Page 627 of Not Over You

I’d heard Carine say his name before, but only in reference to Lilo. How she saw him in her son. But she only spoke about it when Michele wasn’t around. Which led me to believe there was more to that story. It was clear that Tigran was someone, given the men standing guard around him. Michele had given him space as he left flowers for his sister. And then he was gone. He looked at none of us as he left.

I’d made a mental note to ask Lilo about him, but it didn’t seem like the time nor the place. Then…I forgot. Until now.

“That old lady? Shit.” Shawna’s eyes widened before they narrowed on the road. “She always go around wielding a golf club like that?”

Molly had charged the car and started swinging as Shawna pulled off. The last thing I saw fading in the mirror was the club hurtling through the air. It barely hit the trunk of the car, but she stood in the middle of the street, hands on her hips, a feral look on her face. It had matched her hair. The flowered robe and house slippers she wore did nothing to distract from the fact that she was ready to hurt someone.

I shrugged. “What do you want from me?” My eyes scanned the area, looking for the gun, but it wasn’t out in the open.

“You have a sister, right?”

I refused to respond to that.

“I know you have two sisters. I did my research.” She sighed when she realized I wasn’t touching that. “Why the fuck you didn’t tell me you belonged to Shadow Man?”

“Why would I?”

“Because then I would’ve realized what a fuckin’ mess Mo was in! His face that night—I should have known!”

“Should have known what?”

She glanced at me from the side of her eye. “You have no clue, do you? He keeps that part of himself separate from you.”

I couldn’t see my face, but I felt it tighten. I wasn’t sure why, but it pissed me off when she said that. Like I didn’t know my husband. That he hid parts of himself from me.

“Geez. Calm down. Touchy much?” She shook her head.

“I didn’t say anything,” I said, my tone defensive to my own ears.

“You didn’t have to. You looked like you just sucked a lemon. Look, I’m not trying to imply anything by that. It’s just the truth. And you should be glad he keeps that part of his life separate. You know he’s got the monster in him, but he contains it only for you. That’s special. And I respect Shadow Man for it. Can’t say that about many of them. Most of them are worse than animals. Animals don’t know no better.” She grew quiet for a second. “I should have known. Only a few men can clear a room like Shadow Man. Especially a place like The Cigar Bar where they come to hang.”

“Clear a room?”

“Yeah, he clears rooms. If he shows up, they never know why. Might be for a drink.” She shrugged. “Might be because one of them is gonna get whacked. And he’s good at—what he does. Or he was. Haven’t heard too much about him doin’ that shit ever since he got out from under Gallo.” She spit to the side when she said his name.

I wiped spittle off my arm.

She squeezed the steering wheel tighter. “Thing is, they thought he was coming there for you. But I think—”

“He wanted to talk to your sister,” I said.

She nodded. “You know what happened?”

“Your sister was involved with—”

“Say his name and spit! The devil stays away.”

“Paul Gallo.” I spit. “And she got pregnant? Things got bad from there?”

“Yeah, you can say that. He knocked her up and didn’t want to even foot the hospital bills. I told her not to fuck with him! And she did it anyway.” She swerved, changing lanes. It seemed like we were going to The Cigar Bar. “We can’t afford nothin’ like that. All three of us work at that place, makin’ so much in tips that we could live like queens, but we don’t really see none of it, you know? Lorna, my middle sister—I’m the oldest—she got us into this mess. She was foolin’ around with Mo and owed him money. Bam!” She punched the horn. “He finds out we’re triplets. Something different. We’re all in the cage.”

“Why am I here?”

“My baby sister is gone,” she said, and tears slipped down her cheeks. “Lorna’s in trouble. You haven’t been comin’ to work, which royally pissed Mo off, but I think he’s been secretly relieved. He don’t want no trouble from Shadow Man, but that Gallo—”

This time I backed away when she spit.

“He wanted you there for a reason. There’s some shit between him and Shadow Man. Didn’t realize it before, but I started piecing things together when I started doing my research on you. Your sister is that journalist for Vice. She knows her shit.”

---