Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84013 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 420(@200wpm)___ 336(@250wpm)___ 280(@300wpm)
“Nobody does.” Uncle Tomas gets to his feet with a sigh and leaves his cigar behind in the ashtray. “I’ll go for a walk. We’ll talk more later, Fergal.”
Dad nods as his brother ambles off. Uncle Tomas pats my arm as he passes and slips back into the crowd, leaving me alone with my brother and my father.
The men watch me appraisingly. Aidan’s got my dad’s look down perfectly, that intense stare like he’s trying to read the inside of my guts. Each day it’s like whatever was left of Aidan slowly slips away as he’s subsumed into becoming Dad’s little clone.
I want to get the hell away from here, but even I can’t push the boundaries too hard. Dad’s been giving me a long leash for years now, ever since Megan’s accident, but that won’t last forever. There aren’t many people in the Halloran clan that get to attend college, much less live away from Delco in the city. I’m damn lucky and I know it.
“I don’t know how aware you are of what’s going on with the family right now, but things are beginning to heat up.” Dad’s talking like he’s explaining a disagreement over a softball game or something, but what he means is, some scary people want to hurt everyone I know and love. “Your cousin Ward’s death wasn’t an outlier, and he’s not unique. There’s more blood coming, Daley, and I’m beginning to wonder if maybe my leniency over these past few years might run counter to your safety. I think it’s time we make some changes.”
My heart leaps into my throat. I’ve been terrified of this day ever since I got into Penn and my father said I could attend, which was like a miracle among miracles and helped me survive my grief. Those four years of undergrad, plus another two for my MBA program, were like heaven. I could pretend to be normal for a change, and my last name didn’t mean a thing to anyone except for the rare few local people that happened to hear it. It was a freedom so few girls of the Irish mob ever get to experience, and my brothers like to constantly remind me of that fact—and that one day Dad might change his mind.
And now it sounds like that day’s here.
“I just accepted an offer letter. My first day’s tomorrow. I signed a lease and bought new clothes and—”
Dad holds up a hand. “I’m not forcing you to quit your job, Daley. I’m not even going to make you move home, even though I should.”
I take a breath. My heart’s beating so fast my cheeks feel numb. Aidan’s watching me with a sharp smile, like he’s enjoying my torture, the sadistic asshole.
“Then what’s happening?”
“You need to be protected. Since you refuse to live here with the family, I’m going to send some guards to watch over you. They won’t be intrusive—”
“Absolutely not,” I say, horrified at the prospect of a couple of Halloran thugs following me around all the time. “How am I going to have a normal life with your men tailing me?”
“Who says you get to have a normal life?” Aidan asks, scowling.
Dad ignores him. “They’ll be discreet. We found someone you know from school—”
I take a step backwards and I feel dizzy. “Someone from school?” It could be a dozen different people. Half the boys I went to high school with joined the Halloran clan after graduation, and the other half joined when they dropped out. The idea that I might actually know my future guard is more than a little disconcerting.
“He’ll watch you during the day, and we’ll post more guards around your building at night. This is temporary, Daley. And it can be avoided if you agree to live at home, or at least in Delaware County. We can find you a place near your brothers—”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. If I agree to that, my freedom, my life, is over. They’ll monitor everything I do and drag me deeper and deeper into the clan. The cousins and uncles and aunts will overwhelm me, and I’ll never be free. I’ll never have a normal life. I’ll get married off to the first eligible man from some newly powerful Irish family and be expected to start pumping out babies like a machine.
“Then guards it is.” Dad sighs and rubs his face, looking suddenly exhausted. “Things are going to get harder before they get better, Daley. I need your cooperation on this, or I won’t make it a choice. You will accept my protection, or I’ll drag you back here and force you to stay in your old room for all I care. You can waste those fancy degrees I paid for or put them to use for the clan. Will we have a problem, daughter?”