Page 51 of Southie
He didn’t respond, but his grip on my hips tightened.
“It’s a simple fucking question I deserve the answer to, Liam. Were you there to kill my father?”
“I was there to get Paddy’s money. If he didn’t pay, then yes. I would’ve killed him just like Paddy employed me to do. But that was before you came in.”
I got out of the bathtub. I couldn’t hear anymore. If I hadn’t shown up, he would’ve killed my father. The man I was falling in love with was a killer for the Irish Mob.
He grabbed my hand and stood to try to follow me out of the tub, but I yanked it away.
“Please don’t touch me.”
I rushed into the bedroom and quickly dressed while he called my name over and over again. I ignored him because I couldn’t deal with this. I needed time to think and process what he’d just told me.
When his arms wrapped around my body from behind, my knees buckled.
He held me up and tightened his hold. “Baby, I’m so sorry.”
The dejectedness in his voice made me want to hug him. Kiss him. Forgive him. But I pushed that to the back of my mind. How could I get past the fact he’d planned to kill my father?
I shook my head. “Take me home, please,” I pleaded. “I can’t be here with you. I can’t do this right now.”
“Camilla, baby—”
“Please, Liam.”
He sighed, released his hold, and nodded.
Chapter 9
Liam
It had been a little over three weeks since I’d seen or talked to Camilla. Heartbroken and stressed over everything that happened between us didn’t begin to describe what I was experiencing. If she’d been any other woman, I would have said “fuck her” and moved on. My predicament with Paddy was something I couldn’t change right now. If she couldn’t accept it, that was on her.
That was what I would have said if it hadn’t been Camilla.
But I couldn’t just say fuck her because she wasn’t just any other woman. She was my woman.
Once again, like the first night we met, she invaded everything. Even in my home, my haven away from my life in the mob, I couldn’t escape the imprint she’d left on the space from the brief time she’d been there. I had to admit, I’d fallen hard for her and it was difficult not to see her or be with her.
She attended Nana’s funeral, gave her condolences to me and my family, and then left before I had the chance to talk to her. Every call and text, she ignored. When I trained at her father’s gym, I hoped she’d show up so I could at least see if she was all right, but she never came around. She’d done an excellent job of avoiding me.
I should’ve prepared myself for her reaction and her rejection, but I’d been hoping whatever was developing between us would be strong enough to endure my confession.
Maybe I told her too soon.
“Southie, you got to get your head in the game, man,” Gerald grumbled, reminding me of what we were about to walk into. Like I didn’t know that. “This is some high-level shit we’re dealing with today. These are not some ordinary dudes.”
The reputation of the Italians, specifically Don Antonio Rizzo, preceded itself. In the criminal world, the man was a legend, even more so than Paddy. Yes, I was a little distracted, but I wouldn’t let my guard down with them. My family paid the price years ago, so I was well aware of who we were meeting.
I focused my attention back on the freeway. “I’m well aware of who we’re dealing with, Gerald. I just…never mind.”
“Look, I get it. Your girl didn’t take the news about you killing people well but, to be honest, sounds like to me it wasn’t the job that angered her. It was the feelings she has for you regardless of what you do. Either way, just give her some time to let that shit sink in. I saw the way she looked at you, Southie. She may have walked away, but trust me, it’s temporary. Just as much as you’re missing her, she’s missing you.”
“It’s been three weeks, Gerald. I haven’t heard from her or seen her in three fucking weeks. I think she’s done with me, man.”
“Don’t give up, dude.”
My grip tightened on the wheel. “That’s easy for you to say.”
