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Every part of me aches. I have cuts and bruises all over, a couple of which needed stitches. The family doctor’s been busy tending to the wounded, and the uncles have been dealing with the fallout from the attack.
Too many dead friends. Too many fallen cousins. Gregory’s dead and so are the majority of the Righteous Servants; their motorcycle club is in tatters as groups of my soldiers hunt down their remaining members and murder them. Three more are already in the ground and I suspect the remainder will die slowly over the next few months.
“The heat’s bad,” Uncle Brian says from the couch. “Cops are swarming all over the place. They picked up a few of the boys for questioning, but they all know the story.”
“Armed robbery gone bad.” I snort and glance at Uncle Joseph. “You think that’ll fly?”
Uncle Joseph shrugs with one shoulder. His right arm is splinted, and his left leg is bandaged. There’s a nasty cut downhis right cheek, but overall, he’s not in terrible shape everything considered.
“We could reach out to the Quinns and see if they might do us a favor.” He says it with a wry smile, since we all know that would never happen. I’m sure our rival Irish crime organization is extremely happy about what went down today.
“We’ll have to lie low for a while. Cops are going to be up our ass until we give them something.” I nod at Uncle Eddie. “Call some of the boys we have out hunting the bikers. Tell them to grab a couple alive.”
“You’re thinking we’ll give them over to the cops?” He doesn’t seem to like the idea.
“Once they’re behind bars, we’ll put some commissary money in a friendly inmate’s account and make sure those biker fucks don’t live long.”
Uncle Eddie brightens at the idea. “I like it. Very devious.”
“My father would be proud, I’m sure.” I lean back in my chair and feel every wound and aching muscle.
There’s more business to discuss. A fair number of the cousins are missing, and nobody’s been able to get a hold of Cormac for a few hours now, but I figure they’ll show up once they hear about what happened. There’s going to be a long recovery process, and there are a lot of grieving family members to handle moving forward. My work is only just beginning.
Niall appears in the doorway. “Ronan, you have a visitor. She says it’s important.”
Valentina’s waiting behind him. She seems uncomfortable and doesn’t make eye contact with any of the uncles. For their part,the three older crime lords don’t seem particularly bothered by her appearance.
“Mind if we have the room?” I ask them.
“I could use a damn drink.” Uncle Eddie gets up and follows Uncle Brian out.
Uncle Joseph needs some help from Niall. As the older, injured man passes Valentina, he pauses and extends his good hand. “You saved us today,” he says to her.
She seems startled, but she takes his palm and shakes. “I just did the right thing.”
“Either way, I know you risked your own life coming in person today, and for that I’m grateful. I won’t ever hear a bad word spoken about you, not in my presence, not so long as I’m alive. Thank you.”
Then he’s gone, limping away with Niall’s help. Valentina watches them for a second before closing the door.
“How about that,” I say, honestly a little surprised. I figured the uncles would be happier with her after she stuck her neck out for them, but I didn’t expect that level of gratitude.
“He’s still in shock. It’ll wear off.” She hesitates, standing in front of the desk. I want her to come around and climb into my lap, but she doesn’t move. “I just wish I could’ve gotten there sooner.”
“I still can’t believe it was Marco who warned you.”
“I almost didn’t take his call,” she admits, rubbing her hands together. Something’s wrong, I can almost taste it. “I meant to tell you, but things got so messed up, but—” She laughs a littleand runs a hand through her thick, dark hair. “It almost seems silly now.”
“What’s wrong, love?”
“Cormac was at your house. He saw me as I was trying to leave. I planned on getting a hotel and I had my bag with me, and I guess he put it all together, and—” She sucks in a breath, calming herself. “He figured out that I was living with you.”
I let the revelation sink in and feel nothing. If she had told me this earlier today, before the attack, I might have some trepidation. There might be a little worry in my gut. But now, I don’t give a shit. I see what’s important so clearly, it’s absurd.
“Come here,” I say, moving back slightly.
“Ronan, I can’t. Cormac’s going to use me against you. He’s going to rip the family in half because he wants to be the boss.”
“I know, love. Come here.”
