“I’ll be right outside,” I say more for the man than for Keenan. I want him to know that someone is nearby looking out.
If anything happens while he’s alone in the room with Keenan, I’ll be the one to take him out myself.
CHAPTERTWO
KEENAN
From the way Delilah pursed her lips together, I can tell she didn’t want to leave my side. I didn’t tell her the man wanting to speak to me is my cousin, but she’s an incredibly intelligent woman. She’ll put the pieces together in no time, probably before I even have the opportunity to tell her.
Liam takes it upon himself to shut the door to my room and walks over to the windows afterward. I can’t help but notice the way he carefully looks through them before ultimately pulling the curtains closed, now making my room look like a dungeon.
Liam makes his way over to the chair by my bedside and looks right at me. His stare is concerning, but there’s much more than solely concern. “What’s on your mind?” I ask him in a gravelly tone.
Part of me is wondering if I’m going to get popped by the mafia leader right now, but I’m his family. If I know anything about Irish heritage, we’ll always put family above everything else.
Liam takes a seat in the chair and runs his hand through his hair. “What a question. Do you want my honest answer?”
“If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have asked,” I reply. We haven’t known each other long, but Liam will soon understand my personality.
“I worry I brought you in on things too fast. I should’ve eased you into this life, but I didn’t. I sent you into a meeting with a vile shark, and look at you now. Shot in the stomach and in the shoulder. I blame myself for this, Keenan. I shouldn’t have let this happen.”
All bosses take responsibility for their people. It’s something I’ve always understood, but this isn’t his fault. “The shooting isn’t your doing. You weren’t the one who pulled the trigger. Let’s face it, this was going to happen at some point regardless. Anything I ever do for our family will put me at grave risk. It’s something I came to understand shortly after learning about our family link,” I state.
Sometimes it’s hard to believe my mother was the Irish’s best-kept secret. Liam’s grandfather, Fionn Mackenzie, had some sort of illicit affair with my grandmother. At least, it’s what we’re all assuming. The only people who’d ever be able to tell us are dead, so we’re left to our own imaginations.
Liam scoffs lightly and gives me a nod. “I appreciate you sticking up for my choices, but it’s unnecessary. I will always take accountability for my actions, cousin. It’s something you’ll soon learn about me. But alas, we have much time to make up for. With the events that have happened, I feel it’s only right to give you an out. If you don’t want to put your life in danger again, I can pull you out of this before you go in too deep.”
I appreciate what he’s trying to do, but ever since finding out I have Mackenzie blood in my veins, I’ve felt purpose. More purpose than I have in years. “No. This is my place. In fact, it’s my rightful place. All my life I’ve felt off, as if something had been missing. Until Cillian told me about our grandfather’s identity, I had no idea what it could’ve been. But you see, Liam, it was the missing puzzle piece. Now, I don’t know how much you know about what life was like after my mum died.” I pause, not sure where to take this. It seems to be going very dark, very quickly.
“You struggled horribly. I looked into your past, Keenan. I know everything you’ve all been through: you, Eamon, Keeva, Bran, and Delaney. I know you took a militia job to support your family after your mum died. How you did it because you wanted to keep your family together. It was a noble choice for a very young man to make, and here you are doing it years later. Delaney will be graduating from secondary school this year, correct?”
A pride-filled smile takes over my features. “That she will. Has the best grades in her class and works harder than all of us combined. She’s going to be something great. I feel it in my bones. It’s why I won’t be giving this up. We’ve struggled for years now, and I’ve barely made ends meet. I want our lives to change for the better here, Liam, and accepting who we are, all of this, it means something. It means all the struggles we went through were worth it. So, no, I don’t want out. I’m embracing what my family does and I’m not going anywhere.”
Liam nods and an amused grin floods over his features. “You remind me too much of Greer. It’s in the way you speak, the passion you hold, the determination. It’s both honorable and terrifying.” Greer’s one of Liam’s twin sisters.
I release a chortle, and pain radiates down my side. “Fuck, I don’t know if you’ve complimented me or thrown an insult my way.”
“Considering we’re family, it’s a splash of both,” Liam cackles before his expression turns stoic.
“I figure you want to know what happened with Asim,” I start off, and Liam immediately nods, so I continue. “I got to the restaurant and was sitting down. He didn’t show up at our agreed upon time, and before I knew it, he was late. Eventually, he walked in with two of his thugs. We made introductions, and he was shoving a load of crock up my ass.” I roll my eyes as the memories flood back into my mind.
“How so?” Liam furrows his brows and settles into his seat a bit more comfortably.
“He went on about how he hasn’t had the pleasure of meeting me. I might’ve replied, saying it wasn’t a pleasure, given you’re not keen on him.”
Liam huffs. “You’re joking.”
“Obviously not,” I mutter in response, moving my good arm, insinuating where I ended up.
“Is that when it happened? After you grew arrogant?”
I shake my head. “No. He said you and he don’t see eye-to-eye very often. Asked me if I was the type of man who played it safe or a man of action. I knew something was wrong then. The way his men stared at each other. It gave me an awful feeling like I knew what was coming.”
“And what was your response to him?” Liam asks.
“I told him it depended on my mood.”
“Fucking hell.” Liam breaks out into laughter. “You can tell we’re family. Even when we’re in a sticky situation, we still manage to push other people’s buttons.”
