Page 121 of The Mafia Assassin's Redemption
He hesitates, thinking. “Joan?”
Disappointment fills me and I’m not sure why, because who did I expect it to be? Someone I know?
Yet this feels so much like a Donal Quinn move that something makes me do it.
Shiv and Donal looked similar. She always claimed they could pass for sisters if you slapped a wig and makeup on him.
He was always the petty criminal. So I pull out the old photo I have. It’s Shiv, but… Fuck, maybe he got out of prison somehow. Maybe he…
I hold it out to him “Did the Irish guy look like him?”
Anthony looks, then shakes his head.
“No.” He pauses. “She’s pretty, though.”
A big fucking help. But he’s tired, eyes already drooping closed, and I can’t stop the nagging voice urging me to get to Harry, that she’s in trouble somewhere.
Cal and I head into Manhattan. Cal’s behind the wheel and I call Liam. We chose to meet at a Russian bar in the East Village. Dec and Seamus should be there. Dec’s got the gift of gab when he wants to use it. Fuck knows what Dec said to him, but the gun thief was so hungry for money that he went for the meeting.
Mikhail and some of his bratva will be waiting… for after we’re done with the thief.
“Boss, I was just about to call,” Liam says.
“Where the fuck are you?”
“Stopped at Miss Harry’s place in Alphabet City.” Fucking Harry. “We’re heading to the hospital. She shouldbe back soon.”
I grit my teeth. “Call the second she gets in the car and do not go anywhere without my say-so.”
I hang up. Cal clears his throat. “You think the Russian will stick to the deal?”
“Mikhail wants his guns back and hands on the cretin who stole from him. And I figure it’s good merchandise, so we’ll buy a few. He seems okay, he’s into control, he’ll do it.” I tap my hand on my thigh. “Harry better be okay, so I can punish her later.”
“Whoever is messing with us.” My brother pauses as we cross the Williamsburg bridge. “Are you good?”
“Dandy.”
“Talk to her, okay?”
“No. Once she’s safe, I want you to get her out of here?—”
“Fuck no. One martyr attempt per family’s enough. It didn’t work for me with Lucie, and it won’t for you. She’s under your skin now. Can’t you see that?”
“I never said she wasn’t, Cal. I just want her safe, not destroyed by me.”
“You made one fucking mistake, but here’s the thing. If you’d gone in and left Shiv, maybe her parents would already be dead, and Shiv, too. Or what if you saved them only? I know you’d be beating yourself up for not saving Shiv. Fuck. Siobhan had a cause and a death wish. The two of you were never good together. But we’ve all been dumb fucks at one point. Except me, of course.”
I roll my eyes.
“Look, your girl’ll be safe because she has you, Tor.” He pulls up to the curb and turns to me. “And out of all the girls I’ve met from the handful you dated, to those who’ve trailed you with hearts on their sleeves, this is the right one. Trust me. She’ll keep you interested, straight, and loved. Ah, fuck it. I’m not Mam, I can’t do this shit. Don’t be aneejitor I’ll beatyou to a pulp. Also, she shot you. How many women get to say that?”
Thank fuck my phone lights up at that second. Dec’s name flashes on the screen.
We get out of the car and go into the quiet bar. Well, mostly quiet bar. Because Seamus let’s out a guffaw of laughter and says, “Y’don’t say? Your big boss went and set up an Irish bastard named Torin? With guns and cocaine? And tried to have him shot? And his wife? Hilarious.”
Seamus’s eyes snap to me and I nod to Mikhail who gives me the floor. They have the thieving fuck in their sights. His fate’s sealed. I just want to know who left the photos of Harry on that bar. Because the more I think about it, Donal Quinn being out of prison, here in the States, and out for revenge, fits.
Donal and I weren’t the closest. He’d want money. And me dead.
