Page 88 of The Celtic Resolution
“Yes. It was touch and go in the immediate beginning, but he pulled through quickly. He’s getting bigger day by day.”
“How long?”
“ A couple of weeks. It’s Halloween tomorrow.”
“Shit.”
“I know. Time flies.”
“And my dad is…”
“Dead,” Saoirse replies tightly. “Yes.”
“I…” A strange mix of emotions swirls in my chest. Sadness initially, but then anger. Anger that I couldn’t be there to see him suffer, or ensure he got what he deserved. “Wait, Mary!”
“She’s fine!” Saoirse rises slightly and shifts further up the bed. “She’s safe. She’s alive. Cormac’s people were able to rescue her thanks to Sarah, and she’s been staying with Rocky ever since.”
I slump back down, my heart racing. “Thank fuck.”
“It’s all okay. Everyone is okay.”
“Even Cian?”
Saoirse nods. “His recovery will be tricky and he’s pretty pissed off at the world, but he’s fine. They kept him heavily drugged so on top of healing and facing the pain of learning to walk again, he’s also in withdrawal.”
“Shit. I’m… It feels so worthless now, but I’m sorry.”
“I know.”
“I’m really fucking sorry.”
“Bruno.” Her hand lightly covers mine. “You can’t keep beating yourself up over this. You need to heal. You had a lot of surgeries because one of the bullets tore your lung and you were struggling for a while. And blaming yourself for all of this…” She takes a deep breath and straightens her shoulders. “Look… you fucked up and we acknowledged that. It was pretty disastrous, but I can’t fully fault you for choosing family. And then being caught with your sister’s life dangling in Domenico’s hands like that… I would do anything for my brothers. I would. So as angry as I am, I can’t blame you for doing what you could to protect her.”
It’s becoming harder and harder to keep the tears at bay. “You don’t hate me?”
“I did at first. Back in that cell until you told me the truth. And then I hated how much I understood your actions because I would have done the same. It’s a coin flip, isn’t it, this life? As strong as you think you are, all it takes is a blade to the throat of a loved one and then it’s all over. You’re nothing but a puppet.” She lifts her other hand and rubs at her temple. “Sometimesthere’s no winning. But you also saved my life. If I’d been sold and shipped overseas, then I’d be nothing right now.”
“Is it over?”
“The human trafficking?”
I nod.
“Partly. Rocky’s been working to dismantle all of Domenico’s business with the Triads as well as killing a large number of them to try and get information on the third leader. Someone in the Middle East or Europe. It’s difficult to pinpoint but I believe Anastasia, the Russian Godmother, is also helping. She feels responsible, I believe, for not ensuring something like this could never reignite. It turns out that Rocky went to Italy after his honeymoon and actually discussed growing distrust about Domenico with his father.”
“Shit… Rocky was suspicious?”
Saoirse nods slowly. “Cormac and Rocky have a… complicated friendship and Cormac kept reaching out to Rocky to try and fix things. Eventually, they had drinks at the Black Ox, and Cormac’s defense of me was enough to ignite some suspicion in Rocky, nothing concrete, but enough that he wanted his father’s permission before he acted.”
“And he needed it in person.”
“Exactly. He couldn’t risk their communications being hijacked. That’s why he left and why Domenico was left in charge for so long.”
“Shit.” I turn my eyes to the ceiling. “No wonder Sarah was telling me to tread carefully. She didn’t want me to fuck up what they were working on.”
“I guess.” Saoirse sighs deeply. “But it’s going to take a lot more than one drink and some dead Triads to repair the relations between the Irish and the Italians. There’s a lot of unsettled behavior.”
“I don’t blame anyone. We haven’t exactly been good allies, have we?”
