Page 3 of Forbidden Romeo

“Andy said the guy headed north when he left,” Graham comments as we begin stalking the streets.

“Alone?”

Graham nods, and we wordlessly head north a few blocks. Every person we pass speeds up a little to move out of our way, and I note each one of their faces, the color of their hair, whether their eyes linger on us or are glued to the floor.

Then, in the distance, I see it again—a flash of red hair disappears around a corner. I nudge Graham, and we make our approach.

Rounding the corner, Graham already has his gun in his hand. It’s a darker alley with a wire fence blocking the other end. Piles of trash litter the floor, and fire escapes loom over us on either side, making the space feel even narrower.

I hear Graham click off the safety, and I do the same.

I scan the windows and the fire escapes as Graham presses forward, but there’s no movement at all. Not even a rat.

Suddenly, a man steps out of the shadows in front of us with a crooked smile on his face.

“Well, I’m honored Padraic thought me worthy enough to send his true-born son. For a while there, I thought I’d be stuck with the bastard,” the man croons.

This close, we can finally get a good measure of him. He’s much bigger than I would have liked, and his long, ginger hair is tied back from his face. He doesn’t look armed, but that’s not saying much.

“Connor Maguire,” Graham replies coolly. “Thought I recognized you.”

“In the flesh,” Connor says with another smirk.

“How’s business, Maguire?” I say. “I’d say sorry for your loss, but all things considered, your father was a daft old sod.”

That wipes the smirk off his face.

Graham cuts in before he has a chance to reply. “You have our attention, Connor. What do you want?”

“More than you can offer.” Connor glares at me. “My father let things slide for too long.”

I snort at this. “So you’re here to what, assert your dominance?”

“I’m here to tell you things are going to go a little differently from now on,” Connor snaps back.

“If that’s all, Connor,” Graham says, sounding more than a little bored, “thank you for wasting our time.”

Graham nods at me, and we begin to walk away. Only to hear the telltale sound of Connor cocking his gun. I turn to see him pointing it directly at Graham, and my blood begins to boil.

“You’re going to stand there and listen to me, Graham Duffy,” Connor hisses.

Graham doesn’t look phased at all by the barrel of his enemy’s gun. He takes a step forward. “We both know you’re not going to shoot me, Connor. Or did you miscalculate? There’s two of us and only one of you.”

Connor raises an eyebrow just as something flickers in the corner of my eye. My attention snaps back to the fire escapes. Five… seven… no, ten men climb through the windows, armed to the teeth and pointing their weapons directly at us.

Jesus fucking Christ.

“Where the hell didyouget the money for all this?” The words leave my mouth as I think of them.

“We made some new friends,” Connor replies, his smirk now plastered back on his face. “Friends who share my… enthusiasm for restoring the family name.”

Fuck.

Graham and I exchange a glance. We need to get out of here now. Or at least stall them until our own reinforcements can arrive.

“You made your point,” Graham says evenly. “Make your grand speech so we can go tell Padraic you’re a big boy now.”

Connor lets out a long sigh and waves off his men. “The thing my father struggled with the most was efficiency. I have to hand it to you Duffys, you run a tight business. Your setup at Luckiesis impressive; even I struggled to get past your goons. But, in the end, it just wasn’t efficient enough to stop me.”

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