Page 75 of Mob Saint

I confronted him when he got home. I showed him the photos and told him I found the building. He was livid that I risked going anywhere near the place. He called Keith and put him on speakerphone. He made me stay quiet while he walked through everything that happened at the strip club, and Keith confirmed it all. Yes, he’d put the money in her g string, and yes, she’d straddled his lap. But no, he hadn’t gotten a lap dance. Aaron slipped her a note to take to her boyfriend. Some guy who was running drugs for them. Then he acted like he changed his mind.

He worded it so Keith admitted Aaron refused the lap dance idea before they even got to the club and that Keith threatened to record himself fucking the woman and send it to me, saying it was Aaron. They had a similar build, but I’d know Aaron’s body from anyone else’s even if I were blind. We were together for six years. He had a light birthmark just below his left shoulder blade, so I would have known from that alone.

Aaron took a baseball bat to Keith’s vintage Coupe de Ville. Smashed the headlights, taillights, front windshield, rear windshield, and both side view mirrors. After the beating to his body and the beating to his car, Keith never claimed Aaron cheated again. For all his faults, unfaithfulness wasn’t something Aaron would ever commit.

“Come, mo stóirín. Let’s go home.”

Seamus takes my hand and leads me to the front door. The guns I saw on his lap when I walked in are back in his waistband, and he’s carrying his own gun. My dad follows us out. No one says anything until we get to the car. Then my dad engulfs me in a hug that leaves me struggling to breathe. But it’s the second-best hug in the world. Only Seamus has ever surpassed my dad’s hugs when it comes to feeling safe. Even Aaron’s didn’t reassure me the way Seamus’s and Dad’s do.

“I am so sorry all of this happened. I could never get any of them to tell me why they gave you a hard time. I never guessed the extent of what they said to you. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What could you do? You work for Gareth, not the other way around. You’ve been like an uncle to him, and you’re Vince’s brother, but I never trusted your life with either of them. I was scared if I told you anything, they’d take it out on you. I know you can protect yourself in a fight, but there were other ways they could punish you. I didn’t think I could risk it. I love you.”

“Aw, nugget. I love you, too. I pray you never think you have to protect me. It will always be the other way around. Come to me the moment you think you might need me. We’ll sort whatever it is out together. No one and nothing mean more to me than you. You’re my one and only.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

I know he means this shit, but he also means Seamus. If things don’t work out with him, my dad thinks I might need him to keep me safe. I don’t want him to question my relationship with Seamus.

I pull back.

“I know you’ll always put me first. It’s why I didn’t go to you. But I know I’m where I belong now. I know I’ve never been safer than I am now.”

I look up at the bear of a man who’s been my champion since I was born. He and my mom haven’t always been perfect parents, but they’ve tried their hardest. I know they both love me more than anything. It’s what kept me from acting on the darkest days of my life. I know this must be excruciating for him to discover.

“If that ever changes…” He looks past me at Seamus. I don’t know what Seamus does, but my dad nods.

“Dad, whatever you’re thinking, don’t do it. Please, just leave this alone, at least for now. Don’t stir things up with them. We have enough to deal with right now. I don’t want Gareth’s ego to lead him. He’ll do something to you if you test him.”

“I know. I won’t. But he and I are going to talk somewhere I’m certain no one will hear.”

I don’t know if that means the place or somewhere else. I won’t ask. I don’t want to know what he’ll say. I give him another squeeze, then step back to Seamus’s open arms. His solid wall of muscle presses against my back as his arms wrap around my waist. I rest my hands on his forearm. It’s like a force field just went up around me. I feel untouchable. I lean back into him, my head resting against his chest. I close my eyes for a moment and exhale. He tightens his hold, and I just want to curl up on his lap again.

We watch my dad walk to his car. Todd’s already in the vehicle since it wasn’t a conversation he needed to overhear. A light breeze blows, and it feels refreshing. Revitalizing.

“Can we go home now, Daddy?”

Chapter Eighteen

Seamus

I wish home meant our place. But she already told me she wants to go to hers.

“Of course, cailín. Anything you want.”

I hold the car door open for her and slide in once she’s on her side. I drop the privacy glass just low enough to tell Todd where to take us. Then I shut it again. I lean forward and press the latch to open the drawer beneath the seat. You’d never know it was there if you didn’t already know where to look. I put the three guns in it and snap it shut. Tiera’s watching me, and I’m not sure what she needs. I know what I need. I put my hands on her waist, but I don’t move her. Not until she nods.

Then she’s on my lap, and I can finally breathe easier.

“Shay, are you angry with me?”

“What? No. Why would I be?”

“Because I pulled a gun on three mobsters.”

“It didn’t thrill me since I thought you’d shoot at least one of them. But once I knew you weren’t acting impetuously, I was more concerned about how they’d react.”

“None of them would have done shit with you and my dad there.”

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