Page 10 of Alfie: Part One

“No.” At least he was firm on that. “Not for a second. And I’ll convince him too. But this changes shit whether you like it or not. You have a big brother who’s the boss in Chicago right this second. You’re very close to the top.”

I’d heard of him too, of course. Liam Murray.

“Furthermore, we need fresh blood,” Kellan said. He gestured for me to follow him, so I took another swig of my beer and assumed I was leaving. “I’d actually like to have you by my side at work.” He raised his voice so the music didn’t drown itout. “We have too many youngsters making snap decisions that land them in prison.”

“What do you mean?”

He waited to respond until we were outside, and he walked a few paces to get away from the smokers near the entrance.

“You know about Liam, I take it,” he said.

“Most of the higher-ups have their own Wikipedia pages. What do you think?”

He chuckled. “Right. You’ve heard about Alec and Nessa too, then?”

Not from Wikipedia but from Kellan himself.

“I know who they are.” Liam’s younger siblings. Not mine.

He nodded once and pulled out his phone. “Well, Alec pulled some shit in an attempt to impress Finn and Liam, and now he’s gonna serve five years for it.”

“Jesus. You really do recruit ’em young.”

He snorted as he texted someone. “He’s over eighteen, and nobody needed to recruit that little gobshite. He’s been itching to be initiated since he was thirteen.” He peered down the busy street and squinted at something. “My ride’s here.” He glanced back at me. “Cancel my ten forty-five, yeah? Reschedule to next week.”

“No problem. But are we good?” I had to know.

He smirked and clapped me on the shoulder. “You’re the right person to come forward as one of presumably dozens of John’s side-piece kids. My hope is to get you a better position, and I think Finn will agree with me. Our syndicate is at peace for the first time in decades, and we won’t waste that. You’re an asset, mate.”

Fuck, that was a relief. I took a deep breath and nodded.

Maybe this could work out after all.

An SUV pulled up, and I spotted Max behind the wheel. How long had he been circling since Kellan told him to take a break?

“I’ll call you tomorrow or on Sunday,” Kellan repeated and opened the door. “We’re heading out to Finn’s for breakfast tomorrow, so depending on if I get him alone or not…”

“Okay. As long as I don’t wake up with cement shoes at some point. My kids kinda like me.”

He laughed and got in the car. “You think so little of us and still wanna get more involved?”

A step or two. I’d never be initiated. I had a feeling I knew what that entailed. Same level of terrible as littering.

CHAPTER 2

Alfie Scott

Kellan didn’t call on Saturday, so I had to distract myself some other way. I mean, I assumed he wasn’t gonna call. It was past lunch, and he’d mentioned they were going out to Finn’s for breakfast. How long could a breakfast last?

I spent an hour throwing out clothes I’d never wear again. I needed some nicer pants and a few shirts, and two outfits suitable for church, and that was it. The rest could go. Leaving me with the freedom of jeans, cargo shorts, tees, Henleys, and hoodies. Much better.

Workout clothes too. I pulled on a pair of basketball shorts and grabbed a tee, and then I went out for a run.

AirPods inserted, I went to scroll a playlist or two when I noticed I had several messages from West. Honestly, I sucked at checking my phone, and I mostly kept track on my work phone when I didn’t have the kids.

Fuck my life.

I stood right there on the stoop in the blistering heat and reluctantly opened the messages.

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