Page 3 of Blood Money

Once the door closed, my father glared at me. “I understand we still haven’t received a single payment from Liam O’Shaughnessy.”

Dom remembered every person who owed us. We kept meticulous records—none of which would be useful in court, even if they could be found—but my father didn’t need them. He filed away all the details in his head.

I’d recently been sent to encourage Liam to remember the consequences of defaulting on his loan, but for the first time, I hesitated to give a client a sample of the kind of justice we meted out to those who couldn’t meet their obligations.

I’d scared Liam. I was sure of that, but I hadn’t used the incentive of pain. Not that I would mind hurting him. I just wanted him hard for me and begging for it first. Liam wasn’t like our usual clients, but that didn’t give me an excuse to be soft on him.

“I’m waiting for a response,” my father growled.

“That’s correct, sir. He hasn’t made any payments.”

“And why is that?”

“I failed to extract any money from him.” Lying would earn me a worse punishment than admitting to failure.

“Find him today and do better.”

I bowed my head. “Yes, sir.”

Failure was unacceptable to my father. As an assassin, his attempts to take down his targets never failed. If he aimed at something or someone, his shot hit dead center every time. The fact that injuries had forced him into retirement hadn’t changed his expectation of perfection.

“Don’t fail me again, Valentino. I took you off the streets. I can put you back there.”

I suppressed a shiver as I thought about the life I’d led on the streets before Dom had brought me to live with him. Day after day of fighting to have enough to eat, trying to keep from losing digits to frostbite in the winter, or suffering heat stroke in the summer had made life hell. He’d been willing to help me and Vito as long as we remained loyal, but if he thought we’d betrayed him in any way, I didn’t doubt he’d follow through on his threat. His temper was as legendary as his marksmanship.

I’d scared Liam before, but now it was time for pure terror. Seeing me truly angry always got people searching for funds in ways they hadn’t thought of before.

No matter how fuckable he was, I wouldn’t let Liam or any other man stand between me and the life I was building as part of the Marchesi family, the life that kept me rolling in money instead of begging for my next meal.

2

LIAM

Igripped the counter to stay upright as a wave of dizziness reminded me I’d only eaten half a sandwich for lunch yesterday and I’d had no dinner. I needed to find some food.

I opened the fridge and stared at the empty shelves. The only things in there were some mayo that was likely expired and a bag of moldy carrots. The cabinets were almost as bare. At least I could make myself a cup of coffee.

I put some grounds in my ancient coffee maker and turned it on. While I waited for it to brew, I pulled up my account in my banking app.

My stomach sank when I realized the balance was even lower than I thought. I barely had enough to feed myself for the rest of the week. There was no way I was going to make rent, and I’d already asked for too many extensions. If I didn’t pay this month, I would be evicted. And if I couldn’t afford this tiny piece-of-shit apartment, I wouldn’t be able to afford anywhere else to live.

I refused to let my sister drop out of school, no matter how dire things got. If she found out I was homeless, there was no way she’d keep taking classes instead of trying to find full-time work. I’d have to find a way to make do. She would be able to get a solid job once she finished her nursing degree. I was the only family she had now, and I wanted to give her that. I was all she had now that our parents were gone.

As it was, she had no idea I’d borrowed money from the Marchesis. If she ever found out, she’d probably kill me. I needed to keep the loan a secret, but that meant I also had to hide from Valentino, the man the Marchesis had sent looking for me. I’d borrowed so fucking much, but living expenses and tuition were crushing me. I had no way to pay them back.

Maybe I should leave town—not that I had money for gas, a train, or a bus. But if I stayed close, Valentino would find me. What would happen if I did escape? Would they go looking for Ava?

The thought of some loan shark’s henchman tracking down my sister made bile rise in my throat. I couldn’t let myself think about what they might do to her.

That meant running wasn’t an option for me even if I could find the funds. I was sure the Marchesis could track the ancient car I’d inherited from my mom. It was barely hanging on anyway. I wasn’t sure I could even make it out of the city before it died on me. The money I’d borrowed had allowed me to pay Ava’s fall tuition, but I’d made my overall situation worse.

I felt cursed, or maybe it was karmic justice is the accident was really my fault. I’d sure as hell had the worst run of luck. I’d lost my job while I was recovering, and after some asshole shoved me into the wall of a bar because I refused his advances, my post-concussion symptoms had returned. It had been weeks before I could even look for full-time work. Since then, I’d yet to find anything that could help me get out of the hole that seemed to grow deeper every day. Right now, the only work I had was a part-time position serving at a bar.

If I couldn’t leave town, maybe being evicted was a blessing in the disguise. If I was living out of my car, I’d be moving around every day, so I’d be a lot harder to track.

Or I could wait for Valentino to find me and try to bargain with him.

No. That was insane.

---