window as I shake my head.
“He died at the warehouse ambush.”
The one Finn led a few months ago.
“Lina, I’m so sorry. I?—”
“From what Ewan told me right after it happened, it was either you or Shane. You guys look so much alike, and my guess is you cover your hair. There’s no way anyone could tell any of you apart from a distance. Maybe Seamus and Cormac from the rest of you, but not them apart from each other. You, Shane, Finn, and Dillan could be quadruplets from a distance.”
“Mo stór, I wish I could have seen into the future.”
“What does that mean?”
“My treasure.”
Other than little girl, that’s the only Irish term of affection he’s used with me.
“Daddy, you couldn’t have possibly known. I don’t hold it against you. You and Stuart were there to do jobs. It wasn’t some stupid bar fight. It wasn’t some random drive by. You both knew what you faced going there. I doubt either of you had much choice, but you went anyway. I wish it hadn’t happened. Stuart was the only person who warned me over and over about Colt. It nearly ruined our friendship, but he stood his ground. Justin tried, but he gave up after I told him to stop. When things went up in flames, I turned to him.”
“And your closeness to Stuart didn’t bother Justin?”
I close my eyes. It’s a reasonable question, and I could give a short answer. But I don’t want to hide the truth.
“Remember what I said to Colt about when we broke up?”
“I will never forget that. I doubt my brother will either.”
I wince. “There weren’t four guys. There were three. Stuart, Justin, and another guy.”
“Justin and Stuart shared you?”
“It’s not like their swords crossed.”
“I love Shane and Finn and would give them the last of everything I have. Except for you. There is no way I would share you with them. I won’t share you with anyone.”
“Because you and I are in a committed emotional and romantic relationship. I wasn’t with them. I was so angry and so hurt. I needed an outlet for all of that, and I trusted those three guys. When I said Justin watched me, it was that night. Some things were collective. Others were not.”
I don’t think Sean wants me to go into more detail. I sure as fucking shit wouldn’t want to hear any of this if he were describing his past with Lucy or any other woman.
“Sean, that was the one and only time I was with either of them. We agreed upon that before we walked into the club that night. It was never brought up until I threw it back in his face today.”
We’re pulling up to the restaurant. We’re late, but I don’t care. Let Justin wonder.
“Daddy, he’s over there. You can’t get out with me.”
“I know.”
“It won’t take long.”
“It’s already taken too long.” He kisses me.
I wish this could go on and on, and somehow we magically arrive in his bed. He controls this kiss, and it’s unrelenting. It makes me want to forget anyone other than Sean exists. I want this to be the prelude to something even more exciting.
“Daddy, when this is done, can we go home?”
“Home?”
I hear his hesitation. “You’ve been calling your place home. I guess I got used to it.”
“Our place is home. Yes. We can go there, cailín.”
“I’ll be back soon, nounours.”
I pull out the burner I didn’t use to call Justin or Colton and punch in Sean’s number. He answers as he taps the window. I lock the screen and put it in my pants pocket. My bodyguard walks me over to where Justin waits.
He pulls open his suit coat and turns. No guns holstered under his arms or at his lower back. He pulls up his pant legs. No guns there either. I pull my pant legs tight and open my purse. I pull out the knife just enough for him to see the handle. He does the same for the two in his pants’ pockets.
We both open a door and go into the restaurant next to each other. We’re shown to a table that allows us both to have our backs to walls while still seeing the door and windows.
“Justin, please don’t do this. Even if you got me away from Sean, you know I’d never forgive you. You know your life would be forfeit to the O’Rourkes or me.”
“But he wouldn’t be with you.”
“Neither would you. I’d leave you, and you’d never find me. Do this, and I’ll send you a picture a week of me fucking someone who isn’t you. Someone I pick. Someone I want.”
“Nikki, don’t.”
“You know I would. I won’t be your Stockholm Syndrome submissive.”
“I’m not going to kidnap you.”
“But you want to take me away from where I want to be and the people I want to be with.”
“To protect you. So, you don’t love me. I can accept that. I’ve already had to. But I don’t have to accept you being with someone who’s likely to get you killed.”
“It’s not your decision to make. Just like you didn’t get to decide whether your mom stayed or left.”
I’m picking at a twenty-year-old scab.
“Don’t do that, Nik. That’s not fair.”
“But it’s the same. You didn’t get to decide whether your dad stayed or left Stuart to take care of you while he fucked half the women in the Caribbean.”
“Nikki.” His voice is getting testier.
“Justin, these aren’t your decisions. But you have to live with the outcome. I know that means you’re alone, but Ewan and Colt are there.”
“Don’t be a bitch.”
“Justin, follow through with this, and you’ll do more than sign your death warrant. The O’Rourkes won’t let this go as some loner who acted without his boss’s permission. You go after one, you go after them all. One Bostonian goes after them, they’ll blame all Bostonians. You will start a war. Ewan won’t support you. If you made it out of New York, he’d turn you over the moment you arrived in Boston.”
“Ewan won’t come near me while you’re with me.”
“Justin, you know I won’t go willingly. If an O’Rourke doesn’t stop you, I’ll do it myself. Unless you have someone to help you, you’re a failure before it starts. Who’s going to side with you, knowing they’ll be losers?”
His hands are in fists, and his knuckles are white. I have to ease off. I’ve scrubbed off the scabs, and his festering wounds of abandonment are fresh all over again.
“The O’Rourkes aren’t shit in this city anymore. That’s why you’re more likely to wind up arrested or dead than have some Disney happily ever after. No one respects them. They’re shit under every other syndicates’ shoes.”
“I don’t know about that. They look like they’re doing just fine.”
“Really? Then how’d I get a bratva guy to work for me so easily? He wouldn’t have gone near Sean if he didn’t think he could report back to Maks with a win.”
“But he didn’t report back with a win. He’s dead. Sean killed him. That looks like an O’Rourke win to me, and a bratva big fat fail. Do you really think Maks is going to work with you again if you already failed once?”
“Maks didn’t work with me. I told you Mikhail worked for me. Me.”
Short of pounding his finger into his chest, he couldn’t puff up more.
“Okay. You poached a bratva guy. Who told you to look for Lucy? There’s no way you just stumbled upon a woman who happened to be involved with Sean not that long ago. Who made her your mark?”
“You don’t need to know that.”
“But I do. You want me to believe it’s safer to be with you than with Sean? To my ear, it’s going to piss the bratva off when they find out you hired one of their guys. Then the guy got himself killed by the mob boss’s cousin. Maybe you’re not working with Maks if you think this is still moving forward. Albanians? Mexicans? Polish? There are plenty to pick from, but the list isn’t endless. We can play twenty questions, or you can tell me, so I don’t nag.”
“Besides the bratva, there are only two other families who matter in this city. The O’Rourkes aren’t one of them.”
“The Diazes and Mancinellis. This is about Enrique getting pissed I canceled my meeting with Pablo. He wanted the chance to dick Ewan over in whatever deal I was supposed to make. He’s butt hurt because I chose Sean over having a pointless conversation with his nephew.”
“No.”
“So, Pablo’s the butt hurt one? He was a little pissed when Sean and I ran into him the other day.”
“Your brother wanted you at that meeting to distract you from the one Colt had across town.”
What the hell? Ewan went to Baltimore, and Colt was here? No.
“Justin.” I flash my gaze to the ceiling and back to him as I sigh. Fucking idiot. “You’re lying.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You clench your jaw with the last word of any lie. You’ve done it since we were kids. Colt wasn’t here. You were. You told Ewan you volunteered to guard me. You were at the restaurant when I had lunch with Sean. But you weren’t at my meeting with Nishida. You had your own meeting. Salvatore?”
His left thumb just rubbed between his first and second knuckle of his index finger. I’m on the right track, but not quite.
“The underboss?” Wish I could remember his name.
He says nothing, but he doesn’t have to.
“Bingo. The don’s nephew.”
“What?”
“You rubbed your finger, which told me I was close. When you cracked your knuckle, I knew I got it right. Did he act alone?”
“You’re barking up the wrong tree, Nik.”
“Justin, I’m the only person you have who knows you as well as your know yourself. Everyone else is gone. Ewan and Colt never cared enough about you to learn your tells. I did. I did it to protect you against them when they’d pick on you. It kept you from losing your shit. I know when you’re lying and when you’re hiding a truth someone is way too close to. Did the underboss work alone?”
“Nik, stay out of this.”
“Stay out? You dragged me into it kicking and screaming. Does Salvatore know?”
He glares at me.
“Fine. Don’t tell me. But when this inevitably fails, which it will, they’ll leave your ass out to dry. You refuse to believe me when I say the O’Rourkes will not let you live. If you fail, the Mancinellis will kill you. Hell, even if you succeed, the moment you got into bed with them, you picked the first syndicate to get in line to kill you. The O’Rourkes, the Mancinellis, the Kutsenkos. Have you done anything to piss off the Diazes yet? Or is that tomorrow’s epic fuck-up?”
“Fuck you.”
“Been there, done that, didn’t want the t-shirt. If, by some psychedelic stretch of the imagination you got me to leave with you, and somehow the O’Rourkes didn’t get to you, I deserve to know who’s likely to make me a casualty of war. The Mancinelli underboss and who else?”
“His capo di tutti capi.”
“Fancy. Your Italian isn’t that great. You can just call the guy capo dei capi. Still means boss of bosses. Who’s the third in command in the Mancinellis? There are as many of them as there are O’Rourkes.”
“Luca’s the underboss, and Marco’s the capo dei capi.”
“They set this up? They targeted me to get to Sean?”
“No. You weren’t the target. You were the distraction.”
“Convenient. Justin, we’re done. I don’t want to see you or talk to you again. You’re not who I thought you were. You’re so much less. We could have remained friends, and now the only people you have are Ewan and Colt.”
“You’re going to abandon me when all I wanted was to protect you.”
I’m pouring salt, lemon, and vinegar in this wound.
“Yes. I don’t want you. I want Sean.”
His fist slams on the table. I see my guard shift from the corner of my eye. He has a straight line of fire now. I’m sure Sean’s getting out of the car if he heard the table rattle.
“Justin, we could have remained friends for the rest of our lives. You’ve been a great one and an excellent bodyguard. But you went too far. You overstepped. It wasn’t your place as just a bodyguard to tell the boss’s sister who she can and can’t be with. You ended this, not me. You pushed me away. You did this.”
The vein in his temple pulses. I know what’s coming. I slide out of my seat as he reaches for me. His fingers graze my wrist. I shoot my guard a glare that tells him not to intervene.
“Nikki, don’t walk away from me.”
I keep going. I get to the door, and I can see Sean getting out of the car. Fuck. Not yet. I push through the doors without facing Sean. Justin grabs my wrist, but I don’t stop walking. He tries to pull me to a stop, so I grab his pinky and pull back on it, breaking his hold. I rush to the alley a couple hundred feet away. I fish into my purse and grab my knife. I flip it open because I know what’s coming. He can’t see me, but I put the handle between my teeth.
His hand goes to my hair and grabs a handful. I reach back, clasp his wrist with both hands, and twist my body down and behind him. I push his arm up his back and grab my knife from between my teeth. The blade goes to his kidney.
“You cunt. Fucking whore. You?—”
Sean’s fist crashes into Justin’s jaw, and the force pushes Justin back into me. I can’t keep my balance. Someone behind me catches me as I lurch backwards. I let go of Justin, my knife tumbling to the ground. As he falls past me, I see blood pooling in his mouth. He spits toward me, and a tooth goes with the glob of blood. Before he lands, Sean’s shoe kicks upward beneath his chin. Justin’s head snaps back before he hits the ground.
“You all right, Nikki?”
It’s Seamus. I nod as he steadies me.
Dillan and Shane grab Justin and haul him to his feet as a van backs into the alley. Cormac gets out and holds the two doors open. I guess Finn’s driving. I watch Seamus pull on a rubber glove before he grabs the tooth Sean knocked out. He has a bottle of what smells like bleach. He turns the nozzle and sprays it anywhere Justin’s DNA might have touched the ground. He pulls the glove off with the tooth still in it, and Cormac hands him a plastic bag. The glove and the bleach go into it.
From me entering the alley to me walking out was maybe five minutes, if that. Then I’m back in the town car and on Sean’s lap again.
“Two spankings in one day, little one. Your arse is going to burn tonight.”