Chapter 30

Once he's gone,it's like a piece of me is missing. I can't stop the scary thoughts in my head. What if something happens to him? To my sister? My brothers? What if I lose someone else like I lost Mom? I don't want anyone else to die.

My eyes sting. I swipe at them just as the door opens, and in walks my father. We haven't had a moment to talk. After Devlin left, Iseult and my brothers came to check on me before they too left.

"Hi, darling. How are you feeling?" He strides toward the bed and takes the chair beside it.

"Could be better." I shrug.

"I'm sorry this all is happening to you." He sighs. "I've spent my entire life trying to shield you from the dangers of what we do, but it seems like there's no escaping it."

I glance down at my lap, unsure how to respond. Of course there's no escaping it. We are Quinns. We are the Mob. I still don't see us that way. It's all just strange.

"Dad." I reach my hand for his, and he scoots to the edge of the chair so he can grab it. "I'm not a little kid anymore. I know how dangerous our world is. I saw it with my own eyes when I was kidnapped by that Russian guy."

"Yes, Konstantin's father. How could I forget?" His features twist with indignation. "If he wasn't dead already, I'd have killed him."

"Can I ask you something?" My stomach tenses. "And please tell me the truth."

He sits up straighter. "What is it?"

My stomach twists and turns, pulse unsteady. "Did Mom really die in an accident?"

He draws in a breath that he doesn't let go of. When his eyes shut for a moment, I know I was fed a lie.

"I'm sorry, Eriu." His face turns with sympathy and regret. "You were so young when it happened. I just…"

"What happened to Mom?"

I need to know the truth. It's killing me not to know.

"Sergey, he took her after we had a dispute over property and…" He fists a hand, and in his silence, there's despair. "He burned her alive. He sent me the video to prove it."

"Oh my God!" My vision blurs and I slap a hand over my mouth, my tears falling silently for a woman I barely remember. For the one who loved me, but whose love I can't seem to hold on to.

But it's there, like the wind kissing your skin, like the sun sprinkling you with its heat. Yet you can't touch or keep it. You have to be content to simply feel it and let go.

My father's arms are there, clasping around me. "Your mother was a great woman, and she loved you with all her heart, my darling."

I nod, sobbing against him, mourning her in my own way.

I don't know how long I cry, but it somehow feels good to. It's cathartic, like I'm shedding a part of myself I no longer want to keep.

My father kisses me on the top of my head and goes to the mini fridge to get me a water bottle. I take a few sips and place it on the nightstand beside me.

"So, you and Devlin, huh?"

He quickly changes the subject and I'm instantly relieved. Because as soon as I hear his name, I can't help but smile. "Yeah."

He grins, settling back on the chair. "You think I didn't know you had a crush on him?"

My mouth pops.

"That's right. Your father isn't always blind as a bat. Sometimes I wear my glasses."

I roll my eyes. "You never wear your glasses."

"I'm being figurative here, alright?" He chuckles. "He's a good man."

"I know. Now Mason…" I grimace. "Really, Dad? You couldn't even give me a little heads-up about your plan?"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. I just knew I had to do something a bit drastic for Devlin to admit his feelings for ya. I think everyone knew but him."

"He was just scared of disappointing you and feeling like he wasn't good enough for your daughter. His parents never accepted him, and he carried that."

"Yeah, well, he's got a family now."

"That's right." I can't wait until he returns. "I hope nothing happens to them."

"It won't. They have each other's backs. And now we have the Messinas on our side, thanks to your sister marrying Gio."

"Well, I'm just glad I wasn't the one to marry him. Two failed arranged marriages for me. I'm on a roll."

He laughs. "Never thought your sister would marry before you. That's something I didn't see coming."

"There was no way Gio was ever gonna let her go."

His laughter grows. "You're not kidding. I thought he was gonna have my head when he barged into my office that one day and told me he was marrying her and I had no choice in the matter."

My heart warms at the way Gio loves my sister. He'd do anything for her. Burn the world down just to see her smile.

"I'm happy for her. She deserves it."

"Aye. She does. And so do you."

"Speaking of my happiness, I need to talk to you about something else."

"Of course, darling. Anything."

"I know when I've brought up writing as a career, you've dismissed it. But I really want to do this, Dad. I wanna try. And it doesn't mean I won't help you on the farm. I just want more, you know?"

He shrinks back against the chair and searches my eyes, then says something I never thought I'd hear him say.

"Then do it. I won't stop you. Not anymore."

"Really?!"

"Aye."

"What happened to…" I mock his tone of voice. "‘Writing isn't a career. You need a job worthy of your name.'"

"I just want you all to be happy, and if this makes you happy, then that's all that matters to me."

"Well, that was much easier than I thought."

"See?" He throws his hands in the air. "I'm easy to talk to."

"Mm-hmm." I pop a brow.

His eyes crinkle with a hard chuckle. "I love you, Eriu. I want you to know that."

"I do know that."

"Good. Now, why don't you rest? I'll be here the whole time."

But even though I try to sleep, it never comes. I won't be able to. Not until I know Devlin and my family are safe.

DEVLIN

Mason's guards are lying on the ground. Again. Seems like he didn't learn his lesson after all.

While Gio and the Quinns surround the property, Iseult walks right up to the front door, with me wedged between two shrubs not too far from the entrance.

She rings the bell and waits for Mason to answer.

A creak echoes.

"Who the hell are you, and how did you…" Mason's voice trails, and I'm thinking he just caught the bodies on his lawn.

"Aww," Iseult tsks. "Now is that a way to treat your almost future sister-in-law?"

He gasps right before she kicks him hard, and he grunts as she rushes inside. And that's when I join them. The other guys all follow us in.

Iseult grabs Mason by the hair, and he winces.

"What the hell is this?!" His eyes bounce between her, me, and the rest of the room. "I didn't do shit! I left her alone like you told me to." His frantic attention flies to me.

"Cut your bullshit." I step up, removing my nine from my waistband and angling it into his throat.

"Wh-what are y-you talking about?" He practically shakes in her grasp. "I didn't do anything! You're making a big mistake!"

Tynan brings a chair over from the kitchen, and Iseult pushes Mason into it.

Her palms drop to his knees, and she bends forward. "Now, if you're a good little boy, I won't cut off your tiny penis." She kneels and retrieves a knife from her ankle, swinging it in the air. "I may have a little fun, though." She grins, staring at the glistening blade. "How much depends on you."

When his face goes white, she grabs his throat and places the blade against his carotid.

"We know someone has been paying you fifty K every week," I tell him. "We know it was the Palmers."

"Who?" His hands shake, his body growing rigid as she slowly turns to look at me, the knife still at his throat.

He's either stupid or really doesn't know who that is.

"Who's been paying you?" Iseult asks, digging the knife just enough to draw a little blood.

"Oh, f-f-fuck… I—I don't know his name. H-he just—oh my God, I'm bleeding!"

She yanks his head backward. "Tell us everything about this man. I'll know if you're lying."

"Okay, okay! I…I'm in deep in gambling debts. Owe a lot of money to scary people," he pants. "More than I can get from my father. I couldn't let him know what a big disappointment I am. So when some guy named Ethan approached me, saying his people would pay off my debts if I volunteered to marry Eriu, I said yes. My father knew her father, so when I mentioned it to him, he thought it was a great idea, and so did her father."

I grind my jaw. "And?"

"Ethan sent in money every week as promised, splitting up what I owed, as long as I don't back out of the engagement. All I had to do was tell her I wanted her to be a virgin, scare her a little. They told me if I needed to go through with the wedding, I should do it. Once I did all that, they'd pay me what I owe in full."

My pulse turns demonic in my head. I dig the barrel of my gun into his temple.

"Did you see this Ethan's face? How old was he?"

"Please, please don't kill me!"

"TALK!"

"I—I—I saw his face. I—I can identify him for you. I swear! Just don't kill me!" he wails. "I fucked up!"

"Did you ever see or hear about a Francis Palmer?"

He shakes his head. "Ethan didn't tell me anything. I knew enough not to ask questions."

When I reach into my pocket, he shrinks back.

Removing my phone, I shove it into his face. "Need you to tell me if one of the guys on here is Ethan."

He starts nodding frantically. "That one. He's older now, but I recognize him."

He points to one of the Palmer boys. His name isn't Ethan, of course. That's Roy Palmer. The oldest one.

I nod at Iseult, and without hesitation, her knife slashes Mason across his throat. The shock on his face comes swiftly.

He thought he would survive such a betrayal. But no one fecks with the Quinns and lives to tell about it.

And soon enough, the Palmers will learn the same lesson.