Exploding: A Mafia Romance (The O'Keefe Family Collection #1) (13 page)

W
hen the next morning came
, Fallyn was a bundle of nerves as she waited for seven o’clock to roll around. Instead of the garrison of O’Keefes lurking about, only Killian waited with her for the delivery truck.

The D’Amatos had the same sort of idea about the level of danger involved in delivering desserts. This time only Angelo brought them, giving Killian a firm handshake when he hopped down from the truck. They exchanged short words (Angelo had never been one for small talk or niceties) while they unloaded the truck.

“How’s your arm?” Angelo inquired of Fallyn as he strolled into the kitchen to retrieve her pastries and move them into his truck.

Fallyn waved off his concern. “Barely a scratch. I’m totally fine.”

He was quiet a moment as he observed her obvious lie. “I really didn’t mean to hit you. Thanks for not pressing charges.”

“Thanks for not aiming for me. You’re a good shot.”

He glanced over his shoulder to make sure Killian was outside. “I have a message for you.” He grabbed her wrist and put an envelope in her palm. His black eyes held a note of warning as he gripped her wrist too tight for comfort. “Whatever this is, think long and hard before pursuing it.”

He knows,
Fallyn fretted, her stomach churning. “I made it clear there would be no pursuing anything.”

Angelo nodded once. “Good. Make it clearer. Vince needs to be on his game. He’s got a lot going on and a lot’s changing. Things are finally starting to go well for him. There’s no need for him to throw it all away for a piece of Irish ass.”

Fallyn’s mouth drew in a tight line, her eyes narrowing into a fiery glare. “Let go of me, Angelo. No one’s getting any part of my Irish ass, that’s for sure. I’m glad things are going well for Vince. I want that for him. I want him to do well.”

Angelo scrutinized her face for signs of a lie, but could find none. “Okay. So long as we’re clear.”

She yanked her wrist out of his large hand that she had personally seen choke the life out of many a person who proved to be a problem. “So long as
we’re
clear, you don’t get a say in my life. What I do with my time and my ass isn’t up to you. That you’re talking to me about this instead of Vince shows how little you respect either of us. You think I’m the scared little pushover who’ll do whatever the big man says, and you think Vince is a dummy who can’t see danger when it’s staring him in the face. You want Vince to do well? Treat him like a man. Talk to him directly instead of trying to scare me away on the side. Show him the basest amount of respect, and maybe everyone else in your territory will, too.”

Angelo’s eyes widened at her moxie. He didn’t speak for several seconds, and Fallyn hoped her mouth hadn’t gotten her into yet more trouble. When he finally addressed her, he seemed impossibly tall and forbidding, as he always did, but this time there was a note of secrecy between them. “I can do that.” His intimidating stare usually made people squirm, but he could see Fallyn had grown used to it over the years. “Not many people would dare to talk to me like that. Not the wisest thing.”

She clutched the letter to her breast. “Yeah? Well, I’ve been up to all sorts of unwise things. If you were going to kill me, you would have done it already. Talk to Vince. And when I say ‘talk’, I really mean
listen
. He’s got a lot going on, and he needs someone to talk to about it. Instead of trying to control the situation, listen to him and help him where he tells you he needs help.”

Angelo swallowed hard, unused to being bossed around by a young girl. “Okay, Little Keefer. I can do that.” He lowered his voice. “I can tell you care about him, which is something Maria’s never done. I’ve got nothing against you, and so long as your family isn’t a problem, I’ve got no problem burying the hatchet. But understand that you’re playing with dynamite. Dynamite always blows up, no matter how careful you are with it, and no matter how okay with it everyone says they are.”

Fallyn nodded, extending her hand to him to shake it. “Understood. Thanks for caring about Vince. I don’t think he’s got enough of that in his life. I know that’s what drove you to try to scare me away today. But even though it’s coming from a good place, my name’s not Little Keefer anymore, and I can handle myself.”

Angelo nodded. “Understood.”

After Angelo left and Killian waved her goodbye, Fallyn locked herself in her office and opened the letter with trembling fingers.

T
esoro Mio
,

I
won’t tell
you that I miss you or that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you, because you’ve asked me to stay away. I won’t tell you that I was up all night fighting back the urge to deliver the goods to you myself this morning so I could try to convince you we could find a way to make this work. I won’t tell you that you’re beautiful, or how much I want to be with you far, far away from this mess our parents made for us.

But I will tell you I heard you. Papa D let the drug runners in, and they’ve stayed despite the fact that we’re not in that business anymore. Last night I started my men on taking care of that problem. Soon our streets will be safer. I heard you when you told me to be a better man, and I’m working on that.

Killian moved the location for this week, and I had no reason to contradict him that wasn’t obvious. I’ve been imagining you in that red skirt you have. I live for the once a week days I get to see you, even if it’s only from afar.

U
ntil then
,

Y
ours
.

F
allyn’s week
was filled with work, which was how she preferred it. Business was steady throughout the next week, though not nearly as overwhelming with the addition of her employees. The bakery was closed on Sundays, so she spent them volunteering at the hospital as she’d done before opening the bakery. She also spent a few hours taking day-old muffins she’d had frozen at the end of each day down to various Narcotics Anonymous meetings that were in neutral territory. Though she couldn’t solve all the problems of the world, she could help Vince’s people in that small way. There were so many who struggled with the constant reminder of addiction. With the drugs flowing freely for so long, it was difficult for most of them to resist, even though Vince had stopped doling it out to Papa D’s regular stream of dealers. A few were getting it from other sources outside of Fairfield, and those were harder to snuff out.

During the next week she studied her business’ books meticulously and made adjustments to the ordering and staff hours to better reflect a growing business. The number of custom cakes grew daily, and before the week’s end, she had to hire another baker to work on only the custom orders. Fallyn started sleeping whole nights at home instead of falling asleep at her desk, which overall made her smile less of an effort to locate.

Fallyn tried to focus on one clandestine budding relationship only, talking to James on the phone at night before she went to bed. She was firm in her stance that Vince should throw himself into his work, making his territory the best it could be. Though she yearned to hear any bit of news about him, she kept her head down and her mouth shut, lest she run where she wasn’t allowed.

When Monday morning finally came, Fallyn pulled out the flowing red skirt she knew Vince had pictured her in. All of her skirts had a modest length that cut just above the knee, but there was something about the bold color and the way the fit showed off her tight waist that made her feel scandalous. Her cerulean blouse highlighted her blue eyes and showcased her curves without giving her away completely. As she examined herself in the mirror with hopeful eyes, her heart began to sink. She had told herself, and Vince, that they needed to stay away from each other. Yet here she was, flirting with her clothes.

Fallyn made to take off her red skirt with a heavy heart when her phone chirped. “Hey, Loretta. What’s up?”

“Honey, I think you might want to come in early today. I’ve got your dairy guy here, and he says you only ordered eight dozen eggs, but I know that’s not right. And there’s no way you didn’t order any cream.”

“Stall him, Loretta. I’ll be there in ten.” Fallyn snatched up her purse and drove to the bakery without another thought of the skirt she had worn for all the wrong reasons. When she walked into the bakery, gangly twenty-two year old Johnny was standing with his arms crossed as Loretta stalled him by reading over every line on the order sheet three times over. “Hi, Johnny,” Fallyn greeted him in a bright and breezy tone. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Your order sheet doesn’t match what he brought,” Loretta explained in a huff. “I’m not a fan of the three strikes policy. I say once and you’re done.”

Johnny shrugged. “We hit a snag with our supplier, so this was the best we could do.”

Fallyn kept her polite smile in place. “Okay. This’ll be the last order, then. Have a nice day, Johnny.”

Johnny was a middleman, working for a boss who was at times unreliable, but Fallyn could tell by the note of desperation in his tone that the loss of this stop on his route would be ill-received by Johnny’s superior. “Are you sure? Maybe I could get him to come down on the price a little for the next order.”

“That’s very sweet of you, but no thank you.” She ushered him out and exhaled her frustration. She turned to Loretta with a calm smile. “Not to worry. I’ll figure something out.” Fallyn knew her words rang false. Suppliers took a few days to put a new stop on their rotation, and they had only enough eggs and dairy to make it through just the one day, if that. Fallyn set to rectifying the problem, calling every vendor in the book. Each of them quoted her with a price far above what she’d been paying, and couldn’t put her on the rotation until the next week. She was determined to fix the problem without having to turn to her brothers, but when nine o’clock rolled around, Killian strode into the kitchen to find his sister elbow-deep in frustration.

“What’s wrong, Fally?” he greeted her warmly.

“Nothing I can’t fix. Just a crummy day so far.”

Killian sat down in the seat across from hers and tapped his pointer finger to the messy desk. “What can I fix?”

“I could use a hug. How about that? That would fix worlds.”

Killian narrowed his eyes at Fallyn’s avoidance but walked around the desk and wrapped his arms around his dainty sister, looking over her shoulder at the list she was going down. “What happened to Gill? Isn’t he doing your dairy? Why are you looking for a new supplier?”

Fallyn sighed, resting her temple to his hip. “He sent me barely half my order today. You know the rule. One strike, so I fired him. Now I’ve got to replace him, but everyone is so much more expensive. I really, really don’t want to raise my prices.”

Killian rested his hand on his sister’s shoulder and took out his cell phone. He dialed one of the vendors already crossed off her list and spoke in clipped tones to the owner. Once he told the man his name, the price magically fell to two-thirds what Fallyn had been quoted. He handed the phone to his sister. “Tell him what you need to get through today. He can make a special rush for first-time clients.” When Fallyn glared at him, he shrugged. “What? Didn’t you want to find a reliable supplier? Problem solved.”

“I didn’t want it solved like that,” she snapped, taking the phone. Fallyn placed her order, set up a regular delivery schedule and handed the phone back to Killian. “Look, I appreciate you helping, but I didn’t want to get my way by intimidation.”

“How do you think you got such a good deal with the last guy?”

Fallyn’s mouth dropped open. “
I
brokered that deal, Kill. I found him, set up the schedule and made that connection.”

“Of course you did,” Killian simpered, patting her head to patronize her. “You’re a good little business woman.”

Fallyn seethed, but kept her choice words to herself. “I’m going to go help the girls out front with the tables.” She stood abruptly and left him in her office.

F
allyn bussed
tables and took over for Jen when she needed a quick break, smiling at the customers and ringing up orders quickly to pare down the line. When she looked up and saw James in her line, Fallyn’s eyes widened, panicked that Killian would see him, or worse, Vince, when he arrived for his weekly meeting with her eldest brother. “Hello, what can I get for you this morning?” she greeted James politely.

James understood by her tone that he was to be on his best behavior. “Two cups of coffee and a couple muffins. Whatever kind, I don’t care.” Then under his breath he murmured, “I just had to see you. I know I’ll see you on Saturday, but I missed your face.”

Fallyn did her best not to make eye contact and filled the order quickly. When her brother came out of the kitchen to restock the shelves for her, she shot James a look of warning. “Fally, do you need me to make more coffee?” Killian inquired.

“Sure, that’d be great. Thanks, Kill. But the bag’s empty out here. Could you bring out one from the back to restock it?”

Killian was mere feet away from the man who’d been kissing his sister and had no idea. The rush of deception was heady, and gave Fallyn the gumption to shoot James a covert smile. Killian was focused on the giant bag of coffee, which he was holding precariously, searching for the opening.

“That looks heavy,” James commented to Killian, freezing the blood in Fallyn’s veins. “Here, let me help you.” James walked around behind the counter and helped Killian lower the bag to the floor.

“Thanks, man.” Killian stood up straight and stretched his back, extending his hand to James, who shook it with an amicable smile. “That was heavier than it looked back there.”

“James,” he introduced himself, noticing that Fallyn kept her head down and away from them. “I work just down a couple blocks at Fulsom, Wesson and Smith. I can smell the coffee from there, so I couldn’t just stand back and let you run out.”

“No kidding. My kid brother’s a paralegal there. Danny O’Keefe. I’m Killian.”

“Huh. Small world. Miss? Could I get another coffee and muffin with my order? I’ll take one to your brother and make myself a new friend. Do you own this shop?” he asked Killian, knowing that would get Fallyn talking.

Killian made to open his mouth, but Fallyn answered quicker. “No, this is my shop. I’m the owner. And thanks for helping. Your order’s on the house, especially since part of it’s going to my brother.”

“Your brother?” James pointed between Killian and Fallyn quizzically. “You two are related?”

“Killian’s my eldest brother,” Fallyn told him with a note of warning that he was treading on a dangerous tightrope.

“Wow, three kids. I’m an only child, so I can’t picture what that must’ve been like growing up.”

Killian was in the mood to smile, and sensed no hint of their budding relationship. “Actually, there are eight of us.”

James did a good act, bugging out his eyes and raising his pitch. “Eight kids? That’s incredible! Are you all close like this? I mean, working together must be great. See, that’s the problem with being an only child. No built-in friends.”

Killian closed the lid on the industrial coffeemaker. “Well, we’re all playing baseball in the park tonight. Do you play?”

“Only for fun. Your whole family plays together? That sounds so great.”

“Come on by tonight. Seven o’clock toward the east end of the park. Bring your mitt and be ready to cream the other team. Seamus gets too cocky, don’t you think, Fal?”

“Hmm? Oh, sure. Yeah, Seamus needs to be taken down a peg.”

“Do you play?” James asked Fallyn.

“Not well, but yeah. I’ll be there.”

“James,” he greeted her, extending his hand.

Fallyn pursed her lips, shaking his hand slowly. “Fallyn. Nice to meet you.”

James cast her an evil self-satisfied grin. “I guess I’ll be seeing you all tonight. Thanks for the coffee. I’ll be sure to introduce myself to Danny.”

Killian slapped his hand in parting, unaware of Fallyn’s gusted exhale of relief.