Page 42 of Endure the Pain

“Wait!” Sean yelled, still held back by Louie’s gun. “Donnie, you proud bastard, get on your fucking knees and get this shit over with.”

Sean’s words did the trick. Donnie knelt slowly with his rage and embarrassment visibly scorching his cheeks.He made quick work of it, dropping his head low to the ground and placing a tiny peck to the toe of my shoe.

I smiled at him after he returned to his feet. “That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

He didn’t respond and attempted to walk away, but a bunch of guns still pointed at his face were preventing him. I nodded at the guys to let him go. They lowered their guns and took a step back to let him pass. He stormed off with Sean following after him.

“Who is he?” I asked Jamie, tilting my head at Sean.

“Sean Kelly. He oversees the Boston area for the family. He used to kiss Samuel’s ass all the time,” Jamie answered.

He did look like an ass kisser. “Why?”

“Because he used to report to our Uncle,” Rourke supplied. “Before Dylan was appointed to work as his father’s second in command, Sean Kelly was gunning for that spot. He was pissy for a long time after the position was given to Dylan. Now that Samuel and Dylan have both been relieved from those positions, I wouldn’t put it past him to stick his nose up Stefan’s ass, in order to be considered for Samuel’s chair.”

I frowned. “I run drugs.”

Rourke gave me a small smile. “Yeah, but for how long? You’re the heir and Sean and his crew are the biggest weed suppliers on the East Coast. He brings a lot of money in for the family. Not as much as cocaine, but still a lot and that makes him more than qualified for Samuel’s or Dylan’s chair at the table.”

“Why am I just hearing of this now?” I demanded, feeling completely blindsided.

Jamie grimaced. “Stefan didn’t want to overwhelm you. He wants you to learn everything you can at our home base before you start branching out to the other cities in our territory.”

Of course, I'd known our family extended across the New England area and with them, more racketeering. I just hadn't thought their illegal dealings measured up to what we did here in New Haven—thehome baseas Jamie called it.

I sighed and took a moment to admire Jamie and Louie in their tuxedos. Louie’s was dark blue with a black bow tie and Jamie’s was black with a dark red shirt, sans tie. Both of them looked sexy as hell.How long do we have to stay at the party?I was pretty sure I could think of a few excuses to leave early.

“Close your mouth, cuz, before you start to drool,” Rourke teased.

Louie and Jamie both smirked at me getting caught ogling them.

I flipped Rourke off and all of the guys chuckled besides Rourke. Instead, he held a tight smile. It had been a week since I’d last seen him—since I'd yelled at and threatened him. Despite how tense things had been left between us, he'd still come to my defense. I moved closer to him, to get a little bit of privacy. “You know I love you, right?”

His smile turned genuine. “You better. I took a bullet for you.” His arms gathered me up in a tight bear hug.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered low enough for only him to hear.

“Me too,” he whispered back before releasing me.

“We need to go find Stefan, baby,” Jamie said, taking my arm. “The Colombians just showed up.” I turned to face him and found all their gazes fixed on where guests were entering the party from a path that circled around the side of the house. A group of men dressed in tailored tuxedos and a lone woman in a beautiful red dress were standing at the edge of the party. Conor and a few of our goons were already approaching to greet them.

I let Jamie escort me off the dance floor in search of Stefan. He seemed to know where to go. My eyes roamed over the guests we passed. One guest in particular made me do a double take and come to a halt.

“That stupid bastard. What the hell is he thinking?” Rourke grumbled from behind me, making me realize that he and Dean had been following me. Louie and Finn were nowhere to be seen.

I returned my attention to said bastard, AKA our cousin, and Skank Barbie clinging to his arm.

Dylan had brought Angela as his date to the party.

CHAPTER 14

“Does he not know what transpired between Angela and me?” I asked Rourke quietly over my shoulder.

He replied, “Everyone does.”

Does that mean he knew at the family dinner a month ago?

I held a schooled expression as Dylan and Angela approached us. Dylan’s smile was innocent, but I could have sworn a spark of smugness flashed in his eyes. Angela did nothing to hide her glee as she looked from me to Jamie. Unabashed, her gaze raked over him from head to toe. Jamie moved closer to me and placed his hand at the small of my back.