Page 26 of King of the Cage

“Your sister wasn’t hurt, so why bother?” Da asked.

I stared at him. “Because there are some lines that shouldn’t be crossed… Whether you agree with me or not, we both know it’s true.”

Da shook his head again. “This is your problem, Bran, and it always has been. Stay in your lane.”

I shookmyhead. “No. Not this time,” I argued with him.

“It’s not any time with you,” Da muttered darkly.

After a while, he shrugged, rolling his shoulders back and cracking his soft-sounding bones. “I’ll trust you to take care of that. It’s not the only reason I’m here.”

Da seemed to shrug off the conversation about the drugs. I’d hardly expect more, honestly. Colm O’Connor was certainly notmorally against drug dealing and was a businessman at heart. The only thing that would bother him was if it affected his bottom line.

“You trust me to take care of it?” I echoed. “Call the presses… it’s a big day for little old me.”

Da’s expression melted into annoyance. “Well, taking care of your sister is one of the only things you’ve never fucked up… until tonight. I trust you’ll do what you have to, to make it right. You never did like to see her cry.” He said the last with a tone that implied that caring if Quinn shed tears was evidence of my irreparable weakness.

“Besides,” he continued, “I hear you were causing trouble at the wedding last night?” Da wheezed. His voice was thin nowadays, thanks to the hole in his throat, left by throat surgery.

“It was a friendly little round. The Italians signed off on it. It was playful.” I shrugged.

“You broke the younger Sepriano’s nose in three places,” Da muttered.

“Yeah, and I wanted to break his neck, so he got off lightly.”

Da tutted and then coughed. “Still making things hard, at your age. Sepriano is an all right kid, working his way up in city council, and could be useful one day.”

“He’s a cunt,” I said simply.

I waited as my dad spluttered out a chuckle and then gathered his breath.

“Then he’ll fit right in in politics. I didn’t come here just to talk about him. I have an ask of you.”

“An ask? It’s been a while since you asked anything of me at all,” I pointed out.

“Then you can understand how important this is to me. This brewing tension with the De Sanctis family is no good for us. It’s bad business all around.”

“And?”

“In my day, there were only a few ways to settle bad blood. First was an all-out war, and like I’ve always said, that’s bad business. The second? Marriage.”

I stared at my dad for a beat. Fucking marriage again. As soon as I became an adult, my da had been looking for a way to give my existence meaning in the family. His chosen method was to marry me off to some unsuspecting mobster’s daughter, to consolidate O’Connor power. My refusal to entertain such a marriage, and my inability to stay the fuck out of prison, had messed with his plans.

“So, a De Sanctis family marriage? Renato, while handsome as sin, is taken, sadly — that was his wedding I was at — and besides, I don’t think I’m his type.”

Da sighed, adjusting the oxygen tubes in his nose.

“Don’t be an eejit. It’s high time you tied the knot and we had some family heirs. Quinn’s too young. Killian’s locked up, and Ronan, well, he’s not blood. It’s down to you. Your marriage will end the tensions between the De Sanctises and O’Connors. Finally, a contribution to the family that you can actually manage.”

“I’m not marriage material. I’ve told you that before. I’m not interested,” I said stiffly.

I’d thought my da had dragged his old bones here at daybreak to talk about Quinn. I hadn’t expected to be blindsided by my father pushing an arranged marriage. More fool me. I should have guessed that if Da wanted to see me, it meant trouble.

Da watched me for a long while and then shrugged. “Okay, then. I know I said Quinn is young, but she’s not that young. I’ll find a powerful player for her to marry… maybe the Turks, that would give us a decent power boost against the Italians. A good husband will keep her out of trouble. No more sneaking off to parties and escaping her bodyguard.”

“You wouldn’t. You dote on that girl. She’s the only thing left in your cold, dead heart. You’re trying to manipulate me, and it won’t work. You won’t force her to do anything.”

I sat back, giving off the picture of perfect ease, but inside I was tense. I wasn’t nearly as confident as I made out.

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