Page 61 of Fragile Union

“I’m going to check in on Finn,” Edwina tells us when the nurse leaves, “Makenna’s busy now and the guys are with Romero and Denis, I don’t want him to wake alone.” She quickly gives both Jade and I a kiss on our cheek, “Love you, Hol, I’m so glad you’re okay.”

I bite my lip to stop the tears from spilling over. “Back at you,” I whisper. My heart is so fucking sore right now. We’re all feeling the effects of losing Seamus.

He was my Granda, Makenna’s Da, Edwina’s brother, and Jade’s uncle. We loved him dearly and now he’s gone. It’s too much. We can’t grieve. Not yet. There’s too much going on for any of us to take a moment and breathe.

“No more bullshit, Holly, how are you feeling?” Jade asks once we’re alone.

I sigh. “Honestly? I’m exhausted, I’m sore, and I’m wondering when my husband will be back.”

She grins at me. “The pain and exhaustion will go, and when it does, you’ll be okay, until then, know your Da, Danny, and Romero are making sure the bastard won’t get his hands on you again. As for Makenna and Melissa, well those two little savages are making sure Georgina gets her comeuppance.”

I raise a brow. “What do you mean?”

Her grin widens. “Well from what I’ve heard, before they found you, Makenna and Melissa managed to find Georgina and proceeded in scalping her.”

I blink. “I’m sorry, what?”

Jade giggles. “Yeah, that was my first thought too. But damn, it was fucking genius and to make things worse, as soon as the girls had word that you were found, they left Georgina bleeding and tied up to come be here. Right now, they’re finishing what they started.”

I narrow my eyes at her little pout. “You’re sad you’re not there, aren’t you?”

She shrugs. “That bitch is the reason Uncle Seamus is dead, why we’re all here in this motherfucking hospital, and why we’re anxiously awaiting word on whether or not Finn is going to pull through. So, hell yes, I wanted to get my shot in on that bitch.”

Not for the first time, I’m wondering how the hell I’m related to these women.

“So, now that we have a moment alone. Are you going to tell me the truth about what went down?”

She closes her eyes. “I should have known you’d not believe the story.”

Is she for real? “Jade, firstly, you’re more like Melissa than Makenna, you’d use your fists or a knife before you’d reach for a gun. Secondly, you wouldn’t be so stupid to be caught with a murder weapon. So, spill it.”

She sighs in resignation. “Fine, I didn’t kill that stupid bastard. He shot at Hayden and Hayden killed him. But then the cops were coming. It had to have been a set up. I mean, they were practically on us within minutes. So, I did the only thing I could think of, I told Hayden to go.”

Realization hits me. “You took the blame for him. Pretended the man shot at you and you accidentally returned fire.”

She nods. “I had to. The family is expanding, do you know how hard Hayden’s worked to become a captain, how much he wanted that? When he was overlooked for the position, he was gutted. Then he found out he was going to be an Underboss. I couldn’t let him go to jail, I just couldn’t.”

“So, you’re looking at doing time now instead.”

“Better me than him. If he went to jail, he’d have to work even harder when released to become an Underboss. Not to mention the number of times he’s been in trouble with the cops. If he was the one to take the rap, he’d be fucked, Hol, I couldn’t do it.”

I think about Danny and Mal, and I know I’d do whatever I could to keep them out of jail. They’ve worked hard to be where they are. They’re the bosses and if Hayden were to go down, he’d lose all the hard work he’d done.

“How many people know that you’re taking the fall for Hayden?” I ask, wondering if I’m going to have to keep it a secret.

“Besides Hayden? Only three. You, Finny, and Killian,” she tells me with a twisted smile. “If I were to tell Ma or Da, they’d lose their minds and demand Hayden tell the truth. Da’s already going crazy at the thought of me going to jail. I’m not telling him, and I’ve made Hayden swear he’ll not say it either.”

“How the hell did Killian know?” I ask in reference to our uncle. He’s Seamus and Edwina’s brother. He’s the head of the IRA in New York and was the one who brought Makenna into our lives. He cares a lot about us and is on hand if we need him.

She groans, “He found out I’m on bail and my court date is coming up soon. Then showed up at the house, Ma was happy, and we were all surprised. So, imagine my shock when Killian sits me down and tells me not to go through with lying for Hayden.”

My eyes widen. “How did he know?”

She shrugs. “How the hell does he know anything? He told me he was proud of me for wanting to take the blame, but I wouldn’t survive a day in prison.”

My heart plummets. I’ve heard the horror stories about what goes on inside prison. It’s one thing I’ve hoped would never happen to any of us and thankfully, we’ve been lucky and none of the family have been caught, until now.

“I’m going to be fine. Hayden’s made sure that he’s trained me.”

---