Page 80 of Dirty Pool

“Sal’s moving fast, isn’t he?” Michel asked.

“He has to—it’s us or them, Michel. What do you expect him to do, wait around until the Irish decide to hit us again?”

Michel stayed quiet.

Gabbie thought about her father.

His men.

And Michel, too.

It was strange to her how all of her worries could swirl between the lines to merge it all together. It should have been clear—simple, even. Her loyalty should have only been with her family, and yet she loved someone outside of it, too. She couldn’t only worry about one when there were more factors at play here.

God.

Why was this such a mess?

“It’s not that I expect him to sit around and wait for more violence to happen,” Michel returned, “but I assume the entire family might get together and have a discussion about what’s going to happen next. That’s all.”

That’s how it worked for Gabbie’s father, too.

Michel had a point.

“You assume they haven’t,” David returned.

“It’s been a few hours since the meeting, man.”

“Who said it happened today?”

Michel’s body tensed—Gabbie felt it in his legs, for feck’s sake. “So like I said, then, he’s moving fast.”

“Everyone is.”

“Thanks for the heads up.”

“Care for a game of pool?” David asked. “Someone said you were pretty good, and you know how I like to make bets, huh?”

Michel’s gaze did drift downward, then, and Gabbie looked up at the same time. It was just a split second—not very long at all, and she doubted the man on the other side of the table even noticed Michel’s brief distraction.

Still, they looked at each other.

Her heart thumped so hard that she could feel it in her throat. It was enough to make her want to be sick. No, they couldn’t play a feckin’ game of pool. She couldn’t stay hidden on the other side of the goddamn table when they would be walking around it.

“I think I’m going to head out, actually,” Michel said. “Like you said, I wouldn’t want to be caught out on the streets tonight, right?”

No, Gabbie wanted to say.

She didn’t want him to leave at all. Who knew when the next time they could see each other again would be? Between his pre-med, her classes at college, this shite between their families … and more, when would they get any time at all?

Never.

That’s when.

“I’ll walk you out, then,” David said.

Michel tensed again.

Gabbie flinched.