Page 87 of Ruthless Consequences

“Definitely not going back there then. Your old man’s in trouble with someone?”

“Yeah, with Mo. My dad made some bets he couldn’t pay back. I offered to work them off.”

“I knew it!” she said in anah-ha!tone. “You don’t belong there.”

“Neither do you,” I said. “Or your sisters. I think the only women who belong there are the ones who want to be there.”

She looked over at me and gave me a smile that was so sad, my heart broke for her. Her eyes were still watery. “I didn’t see anyone shove anyone. And I’m fuckin’ paranoid right now, so I would have. But at one point I was looking down at my phone. I was trying to call your sister. Check my phone if you don’t believe me.” She pointed to a small open compartment on the dash where her cell phone was. “Mo is so loyal to that asshole. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was all a setup to get you there so Shadow Man would do something stupid. This is a cruel life, but it has rules. One made man can’t just go around whacking another. Even I know that.”

“Paul Gallo—” I gave a little spit. She was truly paranoid, and I didn’t want her to feel worse by not doing it. “Is trying to set up my husband.”

She nodded. “The recording hints to that too. ‘I’ll get that motherfucker! He’ll get his day.’ But that’s not why Shadow Man is after him. He’s after him because of the Russian situation. Because the Russian situation gives their boss a reason to whack Gallo.” She spit toward the window this time. “He fucked up, and he knows it. That’s why he went berserk-owhen he found out what Norma had done. She tried to be smart about it. She dropped subtle hints, not painting the entire picture at first. Like, she served him a Russian drink when all he drinks is wine. She was egging him. But you can’t do that shit! He didn’t love her. I told her that.Walk away, I said.Walk away!”

She shook her head and then hit the gas when the traffic broke up. My head was plastered to the seat, then jerked forward again when the traffic stopped once more.

“Fuckin’ New York traffic!” She punched the horn. “You think Shadow Man will answer if you call him?”

“I can’t call him. He went in after my dad. Then you showed up. What if he’s trying to sneak and his phone goes off?”

“If he has his phone on while he’s trying to sneak up on those assholes, then he’s not Shadow Man. Or the one I heard about.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed Aren. He answered on the first ring. Through the mirror, I could see it was pressed to his ear. Our eyes met. I didn’t have time for pleasantries, so I went straight into the story.

“Tell her to let you go,” Aren said when I finished. “My nephew will handle this.”

She must’ve heard him because she was shaking her head before he was even finished. “No,” she said. “Sorry. But I trust no one, not when my sister’s life is on the line. They say they’re keeping her at The Cigar Bar. That’s where we’re going. If Shadow Man doesn’t show up in time, you’re coming with me. Mo will know what’s up when he sees you.”

What’s up—He’d have to deal with Shadow Man if something happened to me. She planned on using me as a hostage. She’d keep the gun trained on me while she negotiated for her sister.

What if she’s already dead?That was my next thought, but I didn’t speak it out loud. Why would they keep her? Why would they keep any of them? They knew too much, or they suspected they did. And they were right.

“Tell the man on the phone to wait around the block. Once I get my sister, I’ll drop you off.”

“Tell her it will not help,” Aren said. “Her sister’s already dead. And she will be, too, if she goes through with this. She will not have to worry about Paul Gallo.”

“I’m sorry,” she said, looking at me for a brief second. “You have no idea what it’s like being a triplet. We’re connected. And a part of me is already dead. I knew it the second—” She shook her head. “Lorna is still alive. I can feel it.”

I was starting to realize that she was in shock and willing do to anything to save the one link keeping herself whole. I couldn’t fault her for that. I was sure the silent clock on her dash sounded loud in her ears, and it was strapped to her sister’s life. Depending on the situation my husband had found himself in at Sonny’s—that clock was strapped to me too.

“Get in touch with—Shadow Man,” I said to Aren, then hung up.

Traffic broke and she took off again. Aren was a few cars behind. But when he really started to weave in and out, gaining speed, she pressed the gas harder. He did too. Something I missed must have happened with him—maybe he ran a red light? A car came out of nowhere and slammed into the front of the cab. It spun him around, sending him into another car, before the noises in my head went silent and all tires stopped moving.

“He’ll be okay,” she said, going even faster. “But I can’t say I’m sorry about it. When it comes to my sister’s life or his—or even yours, or mine—I won’t stop for anyone.”

She pulled into the empty parking lot of The Cigar Bar without slowing. We came to a screeching halt, and she threw the car in park. She didn’t bother turning it off.

There was no Shadow Man waiting in the shadows.

Shawna whipped out the gun from her side, pointing it at me. “Move. I won’t tell you twice. Or you’ll lose a kneecap. Anything to keep you here.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

LILO

PRESENT DAY

Molly couldn’t decidewhere to keep her eyes. On the three dead bodies lying around the house, two from gunshot wounds and one from a gunshot wound and a saw wound—where I chopped both of his legs off below the knee—or at Sonny, whose face was almost unrecognizable.

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