Page 40 of The Best of Us

With Jamie’s permission, Colin stood but rejected my hand.

“Take him in the hall, will you?” I asked Hudson after we’d navigated the room littered with injured, groaning men.

I opened the door and waited for them to step out before turning my attention toward Jamie.

“Tell your boss who I am. And if he doesn’t know me, make it clear to him his life will be much better if it stays that way.”

Jamie stood quietly alongside Daniel, his gaze warily shifting between the Sicilian in charge and me.

Fear, a whole fuck load of it, filled Daniel’s eyes when they met mine.

Yeah, I’ll be coming after you. You better believe it.I let him read the silent warning in my stare before shifting my focus back to Jamie, since he was the one in charge of him. “Stay away from Colin and his mother.” I tucked my 9mm at my back, concealing it beneath my shirt. “If I even find out you’re breathing within a three-block radius of them, I will come for you. And I will kill you. Do you understand me?”

Jamie shoved his hands into his pockets, forehead creasing. His Irish accent cut through the tension as he bit out, “I suggest you tell that kid to stay away from me fuckin’ sister, then.”

Chapter11

Constantine

Colin stoppedat the top of the stairs, defiant arms boldly crossing his chest.

“Are you hurt? Bleeding?” I snapped out.

“No.”

“Then why the hell are you not moving?”

“I heard what he said to you, and I’m not leaving without Lennon.”

I slapped a hand to the banister, my forty-plus-year-old eyes battling the strobe lights to try and locate this girl he cared about.

I knew he’d never leave without her. I also didn’t obey threats by gangsters, so fuck what Jamie had said. “If she wants to come, then fine.”

“But Jamie?—”

“Did you hear me agree with him?”

I got up in his personal space, my adrenaline still going. He had no clue how close he’d been to winding up in the hospital—or worse, a body bag—had I not shown up when I did. That reality hadn’t truly set in for me yet, either.

“What in theJohn Wickwas that back there?” He flung his arms out wide with the question, so I grabbed hold of one of them.

Free will didn’t apply for him like it would for Lennon. He was coming with me whether he liked it or not.

I glanced back to see two of the Sicilians hovering, waiting for us to leave. “Come on. Move.” I took the first step, giving him no choice but to walk. “Where’s Izzy?” I asked Hudson who had our six, staying close behind us.

“I told her to wait for us at the bar.”

“Take her out of here and grab our SUV. Wait for the two of us outside the entrance we came in,” I ordered.

He nodded and took off once we were on the first level.

Colin pulled free of my hold and rushed to get to his girlfriend. She met him halfway, and he pulled her into his arms, burying his face in her blonde hair at the side of her neck.

“Is she staying or coming with us?” I asked him, needing to break up their reunion.

She untangled herself from my son’s arms, and I couldn’t help but notice the Claddagh ring I had apparently bought on her ring finger. “What in the bleeden’ hell is going on?” she asked, boldly sizing me up.

Colin scrubbed his free hand over his face. “It’s complicated.”

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