Chapter 26 #2
Smoke curled from a cigarette dangling from the lips of a very familiar face. Tattooed knuckles pulled it from his lips. Blue eyes met mine. Dread froze every muscle in my body.
“Devlin,” he said in greeting.
“Who the fuck is this?” Pain was ground into every syllable of Cian’s voice. He stood hunched over, body swaying, with his arm around my shoulders. His fingers dug into my skin.
I swallowed. No, this couldn’t be happening. I’d listened. I’d obeyed. I’d respected my exile. “This is Nik Alenin. Soto—Conrad’s right-hand man.”
Cian tried to straighten his posture, but he only managed a few inches with a grimace. “Why are you here?”
Nik’s gaze traveled up to the building behind us. He made a gesture to the men closest to him. “Go in and clean up the damage.”
The men murmured their assent and gave us a wide berth as they passed and disappeared through the front door.
My breathing stuttered. This couldn’t be happening now. Not when I had everything I’d ever wanted. Not when I was so close to home.
I gritted my teeth. “I followed your orders. I have not, and will not, return to Detroit. I haven’t contacted Conrad or Tav, and I have no intention of doing anything to harm them.”
Nik dropped his cigarette to the ground and stubbed it out with the toe of his boot. “A little defensive aren’t we, Devlin?”
“Don’t act innocent,” I snapped. “You don’t seem surprised to see me, so tell me why you’re here.” He’d seen me at my absolute lowest, and just being in his presence again made my skin crawl.
He leaned back against the van as if the vehicle belonged to him. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his leather jacket. The men around him were eerily silent. A rodent scuttled near the dumpster. A car horn blared in the distance. The city was waking.
Nik’s gaze settled on Cian, and panic flared in my chest. I tried to shield Cian from Nik’s view. “Don’t fucking look at him.”
The big Russian’s eyebrows rose. “Protective?”
“What the fuck do you want?” There was a fatigue to Cian’s tone. “If you want to kill us, get it over with. If not, we want to go home.”
We. Home.
“This is really fucking dramatic, Nik,” I said.
He smiled then, showing a row of white with one golden canine. “We got word you’d hooked with the O'Shea’s, and that the Bianchis had put out a hit on this one.” He pointed to Cian. “You’re bad luck, Dev.”
“Shut the fuck up,” Cian rasped. He pulled me back as if to stand between me and Nik, but he tripped on his bad leg and only succeeded in nearly sending us both to the ground. All we could do now was stand together, side-by-side, the walking wounded.
Nik’s gaze ping-ponged between the two of us, and his grin only got wider. “Interesting.”
I was going to lose it. “Nik—”
“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands, palms out.
“You taking out Bianchi is advantageous for us. He wasn’t cooperative with our plans for this area, and we hadn’t moved against him yet.
But you, Devlin.” He wagged a finger at me.
“You took care of the problem for us. So we’re going to take care of this problem for you.
We’ll clean up the club, pay off the police, and install a new crew in this territory who won’t retaliate against you for killing old man Bianchi. ”
I gripped Cian tightly. I hadn’t even let myself think about the cleanup and police and investigation. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch.”
“You’ll let us leave?”
Nik stepped aside and wiggled his fingers at the van. “All yours.”
I took a tentative step toward the van with Cian. I watched the men to see if this was a trick and if any of them drew their weapons, but most of them just looked bored. One yawned. Another picked lint off his pants.
I helped Cian into the passenger seat while he gritted his teeth through the pain. I kept an eye on Nik as I rounded the front of the van. As I opened the driver’s side door, Nik’s voice broke the silence. “You find what you’ve been looking for this whole time?” He jerked his chin toward Cian.
I turned my head. Nik watched me carefully as he rocked back and forth on his heels. The sun glinted in his eyes.
I swallowed. “I did.”
“I’ll tell Conrad.”
“He won’t give a fuck.” I slid into the driver’s seat and was about to slam the door when the roll of my gut made me pause.
I turned to Nik, who watched me. I knew I didn’t have the right to ask, but I did anyway.
“How are they? Con and Tav? Amara and…” I swallowed.
I didn’t deserve to even say my nephew’s name. “…Holden?”
Nik slowly blinked. I’d surprised him. I hadn’t thought it was possible to surprise him. “They’re all good. Happy.” His expression darkened in a challenge. “You didn’t break them, Walsh.”
And I gave the most truthful response I could. “Good.”
I had the door almost shut, when Nik spoke again. “They don’t forgive you. They never will.”
I inched the door back open to meet his eyes. “I don’t expect forgiveness. I hope they forget me.”
Then I slammed the car door shut.
When I turned the key in the ignition, I braced for the van to blow up like some cliche mafia movie. But the engine only rumbled to life. I pulled out of the alley, past a watchful Nik, past his men, and didn’t breathe until I was speeding out of the city limits.