Like I said, Seamus still has so much to lose.
“Seamus sent us a warning and it was very well received. But now the course of action has changed on our end, Dougal. Sending your body back will no longer send the correct message.”
“What are you goin’ to do you sick bastard.”
“I’m going to take Imogen away from her loving father. Will see what means more to him. Revenge or his daughter.”
CHAPTER 2
Imogen
Ioften think about how I will die.
Not by the hands of my own, but by the hands of man.
I suppose it’s only natural to think about death when you are surrounded by it.
And I’ve been buried in its stench since the moment I was born.
There are the gruesome deaths that come to mind first. A slugger to the head, spraying the matters of my brain across the wall to create a ghastly painting. The knife plunged in my torso by the hands of who I thought was an ally and not foe. Strangulation from the hands of an abusive man. Slow torture that would have me begging for death from the enemies of my pa.
I’ve thought of it all.
Yet all of them are the more preferable way to die than being forced to marry Sebastian O’Neil.
I refuse to believe marriage with Sebastian is my fate.
I’ll find my escape, even if that means clawing my way out six feet buried deep.
“You can’t expect me to marry him,” I tell my ma heatedly. My face flushes with my frustration. A curse of my alabaster skin.
My face will forever be an open book. My emotions never once have been able to be concealed.
Ma tells me it’s a beautiful gift; to be blessed with such vibrant expressions. I only see it as a nuisance. As my late brother said, one day these animated expressions will get you killed. Who would have ever known that he would be six feet under before me.
His eyes were brimmed with power and his heart filled with pride for the family. But he underestimated the intelligence and grit of The Donati Famiglia. Moreover, he underestimated her, Carina Donati.
The woman who became more ruthless than the notorious man she married. And to be more feared than the man known as the devil of the east coast is as impressive as it is frightening.
Pa shouldn’t have agreed for Niall to allege himself with Luca.
And if he had listened to my reasoning perhaps Niall would still be alive.
Luca was just as sleazy as his pa and Don, Savio. These were men not to be trusted. And yet pa and Niall formed the alliance in hopes of pulling the rug from under their feet and taking the throne of the underworld.
It had all begun with the Irish Mob, it was only right for them to obtain leadership once again.
I had told pa if we were to align ourselves with anyone it should have been the Russians.
The Russians had more hatred in their veins for the Italians than we did. And Kirill, the menace of a leader to the Bratva would have loved to paint the town red. Especially since The Donati Famiglia had allied themselves with The Triads. Badblood had been spilled between them ever since the suspicious death of his promised bride.
But pa had deaf ears when I tried to talk to him. And Niall had so desperately wanted to prove himself.
The criminal underworld is a man’s world.
And despite Carina shaking that very same foundation and shattering glass ceilings, in this part of town it still is.
No man in Ireland will listen to a woman. Not even my pa, the man who loves me dearly.
