Page 53 of Alfie: Part Two

“I talked to Hanna—he’s gonna dig around,” Liam told Finn.

Finn nodded and took a sip of his coffee.

“Who’s Hanna?” I asked.

“Detective Reid Hanna,” Liam said. “We have mutual interests.”

Finn eyed me a little in his usual observant way. “Before we go any further—how you doin’?”

“Right this second, kinda numb,” I said. “I’m in and out of anger, apathy, and needing ice cream.”

He nodded again. “Alfie, I know you’re not technically a Son yet, but it’s not like there’s a ceremony waiting. You’re a Son for all intents and purposes, and we can’t have a member’s mother getting attacked without repercussions echoing throughout the city.”

“Okay, extra creamer for me today.” I swallowed hard and poured some more into my coffee.

Finn pressed forward and cleared his throat. “We’re gonna use what happened to your ma to set an example.”

“Truth is, we need it,” Liam went on. “This is a peacetime era, and it can make smaller outfits cocky when they haven’t seen us exert our authority in a minute.”

“Dumb minds and stupid short memories,” Finn noted.

“What do you wanna do?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about the message,” Finn replied. “What I need know is how far you wanna get involved. First of all—patience. Cases like this one… It can be five minutes till we track the motherfucker down, or it can be a year. It’s not gonna be a year. I’m just saying.”

I nodded in understanding.

“But once we have the guy…” He trailed off.

I took a breath, hearing West’s voice in my head. His warm, rich, soothing voice. His unwavering support and his caution. He wanted Mom’s attacker to suffer too, but he was reasonable enough to be careful and not want me to cross too many lines.

“I can’t pull any triggers,” I admitted. “It’s a nice fantasy, but when push comes to shove, I don’t think I have it in me to take a life.”

Finn inclined his head. “Nothing wrong about that. What about making him suffer?”

“Yeah, sign me up for that.” I lifted my mug and took a sip. I was definitely gonna wanna face that dickless wonder.

“In other words, we’re getting him alive.” Finn said that to Liam. “By the way, your man called my office this morning.”

I raised my brows. “Word?”

He nodded. “He wants to meet with one of my agents to put together a security package for your folks’ house. Including an escort to shadow your ma when she’s out.”

Fuck me sideways, wasn’t that just the sweetest shit ever. I swallowed hard, a little overwhelmed by how amazing he was.

“I don’t deserve him.” I eyed my left hand and wondered if it was too soon to propose.

“Join the club. I don’t deserve Emilia either,” Finn said. “Thing is, as a Son in the inner circle, you’re already entitled to this level of protection—but the way I see it… It might be agood thing for West to be in charge here. From what little I’ve observed, he needs to be useful, and this might help him feel closer to the operation without actually being involved.”

He wasn’t wrong.

“You’re weirdly sweet sometimes, Finn. Yeah, let him handle that,” I answered.

He shrugged. “I like West. He’s not like the other Main Line brats, and my old man’s spirits have lifted like the Eagles.”

“Go Birds.” I quirked a smirk.

Liam muttered into his coffee. “There are better teams.”

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