Page 100 of Mob Star

“I was at a meeting with Uncle Donovan and the man who used to lead the mob up in Boston. That man and my uncle were like oil and water. It’s why Corey and his guys were there. Uncle Donovan brought his best friend, a guy named Colin. The man was once a golden glove boxer. He went one too many rounds against Maksim Kutsenko, and it ended his time in the ring. But he was still an enforcer. Uncle Donovan also brought Dillan and me as muscle, too. Sean, Shane, Cormac, and Seamus were still too young. Our dads refused to consider it. It caused a heated argument, and it was our moms who made sure their brother understood it was bad enough our parents had to let Dillan and me go. Uncle Donovan loved to say no to any and everyone. But my mom and aunts were the only ones he never refused. It wasn’t fraternal love. It was healthy sororal fear. He couldn’t stand up to one of them let alone all three together. We get the red hair from them.”

I can’t help but grin. My mom and aunts are a foot shorter than all the men in our family. But fucking hell if Uncle Donovan didn’t want to piss his pants when my mom or aunts stared at him. That was all it took. The few times I saw him try to say no to my mom and aunts, he regretted it. I don’t know what they said to him because it was always behind closed doors, but he would come out a changed man.

I’m not supposed to know this, and my parents would flip if they knew all of us do, but my mom put a hit on one of his guys. She made sure the man lived, but not until she made sure Uncle Donovan understood she had the power to do that. The power to make his men obey her. So much for women not getting involved.

It was when Dillan and I were thirteen, and Uncle Donovan wanted us to go on our first mission. Granddad was still alive and leading the family, but Uncle Donovan had a lot of power as second-in-command— the position I hold now —so he thought he could force my parents. My dad and uncles beat the two men who tried to corner us after school to within an inch of their lives. That didn’t satisfy my mom. She wanted to make sure her brother understood her son and nephew would join when our parents said we could. Unfortunately, that was only a little more than a year later.

“Did you talk to each other?” Thea pulls me back to the present.

“No. We stood across a room from each other. I remember asking Colin who the big guy was. He didn’t say your name, but he told me you were a welder. That your arms are the size they are from smashing skulls on your anvil. If I’d been a kid, I would’ve believed him.”

Even with the obvious injuries, it’s easy to see Brandon isn’t someone you want to pick a fight with. He’s the same size as Seamus and Cormac. You’d never guess he’s old enough to be any of our fathers. He looks like he’s still in his early forties. As I stare at him, I realize something.

“I should have known Thea was your daughter the moment I met her. She inherited the same birthmark on her right forearm as you. With the slight Boston accent, I should have put two and two together.”

“Obviously, I know who the O’Rourkes are, but since no one introduced us those two times, I didn’t know then or on the phone tonight which one you were. I recognized you as fast as you recognized me. You don’t look the same as you did fifteen years ago, but it’s similar enough for me to know we’d met.”

“When was the second time you met?” I glance down at Thea as she asks.

“I won’t tell you that.” I’m fast to answer.

I don’t want Brandon to even hint at the situation. We were at a different meeting six months later, and I shot the man standing next to Brandon. But not before Brandon tried to put a bullet in me. I can’t blame him, and I hope he doesn’t blame me. That meeting went to shite because Uncle Donovan did the exact opposite of what Dillan told him to do.

“Ally, I won’t tell you either. I wouldn’t even if Finn weren’t here, but if he says no, then I’m going to follow his lead.”

Thea’d opened her mouth, but Brandon answered before she could make a sound. She looks up at me, and I see a flash of hurt. Then I watch the resolve come into her gaze. She doesn’t pull away, but she stands a little straighter. Is she pulling away emotionally?

“If Finn doesn’t think it’s safe for me to know, then I won’t ask. I can live without knowing.”

My sweet, strong cailín. She wants me to know she won’t demand information I can’t and won’t give. She wants me to know she’s brave enough to accept this first challenge and go with the flow.

“Why don’t we sit down?” Sandra gestures to the dining room.

The oven timer is buzzing. Thea offers to help her mom as Brandon and I walk into the dining room. He points to a chair, which I stand behind.

“Mr. Gallagher?—”

“Brandon. I don’t know your dad any better than I know you. But I knew about your family long before we met. I know about your mom and what happened with Randall O’Keefe.”

He pauses for a moment, and I nod. Randall O’Keefe was the man my mom put a hit on. It shocks me that he knows about that.

“I also know your parents got engaged within a month of knowing each other, but they had to wait because they were only nineteen. Dillan’s parents met first and were high school sweethearts. Your parents met through them, but not until a few years later. Same as your other aunt and uncle. They got engaged at the same time as your parents. If you’re dating Ally, then it’s because you intend to marry her, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t bring her near my life if it was just casual. I wouldn’t do that to any woman, but Thea’s—” I can’t stop my smile. “I knew when I met her. She’s the only woman I’ve ever wanted to let into my life. She’s the kind of special you only meet once in a lifetime because there can only be one of her.”

“Why do you feel that way?”

“She’s incredibly intelligent. You can tell by speaking to her, then you find out she’s a neonatologist, and that confirms it. She’s kind and self-sacrificing. She’s patient and forgiving. I met the guy she was dating before me. She brings me a sense of peace I haven’t had since I was a kid and was too young to know what my life would become. I tell her all the time that I will do anything to keep her safe. I will, and you know what that means. But I feel safe with her. I don’t feel like I have to be as guarded. I’m not looking for what’s going to go wrong at every corner. I can just be Finn, not Finn O’Rourke.”

“She’s all of those things. You said she told you about our family history.”

“I know what Corey expects of her. I know that you’re probably thinking she’s jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. That I’m not?—”

Brandon holds up his hand as he glances toward the kitchen.

“I’m glad she’s with you. Not because I expect you to shelter her from Corey, so I’m willing to look the other way. In the fifteen minutes you’ve been here, it’s obvious you’re both in love already. It radiates from you both. I didn’t fall in love with Sandra at first sight. It took longer, but I see in you two what I see when I think about my wife. Ally trusts you, and to a man like you, trust is everything. Once it’s gone, it rarely comes back. You won’t betray her trust because that’s not the man you want to be. I know the O’Rourkes more by reputation than anything else. That reputation is rooted in family. Nothing is more important to your family than one another. You wouldn’t bring Ally into yours if you didn’t feel that way about her and think they would accept her.”

“You can tell all that?”

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