Page 78 of Blood Money

“People from the McConnell family are trying to finish their vendetta against Sharps by coming after Liam. I will not allow it.”

I waited. There was still no response. This time I did glance at my brother. His eyes were down, and he’d clasped his hands in front of him. I could see the tension in his shoulders. I was sure mine looked the same.

“Are you finished?” My father finally asked.

“Yes, sir.” I wasn’t sure what else to say. I clasped my hands like Vito had, fearing they would start shaking.

“Do you actually think you’ve been hiding all of this from me?”

Oh fuck. My head flew up, and my eyes met my father’s.

“Do you honestly think I’m so unaware of what is going on with my sons or with the businesses we oversee? Do you believe I wouldn’t notice the attention you’ve been paying this young man, the way you protected him from anyone else at the club, asserting he is your property?”

“It’s my job to keep our people safe.”

My father waved that off. “He is our property until he retires his debt, but that doesn’t require you to meet him in a private room and fuck him until he can barely walk.”

I swallowed hard. There was no way I could deny what I’d done. I’ve been a fool. I should have known better than to think I could hide anything from Dom.

“Do you think that when my team begins an investigation into the background of one of our debtors, they don’t report their findings to me?”

I was going to have to have a talk with Crandall, not to mention one with Vito, who swore this was all private.

“Do you think I wasn’t curious when I saw that our people made a connection between Mr. O’Shaughnessy, his father, and the O’Keefes?”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“You should be. This should’ve been brought to me immediately, and you know the rules about clients.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We should hand the young man over to his family and let them deal with the problem.”

I squeezed my hands, letting my nails bite into my palms to keep myself from yelling at my father that this wasn’t how things would go down. “As I said, Liam is under my protection.”

“And you are under mine. I brought you into this family. You work for me, and you follow my rules.”

“Liam is mine.”

Vito glanced over at me, but I didn’t dare turn away from my father.

“Do you know why I made it a rule that you weren’t to get involved with a client?”

“Because you want us focused on business, not pleasure. You don’t want us off guard.”

“Yes and no.”

“But that’s what you—” Vito spoke for the first time, but a look from my father silenced him.

“Sometimes the easiest explanation is the most useful. Once you’re involved with a client, they have far more ability to manipulate you. The worst possible way they can do that is to make you fall for them.” He held my gaze as he spoke. “Because once you think you love someone, you’ll do anything for them. Even if it involves betraying the family.”

“No, sir. I wouldn’t betray our family.”

“Then let him go.”

I’d never wanted to punch my father as much as I did then. “There’s no reason that keeping him goes against our family. Plenty of family members have made alliances with other families or with people not involved in our line of business at all.”

“Alliances? Are you proposing to marry this man?”

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