Page 32 of Hateful Union

I suck in a sharp breath. “Leave it,” I warn her.

“I’ve told your father about you. He’s pissed that I kept you from him. He wants to meet you.”

I pin her with a glare. “You did, what?” I hiss, I can’t fucking believe her.

She shrugs, “He deserves to know the truth. He wants to meet you, he missed out on twenty-one years of your life.”

“Yeah and whose fault is that? Jesus, Ma, seriously?”

She waves her hand dismissively. “Jerry wants to meet his son. He’s asked me to pass on his number.”

“Jerry?” I echo. Who the fuck is Jerry?

“Jerry Houlihan,” she replies with a smile on her face.

Oh fuck me. “Ma, you do realise if Da finds out that a war is going to start.”

Jerry Houlihan is the head of the Houlihan Gang in Ireland. He and Da have a truce, have had one since as long as I can remember. I send the drugs to Ireland, Jerry gets some of them. That’s the way things work. If Da ever finds out that Jerry’s my father, that he and my ma had an affair, there’s going to be fucking hell to pay.

“Is he Chloe, Mary, and Gareth’s Da?”

She shakes her head. “No, right now their fathers don’t know either.”

And knowing her, they won’t until it’s time for her to fuck with people’s heads.

My car comes to a rolling stop and I walk towards it. “Goodbye, Ma.”

She splutters, “You’re leaving? Don’t you want to know more?”

“Nope,” I reply as I open the door. “Whatever game you’re playing, I want nothing to do with it.” I slide into the car and close the door.

I’m not listening to the shit that she has to say. I now know the truth, I know the man that was the sperm donor, but that does not make him my father. Denis Gallagher will always be that.

Two hours later, I’m still seething, unable to understand the game that my ma is playing. She wants something, but I can’t figure out what. I can’t be arsed with her any longer. I should have been done with her a long time ago.

Now I’m on the phone with Christian getting an update on everything that’s going down while I’m away and that includes what’s happening with Raylee.

“She’s currently at the club that the Silvers own in Malaga,” Christian tells me and that only fuels my anger.

“What the fuck is she doing there?” I growl, wondering what the hell is wrong with that family? We’ve told them that she’s a target and she’s at a bloody club that’s over two hours from her home.

“She also gave the men the slip today. She was out of range for over three hours.”

Red hot anger pulses through me. “What?” I hiss, why the fuck have my men become incompetent?

“She was rushing while in the market, she somehow gave them the slip, I still haven’t found out how she managed it. But she must have realised that she’s being followed.”

“Does she have a death wish?”

“I’m watching her now,” I blink at his admission. “She’s up to something, boss, I know it.”

Of course she fucking is. Before I can reply, there’s a knock on my hotel door. My da’s here. “I’ve got to go. Stay on her and keep me updated.”

“Will do,” he assures me.

I move to the door and open it, Da’s standing there looking pissed. I open the door wider and let him in. “So, your ma told you, huh?”

Jesus, what the hell is that woman’s problem? “Told me what?” I ask, with her it could be any number of things.

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