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“School.” It’s five in the afternoon. Where does he think I’ve been? I’m still in the stupid fucking uniform.

“I need you to do a job tonight,” he tells me.

The arm I had reaching into the fridge for a bottle of Gatorade pauses. I haven’t been asked to do a job since we moved. Why now? “What is it?”

“We’re hitting the Italians tonight,” Dad says, and my blood goes cold.

“What do you mean by hitting? How?” I keep my face neutral. I always knew it was going to come down to choosing between her and my family. I just thought I’d have more time.

I also thought I’d be clear fucking headed when it came to my choice. The idea of going against my family has never crossed my mind before. I’ve only known Aurora for a few months. Am I really considering choosing her?

“We’re hitting their restaurants. Here’s a list. I want you to firebomb them all,” Dad says, handing me a piece of paper with five addresses on it.

“There’re gonna be people in these buildings, Da,” I tell him.

“Collateral damage,” he says. “You got a problem with the job, boy?”

“Nope.” I pocket the list. Because I’m not a fucking idiot. I know better than to question orders.

“Take Kenny with you,” my uncle adds. “He needs to start getting more involved in the family business.”

I’ve always envied how Kenny was able to stay out of the shit. I guess things are changing. I don’t think my cousin has the stomach for it, though.

“Sure.” I throw a mock salute in their direction and walk out without my fucking Gatorade. Although now I feel like I need something much stronger.

Fuck. How the fuck am I supposed to attack her family?

I dial Kenny as I jump into my car. “Hey, what’s up?” he answers.

“We have a job to do, from the boss. I’m picking you up. Where are you?”

The line goes silent for a moment. We both know what this means for him. He thought football would be his way out. I guess our fathers have other ideas. “Ah, home,” he finally answers. “What’s the job?”

“I’ll tell you when I get there.”

Thirty minutes later, I’m sitting in Kenny’s driveway and he’s staring at me. “Seriously? You’re going to do this?”

“Weare doing this. We don’t have a choice,” I remind him.

“There’s always a choice. You know she’s going to hate you when she finds out.”

“She’s not going to find out,” I grunt.

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that.”

“Do you know what happened the first and last time I refused to do a job?” I ask my cousin, because he has no idea. The fact he thinks there’s a choice is a joke. I know I told Aurora something different but part of me knew it was a fantasy. As long as my da’s alive, I have to do what he says or someone else pays the price.

“No,” Kenny says. “But seriously, Connor, she’s gonna find out.”

“No, she’s not,” I tell him. “When I tried to refuse to do a job, my father made one of my friends do it. Then he shot the kid. Point blank, in front of me, because he wasn’t family. We don’t have a choice.” I’ve lived with Shaun’s death over my head since I was thirteen. He thought he was doing a favor for my dad, and he was happy to do it. And because of me, a kid is dead. I haven’t refused to do a job since.

“Okay, let’s do it.” Kenny nods.

I pull out my phone and check her location. It pings at her house, but I need to make sure she’s there with it. I also need to make sure she has no plans to go out tonight.

Me:

What are you up to tonight?