Page 51 of Bloody Union

I smile and give him a nod. I knew he’d be the one for the job.

“Who’re the other two positions going to?” Patrick asks, a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

“Not you two fucking pricks,” Dante snarls and I place my hand on his thigh, trying to soothe him. The last thing we need is bloodshed.

“You and Cian will be working for me, you have six weeks to show me that you deserve to be made Underboss. You’ll do whatever the hell I tell you and you’ll do it without a fucking complaint. If you so much as disrespect me or Dante, there will be blood spilled.”

They both nod and I see the guilt in their eyes, they went too far in Da’s office and it’s going to take a while before I’ll be able to forgive them. Today has been a hell of a fucking day and I can’t wait to get home and crawl into bed beside Dante.

“Now that’s sorted out, your brother is outside waiting. Danny, go let him in,” Granda instructs him and turns to Finn, Patrick, and Cian. “Denis, Danny, and Malcom are Bosses. Remember that.” Granda’s voice is hard.

“Piss me off anymore today and I’m going to lose my temper,” I warn them, the anger of what happened in the office still on the surface. Dante’s hand goes to my nape where he begins to massage it. Instantly my anger starts to diminish.

“I’m sorry for what I said, I was way out of line,” Cian begins and Dante’s hand tenses on the back of my neck. “It’s been a fucked up few days and I shouldn’t have taken my anger and frustration out on you.”

I nod. “Apology accepted.” I don’t turn to Patrick, if he were to apologize now, I wouldn’t accept it, it would just be because Cian did.

I turn my head toward the door when I hear footsteps. I get to my feet when I see Holly step into the room, she looks nervous and I’m wondering if it’s because she’s meeting the family or meeting her future husband?

I embrace her and she pulls in a sharp breath. “You’re fine. Don’t stress,” I whisper in her ear so that only she can hear me. “Deep breath and hold your head high.”

“I’m just scared,” she confesses. “I’m moving here. Leaving everything I know behind and getting married to a man I don’t even know.”

My arms tighten around her. “You’re strong, Hol, you’ve got this. It’s not like you’re never going to see your family again. Besides, you’ll have me here.”

“That’s the only reason I agreed,” she tells me as we pull away from one another.

I’m instantly swept into a hug from Denis and I squeeze him tightly. From the age of thirteen he was the one that kept me sane. He made sure that I was safe and when things got tough he was there as a shoulder to cry on. He was the one that trained me to become Boss and he was there to celebrate with me when I finally did become one.

“Good to see you,” he sighs as he lifts me into the air. “I’m sorry I missed the wedding.”

I laugh as he puts me down on my feet and releases me. “Eh, you didn’t miss much. It was fairly uneventful.”

Dante’s chuckle sends heat throughout my body. “That it was, babe.”

Denis’ gaze finds my husband and his eyes harden. “You must be the Italian?”

I step backward and Dante’s hand clamps down on my waist. “Yeah, you’re Denis,” he grunts, no doubt pissed off at being called the Italian.

“Enough with the pissing contest,” Granda says. “We’ve things to discuss.”

Malcolm walks up to me and kisses my cheek, he’s got a big smile on his face. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, a year, maybe longer. He lives in Spain and spends the majority of the year there. He goes home to Ireland once a month for a weekend but the past year, whenever I was in Dublin, he was in Spain and whenever he was in Dublin, I was here in the US.

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you,” he says to Dante, not an ounce of hatred in his eyes.

I relax against my husband's hold and his hand tightens on my waist. “Same,” he replies, his voice not as tight as when he spoke to Denis.

“You must be Romero,” Denis says and I turn to look at him, he’s one pissed off man right now. His arms are crossed over his chest as he takes in my brother-in-law. If I thought he was rude to Dante, he’s downright belligerent to Romero.

“Yes,” Romero replies, meeting his gaze.

I tug Dante’s hand and return to the sofa, this is between Romero and Denis, no one else will be getting involved.

“Why don’t you three go to my office and talk?” Da suggests when neither man says anything. They’re just staring at each other. I’m impressed. Romero’s holding his own just as I knew he would.

We all watch as Holly, Romero, and Denis move to Da’s office. Once the door is closed, the chatter starts up. “So what have I missed?” Malcolm asks with a grin.

“Since Makenna’s been married she’s not killed anyone. I miss the bitch,” Danny says with a grin and I can’t hold back my laughter.

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