Page 204 of Forced Vows

"My brother despised Gabriel and thought compromise was for the weak."

"Why the fuck haven't you investigated the AOG for your brother's death?" I know he hasn't because he would have found what I did and already killed the son-of-a-bitch.

Brogan Shaughnessy is ruthlessly mercenary, but his loyalty to his family and mob is unbreakable.

Pain too acute to deny crosses Brogan's features "It wasn't the AOG."

"It wasn't the fucking Bonannos." Brogan has to know that too because again, if he blamed the mafia, he would have been waging war the past six years, not building bridges.

"I know that."

"Then why not investigate the AOG? They had the most to gain by Derry's death." Except the man in front of me.

I know it wasn't him, unless he was in on it with Gabriel.

He must see the suspicion on my face. "It wasn't me. I loved my brother and I have always been loyal to this mob."

I don't say anything. Silence is a better form of interrogation than questions with a certain type of man.

Either he'll tell me, or he won't.

"I was going to take this with me to my grave," he says after a long beat. "But I know it wasn't Gabriel. Or me."

"You sound certain." Of something entirely incorrect.

"Trust me, I would much rather believe Gabriel Lion ordered the hit than live with the truth."

"And that truth is?" What lie has he accepted as fact?

"My father took the hit out on himself. He wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. And it ended up costing him his oldest son. It broke him."

"Why do you think that?" Yes, Róise and I floated that idea, but why would his own son be so sure of it?

"He told me, at the end… Da said it was all his fault."

"And you took that to mean he'd taken out a hit on himself that went wrong?"

Brogan stares at me. "What else could it mean?"

"I don't know, maybe that he realized if he hadn't told Gabrieal about Derry's plans to cut ties with the AOG, or had cut ties himself, the bastard wouldn't have had a reason to kill your brother."

"If my da had wanted me to cut ties with the AOG, he would have told me. And if he believed Gabriel was responsible for Derry's death, he would have."

"You sure about that? What would you have done if your dad told you the hitter was AOG?"

"Gone to war." No hesitation.

I nod. "Maybe he thought losing one son was enough."

The AOG are paranoid religious fanatics, but they are also a formidable force made up of military trained soldiers. Would the Shaughnessy mob have won that war?

Without a doubt, but not without casualties.

"Your father made peace with the Bonanno don only weeks after your sister-in-law's death," I point out.

"He did what he thought was best for the mob."

I shrug. "Sometimes what's best for the syndicate isn't what's best for your family."

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