Page 5 of Duncan (Irish Mob of Boston #1)

Duncan

“Christ, Sal will lose his mind when he sees this shit.”

Mac was right. As we packed up Nolan Kelley’s office, we went through everything. Leaving anything Callum might need to continue on in his place.

Truth be told, Callum should have been here with us. But without knowing how much Callum knew about Maddie and her son, we couldn’t take that chance.

Once we found Kelley and took care of him, Sal would have to contact Maxim. Tell him everything and hope it didn’t start a war.

“He doesn’t need to see all of it.”

Mac’s hands paused over the top of the box he was packing. “You keeping shit from the boss?”

“No, just not telling him everything right away.”

“Think that’s wise?” he asked.

I didn’t answer. I was taking a chance by not keeping Sal in the loop. With Tyran gone, that meant I would take his place. I was the closest thing to a brother Sal had inside the organization and unlike Tyran, I had his back.

Does having his back meaning keeping shit from him?

“What the fuck is this?” Mac asked, his eyes boring into a piece of paper in his hands. Moving in behind him, I looked over his shoulder.

“Jesus Christ! If Sal sees this, he’s liable to burn the whole fuckin’ world down.”

A knock on the door had us both turning. “Hide this shit,” I said, shoving the piece of paper toward Mac.

Walking over to the door, I opened it a crack and sighed.

“What are you doing here?”

I opened the door wider, letting Callum Malone into the room. Behind him were Lucan, Niall, and Aran.

“Need to talk to you and I didn’t want Caity to overhear.”

“That sounds ominous.” Rubbing the back of my neck, I walked behind the desk and fell into the chair.

“Petrovich wasn’t the only fucker Kelley was connected to,” Callum began.

“Of course he wasn’t.” Mac sat on the edge of the desk and waited.

“The Albanians are trying to make a move. As are the Farina Family and the Harlem River Boys.”

I groaned and ran my hands over my face. This was a clusterfuck.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“No proof.” Callum shrugged. “All we have are rumors and whispers.”

“Alright.” I stood behind the desk, looking through the files in front of me.

“We need to finish going through this shit. I hate to leave you with a mess to clean up, but Kelley is our priority. Find the proof you need and call Maxim. He can deal with the Albanians. Cesar gets the Farina Family; they would be under his jurisdiction. And that leaves the Harlem River Boys for you.”

Mac and I gathered up the last few piles we needed to go through and tossed them into a box.

“The boys will help you load up what you’re taking with you.”

Lucan, Niall and Aran each grabbed two boxes and followed Mac out the door, leaving Callum and I alone in Kelley’s office. I tossed him the keys Caity had given me.

“You up for this?” I asked, knowing he didn’t really have a choice.

“Yea, I’ve pretty much been running shit for over a year now.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you say something?”

“Like I said, no proof. Can’t tattle on the boss unless I had hard evidence he was doing shit behind Sal’s back.”

Callum was right. If he ran to Sal without evidence, he’d be seen as a snitch, nothing more than trying to take over. Despite how much we despised Kelley, he was still Sal’s brother-in-law.

For now, anyway.

I looked Callum over. He had always been loyal to a fault. I was taking a chance trusting him with this information, but there was a possibility Mac and I had missed something.

“What you know about Maddie?”

Callum’s eyes dropped to the floor, and it told me everything I needed to know.

“Again, just rumors and whispers, but... Word on the street is Maxim’s nephew is her son.”

Blowing out a long breath, I sat back down.

“It’s true. Maddie never said a word. We only found out a few months back. Right before Kelley disappeared. The boy’s father was Salvatore Valentinetti.”

Callum whistled. He stayed quiet, waiting for me to continue.

“Kelley gave him up to Petrovich.”

“Two birds, one stone,” Callum said.

“What do you mean?” My eyes narrowed on him.

“With Valentinetti gone, Kelley would assume Maddie would step up for her son, flushing the kid out. He also gained favor with Petrovich. Only problem was, he backed the wrong Russian.”

Callum was right. Kelley had hedged his bet on his daughter being weak. He hadn’t counted on Maddie having a stronger backbone than her selfish father.

“You gonna tell Maxim the kid is in danger?”

Shaking my head, I confirmed, “The kid will be in danger his whole fuckin’ life. Would you wanna go up against the Bloodletter, the same man who killed his father and his brother?”

“Fuck, no.”

“Maddie’s letting him go. That girl is stronger than all of us.”

“What’s Caity’s plan? And Maddie’s?” Callum asked, his eyes looking everywhere but at me.

“Why are you asking?”

“Niall’s got a thing for her.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Niall was a good kid. He was Callum’s son, but he had a lot to learn. There was no chance in hell Sal would give his permission for Niall to approach Maddie, though.

“Caity and Maddie are moving back to Boston. Niall’s welcome to approach Sal—”

“He ain’t got the balls for that.” Callum grinned.

“And you have him as your right hand?” I asked skeptically.

“No one I trust more. The kid might still be young and scared to death of the boss, but he’s not weak, and he’s got my back. Hell, most of the soldiers are afraid of Sal.”

“As they should be,” Mac said, walking back into the room followed by Niall and Aran. Lucan stayed outside, watching the truck.

“Grab the rest of the boxes and load them up. We need to get back to the house and make sure Cian is still alive.”

Niall and Aran both smirked as they each grabbed a box, while Callum laughed out loud. The two younger men knew better than to laugh at the boss’ sister.

Once Mac followed them out the door, I turned back to Callum.

“We’ve been through most of what’s here. If you find anything regarding Maddie or Henry, or any inkling of where Kelley might be, let me know.”

“Will do. There’s talk about him having a link in Louisiana.”

“Yea, I’ve got Ronan keeping an eye out for him. Really hoping we don’t have to go down there.”

Callum looked at me, a question in his eyes. “He ask about Liam?”

“Of course he did. Wants me to bring him with me if I head that way.”

“Good luck with that,” he said and slapped me on the shoulder.

“Yea, as if I don’t have enough shit looking for Kelley and Tyran. I have to get in the middle of a fuckin’ family feud.”

“You know she’s gone, right?”

I looked at the man in front of me. “What the fuck do you mean, she’s gone? Where the hell did she go?”

“Niall spoke with Gavin. He said Sheena up and left six months ago.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to ward off the headache that was encroaching. “All that bullshit she pulled and she up and left?”

“That’s what Gavin said. He thinks she might be pregnant.”

“Fuck! If Liam finds out she’s pregnant, he’ll lose his shit.”

“Taking him to New Orleans might not be a good idea.”

“I’ll have Cian track her down. I swear, dealing with family shit is worse than the fuckin’ cops.”

“Speaking of...”

I glared at Callum, waiting for him to drop another goddamn bomb to blow up my life.

“Wilkinson’s in. I went over Kelley’s head and paid him off.”

Pointing my finger in his direction, I said, “That’s why you’re taking over!”

The corner of his mouth curved up. He didn’t take compliments well. It came from a lifetime of getting shit on by your father.

We locked up the office, and I met Mac outside. He was standing by the car talking to Niall. Lucan and Aran waited by Callum’s car. We said our goodbyes and drove back to Caity’s house.

Maddie let us in. Her eyes swollen and red rimmed.

“You ok, sweetheart?”

She took a deep breath, fortifying her resolve. “Yea.” That was all she offered. Her luggage sat together by the front door, and Mac picked them up and took them outside.

“Come ‘ere.” I pulled her into my arms and she cried. “You are one of the strongest women I know. The sacrifice you made wasn’t easy, but you did it for him.”

Pulling back, I looked into her eyes. “Your mom tell you about your new cousin?” She nodded and just looked at me.

“My sister Darcy did the same thing you did. She wasn’t afraid of my dad, but she was terrified of your grandfather.

She did the best thing she could to make sure her son was safe.

It takes a strong woman to give up her own happiness for the sake of her child. Don’t ever forget that.”

“Thanks, Duncan.”

I gave her another strong hug and then moved further into the room. “Where’s Cian?” I asked, looking around.

“They’re in the kitchen arguing.” Maddie rolled her eyes.

I knew she saw what we all did, and I wondered how she would feel about Cian making a move once her father was gone.

“They should just do it and get it over with.”

Well, I guess that answered my question.

I chuckled at her words.

“He’s got too much respect for your mother to do that.”

She just smiled and walked toward the kitchen, making a bunch of noise as I followed behind her.

“You ready to go?” I asked, looking between Cian and Caity. The tension in the room was palpable. The two of them glared at each other.

“Where are we supposed to be staying? I am not living with my brother,” Caity said, her hands on her hips.

“Your father’s house is—”

“Absolutely not!”

With a heavy sigh, I looked up at the ceiling. “You can take that up with Sal when we get there.”

The boxes from Kelley’s home office were loaded in the truck with the boxes from his office in the city, and Mac climbed behind the wheel.

“Can I ride with Mac?” Maddie asked.

I looked over at Mac and he just shrugged. He wasn’t always easy to get along with, but we all had a soft spot for Maddie and spoiled her.

“Sure,” I confirmed and closed the door after she climbed in. The two of them didn’t wait for us. They pulled away from the curb and turned north toward Boston.

I was ready to get home, but I was stuck with the stubborn twins.

“Caity, get in the damn car.” Cian stood waiting, holding the door open.

“I can open my own door, thank you.” She yanked the door from him, slamming it shut before immediately opening it again and climbing inside.

“Stubborn ass woman,” he grumbled.

I snickered on my way around to the driver’s side. Looking over the top of the car, I eyed one of my oldest friends. “You sure it’s worth it?”

His eyes widened in surprise for only a second before he looked through the window of the back seat at the woman he had been in love with his entire adult life.

“Yea, she’s fuckin’ worth it.” He opened his door and slid inside, leaving me with a look of surprise of my own. Those were the first words Cian had ever uttered out loud, even hinting at what he felt for Caity.

I wouldn’t say the four of us had lived a life of celibacy, because that would be a fucking lie. But none of us had a woman of our own.

Sal lost Darcy when he was only seventeen years old. No one had ever come close to comparing to my sister in his eyes.

For years, Cian had been secretly in love with his boss’ sister. And Mac just didn’t think he needed a woman.

Me? I was too fucking old at this point to even consider a wife and a family. At fifty-two, I had resigned myself to one-night stands when the desire arose. There was too much shit in our lives to expect a woman to put up with.