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Colm Hayes was beloved. If anything, that’s an understatement. He was a hard man who lived a hard life, but he cared about his people in a way that’s hard to fake. He was immensely real, almost too real sometimes, and he wore his emotions out in public with no shame and no remorse. Though mostly his emotions ranged from “bored” to “homicidal” with not much in between.
When he passed and I took control of the Group, everyone assumed I would run things like he did, with an iron fist. Except that isn’t me. It’s not how I manage my life or how I want to operate. Dad was good, and he kept the family together, but nobody flourished under his leadership. We just kept on going, year after year, in the same old houses in the same old neighborhood doing the same old petty crimes.
I want to be bigger. I want more for these people, even if they don’t realize it. That’s why I work my ass off, and why I can’t ever be like my old man, even if everyone around me wishes I were a young version of him.
Once the dishes are done and everything’s settled, I kiss my mother on the cheek and head to the door. I’m about to leave when I open up and find a pretty young woman standing on the porch looking like she can’t decide if she wants to knock or not.
“Shit,” she says, blinking at me. Valentina tugs at her hair. “I wasn’t sure if this was a good time.”
“You came to my mother’s house.” I lean up against the doorframe, arms crossed. I was so fucking mad at her after that fight, but now that I’ve had time to cool off, I know that it wasn’t entirely her fault. I’ve been meaning to chat with her, I just haven’t known how yet.
“I wanted to talk.” She looks away. “If you’re busy?—”
“No, you’re good, actually. The family’s all gone.”
“Sunday breakfast is over?”
“Unfortunately for you.” I gesture for her to follow me inside. “Come on. Let’s go to my office.”
She follows me into the house. I bring her around to say hello to my mother, who seems absolutely delighted and gives me a big knowing smirk, before we end up sitting together on the couch beside my father’s old desk.
“I wanted to say that what happened with Gregory won’t ever happen again.” She faces me, her back very straight. Her posture’s always good when she’s being serious, and I love that hard look on her face. She’s so fucking pretty, it kills me sometimes. “I spoke out of turn, and I know better now.”
I put my hand on her knee. I can’t help myself. She stares at it, but doesn’t pull away, and doesn’t ask me to move. I like the feel of her under my palm—she’s in shorts, and her skin’s very smooth and tan.
“You did nothing wrong, all right? No, listen, if members of my own family can’t speak up during a meeting without an all-out fight happening, I’ve failed as a leader. What happened was on me and me alone.”
Her eyebrows raise. “I’m honestly surprised to hear you say it.”
“I could’ve defused the situation between. Instead, I got too aggressive.”
“It’s hard not to act like that around Gregory.” She makes a disgusted face. “He’s one of the vilest people I’ve ever met.”
“You won’t hear me disagree.” My hand slides up to her thigh. Ever so slightly. And I swear, she shivers as I do it, her pretty lips parting. “I was too hard on you in the car. That was partly because I was pissed and just got punched in the face, and partly for Seamus’s benefit and the little shits he’s been talking to.”
“Oh. Family problems. You can’t be seen being too soft on your Italian associate, right?”
“It’s nothing personal.”
Her lips quirk. “Sounds like it was all your fault and I’m not even a little bit to blame.”
“Well—”
“You said it already and you can’t take it back now.” She’s grinning and I love that smile on her. It lights her whole face up.
“All right, love, you caught me. I’ve been a very bad man. Are you here to punish me?”
“You wish.” She folds her legs under her and moves closer. My hand slides up her skin, but I don’t try to move it away, and she doesn’t try to push it off. “I’ve had some time to think about our next moves.”
“Yeah? What’s your plan then?”
“Steal Rocco’s next meth shipment and extort him into playing ball.”
I laugh softly. This fucking girl. “That’s not bad.”
“If I know anything about the drug trade, he’ll be deep into debt by the time the drugs finally arrive. Moving the product’s supposed to cover what he owes, and if we take it before he can get his hands on it, that’ll put him in a very amendable position.”
“Then we get what we want without firing a shot.”
