“He might have forced her.” Connor paused to suck the juices off his fingers. “He’s a manipulative sonofabitch.”
This talk of my demise and Gabriella left on her own soured my stomach. I could see it, plain as day. She would be free to marry whoever held a claim on her heart. The fingers of my gloved hand curled into a fist.
Not fucking happening.
“Watch Deluca,” I ordered my second in command.
“I’ve got Seamus and Collin on it.” Connor waved his breast absently.
I plucked the damn meat from the air and dropped it on his plate. “He’s going to react.”
“Is that why you didn’t kill him, boss?” Finn flashed me a toothy grin, pieces of skin stuck to his teeth.
I glared at him. “Yes.”
That detail just so happened to be an added bonus.
“Now we’ll see who he’s working with. Smart.” Finn rubbed his hands together before reaching to pick chicken from his teeth. “I’ll come with you, Con. Unless…you need me here, boss?”
“No. Go.” I crossed my arms and went to stand at the sink.
Storm capered and ran about, and the beauty? My little bird just stood there, staring at the sliver of moon, hands wrapped around her stomach. The black stone in my chest fucking bled to see it. If I had a heart, I’d tear it out and give it to her. Maybe smashing it to pieces would finally turn those rosy lips up.
Chapter 44 – Gabriella
Icouldn’t bear looking at my phone to see if my sister messaged. Perhaps that made me a coward. I’d told Liam he could have whatever he wanted if he stopped the violence. But my father walked out of dinner alive and well. Andfurious. Some Made Men hit their wives, but so did normal, law-abiding citizens. Abuse was a cancerous rot. Those inflicted hurt the people they should love and cherish. It was something that happened, and it wasn’t talked about. I tried to do something. I thought I had a solution.
But while I was safe, I’d only made the problem worse.
Now that his don knew, Papa would receive some kind of slap on the wrist. A minor scolding. And he would want vengeance.
There was no way my mother was escaping unscathed. Papa left our disaster of a dinner party and best-case scenario, he laid low for a few days. Or he headed straight home to unleash his fury. If Don Morelli followed up with Mama, she would smile, hide behind her makeup, and say that Papa was a good husband and a doting father.
She needed to stop lying and covering for his sins.
She never will.
I thought I had an answer. I made a bargain with the devil, bound myself to him, made peace with the fact that he might demand I stay by his side forever, and if that was what it cost to end the demonic sonofabitch and keep my sisters safe, I would gladly pay.
But Papa still breathed.
There was only so long I could hide from my debt. I played outside with the dog for an hour, but eventually I forced myself to return to the house. It was quiet. The McDonagh crew had left.
I thought Liam might have gone with them, but the light from the library said otherwise. Knowing it was time to face the music, I slid the door into its pocket.
Liam’s back was to me. He stared into the front yard, mask in his gloved hand, whiskey in the other. “I was wondering when you’d come back.”
My heart lurched, slamming unexpectedly into my ribs. His voice was…forlorn.
“Liam, about the tracker, I can explain,” I started to say.
He let out a rough laugh and threw back the remains of his drink. “No need, cailín. We’ve heard everything we needed to know.”
I paused. “Heard?”
Liam nodded then slowly looked over his left shoulder. “Connor’s a wicked good spy.”
I slumped against the doorframe. “You knew? This whole time?”
