Page 122 of Velvet Chains
“More important to protect her than to please me.” Tristan’s tone was sardonic, but his expression was unreadable. “And yet you seem convinced the two are mutually exclusive. As if protecting what’soursmeans going it alone.”
I didn’t say anything to that—because…no, that hadn’t occurred to me.
That he had as much of a vested interest in Rosie as I did, because she was our blood. She was aCallahan.
“Kieran,” Tristan said, “we have blood on our hands. We always will…but Boston? It’s ours. The city bends to us, not the other way around. If you think you’re keeping her safe by pulling at the heartstrings of a resentful DA one day and shunning us the next, then I don’t think you understand your own family.”
“You could hurt her. That wouldn’t keep her safe.”
His jaw tightened. “I would never hurt our family. I would never hurt a child in our family.”
Tristan’s gaze cut to Liam, then back to me. “Did you know? How long?”
“Not long,” Liam said, and I was surprised at how quickly he came to my defense. “Just a few weeks, months. I don’t know. He wasn’t trying to play you. He was trying to figure out what to do.”
“And Marquez? How long has she known?”
“From the beginning,” I said. “She knew but I wasn’t answering her calls. I’d cut her off…because it was back when you were under investigation, Tristan. They were watching everything. Adriana was pregnant, and you told me to keep my head down, and I fucking did…and I missed the first eight years of my daughter’s life because of it.”
Tristan exhaled—then reached out and clasped my shoulder, squeezing tight. “I’m sorry for that, lad.”
I just stared. Couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Then he took a deep breath, glancing to Liam, then back to me. “I think it’s time we stop treating your little indiscretion like an asset liability and start factoring her in.”
“Factoring her in how?” I muttered. “I’ll tell you what I told Liam. If anything happens to her or her mother—”
“You’re going to lose your shit? Yeah, I don’t doubt that’s true.”
“Then trust me.”
“I do,” Tristan said. “That’s why I’m standing here. That’s why I haven’t told you to go fuck yourself like I’d tell anyone else. She’s a Callahan. You’re a Callahan. But this only works if you quit keeping secrets, Kieran.”
“They’re not secrets,” I said. “They’re fucking survival tactics.”
“Pull your head out of your arse,” Liam said, joining us. “Or someone else will.”
“I can’t do both, you know,” I replied. “Keep Tristan in the loop and keep her safe.”
“You know, I’m offended. I might give you a lot of shit, but I’ve kept you alive for a long time. I’ve kept all of us alive for a long time. I can do it for your daughter, too. Watch me,” Tristan said, his voice solemn.
“Yeah, watch you,” I said bitterly, trying and failing to keep the scorn out of my voice. “Then what? When do you decide it’s too risky? A month from now? Two months from now? When I try to reach out to her mother and she files harassment charges? You really think I trust you to not make any choice that will keep usout of cuffs? You think I trust anyone in this fucking family to not hedge?”
“That’s not fair,” Liam said. “The lines are just so crossed. We wouldn’t hedge. Why do you think we’re talking to you instead of just…shooting you?”
That was a little sweet. Fucked up, but sweet. I looked at Tristan and he smiled.
“Alright,” I said, looking at both of them. “Fine. You want me to tell you everything?”
“Yes,” Liam said. “That’s exactly what we want.”
“Then here it is: I don’t know what she’s going to do. I don’t know if she’s going to walk away or talk to the feds or wake up one morning and decide civil unions are the best way to ride out the fucking apocalypse. I have no fucking clue, because for the first time in my life, I am not calling the shots. And that scares the shit out of me.”
Tristan cocked his head. “You can bury her with this,” he said. “A DA having an affair baby with a mob boss…I mean, it’s really stupid of you, but exceptionally juicy.”
“No,” I said. “She’s not coming for us anymore, either. Don’t you get it? The whole Callahan thing will just ring like an empty campaign promise, because now we also have enough to destroy her for good. It might be chaotic, but it’s good old-fashioned mutually assured destruction.”
Tristan raised a brow. There weren’t many surprises left for him in this business, but the thought of his brother’s dramatic self-destruction seemed to entertain him. “So you think you can keep this over her head long enough to keep the feds off us?”
