Page 21 of My Irish Mafia King

“Either that or he flies off in a drunken rage and tries to get his own back. I’m worried he’s going to hurt my... friend Lucy.”

“Do you think that’s a possibility?”

“Do you think Uncle Frank isabovetargeting a woman, a civilian, to get to me?” Owen winces, and I say, “Exactly. It’s a risk I can’t take. If he hurts her...”

Flames flicker through me, a fierce fire, burning certainty that if he ever laid a single hand on her, afinger, even, I’d tear the Family down. I’d burn it to the ground. My grandfather and my father’s legacy... I’d turn it all to ash if he tried to hurt my lucky charm.

After leaving Owen’s house, I call my mother. “You need to take a trip to Ireland. I remember you were talking about it a couple of weeks ago. You and Ellie need to go.”

“What on earth for?”

“Uncle Frank has crossed the line. He’s forced me to become involved in the Family... there may be a war, Mom. Please, don’t fight me on this. I need to focus, and I won’t be able to do that if you’re in the city.”

“Killian...”

“Mom,” I snap. “Do you know what I’m doing tonight? I’m driving to a safe house run by a security agency I’ve tasked with reuniting an innocent woman, a trafficking victim, with her family.”

“Trafficking...” Mom’s voice trembles. “What’s going on?”

“Like I said – war. When you were the mafia queen, you told me you became good at turning a blind eye, at doing what was necessary without asking questions. You granted that courtesy to Dad. Please do the same for me. I don’t want to scare you or Ellie, but this is bad.”

“Oh, Killian. I’ll make arrangements. We can be on a flight tonight. Ellie has been keen for another trip, anyway. But what about you?”

“I need to stay here. Somebody needs to clean this Family up. Thank you for not arguing, Mom. I love you.”

“I love you too, son. Be safe.”

I’ll try. But I can’t say that to Mom, she’s already lost one loved one. “I will.”

Hanging up, I shoot Ronan a text, asking if Lucy is okay. He replies she is. She and her friend are still talking in her bedroom.

I start the engine, heading out of the city, part of me wishing I could take Lucy and leave for good... not that she’d want to come with me now.

Nine

LUCY

“Are you going to physically stop me from opening the bakery?” I challenge Ronan the next morning.

“No, of course not, but?—”

“Then I’m opening,” I snap. “I haven’t worked this hard for this long to let the mob beat me down. Shane has been trying to break me for months, and I haven’t let him. I haven’t let my customers see the fear or the pain or any of it, and I will not start now. Are we clear?”

Before waiting for an answer, I walk downstairs, leaving the apartment behind and letting that work mode fall over me. It’s time to focus. It’s time to forget about everything else. Before Mom passed, I promised her I’d make The Celtic Crust a success.

I unlock the front door and flip theclosedsign toopen. A moment later, a familiar figure walks across the street. My belly goes tight and tingly, like it always does when he approaches, but it’s for different reasons this time. Killian wears a shirt, sleeves rolled up, faded blue jeans, despite the cold.

When he pushes the door open, I take a step back. He stops. “I will not hurt you.”

“I never said you were.”

He runs a hand through his light blonde hair, seeming on edge. Too much caffeine and not enough sleep, maybe. “You didn’t have to. You’re looking at me like I’m some kind of animal.”

“Can you blame me?”

“That’s fair,” he grunts. “But I’m not here to justify myself. I’m here to tell you... your trip to Ireland is coming sooner than you thought. Today, in fact. You’ll get a first-class ticket, all the excursions you want, all the museums and the nature walks and?—”

“No,” I cut in.

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