Page 58 of Red Retaliation
The light accentuates the violet hues in her eyes and makes me feel strange. I take a small sip of the same whiskey I’ve nursed since arriving. I’d love to knock back a whole bottle, but I can’t afford to dull my senses. “We should think about leaving.”
“I thought you’d never suggest it,” she whispers.
“It must be very inconvenient attending afuneralthe day after your wedding!”
My head spins toward the gruff voice, and seeing the two men who accompanied Izzy Farrow, my heart sinks. I can guess who they are.
Any other day, I’d put this mouthy cunt in his place, but not today. Instead, I extend my hand. “I wouldn’t have missed this for anything. Your brother was one of the best.”
I stare at my ignored, unshaken hand before dropping it back to myside, fury for this man growing.
“Steve would still be here if it wasn’t forher.” The man jerks his head in Arianna’s direction.
The second brother places an equally meaty hand on his arm. “Joe, leave it!”
“Is this a new pastime of yours, lady? Getting hitched to any face you can dig your claws into?” Joe looms close to Arianna, who instinctively steps back. “I’ve seen the papers, as has everyone! A fucking measly week since your last old man pegged it! Do you Eyeties have no morals? Stick to your own greasy inbreds, rather than infiltrating us English!”
He then turns to me. “Or are you Irish? Fuck me! With a name like ‘Redmond’, perhaps you’re a mick?” Joe’s face morphs into an ugly sneer. “Either or - it ain’t important, but if she’d stuck to fucking her own, my brother would still be alive, not gunned down like an animal by her dirty fucking lot!”
Arianna pales, whereas I see red. “That’s enough!” I hiss. The fewer people who hear this altercation, the better. This goon isn’t shy in playing his face at top volume, but I won’t follow suit or pull rank unless I have to.
Keeping hold of Arianna’s hand, I move closer to the man whose name I now know to be Joe, my chest pressing against his as we face each other off. “Apologize to my wife and I’ll put your display of rudeness down to grief.”
“Apologize?” Joe sneers. “What the hell for? Speaking the fucking truth?”
“Joe!” the other brother hisses, tugging at his arm. “Steve wouldn’t want this. He thought the world of Red Bateman. He’s given Izzy that money and...”
“Yeah?” Joe barks. “Well, Red Bateman’s blood money might appease you and her, but it don’t appease me!” His finger shoots out to point an inch from Arianna’s eyes. “You might have a pretty face and a body worth fucking, but you’ll take everyone down with you, you will. You’re a Black Widow, make no mistake.”
Hearing Arianna’s soft yelp is enough to make me shelve my promise not to kick off at a funeral. Dropping her hand, I grab Joe Farrow by the lapels of his massive suit. “No onethinks about fucking my wife, apart fromme, you overgrown cunt!”
“Red!” Del’s meaty hand lands on one of my arms, my brother Oscar’s on the other. “Our taxi is here, so I think now’s a good time to leave.”
Inches from Joe, I will myself to drop my grip of Joe. Del’s right - now is not the time to retaliate, but I want to. I want to rip this bastard’s head off. Still, itisa good time to leave.
Dropping my grip, I shrug Del and Oscar’s hands away and glance at Arianna, who is wracked with more guilt now than ever.
I nod brusquely at Joe and his brother and gripping Arianna’s hand once again, I stride purposefully towards the door.
As I reach the exit, I turn around to motion to Del to join me back at the Scorpio Lounge, but he’s in conversation with that piece of shit, Farrow.
What the fuck is he wasting breath talking to that lowlife for?
Reaching the conclusion that Del’s being Del and smoothing things over for Izzy Farrow’s sake, I let it go and continue through the door.
He’s wasting his time though. Joe Farrow has made a big mistake and marked his own cards. He’ll be dealt with after I’ve sorted out the rest of my fucking never-ending to-do list. But I’m not waiting around, so if Del isn’t in the cab by the time my seat belt is on, he can make his own way back.
In a worse mood than ever, I drag Arianna towards the waiting taxi.
CHAPTER
41
Arianna
IT’S MORE OF A SQUASH in this taxi than it was in the funeral car, but being packed like sardines with four big men isn’t what squeezes the air from my lungs. It’s the crushing weight of reality bearing down on my shoulders that is becoming impossible to carry.
What happened in the wake was a meretasteof how things will be from now on. Everyone blames me for what happened to Steve, and that’s only a small part of the bigger picture. When things really kick off surrounding my marriage to Red and the trouble I’m certain the Bristonis will unleash now our “wedding” has gone public, it’s bound to get worse.
