“There’s nothing to talk about.It was just a fucking phone call.”
“Very intimate,” Ian adds.
I knew I should have killed him in the locker room days ago.
“Intimate or not, that’s my own fucking business.”
Ian laughs.“There’s no such thing as your own fucking business.”
“Maybe for you O’Connors, but you forget I’m not part of the family.”
Ian looks at me, still smiling.“Believe it, mate.”
“I have nothing to do with you.”
“Ah, Jamie,” Ian says, resting a hand on my shoulder.“You’re part of this family.And believe me, once the O’Connors set their sights on you, there’s no getting out of it.”
“Not even if my sister files for divorce?Because in that case I would take her side and?—”
“Hey!”Riley objects.
“Except your sister is never going to file for divorce…”
“Now you’re really going too far,” Riley gets mad again.
“We’re friends — more like brothers.You’re one of us, and nothing will ever change that.Think of us as one of the plagues of Egypt.”
“That’s not difficult.You manage to embody all of them.”
“Here, we’re Jamie’s plagues, and you’re never getting rid of us.”
“Do you realise this comparison does you no honour?”Riley asks.
“It doesn’t matter, as long as he understands what I mean.”
Unfortunately, I understood it all too well.
Chapter28
Martin
Ihelp Chris sort through the groceries while I try to bring up Evan’s birthday and the fact that she and Ryan have promised him a car.
“I don’t feel like talking about this now.I just got back from work.”
“We wouldn’t have to talk about it now if you’d told me before deciding.”
Chris drops the bags and turns towards me.“It’ll be convenient for him to have a car, so he doesn’t always need someone to pick him up.He’s a good kid; he deserves our trust.”
“It’s not a trust issue, at least not with Evan.”
“So the problem is Ryan?”
“No.”I sigh, exhausted.“But you admit that all the decisions about Evan come from the two of you.”
“Evan is a man; we don’t decide for him.Actually, he hasn’t let me since he was twelve.”
“You know what I mean.”
