Exploding: A Mafia Romance (The O'Keefe Family Collection #1) (21 page)

F
allyn knelt
on the carpet in her family’s enemy’s foyer, recounting all the ways things had gotten out of hand, and her culpability in the mess. She had opened a bakery with the intent of doing something outside the suffocating (but loving) wings of her seven older brothers. The step seemed harmless, but looking back, Fallyn could see the domino effect this one act of declaring her independence had. Sweet Somethings had been her dream. She could’ve set up shop in her family’s expansive territory and avoided a litany of friction, but she took a chance and pushed to be able to open up in Fairfield’s neutral territory – a middle ground that both her family and the D’Amatos, their long-fought enemies, could roam freely in if they conducted no business there. The bakery didn’t fall under the category of “business” because it didn’t involve loan sharking (her family’s specialty) or cocaine (the D’Amato business). On the surface it was a harmless little muffin shop, but Fallyn had placed her business there strategically. It forced the two sides to get together and discuss the possibility of moving on from the feud. She pushed that fragile truce into brokering a “harmless” deal with Vince, the head of the D’Amato family, by offering to sell desserts from his restaurant chains in her bakery in exchange for getting on his dessert menu.

It had all seemed so small, just baby steps that were innocent on their own. But Fallyn had a plan, and she enacted each step with the intention of bringing the two families together as they had been when she was a child. With the patriarchs either dead or irreparably aged, the legacies were passed onto Vince and her eldest brother, Killian. The truce started out small, but Fallyn pushed them to start doing business together.

Attraction was the only thing she hadn’t accounted for. Vince was so much older – twelve years – and she had never been on his radar. Of course, with seven older brothers, she was forced into celibacy and loneliness because no one would ever be good enough for the only girl, the baby of the family who softened the brutes when they needed it most.

Their first kiss utterly demolished her plan for peace between the two warring sides. Fallyn fell deeper in love with Vince, and he returned her affections with yet more commitment than she could’ve expected. She knew that her brothers would sooner return to war than let her be happy with the man who’d spat on her mother’s grave. The secret stayed tucked safely away until Vince came clean with his violent family. The D’Amatos allowed the union only because Vince was the head of the family, and they had little say without being in danger of blatant insurrection.

Fallyn didn’t have the same pull with her brothers. When she suggested the O’Keefe family help Vince clean out the drug dealers from his territory, it was a bold move, but one she gambled would solidify the two families as allies once again. It would improve commerce, cut down criminal behavior and help both sides across the board.

She hadn’t meant to kiss Vince in his own house with her brother nearby. She hadn’t meant to find him so attractive. She hadn’t meant for a lot of things to happen, but when Carrigan saw his enemy kiss his only sister, he beat on Vince until Fallyn begged reason into his thick skull that only saw “kill, kill, kill” when a man went for the sister he adored.

Vince had been banged up from going out and murdering addicts and dealers all night. No one would look too much into it if he got hit by an errant bullet. They wouldn’t even check to see whose gun it came from.

These were the horrors that plagued Fallyn as Carrigan marched out of the house with Vince, vowing to keep their clandestine relationship a secret, but dreading his deadly promise that he’d “take care of Vince.”

Fallyn cried into the phone when Declan called her to check in that they’d cleared another dealer’s house on the map, and to ask for the location of the next one. He was tired, but revived when he heard the panic in Fallyn’s sobs. “What happened? Who got hit? We’re coming to you!”

Fallyn sniveled over the map, sucking in half lungfuls of air. “No one’s hit. I’m just scared for you all. Be careful, Declan!”

Declan softened. “Oh, kid. We’re alright. Us O’Keefes are too tough to get roughed up too bad. Hang in there. I’ll come sleep on your couch when we get home so you know you’re safe.”

Fallyn tried not to sob over the phone, but it was hopeless. “Okay. Thanks. Just stay safe.” She gave him the address of the next location to pick off. The plan was to hit as many dealers’ houses and drug runners as possible in one night so the cops didn’t slow down the massacre with that whole justice and fair trial thing. Vince wanted his streets cleaned up, and if there’s one thing a family with eight kids does well, it’s knock things out as a team in rapid-fire. The bloody mission was a perfect match for the O’Keefes.

Fallyn quieted her gulps and hiccups to listen to the police com for signs that the silencers weren’t effective in hushing the horrors until daybreak when the families would be far away from the mess and culpability. The thick red curtains of the expansive D’Amato family colonial were drawn shut, but she still felt scandalously exposed to the night.

Killian called next, checking in with the same fear Declan had that something had gone horribly south on the west end when the eldest O’Keefe heard the sound of the upset in Fallyn’s voice. “No, no. Everyone’s good except Vince. He’s banged up real bad, Kill. He went back out there, but he’s limping and bleeding all over the place. It’ll be a mess if he dies in this! The D’Amatos won’t let it go if Vince dies on Carrigan and Danny’s watch.”

Killian paused to mull this over. “We’ll team up with them, then. Send us to their location. I’ll send Vince back your way if he’s really that injured. Though, I’m sure you’re overreacting. Carrigan would send him home if he was really that hurt.”

“Please just hurry,” she begged before hanging up. She texted Killian their location so her eldest brother didn’t hear her heart break over the phone, figure it all out and snap Vince’s neck. Fallyn waited by the police com, blowing her nose and trying to get all of her emotion out while she was alone, so her brothers wouldn’t read too much into her meltdown.

She waited by the phone and fed them new addresses until the secret knock sounded at the door. Fallyn ran to the entrance and ripped open the front door, catching Vince as he stumbled inside after Carrigan released his collar. “Vince! Oh, you’re a mess!” She turned on her brother, still supporting Vince’s weight. “Carrigan!”

Carrigan was unapologetic and offered no explanations. “He can sit the rest of the night out. I’ve got to get back.” With that, Carrigan slammed the front door on his way out.

Now that there were no other men to save face in front of, Vince let out an agonized moan as Fallyn lowered him to the couch. Fallyn worked his shirt over his head, gasping at the battered state of his torso. He’d gone into the night with a broken rib and a few gashes that had been stitched up, but this was worse. His torso was rapidly turning black and blue. It looked like each breath he drew cost him too great an effort. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry. Oh, Vince. Tell me how to help you.”

“Water,” Vince croaked.

Fallyn scurried to the kitchen and filled a glass, bringing a wet rag and the first aid kit with her. She pressed the glass to his bleeding lip and stroked his hair as he gulped down a few sips just to wash the taste of blood out of his mouth. She sat down on the coffee table before him, her fingers fluttering over his face to get a good look at it. “Honey,” she cooed, lightly touching the wet rag to his cheek to clean off a thick smear of blood. “Tell me what happened.”

“Crackheads,” Vince explained, melting into her touch. She was soft, and his world had been hard for so long. She was delicate, and it was a welcome relief to force himself to be gentle instead of pushing himself to break more things.

Fallyn narrowed her eyes at him though her tears. “I know you’re lying. I know Carrigan worked you over. Don’t bother protecting him.”

“I don’t want you fighting with your brother about this. He knows about us and he’s backing off. I let him get in a few punches so he felt better about it all. If he knows he’s warned me, he’s more likely to leave us be.” He hissed when the rag brushed over his chin, which was already swelling with a wide bruise. “He’s gotta let me know that he can come for me at any time if I’m not good to you. It’s a guy thing, and I totally get it.”

The warm rag was gentle as it swept the blood off his lips. Fallyn was filled with mourning as she tended to his hands, cleaning with water and antiseptic as she pressed her lips to each of his fingers. “I’m so sorry I’m the one you fell in love with. It’d be nowhere near this complicated with anyone else.”

“It’s nowhere near as worth it with anyone else. I love you, Fally.” He stiffened when the police chatter on the com became coherent. “Did you catch that?”

Fallyn stilled, her blood running cold when she heard the voice announce a disturbance on the west side, calling a patrol car to go check it out. She dove for her phone and called Killian. “Get out of there!” she warned. “The cops are on their way. Get everyone and get back here. I’ll get Vince in the car.” She didn’t wait for Killian’s response, but called the other point people in the four groups, beckoning them home.

She called Carrigan, but the call went to voicemail. She knew he couldn’t have made it back to his team, which put him as a lone ranger in the middle of an imploding city. She called him again, then texted him.

Fallyn helped Vince into the passenger’s seat of Killian’s car, laying the seat back and covering him with a blanket from the couch. She called Carrigan again; she knew he was dodging her calls because he didn’t want to answer for the beating he’d given Vince. The fallout would be dire if Officer Carrigan was caught carrying out his own brand of street justice.

When the rest of the party marched inside, Fallyn counted the heads over and over, sending them each to the garage and wringing her hands, hoping to find Carrigan. She called him three more times, all with no result.

“Fallyn, get in the car.” When Killian called Carrigan and didn’t get through, her fear went to panic that he wasn’t ignoring her at all, that he was hurt or worse.

Fallyn poked her head into the garage. “Killian said to move on to the safehouse. We’ll wait for Carrigan and catch up.” Vince opened his mouth to protest, fear pulling at his features, but Angelo obeyed, driving the first car out, with the second following behind.

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