I let Annie in.
I know better. I know that there are no happy endings for men like me. I’ve seen time and time again that this life doesn’t bode well for women. They either stand by a man’s side and are hurt repeatedly, killed, or worse. Or, they’re a side piece that will never have a normal life.
Annie is neither of those things.
She is pure, innocent, perfect.
And now, I’m going to drag her down with me.
I want to do right by her, set her free, but she’s in too deep now. I need her, so she’s not going anywhere.
“Is she angry?” Charlie asks. “About her brother?”
“Something like that.” I mumble.
“She’ll get over it, skip.” Charlie is good for giving a positive outlook. While other men in our life would get angry, frustrated, and declare that doom is inevitable. Charlie will point out the rainbow in the distance.
He’s something else.
“She’ll see that it was the right thing to do. I mean, jeez, you kept her brother from getting beat down, or worse. Plus, I mean, they tried to rob you.”
I chuckle. Yeah, that’s what started this whole thing.
“I’m not so sure,” I tell him. “This might be too far for her. I don’t think she really realized what she was getting into.”
She was far too innocent. She asked silly questions, I could only imagine how much she doesn’t know about me, about my business.
This is why men in this world only marry Italian women. It’s easier that way, they know what they're getting into. Annie doesn’t have a clue.
I need to let her go.
Right after this job is done.
911, Dad’s house.
I have a code with my brother. Things go wrong, a lot. It comes with the territory of our business. So, we made a code. If anything is wrong with our family, it’s 911. It’s only to be used for family emergencies, not for business or la famiglia.
“Fuck,” I grumbled. I’m already in the Porsche when I see the text come through, if I take the next turn I should be at my dad’s house in a few minutes.
My heart races.
I made an oath to la famiglia to put my brothers before anyone else, including my true family. In my heart, deep down, I know my blood family, my father and my siblings, are the most important thing to me.
The engine purrs as I navigate the streets of Federal Hill to get to my father’s house. I push it above the speed limit, something I normally avoid, but today I need to get there fast.
When I pull into the semi-circle driveway of my father's house, the sight hits me like a ton of bricks.
Gian is in the driveway, on the ground. My dad is leaning over him, pressing down on his shoulder. My body is shaking, is my brother okay?
When I step out of the car, the sound hits me next. Gemma’s wailing is piercing. She’s wailing and repeating I’m sorry like a mantra. My eyes scan the scene to find her. My next shock is seeing her wrapped in the arms of a tall, muscular man with brown hair and a beard.
Liam fucking O’Connor.
My vision is blurred with red. The O’Connors, the Irish mafia is here, holding my sister.
“Let her go.” My gun is out and aimed at the man with his arms on my sister.
“No!” Gemma shouts. “Not him, it wasn’t him.”
I march closer to them. “I don’t give a fuck, move Gemma.”
Liam puts his arms up instinctively signaling he wasn’t about to hurt us. Gemma stands in front of his, her arms extended, pleading.
“What the fuck is happening?” I’m closer to them now, gun still aimed. Right now if I shoot it will go through Gemma into Liam, something I’m not willing to do. She needs to move. “Move Gemma.” I tell her again.
“Listen,” she pleads. “Put the gun down and we can talk.”
I don’t flinch. “What happened to Gian?” My eyes flicker momentarily to my brother, still bleeding in the driveway.
“He’s alive,” Dad answers. “But we need to get him to the hospital.”
“I’m not going to hurt her.” Liam finally speaks.
“Fuck you O’Connor.” I spit. “Why are you here?”
“They’re together.” My dad cuts in. “Leave it, for now, son. We need to get Gian out of here.”
My eyes move between my sister with that monster and my father on the ground with Gian. Begrudgingly, I tuck the gun into the back of my pants and run to dad and Gian.
“Lift him,” Dad orders. We carried him to my father's escalade, placing him carefully in the hatchback.
“What about her?” I look back at Gemma wrapped in the arms of the enemy.
“Leave her.” dad sighs. “For now.”
I raced to the hospital. Dad is in the back, hands pressed to Gian’s shoulder. “The bullet’s not close to the heart, I think.” he says to me and Gian, but mostly to himself. “Not close to the shoulder.” He adds. “You’re going to be fine, son. They’re gonna stitch you up and you’ll be fine.”
My father’s voice cracks.
We can’t handle another loss.
“They’ll ask questions.” Gian grunts, clearly in pain.
“Didn’t see nothing.” I shout from the front seat.
“Won’t stop ‘em.” He adds.
He’s probably right. A made man walking into the hospital with a bullet hole causes suspicion. The hospital is required to report it, so the police will arrive before Gian even gets out of surgery. This isn’t our first time.
We could have called Doc, a shady veterinarian who’s on our payroll, but he’s shit at gunshot wounds. The last man who was shot died from the fucking infection.
Not Gian, I’m not about to let
