Page 87 of Mob Princess

“What’s the prognosis?”

I guess I should have asked that.

“Uncertain.”

Mirror faces observe me. It’s disconcerting. Purely by appearance, you truly cannot tell them apart except for the freckle on Sean’s throat. But the expression in his eyes screams who he is. It’s tender and apprehensive for me. All the while, unwavering in his reliability. This is exactly what I told him I need. He’d be like this even if I hadn’t.

“Is his mom with him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Dillan didn’t call their doctor, so who did?”

“Colt. He was already at the bar. He nearly put a bullet through Dillan’s head until he realized Dillan’s hands on Ewan’s chest were keeping him alive. A private ambulance showed up.”

I speak up. “David’s. He’s a medical mogul. He’s a cardiothoracic surgeon—lucky for Ewan—who invests millions in biotech and pharmaceutical companies. He rents out the clinic space during the day and owns the ambulance service.”

“He specialize in that because of your family’s line of work?” Shane looks mildly amused.

“Pretty much. That, and he’s a greedy fucker. The type to steal lunch money.”

I couldn’t stand him as a kid. He used to pick on me until Ewan would make him back off. He’d ice David out of whatever the other kids were doing and made sure I was included. Where did that brother go? Oh, yeah. He turned sixteen and became a mobster and a douche.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out, not surprised to see Colt. I hold it up, so Sean and Shane can see. Sean nods. I put my finger over my lips.

“Hello.”

“Nik, it’s me.”

“I know. You’re lucky I answered.”

“Your brother’s been?—”

“Shot. I know.”

“Did those motherfuckers?—”

“Sean was shot yesterday. No, this wasn’t retaliation. Otherwise, Dillan wouldn’t have helped.”

“Were you there? Did you get hurt? Where are you now?”

“Your concern is entertaining.”

“Nikki, don’t be like that.”

“Like what? I’ve already seen this episode of this pathetic soap opera. I’m dealing with something else right now. If he dies, text me.”

“Are you really that coldhearted? You didn’t use to be like this.”

“You mean before you dated me, lied about your feelings, proposed to me, let me accept your offer, then didn’t have the decency to look ashamed when I walked in on that conversation. Too bad whoever this was didn’t shoot you too.”

“Nikki, I cared about you. I would have been a good husband, and you never should have heard what you did. It was out of context.”

“Bullshit. You’d be no better than Ewan is with Ellie. Except there’d probably be fifty Ellies during our lifetime. You made your thoughts about me very clear in front of Ewan, Uncle Riley, and all your friends. Don’t worry. Your conscience is clear, isn’t it? You don’t have to feel like a pedophile fucking a body that looks like a ten-year-old’s. You can go to strip clubs purely because you love paying to see tits and asses, not because you’d miss coming home to them. Maybe I was the reason you never stayed hard enough long enough. Maybe I wasn’t. But the one thing I never told you before we got together was that I belonged to two BDSM clubs. Why do you think things changed when we became exclusive? You sucked in bed, and I was stuck only fucking you. I was going to live with that because I thought I loved you. I loved the idea of being loved and accepted into the O’Malleys finally. The day we broke up, I went to the club I hadn’t canceled my membership with and had a fivesome. I needed that many cocks to make up for the one you have. You couldn’t fuck your way out of a whorehouse. Like I said, text me if my brother dies.”

I hang up. There’s nothing but stunned silence as the twins stare at me.

“The last bit was exaggerated. There weren’t four.” There were three.

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