Chapter 9
Jude
I walked through the main doors of the casino and through the main floor. I couldn't help but glance around for Amy as I did.
Amy O'Brien.
I still couldn't get my head around who she really was.
If you see her again, you're a dead man.
Her dad's words were still ringing in my ears. I'd never been threatened like that. Never. Not from anyone who would go through with it anyway. You might have someone shout 'I'm gonna kill you' in a fight, but that wasn't the same thing.
When Conor O'Brien threatens you, however, it's as real as things get, backed by years, decades, of threatening people and following through. Well, that's if anyone dared to go against what he told them. I doubt that many people did. The threat was usually enough.
I carried on past flashing slot machines and up towards the staircase leading to the gallery floor above. At the top was a mirrored wall with a door within it. I knew that from inside Crash could see me coming forward, sitting there behind the desk and looking out over the casino.
It was Sunday now and I had come to meet up with Crash to fill him in on the week. I met him every week, usually on a Sunday, to catch up and keep him in the loop. As the head of the family he was very hands on, and certainly paid more direct attention to everything than dad ever did.
Although, our meetings were necessarily short these days, and his watch over me, as well as the others, had waned. It was all down to his grander ambitions and the new casino and hotel he was building. He'd fought hard to secure the investment to get his project up and running, and now it was occupying the majority of his attention.
I knocked on the door and heard his voice from within. He was sat calmly behind the desk, frowning as he went through some files in front of him. I glanced round the room to see that Kyle wasn't there. Crash used to run the casino here, but now he'd passed that on to Kyle. I knew, however, that Kyle was always a bit annoyed when Crash wandered back in and took control of his office for meetings.
“Jude,” he said, his voice deep and slightly croaky, “come on in.”
I walked forward and sat down in the chair opposite him. He lifted a bottle of whiskey from his side and sent a full glass towards me.
“So tell me, what's been happening at the bar this week? Anything to note?”
“Nothing major Crash, no. There was a mix up with a delivery earlier in the week, but I sorted it.”
“Good. Any fights, anything like that?”
I shook my head. “Nope, all very quiet.”
“Good.”
He tilted his head up from his files and peered at me. The guy was always intense so it was nothing new. But I always had a lingering fear that he'd found out about my poker club. Honestly, if he did, I had no idea how he'd react. Most likely he'd tell me to shut it down, and for me, that would be a disaster. I loved that place. If I lost it, I'd be bored out of my f*cking mind just running the bar again.
“Anything else to report?” Crash asked, still looking at me doubtfully.
“No, not really.”
He nodded lightly for a moment as he continued to look at me. Could he sense I was hiding something?
“OK,” he said, turning his eyes back down to his files, “keep up the good work Jude. I've been impressed with how you're doing.”
“Really?” I said, fairly surprised to hear the compliment. I didn't think I'd done anything of note recently.
“Yeah,” he said, somewhat absentmindedly, his eyes still down. “You're growing into a good manager of people, Jude. I'm looking forward to bringing you over to the new casino when it's finally finished.
“The new casino? What sort of role?” I knew that Crash wanted us all to join together as a family and run the casino and hotel together, but never in what capacity for myself.
“That's to be determined. I know you love the casino here Jude, and I know you wanted the job ahead of Kyle to manage it. Obviously, you understand you were too young, but you're really proving yourself capable. Just continue to work well, and we'll see.”
“Thanks Crash, that means a lot to me.”
He lifted his eyes to me again and smiled. “No problem. You've always been the most loyal brother to me Jude. I know you'll have a big future.”
His words were making me beam inside but, at the same time, I could feel my gut wrenching. He was saying all this, thinking I'm being loyal to him, and I'm out there running an illegal poker club under his nose. I was betraying him, there was no other way of looking at it.
“Is there anything else you want to talk about?” he asked, seeing the frown grow on my face. “Is there something on your mind?” Crash was always very perceptive.
“No, it's all fine. Nothing special going on.”
He kept looking at me for a moment, giving me a chance to come clean, before eventually speaking again. “OK then, if that's all Jude, I've got a lot on.”
He quickly gestured to the door with his eyes before turning again to his work.
“Actually Crash, there was one more thing.”
His eyes slowly raised back up to mine.
“I don't know if you know anything about it, but I thought I'd ask anyway.”
His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Yes?”
“Um, it's about Conor O'Brien.”
Crash's eyes stayed narrow, his brow furrowed. “What about him?”
“He worked a bit with dad, didn't he? Have you ever met him?”
“I've met him once or twice. He worked with dad in the past, yeah. They were also rivals as well, but there was a mutual respect between them so they didn't step on each others' toes too much. Why do you ask anyway?”
“Oh, I....know his daughter.”
“His daughter? Amy O'Brien?”
“You know her?!” I asked quickly.
“Not personally, no. I met her once. As far as I remember, she left home a few years ago after her mother died. I didn't know she was back.” His eyes steeled on me again. “How do you know her?”
“I met her down here actually. We....you know, had dinner.”
“You don't wanna do that Jude. You don't wanna get involved with that family. I'd steer clear of her if I were you.”
Yeah, that's just what her dad said!
It was a moot point anyway – she'd already told me she didn't want to see me again, that she'd be leaving soon and probably wouldn't come back.
So, this was illuminating. She'd ran away after her mom died, and hadn't been back since. I guess maybe she had a few issues with daddy that she needed to work through. I guess with a father like Conor O'Brien anyone would have issues.
“Yeah, I wouldn't worry about it Crash, I won't be seeing her again.”
“Good, we don't need anything complicating things in the family right now, not with everything else that's been going on recently.”
I laughed lightly. He was probably talking about Cade and Zack, our twin brothers. They were a couple of years older than me and recently had been involved in this love triangle with a girl called Gemma. In the end Zack left town and, as far as we knew, Gemma had gone with him. I knew Crash didn't want anything else cluttering up our already screwed up lives. Hearing about my poker club and all this shit with O'Brien would be the icing on the entire f*cked up cake.
“Just remember who you're dealing with here Jude. This isn't just any protective father. This is Conor O'Brien, and I don't think he's got much love for this family.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, it's just rumor, but some people thought O'Brien killed his wife....”
“Jesus. But what's that got to do with us?” I asked quickly, cutting him off.
“Let me finish,” Crash spoke blankly. “So, some people thought that he killed his wife, because....he suspected that she was having an affair with someone. Rumor was that O'Brien thought it might have been dad.
“And was it?!” I asked quickly again.
He glared at me. “Do you think our dad was that stupid? Do you think he'd cheat with the wife of a serious rival like Conor O'Brien? Of course he wouldn't do that, Jude. O'Brien would have killed him for sure.”
“Yeah, but if O'Brien thought it might have been dad, why wouldn't that be enough for him to go through with it?”
Crash started shaking his head and rolling his eyes slightly at my stupidity and inexperience. “Jude, a man like O'Brien would have to be sure of something before going through with any revenge hit or anything like that, especially with a guy like our father. Look, dad said he didn't do it, so he didn't do it, OK. Whatever O'Brien might have thought, he was clearly just being paranoid.”
“OK, so why hate our family then. If they worked together and had this respect, why would he change all of that just because he suspected something?”
Crash put his hands up. He was used to my slightly impetuous nature and clearly I was overrunning my mouth a bit. “It's just rumor,” he said, slightly exasperated. “Look, drop it Jude. It's not relevant anyway. Long story short, Conor O'Brien isn't someone to cross in any way, least of all by dating his daughter. So stay away.” He put extra emphasis on those last words, widening his eyes as though he was threatening me too.
Great, so now both Conor O'Brien and Crash Logan were threatening me to steer clear of this girl!
“I will! She's probably left town already anyway.”
“Well if she hasn't, don't be you, all right Jude. I know what you're like.”
Christ, how much was he going to labor this point.
“All right Crash, I know, OK.”
“Great. Now get back to the bar, I've got things I need to do.”
With his slightly dismissive words I stood and stepped from the room, leaving him once again alone with whatever the hell it was he was doing.
This shit was deeper than I thought it was. No wonder O'Brien wanted me nowhere near his daughter. I thought he was just being a typical dad, warning bad boys like me away from his daughter, but no, this was much worse.
He thought my dad f*cked his wife, and now he didn't want the guy's son f*cking his daughter. Jesus this situation was screwed up bad.
I guess, in a way, it was good that Amy had run out on me.