Page 15 of Mob Saint

I left so disgusted it tempted me to quit the team. I find nothing fun about what happened, and I don’t want to be around people who think that was okay. No one else said anything to those women. They were silently complacent. It wasn’t shock that kept them quiet. None of them thought it worth sticking up for Tiera. I do a lot of shady fucking shite every day. I say things equally cruel to people when I’m interrogating—torturing—them. But I don’t do it out of spite. I don’t do it for no other reason than to be spiteful. I don’t do it to humiliate them in front of people they don’t know. To me, that makes what Stella and her friends did worlds apart from what I do.

Maybe I’m just rationalizing it all to myself, but it definitely doesn’t feel the same. It’s not that I’m absolving myself of my sins, but I feel justified. I wanted to call and check on her, but I don’t have her number. I know I could look it up, but contacting her without her offering me a way to is too stalkerish. I have no reason to talk to her as far as the trial is concerned. Not even with the insurance claim.

I won’t bring her up to Gareth to get her number or even her email. I don’t want to give him any more ammunition against us or her. I suspect he’s the one who’s hurt her. I wanted to demand she tell me everything about everyone who’s ever hurt her. I wanted to ride in with my armor and steed to defend her. It was visceral. But I restrained myself mostly because I didn’t want to scare her by letting her see just how angry I was—am. She suspects it, which I didn’t love. I thought I hid it better than that, but I guess not.

“Shay?”

I look over at Shane.

“Yeah.”

“You’re a total space cadet. Could you please pay attention? I’ve already repeated myself. Twice.”

“Sorry. I have a lot on my mind about an upcoming case.”

“Sure.” Shane doesn’t believe me.

I glance at Cormac. He doesn’t know the details, but he knows something happened two weeks ago. I cancelled my plans with Makayla because I just wasn’t in the mood to socialize. It wasn’t that I feared my temper getting the better of me. I just didn’t want to be around anyone. The whole thing’s bothered me more than I expected. I assume my brother told our cousins I’m into someone.

“I’ll pay attention. What’s up?”

“Gareth. He can’t take a hint. We still don’t know why he had a vested interest in fucking us over with the Mahon case. Why get involved?”

I consider that, and I don’t have a solid answer. But I suspect a possible explanation.

“I think it was as much about us as it was putting Tiernan in our crosshairs. He wanted her reputation to suffer, and he wanted to embarrass her. I don’t know why, but I’m certain he made her testify. Why else would he have someone—even a woman—testify on behalf of the government if she has any mob ties?”

The one thing all syndicates agree on is there are few crimes worse than betraying the organization and helping the government. It’s the ultimate sin, really. It’s a betrayal next to no one recovers from. They rarely live long enough to try. That’s part of the reason I keep thinking about Tiera—I was careful to say her real name just a moment ago. I’m worried about her physical safety. If I’d had the wherewithal, I would have followed her, so I would know where she lives. Then I could have sent guys to watch out for her. The background check returned an address in Trenton in her name and Aaron’s. Her social media went dark on the day of the accident. She hasn’t posted anything else anywhere. She’s not a ghost, but she’s definitely more difficult to find than you’d expect nowadays. The only place I know I could find her is at work. I could follow her from there or send guys to do it. I could call her there. But to what avail?

I’d feel better about her safety, so that would be something. But I can’t call her. What if she hangs up on me?

“Seamus!”

Fuck me.

“Sorry. I have another case coming up, and it’s running circles in my mind.”

I don’t make a habit of lying to my family. But I also don’t tell them everything that crosses my mind. From the looks on the guys’ faces, they don’t believe me. Cormac must have told them something.

“What do you need from me?” I try not to sound bitchy.

“My company can’t start the rebuild without the insurance settlement. It would look too suspicious if we did. We need to know what the hold-up is. I suspect it’s Gareth.” Shane explains, and I’m guessing it’s probably close to the third or fourth time.

I wait for my cousin to continue, but he says nothing. I look around the group again. My chin dips forward as my eyebrows rise as if to say, “well?”

“You know Tiernan now. Find out what’s taking so long.” Dillan speaks up, and I force myself not to scowl.

“We aren’t friends. We play on rival teams.”

“You know her better than any of us.”

My head whips around to look at my brother. The smile drops from his face, and he knows he’s gone too far. I’m not thin-skinned, so it’s not me I’m offended for. I don’t like what that implied about Tiera.

“I just meant you could ask her if you see her at another game in the next week or so.”

“I won’t. We’ve played her team, so I won’t see her again.”

“If you reached out to her company, could you use her as your point of contact?” Finn’s more diplomatic.

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