“Okay. I can do that.” She swallows a spoonful of soup. “Text me the dates you aren’t available and I’ll work around those.”
I grunt out an affirmative. Reaching across the table, I entwine our fingers, hardly able to believe that we’re taking this leap together. Buying a new home is no small feat. I’m looking forward to having a place that’s all ours. A home for our family. Putting down roots.
Ravenna hasn't brought up children again since our honeymoon. The question surfaces in my mind sometimes though. Why isn’t she pregnant yet?
Is it her? Or is it me?
Then I remember that we’ve been trying to conceive for less than a year. Patience. It will happen in its own time.
The timing will be even better once we’ve settled into our new home. That’s the ideal scenario in which to welcome our first child into this world.
We finish eating, and I’m about to escort my wife upstairs to our bedroom when my phone rings. Glaring at it, I tell Ravenna, “I have to take this, and it may be a few minutes. I’ll see you in bed.”
“No rush.” She presses a kiss to my lips, then heads upstairs.
I answer the call. “Niall Bane, do you have what I asked for on the Monahans?”
“Good evening to you too, cousin.”
I cringe. “We’re not family.”
“Hm… last I checked my mother and your father were siblings. That would make us cousins. Though you only ever contact me when you need something—nope, wait, that definitely sounds like something family would do.”
“We don’t live in the same sphere. So I don’t consider us family.”
He chuckles. “Our spheres cross more than you’d think. Just because my siblings and I have legal day jobs doesn’t mean our hands are any cleaner than yours, O’Rourke.”
“Yeah, I doubt that. Your father made it clear he wanted nothing to do with mine.” The resentment still burns. Aiden Bane is the reason my father spent the remainder of his life in prison. So no, I don’t consider the Banes family.
“Well, they’re both dead. So what we do is up to us now. Anyway, I have that information on the Monahan family.”
“And?”
“They ran a gang in Belfast called the Irish Hammers. After getting into too much trouble there, they escaped and made their way to New York. These guys are the real thing. Seasoned Irish gangsters. Don’t mess with them. It’s a good thing you have ties to the Italian mafia now, so they can watch your back. The goodnews is the Monahans are new in town. They don’t have any real connections or allies yet, which makes them vulnerable. At least for now. Funny thing is, they’re now calling themselves the Monahan Group.”
“Sounds like a financial firm.”
“It does. But they’re far from anything corporate.”
I take a moment to process this information. “Do you have a full dossier on the Monahan brothers?”
“I do. Emailed it to you,” he pauses for a long second, “I also emailed it to Blake Baron. He’s taken an interest in them too. Which isn’t surprising since he’s interested in everything that goes on in this city. But I thought you should know.”
I grunt. The Monahans really are serious players if Mr. Baron is also looking into them.
“Well…” Niall sighs. “See you around sometime, cousin. Or just call me up when you need another favor.”
“Thanks.” I mean it, but he’s already ended the call.
I’ll look through the information Niall sent me on the Monahans tomorrow. But if they’re as dangerous as they seem, then I might have to set up a meeting and see if we can come to an understanding before we start fighting over the limited space that New York offers.
Maybe they’ll welcome a peace treaty between us. Or maybe they’ll try to cut us out.
CHAPTER 33
Ravenna
“Enough about me and my complaining about Nik,” Sophia says. “How’s Elena doing? Is she feeling any better since you last saw her in Italy? She’ll be at my wedding, won’t she?”
