“Bacon,” I said. “And coffee, please.”
He nodded and looked pleased. I decided that I’d play along, play nice for a little while, at least until I got my chance to get away.
He came over with a plate. Four strips of bacon sat in the middle, with some eggs to the side. He placed a fork down on the plate and a mug of black coffee to my left. Steam rose up from the plain dark blue mug.
“Milk in there,” he said, nodding at a tiny stainless-steel pitcher. “I can get you sugar.”
“That’s okay.” I poured some milk into my coffee, stirred with my fork, and sipped it. “Thank you.”
He nodded, got himself a heaping plate, and sat at the table across from me. He stared at his coffee for a long moment before drinking it black.
“Steven?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yeah.”
“Why am I here?” I bit my lip and stared at him, afraid he’d get angry.
But he just looked up and seemed exhausted.
“I understand you’re confused,” he said. “This is a little… unorthodox.”
“That’s putting it mildly. You kidnapped me. You shot me. I think… I think you killed some men.”
He sighed. “I wish you hadn’t just said that.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, fear spiking again. I leaned back in my chair, eyes wide. “It’s okay, I just, I didn’t see anything. I don’t know anything. You can just… please, you can just let me go.”
“That’s the problem,” he said, sipping his coffee again. “I really can’t.”
I had to dig my fingers into the gray cloth-wrapped chair to keep myself from freaking out too much. He looked at me, his face calm, his eyes tired, and he tilted his head.
“Steven,” I said. “Please.”
“Before you start begging again, let me explain,” he said. He took a deep breath and let it out. “First, how are you feeling?”
“I’m… okay, I think.”
“Your shoulder?”
“Hurts.” I rolled it a little and grimaced. “But not too bad.”
“Good. Like I said, Dr. Chen is a good doctor.” He stood and walked over to the book case. He picked up an orange pill bottle that I hadn’t noticed and placed it down in front of me. “Take one of those, please.”
I stared at the bottle. I picked it up and read the label. “Amoxicillin,” I said.
“An antibiotic,” he said. “Are you allergic?”
“No,” I said.
“Good. Take one. Dr. Chen said it was a pretty common antibiotic but should do the trick.”
I hesitated, then took off the cap. There could be anything in this bottle, any drug at all. He could be giving me lithium or something like that, ready to take advantage of me.
But he sat down in his chair again with a sigh and looked so tired. For some reason, I took out a white pill and swallowed it.
“Thank you,” he said.
I put the cap back on and sipped my coffee. My mouth felt so dry and I was sweating, but I forced myself to keep it together.
“What do you want from me?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said. “Really. I know you don’t believe me right now, but I truly don’t want anything from you.”
“Then why am I here?”
He hesitated a moment and poked at his eggs with his fork.
“I couldn’t leave you there,” he said. “I felt too responsible. I could’ve called an ambulance, and in retrospect, that was the right move. But instead, I brought you here, and now I don’t think I can let you leave.”
My heart began racing again.
“I won’t tell anyone,” I said. “I swear.”
“I don’t believe you,” he said. “And even if I did, that’s not the only problem. You see, I looked at your driver’s license, and I know who you are.”
I leaned back in my chair.
“So you know my name,” I said. “So what does that matter?”
“Colleen Colley,” he said. “The name didn’t ring a bell at first. But then I thought about why you’d be in that bodega, thought about your red hair, your green eyes. You’re a good-looking Irish girl, aren’t you, Colleen?”
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t know what you’re implying.”
“Your uncle,” he said. “His name is Mathis Colley, isn’t it?”
I took a deep breath and let it out slow.
“Yes,” I said.
“And that’s why I can’t let you go.” He smiled and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Colleen. But I’m going to war with your Uncle’s organization.”
“My father,” I said, my voice a whisper, “he’s not involved with Uncle Mathis. We don’t… we don’t get along with them. We left the family. We’re not… we’re not involved anymore.” I felt like I was panicking again, and I realized that my worst nightmare was coming true.
That my family’s sins would come back to haunt me. It didn’t matter if my father turned his back on the Celtic Club, they’d pull us back into their dirty world sooner or later.
I should’ve known it the second I woke up. But I was still groggy and I didn’t understand what was happening. I wasn’t thinking about my uncle, because I spent so much of my life trying to act like he didn’t exist.
But it was impossible now.
“Interesting,” Steven said. He picked up his coffee mug and stared at me over it. “And also convenient.”
“It’s true,” I said, anger flaring up. “My father left the Celtic Club a long time ago. We don’t talk to Uncle Mathis anymore. You can ask around, ask anyone in the Club, they’ll tell you.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not on speaking terms with your little Club anymore,” he said. “Not after I killed three of their soldiers.”
I sat back in my chair and tried to steady my breathing. My heart was racing and I knew I was in serious trouble. He was looking at me like he thought I was a liar, and I wanted to scream that I was telling the truth.
But I couldn’t. He thought he knew how things were, and he’d only see some scared girl begging for her life.
Well, I wasn’t going to beg.
I took a few deep breaths then sat forward again. I sipped my
