“He was supposed to help me get my son,” she cries. “That’s what he said. I’m doing this for my son. That’s all. I have nothing against any of you. I just wanted to get my son back.”
I glance at Alexei, and he nods. What she’s saying is true. And a little bit of my resolve cracks. But then he throws me a bone.
“I have offered to retrieve her son for her. And Crow will send her away with what she needs to start a new life. If she should so choose.”
“Right.” I blow out a breath.
I look back at the girl, but it’s clear she doesn’t trust us. She doesn’t believe that we’ll follow through on what we’re promising her. But she can’t honestly expect us to be any worse than Donny. I can only imagine what he did to make her agree to this. He had a way of exploiting weaknesses. I’m not surprised in the least he chose to exploit hers too.
“We all have to do things we don’t like in this life,” I tell her. “I’ve had to do plenty of it. Make the hard choices. You’re going to have to do that too. And if you choose right, then you will live. That’s as simple as it can get.”
“But how do I know I’ll get my son back?” she asks. “I need more than your word to go on…”
“What choice do you have?” I ask her.
A tiny sound of defeat spills from her lips as she shakes her head and tears fall down her cheeks.
“Look, I don’t know much for certain in this life, honey,” I tell her. “But the one thing I know as sure as the sky is blue is that these guys don’t go back on their word. If they say they’ll get your son, they will get you your son. And they will walk through hell to do it. But that doesn’t come free. Nothing in this life comes free.”
She’s quiet for a moment, and then her chin straightens and she lifts her head to meet my gaze. The tears have stopped falling, and she’s come to a decision. I can only pray it’s the right one.
“Okay,” she says. “You have my word. If I get my son back, I will disappear. None of you will ever hear from me again.”
Relief floods over me because there isn’t a single part of me that doubts she’s being sincere. Over the years, I’ve learned to read people pretty well. I’ve learned how to spot the monsters and the liars lurking just below the surface. This girl is neither of those things.
She’s a pawn, like me. Like I was to Blaine and Donny. She did what she had to. But she has no agenda except for getting her son back. And I believe these guys will do the right thing.
“There’s just one more matter,” I tell her.
“What’s that?” she asks.
“My boyfriend and I have grown rather fond of your dog. And well… we’re keeping her.”
I’m prepared for her to argue, but she doesn’t. She just nods, and that’s that. Daisy is officially part of the family.
Chapter Forty-Three
Ronan
The shite with the feds ends up taking a lot longer than I’d hoped. They questioned me, but with circumstances being what they were they didn’t have enough to arrest me.
The syndicate has a barrister who is used for occasions such as these. He maintains his own connections within the judicial system and he uses them often in exchange for a hefty bonus from Niall. But when the feds get involved it can be a complication. They are used to dealing with mafia now. They know how it works. Witnesses disappear, evidence gets tampered with, things have a way of going wrong before they ever get to trial.
That’s why often times they would rather get you to turn on your mates before it ever gets to a courtroom. But they don’t understand the ways of the syndicate. They don’t understand that the blood oath we swear is real and is for life.
“Fitz,” Crow greets me when I walk into Slainte with the barrister in tow. A few of the other lads are here as well, preparing to discuss the future of the syndicate.
“Crow.” I nod in his direction.
He shakes the barrister’s hand and then we all head down to the basement where we generally meet on such occasions. The room is already set up with drinks when we sit down. Crow takes his place at the head of the table, with me right beside him. He folds his hands over the wood and glances around the room, the expression on his face solemn.
It goes without saying how much Niall means to him. He’s like a father to Crow. He’s been good to both of us, and I have nothing but respect for the man as well.
“I’ve been to see Niall,” he says. “He’s very ill and the docs say it’s likely to be a long recovery for him.”
“So what now?” Conor asks.
The room is quiet for a pause, and Crow’s eyes are glassy when he looks to me. There have been few times I’ve seen the lad get such emotion in his eyes, so I know the situation is more serious than he’s leading us to believe.