Page 33 of Duncan (Irish Mob of Boston #1)

Duncan

The next morning, we woke to banging on my front door. I reached for my phone to check the time and it wasn’t on the table next to the bed.

Shit!

I’d left it on the mantle downstairs when I dragged Freyja to my bed. Which meant it was probably dead by now.

Hence the banging on the front door.

“Send her away!”

I looked at Freyja. The voice was audible, and I wondered if she’d heard it. This wasn’t the first time I had heard it. Something lingered from the air in New Orleans. But the voice could fuck off. I wasn’t sending her away. I could keep her safe.

“Go, Duncan. I’ll be down in the minute.”

Slipping into a pair of pants, I took my time down the stairs, yelling at whoever was on the other side.

“Calm the fuck down!”

My niece Colleen stood on the other side with Sal, Mac, and Cian.

“What happened?”

“Why didn’t you answer your fuckin’ phone?” Sal growled as he pushed his way inside.

Freyja was just coming down the stairs, and when she saw Colleen, she picked up her pace.

“Are you ok?” she asked, and at that moment, I was done. This woman had no idea who this girl was, yet she immediately went to her wanting to help.

Colleen shook her head, and Freyja gathered her up. “Come on, I’ll make some coffee.” We followed the two women to the kitchen, and Freyja sat Colleen at the bar, then started digging through cabinets looking for supplies.

“ Mo bandia , I’ll get it.”

“No, Duncan. Talk to the girl. She looks terrified. I’ll figure it out.”

I kissed the top of her head and whispered, “Thank you.” I led her to the cabinet with coffee cups, then pointed to where the coffee was stored.

“What happened, Lollipop?”

“Someone tried to break in last night.”

“What? Who?” I looked to Sal for an explanation.

“Colleen tried calling you, and when she couldn’t reach you, she called Mac. He got there and chased after the fucker.

“I’m so sorry, Lollipop. I forgot to plug in my phone.” I pulled my niece into my arms and hugged her tight. “Do we have any idea who it was? Tell me it wasn’t that fuckin’ O’Leary kid.”

“No, Ducky. He moved on. I told you it wasn’t a big deal.”

“It was a big deal, and he got the shit beat out of him for it. He could have blamed that on you.”

“It wasn’t him,” Mac confirmed. He looked at Freyja, then back at me. “It was Brian.”

Freyja spilled the coffee she was walking over with when she stumbled at Mac’s announcement. “Brian? Why?” She grabbed a paper towel and immediately wiped up the spill. Then she looked at Colleen before looking back at me. “Who is she?”

“This is my niece, Colleen. Duane’s daughter. Colleen, this is Freyja.”

Colleen looked up at me and grinned. “You have a girlfriend, Ducky? Wait until I tell Mom.”

“I don’t have a girlfriend. I’m too fuckin’ old for that. I have a woman. And yea, your mother will give me shit, I’m sure,” I said and tussled her hair as she swatted me away.

“He wanted to kidnap her,” Freyja whispered.

“Why would he kidnap Colleen?” Cian asked, looking at Freyja.

“Why would he kidnap me?” Freyja asked, looking between us. “He’s trying to hurt Duncan.”

“But why? Duncan never did anything to him,” Sal commented.

“Maybe not specifically, but his family did.”

“Freyja, what are you talking about? My family never did anything to Tyran.”

“Tyran’s a mean girl.” The conviction Freyja spoke with had me looking at her the same way I did when she told me about Lucille.

My woman was fucking batshit crazy. There was no other explanation. My face must have told her what I was thinking because she rolled her eyes at me, then looked at Sal.

“Duncan told me Darcy was your girlfriend. And that Tyran likely did something that made her run.” When Sal nodded, Freyja continued, “Were you planning to marry Darcy?”

“I was. I loved her.”

Freyja looked at the rest of us. “You really don’t get it?”

Colleen was the first one who understood what Freyja was saying. “Tyran was jealous of Darcy.”

“Yes,” Freyja confirmed, pointing at my niece.

“Dad was looking for Aunt Darcy. He told me he was close. He had a trip planned for California when he died.”

I stared at my niece, my mouth hanging open. “You knew?” When she nodded, I asked, “Did your mother know?”

Had Maureen lied to us?

“No, she didn’t know. Dad asked me not to tell her. He didn’t want to get her hopes up.”

I looked at my boss. I didn’t have words to express what I needed to say. Instead, it was Cian that spoke up, “We’ll go through everything again. Duane must have had the information somewhere.”

“Then it was Tyran who killed my brother. Because he didn’t want him finding Darcy and bringing her home,” I said to no one. My hands gripped the countertop. Someone murdered my baby brother because he was looking for his missing sister. Because Tyran was a jealous motherfucker.

“I’m so sorry, Duncan.” Freyja rubbed small circles on my back. I put my arm around her and pulled her close. Tyran had tried to kill my woman, and she wasn’t even really mine yet.

“You can’t go home, Lollipop.”

“Where will I go?” she asked.

“She can stay here,” Freyja offered, and I kissed her hard.

“No,” Sal interjected. “She’s not safe here.” Sal ran his hand through his hair and then looked at Colleen. “You’re going to Nebraska.”

“What? You said it wasn’t safe to travel yet.”

If I wasn’t mistaken, there was a hint of hopefulness in Colleen’s words.

“It’s not safe for you here. My son will protect you. Besides, it’s time you met your stepfather.” Sal grinned.

“I have met him, Uncle Sal. I talk to Mom all the time.”

“Well now you get to meet him in person. And you get to meet your cousin.”

Colleen smiled at Sal. She was an only child, and with Darcy missing and me never getting married, she’d grown up without any close blood relatives other than me.

“If Tyran knew Darcy and her son had died, why kill Duane?” Mac asked.

“Wait, Aunt Darcy had another child? I have another cousin?” Colleen asked.

“According to what Tyran said, she had another son. But he died before she did.”

“Maybe he didn’t know.”

My eyes turned toward Freyja. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe all he knew was that Duane had found Darcy. Maybe he didn’t know Darcy had died until after he got her location from Duane.”

“That son of a bitch!” Sal clipped. “A few weeks after Duane’s death, he went to California. Said he had a lead on why Duane was shot. When he came back he said it didn’t pan out.”

“That lead being Darcy’s location,” Mac surmised.

“Duane found her.” My eyes landed on Sal. I saw the same emotion in his eyes that I knew was in mine. “He found her.”

“We will too!”

“I don’t understand something,” Colleen started. “If Dad was gone. And Aunt Darcy had died before Dad found her. Why is Tyran still trying to hurt Ducky?”

Freyja smiled up at me. “It’s cute she calls you Ducky.”

I laughed. “That was Duane’s doing. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“He took Tyran’s place,” Cian said. I could see the others were as confused as I was.

“Think about it. First Darcy gets involved with Sal. They fall in love and Sal pulls away from Ty—”

“I never pulled away—”

“Stop.” Cian held his hand up to Sal’s face, and Sal smacked it away. Freyja’s body shook against mine as she tried to hide her laughter. “Are you saying you never blew off Ty so Darcy could blow you off?”

“Eww, gross, Uncle Ci.”

I shook my head at my niece. They might not be related to her, but Sal, Cian, and Mac were her uncles. And always would be.

“Asshole,” Sal muttered.

“Continue,” I said with a grin.

“Sal begins to pull away from Ty for Darcy. Ty does something to run Darcy off, never telling Sal she was pregnant. Everything was good once Darcy left.”

Sal opened his mouth, and I shoved his shoulder. “You know what he fuckin’ means.”

Cian rolled his eyes at Sal and then added, “Years later, Duane starts looking for Darcy. Ty gets nervous. If Darcy comes home, not only would Sal want her back, but Ty risks being pushed out again. And he runs the risk of Darcy telling Sal that Ty is the reason she left in the first place.”