“What are you talking about?” she asked.
“When you ran away like a petulant child you angered the Murphy family.”
Hazel shrugged. “That was years ago. And I told you right from the beginning I didn’t want to marry him, but you ignored me.”
“Donny was humiliated by your leaving. His parents forced him to marry another girl to save face, and she was barren.”
Barren? Who talked like that?
Hazel waved her hand impatiently. “What does that have to do with me?”
“Donny needs an heir. Now that his wife is… out of the picture, he’s looking for a new wife.”
I knew instinctively that the woman was out of the picture because Donny killed her.
“I’m sure there are lots of dumb women who’d jump at the chance to marry a misogynist abusive asshole like Donny,” Hazel sneered.
Yeah, that confirmed it.
Did that man hurt our mate?my wolf asked.We will kill him.
For once the wolf speaks some sense,my vamp added.
I made a mental note to ask her later what happened.
“He doesn’t want another woman, he wants you,” Colm said. “And I told his family we’d make this right.”
“First of all, I’m a lesbian,” Hazel said, ticking off on her fingers. “Second, I didn’t want to put up with his temper back then, and I certainly don’t now. Third, I have a life in Canada.”
“You’re not going to have a life at all if you don’t get Donny off our backs,” Colm said. “And neither will we.”
Hazel’s eyes narrowed. “Since when are you two afraid of the Murphys? Or anyone?”
“Since they turned some of our most loyal associates against us,” Colm said, a trace of dejection in his voice. “And cut off most of our money.”
“I don’t understand,” Hazel said.
“We’re broke, Moira,” her mother burst out. “Those damned Murphys have outmaneuvered us. And you’re going to help us fix it by giving them the grandchild they’ve been waiting for.”
Hazel
Istared at my parents in shock. They must be losing their touch, because as they recounted the ways that the Murphys turned people against them and then maneuvered them out of large sums of money, I couldn’t believe these were the same two people who’d run one of the most successful criminal empires in the country.
My parents had always seemed larger than life. Invincible. Now they seemed… old. But there was more to the story, I could sense it. Why would their closest allies double cross them years after I dumped their son? It didn’t make sense.
“What else is going on?” I demanded. “I know there’s more to this story.”
They exchanged a look and I could see the calculation pass between them.
“I want the truth,” I said firmly. “What’s the real story with the Rossis? I’ve been out of the life for years — why is everything happening now?”
I got up and started pacing the room. Movement always helped me think, and this conversation needed my full focus.
My father sighed, and for once didn’t stall before answering.
“We had a partnership with the Rossis two years back,” he said. “They wanted to expand their shipping routes through our territory, we wanted a cut of their northeast distribution. Seemed clean enough on paper.”
“What happened?” Marilee prompted.
