Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 83994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83994 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“I can’t risk you.”
“The same way I can’t risk you?” I sit up and stare at him, gathering myself. “I’m not asking. I’m telling. When you go after Senesi, I want to be there.”
He seems sad as he shakes his head. “There’s no way that can happen, Casey.”
“I love you, Declan. I fell, and it’s like I’m still falling. But I swear, I’ll walk away from this if you don’t respect my wishes right now.”
He seems surprised. Maybe it’s because I haven’t actually said those words to him before, even though I thought it was pretty obvious. Or maybe it’s the threat I’m making.
“I love you too. That’s why you can’t come.”
“That’s why I will.” I stand up, hands balled into fists. “We’re going to end this together. No matter what, I have to face him. Otherwise, I’ll never get closure. I’ll never move on.”
He clearly wants to keep arguing, but some of the fight flows out from him. He nods slowly with a low sigh. “We’ll see. I’m not saying yes. But I’m not saying no.”
“Good choice.” I sit back down beside him. “Otherwise, I was going to storm out dramatically.”
“I’m not sure I have the energy to chase you right now.”
“That’s okay. You stay there.” I push him back lightly and straddle his hips, grinding back into his crotch. “I can take care of you for a while.”
He laughs lightly, then cringes in pain. “You don’t even care that you’re torturing me, do you?”
“No, not really.”
“Monster.”
“You love it.”
“I really, really do.”
I kiss his lips, his neck, and down a little lower, because I love it too.
Chapter 38
Declan
The old Bricklayers union building is a crumbling, echoing structure in a quiet Queens neighborhood. This used to be neutral ground for years before the Whelan family got big enough to swallow it all up. Now we use the hall for big meetings we can’t hold anywhere else.
“They’re all here.” Cormac stares bleakly out into the main hall. “Every family sent at least a couple representatives. There are whole families out there.”
I sit in that for a moment. We all know how important this is going to be. These men all look to me for leadership, especially now that Donnell’s plot has been torn to shreds. There are no other options but to obey.
Except I don’t want them coming to me reluctantly. If they stay unhappy, there will come a time when someone else decides to rise up. When that happens, many of these families might decide to throw their strength against me for a second time.
I want to make sure that’s never an option.
Siobhan’s out on the main floor, shaking hands and greeting people. I wait for her to approach. “They’re in poor spirits,” my mother murmurs as she turns to face the crowd by my side. “Time to show them what we are.”
I nod once sharply before I stride off to find Casey. I spot her having a conversation with Alina near the bar. I kiss my wife on the cheek.
“They’re all yours,” she says, smiling up with the most beautiful look on her face I’ve ever seen.
“Not yet, but they will be.”
“Good luck out there, brother,” Alina says, patting my arm lightly.
I leave the women behind and approach the stage. I climb to the podium, and as I settle myself behind the microphone, the room begins to quiet as people notice me waiting. I don’t have to ask for their attention. I simply stand and demand it.
“You all loved my father.” I look into the eyes of men and women I’ve known my whole life, many of whom were willing to stab me in the back. “But none loved him like I did. He was everything. He was my father and my mentor. He was my boss and my teacher. You all loved him. I wanted to be him.”
I think back to all the hours I spent in my father’s shadow. I learned to be a man by his side. I learned what family meant. What sacrifice meant. How to be better even when the world wanted you to fail. My father prepared me for this moment in a thousand little ways.
And now it’s time for me to step out of his shadow.
“My father is dead. I’m the new leader of the Whelan organization. I know there are those here in this room who have been unhappy about that fact. One among you most of all. But I’m here to make it clear that the Whelan family is strong. We are united. We will continue to thrive and grow now that I’ve cut the cancer from our body.” I gesture sharply toward the side of the room.
Seamus and Finn emerge from a doorway, dragging a bloody and battered Donnell between them.
There are gasps and murmurs from the crowd. I notice more than a few scowls. Seamus and Finn deposit Donnell at my feet, the old man cowed and broken. He kneels, head hanging low.