Page 24 of Duncan (Irish Mob of Boston #1)

Duncan

I entered the warehouse to find Oscar beating the shit out of Nolan Kelley. Someone had tied him to a chair, naked except for his goddamn underwear.

That meant Oscar was just getting warmed up.

Oscar swung again and hit Kelley in the nose. The force not only broke his nose, evidenced by the crack that echoed through the room, but it also knocked the chair over. Kelley landed on his back; his head hit the floor, knocking him out cold.

“Dammit, Oscar!” I stormed toward the man. “If you kill this son of a bitch before we get answers, I will feed you to the fuckin’ gators.”

“Relax, Dunc,” Sal advised. “Let him have his fun.”

“Oscar doesn’t know his own goddamn strength,” I muttered.

“Sorry, boss.” Opening a bottle of water, Oscar poured it over Kelley’s face until the man sputtered awake.

Sal shook his head. Amusement lifted from the corners of his mouth. Anyone observing my boss from a distance would think Sal was relaxed, enjoying watching the man who betrayed the family and cheated on his sister for years get his ass kicked.

But if they looked closer, they would see the small smile didn’t extend beyond his mouth. The lines framing his eyes didn’t come from joy. No, it was tension.

It was rage.

You didn’t fuck with Sal’s family and expect to get away with it.

If you fucked around, Sal always found out.

“He give you anything?” I asked, leaning against the worktable next to my boss.

“Bullshit excuses.”

Oscar backhanded Kelley, and his head turned so far to the side, I expected his neck to break.

“Ok, Ok. Stop!” Kelley cried.

Nolan Kelley was fifty-seven years old. One year older than Sal. Unlike Sal, Kelley didn’t take care of himself. His hairline was receding, his stomach had begun to hang over his belt, and his arms that had once been muscular flapped like a bird trying to fly.

He believed he was untouchable.

Kelley hadn’t realized the closer you got to the top, the more you had to stay in shape. You didn’t stay on top without putting in the work.

Though, being honest, Kelley had never been on top. It was all a show. A show Sal should have ended after Eamon was gone. And would have, had Kelley not been married to Sal’s baby sister.

Sal stepped forward and stood before Kelley.

“Why did you do it?” Sal asked.

Kelley knew what he was asking, but like everyone who sat before us tied to a chair, or strung up on a hook, he used stall tactics in an attempt to prolong his life.

It wouldn’t work, though. It never did.

“Do what?”

Sal shook his head. He removed the cigarette from Ronan’s mouth. Flipping it round, he pressed it against the skin right below Kelley’s eye. That soft tender spot that hurts like hell.

Kelley’s scream echoed through the warehouse. No one but the men standing here and the gators heard it though. One of the first things Ronan did when he took over down here was to purchase this warehouse and the surrounding swampland.

“Why did you hand Valentinetti over to Petrovich? What did you hope to gain by killing your grandson’s father?”

Kelley threw his head back and laughed. “I don’t have a fuckin’ grandson.”

Sal’s hands clenched into fists. To hear Kelley deny his daughter’s child was a slap in the face. But Sal held back. He wanted to kill Kelley and be done. But we needed answers.

“Why would you want your daughter’s husband dead?” Sal growled, his patience wearing thin.

“That fuckin’ Italian had it coming. He was playing both sides,” Kelley sneered. “He deserved everything he fuckin’ got.”

“Oscar,” Sal said, then stepped back.

Everyone stared as Oscar removed the knife from the sheath he kept on his belt.

It was just barely legal for him to carry at all times.

Not that we cared all that much about legalities, but Oscar already had two strikes against him.

One more and he would be inside for a long time.

He couldn’t afford to be caught with more than a pocketknife.

Unlucky for Kelley, Oscar was damn efficient with that pocketknife. He sliced the skin between Kelley’s fingers, severing the nerves. Kelley was doing more screaming than talking. He always was a stubborn fuck.

“Why, Kelley?” Sal asked again.

“I was ordered to,” he said between clenched teeth.

“Who ordered it?”

Kelley’s head shook from side to side. He didn’t want to give up the man pulling the strings.

“You’d give up your daughter’s husband but not the man who ordered your death?

” Kelley’s eyes snapped to Sal. “That’s right.

Whoever you and Ty are working for put out the order.

Why do you think you were sent here? Lot of people around.

Hard to see when someone gets stabbed in a crowd.

Or a quick jab from a needle.” Kelley’s face paled.

“We got to you first. So, tell me what the fuck I want to know.”

Sal’s angry words washed over Kelley. He knew he was done. But the asshole still wouldn’t talk.

“Why would you do that to your daughter? What happened to family fuckin’ first?”

“I don’t have a fuckin’ daughter,” Kelley spat out. Cian lunged forward and Mac backed him up before he reached the man in the chair.

“You disowned Maddie because she fell in love? You’re a fuckin’ disgrace!”

“You can’t disown someone that isn’t yours,” Kelley snarled.

Sal froze.

Mac and I looked at each other.

Cian stiffened.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“The bitch fuckin’ cheated. Not even a year into our marriage.”

“Who?” Sal demanded.

Kelley’s eyes went to the man standing beside me. Turning to Cian, the look on his face said he had no idea he had a daughter.

Sal followed Kelley’s stare, and something crossed over his face. Something dark. Something I hadn’t ever seen in his eyes as he took a step toward Cian.

“You fucked my sister?” Sal asked. His voice low and tight. Cian stood tall, but quiet. “You fucked my married sister?” Sal asked again, clarifying what he wanted to know.

Before Cian could answer, Sal’s arm shot forward and punched Cian in the face. His head wrenched back, and he stumbled but kept himself upright.

Liam and Oscar both rushed forward, pulling Sal back.

Kelley laughed behind us. He was getting off on humiliating Sal in front of his men. Cian glared at the man, then took a step forward before Mac pushed him back a second time.

“Not your kill.”

“Fuck you, Mac.”

“You aren’t half the man your father was, Sal. You have your head so far up the family’s ass you can’t see all the people who have betrayed you.” Kelley continued to spout shit until Sal pulled his gun and shot him in the head.

“Clean up this fuckin’ mess,” Sal said as he tossed the gun on the body and walked out of the warehouse.

“McCoy, follow him.” McCoy nodded at my instruction and followed Sal back out to the road. He would keep an eye on Sal from a distance. Letting him have his space while ensuring no one caught him in a moment of weakness.

Oscar, Liam and Gavin quickly got to work.

Untying Kelley and dragging him to the edge of the warehouse, where it opened into the swamp.

Ronan cordoned off a section under the warehouse where gators could be lured in and contained, ensuring they were sufficiently hungry when we needed to dispose of a body.

I had to give it to the man. He was smart. Something like this wasn’t an option in Boston. Though we had other methods of making sure bodies were never found.

I turned to look at Cian. “You fucked up.”

“It was one fuckin’ time.” He ran his hands through his hair, grabbing the ends and tugging as he screamed out his frustration. All these years, Maddie was his daughter and none of us knew.

“Think Caity knows?”

We both looked at Ronan. “What?”

“Well, clearly, she never told Ci. Maybe she doesn’t know.”

“How would Kelley know?” I asked.

Ronan gave me a look that suggested I was an idiot. “You think he never suspected? Maddie looks nothing like him.”

“Makes sense, given what Ty said about Kelley not being interested in Caity.”

“This is a fuckin’ mess.” I wiped my hand over my mouth. Fucking secrets were coming out of the woodwork. First, we found out Sal had a son he never knew about. Now Cian.

I looked at Mac. He raised his hands up by his head. “Always fuckin’ wrap it up. Got no idea what a bare pussy feels like. Never fuckin’ will.”

“Let’s get this shit cleaned up and get out of here. I’m ready to go home.”

Back at the hotel, I walked down the hallway toward the string of rooms we secured. McCoy stood guard outside Sal’s room.

“How is he?”

“Quiet.”

“Fuck. A quiet Sal is a dangerous Sal.”

“Yes, sir. Maybe make sure he ain’t got a gun around Cian. Wouldn’t want a repeat of Ro and Liam.”

“If Sal wanted to shoot Cian, he would have done it already.” No, he’d wait until we’re home and beat the shit out of him.

I lifted my hand and rapped on the door. Knowing he wouldn’t answer, I slid the extra key over the electronic lock and let myself in.

“Get the fuck out.”

“Can’t do that, boss.”

Sal stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, looking out over the French Quarter. His left hand in his pocket, his right holding a glass of whiskey.

“My fuckin’ sister, Dunc.”

“I mean, you were fuckin’ my sister. I didn’t say anything.”

Sal glared at me over his shoulder. “Not the same fuckin’ thing.”

“The only difference is Caity was married. But look who she was fuckin’ married to? Can you blame her?”

“Then she shouldn’t have fuckin’ married him.” Sal downed his whiskey and then poured another glass. Holding the bottle in my direction, he asked a silent question. Shaking my head, he set it down and collapsed onto the couch, laying his head back to look at the ceiling.

I sat in the chair and waited for him to ask. When it was clear he wouldn’t, I began.

“You really didn’t know?”

“That he fucked my sister?”

“No, asshole. That he wanted your sister. It was plain as fuckin’ day. Why do you think he’s never had a girlfriend?”

Sal looked at me. “You’ve never had a girlfriend. You want my sister too?”

“God no.” I shuddered, and Sal chuckled.

“She’s still my sister, shithead.”

“She’s fuckin’ mean.”

Sal sat forward. “She is fuckin’ mean.” Placing his glass on the coffee table, his elbows rested on his knees and he held his head in his hands. “How the fuck do we tell Maddie?”

“Maddie’s the easy one. How the fuck do we tell Caity?”

Sal’s head shot up, and he turned to me. “Caity doesn’t know?”

“Ronan doesn’t think so.”

“Jesus Christ. How much more? How many more fuckin’ secrets?”

“This changes things regarding Henry,” I said carefully.

“It doesn’t change a goddamn thing. Maddie made her choice.”

“Ci—”

“Fuck Ci. It’s not his decision.”

“He’s the boy’s grandfather.”

Sal picked up his whiskey glass and threw it against the wall. Whiskey dripped over the paint, catching drops in the indents from where the glass shattered.

“We are not going to war with the fuckin’ Bratva.”

“You gonna tell him about Kelley?”

“Fuck no. If he’s not related to Maddie or Henry, then no one needs to know.”

“It’ll get out, eventually. And then Maxim...”

“I don’t know what’s fuckin’ worse, thinking that a man gave up his son-in-law knowing he would die. Or knowing he wasn’t his son-in-law and just wanted to hurt the girl he raised as a daughter.”

“It’s not about worse or better. Kelley was a selfish prick who made decisions that benefitted Kelley and only Kelley.”

“Tell everyone to pack up. It’s time to get out of this fuckin’ city.”

“I need another day.”

Sal was a smug bastard, and the grin on his face told me he had shit to give me.

“The woman, huh?”

“Yea, the woman,” I sighed.