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“Seamus and some of the other cousins are grumbling. A couple of the uncles too. The aunts tell me these things, you know, just a sort of warning to pass along.” Mom shakes her head and sips her tea again. “I don’t like it, Ronan. Maybe if you really did settle down and get married?—”
“A wife’s not going to solve my problems.” I lean forward and pat Mom’s hand. “Don’t worry. I know about the talk, but it’s just that. Only talk.”
“You’re right.” She makes herself smile but it rings too false. “You’ll be just fine.”
I head into Bloody Strike that night in a foul mood. There are a few decent fights on the card except none of them interest me. I’m thinking about Valentina, her pretty lips, her scowls and her laughter, but also about Seamus and his quiet anger. That boy is going to be a problem. He and the others he’s been chatting with.
It’s late when they finally corner me. I expected it, sooner or later. I head into the bathroom to take a piss and when I come back out, Seamus is lurking behind two other cousins: Cormac, with his scruffy beard and hard eyes, and Gavin, with his lanky frame and wire-thin cheeks. They’re two of the more popular cousins in the bunch.
“Boss, we’ve been talking.” Cormac steps forward. I didn’t expect this from him, but now I can see how it makes sense. “That Italian girl’s been coming around too much. We’re a little bit worried.”
I nod at him and smile my normal smile. Don’t let him know I understand what’s happening here. It’s safe for them to complain about Valentina, and if they didn’t underestimate me all the time, they’d realize I’d see right through it. But I keep that close.
“She’s all right, cousin. Don’t worry about her.”
“What’s she even doing, then?” Gavin’s voice is sharp, like his face. He’s not quite so good at hiding his feelings.
“Consulting,” I tell him. “She’s been bringing in new business. That chop shop hit was all her doing.”
“It was a good job,” Cormac admits, nodding his head. “But she’s a Santoro, boss. I mean, I know their mafia is dead and all, but still. You can’t really trust her, right?”
I look between them and shake my head. “You don’t have to trust her, but you do have to trust me. If the family grows, that’s all we care about, right?”
“Not all we care about,” Gavin says.
But Cormac speaks over him. “I hear you, boss, we all hear you. We’re just concerned, that’s all.”
“And I’m happy you brought your issues to me.” I give him a friendly punch on the arm, and we walk back into the bar as a group. I flag down a waitress and make sure she gets them whatever they want on the house as a little gesture of good faith, but once they’re back at a table watching the fight, Niall sidles up next to me.
We stand together at the bar and don’t talk for a few minutes until he finally breaks the quiet. “Them, huh?” he asks.
I nod my head. “Them.”
“I’m surprised. Cormac has a better head than this.”
“Too good of a head. Maybe he thinks he’d make an improvement over the current boss.” I curse quietly to myself. “Watch them. Get some guys on it. Make sure this talk doesn’t turn into more than that.”
“I’ll handle it.” Niall leans back, not taking his eyes off the fight. “You like the girl, don’t you?”
I glance at him. “You sound like my fucking mother now.”
“Come on, cousin. It’s just us talking now. You like her.”
“She’s a gigantic pain in my ass and she’s an Italian. It doesn’t matter how I feel.”
“She’s beautiful, smart, funny, and looks at you like she wants to swallow your fucking dick.”
I lean toward him. “Careful,” I snarl.
He looks amused. “God, you’re predictable.”
It takes a beat to realize what he did, and I pull back, glaring at him. Fucker just baited me into getting jealous to prove a point, and it absolutely worked.
“She’s a business partner. That’s all.”
“All right, cousin, all right. When it comes time to choose between her and the family, that won’t be hard for you at all, right?”
I don’t answer. Niall heads off to place some bets, leaving me alone. But his question plays through my head.
