We sat in chairs across from Pete.
He sat and folded his hands. Seeing him like that brought on a new reality. This guy was higher up than Fiore was. This was one of the guys who made decisions for Fiore’s entire family. Christ, this guy was Fiore’s family.
“First thing,” Pete said, “I want you to know that under other circumstances you’d have been long taken care of, Finn. To have an Irishman in my office? What’s the world coming to? But I suppose every man can turn an eye even once in his life.”
“I appreciate that,” I said.
“Let’s talk about Fiore,” Pete said.
A moment later the door opened and Mara came in with her mother, Marie.
“Shayna?” Mara said. “I need you to excuse yourself. Use the restroom. Wash up.”
I nodded to Shayna.
We were in no position of argument.
Shayna rose up and Mara smiled at her. I wanted to feel comforted, but I couldn’t.
Hell, I even stood up and faced Marie.
“Oh, Finn,” she whispered. She tightened her lips. I thought I was about to get shot.
“Is he okay?” I asked. “Fiore?”
“You still care about him?” she asked.
“I don’t know. He killed my best friend. He wanted to kill me.”
“We know the entire story,” Pete said. “Fiore was an ill man. He had a hit put on his own son-in-law and it went wrong. We’d been watching him for a long time. Working with Zander. As long as it was contained and controlled, we were okay.”
“You lived like that?” I asked Marie.
Tears filled her eyes. “What choice did I have?”
I looked at Pete. “Now what?”
Pete pointed to the chair. I reluctantly sat again.
“We knew the lines were getting blurry. Poor Mara had been fighting hard for her father to get help. I never thought I’d see him go as far as he did. With yourself, Finn. With Shayna. We had been making arrangements to truly settle the murders of Antonio and baby Luca, but the more we watched Fiore and Zander, it was time to act. Mara was supposed to get to your cabin before the explosion. To stop it. But she couldn’t get there in time. Forgive my harsh words here, but thankfully someone else was inside the cabin that helped to buy us time.”
I leaned forward and slammed my fist to the table. I didn’t care who this guy was. “You listen to me. Thankfully? Someone else? No. That man in that cabin had a name. His name was Cormac. He was a goddamn brother to me. He was my best friend. He didn’t deserve to die like he did.”
Pete gently waved a hand at me and nodded. “I understand. Let me just start by saying this, Finn. Your cabin will be replaced, on me. A different location. The remains of your best friend will be taken care of. I can assure you that Fiore will never be a problem again. He is getting the proper help he should have after the death of his grandson.”
I looked at Marie and she hung her head, openly weeping.
Mara stood tall and beautiful, trying to be like stone.
Getting the proper help…
I had been around long enough to know what that meant.
Fiore was dead. And not by me pushing him over the railing.
“There’s something else, Finn,” Pete said.
“What?”
“No more underground for you. No more fighting. No more guns. No more of this business.”
“That’s all I know, Pete.”
“No. You know something else.”
Pete snapped his fingers and the door opened again.
When I saw who it was, I jumped to my feet, sending the chair toppling over.
“Henry,” I said and ran to hug the old man.
Henry had been Cormac’s trainer. I’d known him for a long damn time.
We hugged tight and then I looked back at Pete. He put his thick hands to the desk and pushed up. “This is what you’re going to do now.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“You’re going straight,” Pete said. “Back to the right kind of fighting. I own it all, Finn. With Cormac dead, we need a superstar. That’s you. From the underground to the limelight. Your first fight will be in exactly three months.”
I stood there, shocked.
“We fight for Cormac, kid,” Henry said in his rough, smoker voice. “Always for Cormac.”
There was only one person missing from all this.
Shayna.
What the hell was she doing?
46.
(Shayna)
I was escorted to the bathroom. It was like a freaking hotel room. There were three different kinds of showers, two tubs, marble everywhere. I could have lived in the bathroom it was that big.
I walked to the sink and turned on the water. I cupped my hands and splashed water to my face. It didn’t do anything. It didn’t make me feel any better. I stared at my reflection, water dripping off my chin. The scene kept rushing through my mind. Fiore and Zander standing together. They had been working together. They had known about me. About Sasha. About everything. Chills ran through my body. It was like everything I knew was a lie. From the time I was a kid until now. Losing Sasha to a dark world and then never being able to find her. Just to know for a second, she was okay.
I dried my face and then noticed something on the toilet.
A bag.