Page 94 of Mob Bride

“I’ll be over in a couple of hours.”

“A couple hours? I don’t think they can wait that long to see their daughter.”

“I understand, but I don’t feel it’s safe to take Carrie anywhere any sooner than that. As much as I don’t want to cause Meredith and Rhys any extra worries, safety is more important to me. With our jammers, I’ll have her call your number, and they can talk. She can reassure them she’s still fine and safe here, then we’ll come over later.”

“That’s fair.”

“Anything else I need to know?”

“Nothing for sure, but there’s been more chatter at the safe house. They have some other people there who’re still keeping an eye on Bartlomiej. It’s going to be impossible for us to snag him and get him to the station for you.”

“Fine. That annoys me, but it doesn’t surprise me. I couldn’t get there anytime soon, anyway. But when you can grab him, do. I don’t care how long he has to wait for me.”

“We know. Shane, the feds’ll push this issue for as long as they can. You know you both can’t hide forever. The moment you leave your house during the day, they’ll see you, and they’ll pick you up. It’ll make Carys a virtual prisoner in your home because I know you won’t agree to her staying anywhere else.”

“She can stay somewhere else, but only if I’m with her.”

“Same difference. You need to give this some thought.”

I know what he means. He’s talking about this relationship and whether it’s worth protecting. I believe it is, but I don’t know how she feels about me. Hell, I’m uncertain how I feel about her. Obviously, I care a great deal, and I want to see a future with her, but there’s still so much we don’t know about each other. It’s too soon to be sure, so I’m not declaring feelings I may not have. Regardless, I’ll keep her safe.

“I’ll talk to Carrie about all of this.”

“I know. Just tossing it out there.”

“I appreciate it, little brother.”

I’m three minutes older. I’m certain he grabbed hold of my ankle and tried to get past me. Supposedly, he’s the patient one. But he always likes to get places first.

“You’re welcome. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Is breá liom tú.” I love you.

We speak at the same time. All three sets of parents insist we say that to each other any time we hang up the phone or leave each other in person. We don’t do it every single time, but we try to do it at least once a day for all of us. Nothing says fragility of life like being a mobster.

Cormac and I spend the next twenty minutes straightening up the living room and the kitchen. I want the place to look as normal as possible when Carrie comes upstairs. She’ll already be freaked out. I don’t want her to see the disaster the moment she comes upstairs.

“I’m going to go down and get her.”

“Okay. I’ll stay up here in the kitchen. I’ll make us all a cup of tea.

“Be sure to add a strong tipple of whiskey to them.”

We’re that Irish. A cup of tea can solve everything. And our whiskey isuisce beatha.Water of life.

I head to the safe room and open the door.

“Carrie.” I’m met with the leg of a chair raised over her shoulder like a bat. “What the feck did you do to my chair?”

It’s not so much an accusation as the thought tumbling out of my mouth in surprise. I glance over at the armchair and notice the screwdriver on the floor next to it.

“You didn’t think I would stay down here without some kind of weapon, did you? I believe this place is impenetrable, and I know no one could coerce anyone in your family into revealing me. But I still needed to feel like I was prepared for the worst-case scenario. This was the best I could do. If I could disable the person long enough to shut myself back in, I would.”

“You wouldn’t have tried to run?

“To what? More agents upstairs? No. That wouldn’t have done me any good. I just wanted to incapacitate them long enough to shut myself back in here.”

“That’s a good idea. Even though I rather liked that chair.”

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