Page 98 of Arranged Addiction
He grunts, obviously not happy, but this is tricky business. If I don’t do it right, I’m liable to turn a bad situation into something even worse.
Lorcan himself answers the door without me having to knock. He’s clearly been waiting. “Got one of those new Ring cameras,” he says, grinning manically. He’s got the same look as hisold man Crag did: messy, thinning hair, a wrinkled-up face, a gravelly voice from decades of smoking. A nice and loud echo of the past.
“I’ve been meaning to install those at our place.” I follow him inside. The interior is warm and comfortable. Despite the way the Maguires have slowly fallen out of favor and onto hard times, they’ve kept up appearances.
“I bet you’ve got more than a few cameras already.”
“Just a few.”
“And some very watchful eyes.”
“Well armed, that’s for sure.”
Lorcan laughs but there’s no humor in it. He takes me into a sitting room at the front of the house. There’s already whiskey served on a tray and a young man’s on the couch in the corner, looking very stiff and uncomfortable.
“You know my boy, Rory.” Lorcan introduces his son, another hard-faced Irish young man, though this one must have a bit of his mother in him. His hair’s curly, shaved close at the sides, and his eyes are a deep brown. I don’t know him well, but I put him in his early twenties.
“Thanks for visiting us, Mr. Whelan.” He shakes my hand and has a firm grip. I like that he’s being formal. Shows respect.
“I appreciate you having me.” I take a seat across from the Maguire men and accept a glass. The whiskey’s decent but I don’t throw it all back.
“Times are hard right now.” Lorcan sighs noisily and shakes his head all pious and frowning. “Your father passing is a real blow. He was a good man. Saved my father’s life back in the day.”
“The two of them always got along well.”
“My old man always said your father was the sharpest knife in the city. The way the Whelans have been these last thirty years, I suspect he’s right.”
“You’ve done well for yourself too.” I gesture at the decent furniture and the comfortable room.
“Not as good as some, but still good.” Lorcan’s too proud to admit that he’s unhappy with his family’s station in the organization. “But we don’t need to do this dance for long. I’ve got nothing but respect for you, Declan, and for your whole family. Was that Seamus out there I saw?”
“That’s right. He’s keeping an eye on the street for us.”
Lorcan nods like that’s totally natural, but he knows how these things go. If the head of the Whelan family’s street muscle is nearby, that means the whole house is surrounded by loyal guns. Lorcan might have ten men hiding behind a door with rifles and bad ideas, but he’s now very sure that none of them will survive for long if they start pulling triggers.
“We always appreciate his hard work.” Another sharp smile from Lorcan. His son, Rory, shifts uncomfortably, looking like he’d rather be anywhere else, and says nothing. “Let’s get into it then. You want to talk about the future, I expect.”
“That’s right. The future. That’s a good way of putting it.” I smile at him. I do my best to mask the rage in my heart. I don’t want to hate this man or anyone in his family because they’ve all beenlike kin to me for a long while. I remember Lorcan at events and functions, like my own christening and dozens of parties. But they brought this on themselves.
“Donnell’s been visiting here. You know he and I are close.”
“He’s close with a lot of people.”
“Some more than others. He’s just got concerns, that’s all.”
“And why didn’t he mention these concerns sooner? Why didn’t you come to me or my father before now? Seems interesting how you waited until my father got sick and died before having these concerns.”
Lorcan’s face hardens. “I don’t like the implication you’re making.”
“Then tell me I’m wrong and make me believe it.” I lean forward before he can speak. “You and Donnell were itching for my father to get buried, weren’t you? I bet Donnell didn’t wait until he was cold before he started talking about mutiny.”
Lorcan works his jaw. “That’s just lies and disrespectful.”
“Then you’re happy with the way things have been in the Whelan family lately?”
“I didn’t say that. We’ve got problems, same as anyone.”
“Tell me what bullshit Donnell’s been spewing and maybe we can discuss a few compromises.”
