Page 124 of Mob Princess

“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 naïve, 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.

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