Page 53 of Arranged Addiction

“That a good idea? Cops will see all the boot prints in the mud.”

“I don’t give a shit. They’re not going to solve this anyway.”

Seamus glances at his guys before moving closer to me and lowering his voice. “You’re really serious about this Butcher of Milan shit.”

“It’s him. No doubt in my mind.”

Seamus takes my elbow and drags me from his guys. They’re talking quietly and still smoking, but I can tell they’re half paying attention to us too. Just pretending like they’re not.

“You know what’ll happen in the family if this rumor gets out?” he asks very quietly. “We don’t need that kind of shit right now.”

“Should we pretend like it isn’t happening then?”

“No, I didn’t say that. We should do everything we can to find the bastard and cut his throat for what he did to Doyle. But you don’t want the guys talking.”

“Are your men all a bunch of terrified gossips?”

Seamus shakes his head, glaring at me. “Don’t be fucking stupid.”

“Vincenzo Senesi isn’t a joke. He’s not some shitty rumor we need to squash. One of our associates is dead, and I’m betting more are going to follow.”

“All because of your woman.”

I grab Seamus by the jacket, bunching it up in my fist. He only stares at me defiantly as I snarl in his face. “Don’t you dare bring Casey into this.”

“Why so protective?”

“Because it isn’t her fault.”

“Mom told me about her friend. She told me about the note.”

“All the more reason you should keep your fucking mouth shut.”

Seamus shakes his head. “We can’t bury this.”

“We aren’t.” I release him and step back. I’ve never lost my cool like that on my brothers before. We fought when we were kids, but that was different. For a second, I wanted to break Seamus’s face in half just for mentioning Casey.

But he’s right to bring her up. She’s a part of this.

“I’ll start asking around as quietly as I can. No panic, no problems. Only trusted, solid guys. But it’ll leak eventually, and when it does, you’re going to have trouble.”

“We’ll deal with that as it comes up.” I brush past Seamus and return to the body. Doyle’s eyes are open and staring blindly. I kneel down and lean closer to close them, but stop myself.

There’s something under his head. It looks like a letter written in the mud…

I roll him over. The body slumps to the side. Underneath is a message carved deep into the soil.

Bring Her To Me.

That’s it, nothing more. No name, no signature.

But I know who did this.

I look back at Seamus. He’s staring at the words, his jaw flexing. His men are dead silent. One lights another cigarette.

I slowly get to my feet and brush my hands on my jeans.

“I want six men watching my place at all times. I want double that waiting for us tomorrow morning at nine sharp.”