Page 140 of Mine

“Carl is in your shoes already. That doesn’t concern me. Everyone is replaceable,” he said simply as I waited for him to finish. He took a drag on his cigar as he gazed at me, exhaling the thick smoke slowly. “But you did go into witness protection did you not? Given a different name to that your mother gave you?”

I nodded, dread causing the knot in my stomach to tighten as he dragged on his cigar again, while eyeing me. His long fingers tapped on the desk as he considered his next words, and I refused to break eye contact with him.

“I did. Because I was innocent, I didn’t hurt that girl at all,” I stated, the facts tumbling out of my mouth.

“No, that is true. You avenged her. I respect that as I said earlier,” he repeated slowly. “However, the fact remains, people don’t justleavethe family, you understand? If they do, it’s because they are fucking useless or they leave in a body bag. We have too many secrets to be fucking letting people work out notice periods,” he chuckled softly as I felt my jaw clench.

“So, you're gonna kill me?” I demanded, the anger clear in my voice. I should have felt ice-cold fear at this exact moment, but I didn’t. However, when he narrowed his eyes at me, I lost all sense of bravado.

“Don’t be fucking stupid, kid. Don’t ever raise your voice to me again.Capisce?”

“I didn’t mean to offend you.”

He nodded, watching me carefully.

“I’ve considered this prior to you coming in here today. You’re a good kid, and we all like you. You can be with your family. But let me tell you if you ever leak anything about our business, Leonardo, you will not have a family, or a heart to love them with.”

I nodded slowly, keeping my anger in check. He was threatening my family, but this was business. “So, go. As you know you are no longer under my protection, certain people may wish to...seek you out. Always watch your back. Oh, and leave your gun on the way out. You can go now.”

I stood, offering my hand out to him and he shook it, not taking his eyes off of me.

“I’d leave this city as soon as you can. People are like fucking vultures. God bless.”

He turned away from me, the conversation clearly over. I didn’t know if he meant it, but there was only one way to find out.

Make it out of New York alive.

EPILOGUE

CAL

“Daddy, youpromised!”

It was that voice again. The one that wrapped me around her little finger by putting on the damsel-in-distress tone. I sighed as I wiped my brow, fully aware from her giggle that I had just wiped oil over my face.

“You laughing at your old man, kiddo?”

“Yup.Pleasecan we get ice cream now?” she whined as I closed the lid of the truck, admitting defeat. I turned as I heard the car pulling onto the drive, a smile on my face as I waited to greet the love of my life. She didn’t disappoint.

“Mr. Fallon, get those greasy hands over here and help me get these bags inside. Hey baby girl, have you been good for Daddy?”

Gretchen leaned down to drop a kiss on her head as she passed, arms full of groceries. I went to help her, but she scolded me, telling me to get the other bags.

“Caleb wasn’t good, was he Daddy?”

“Summer, what have I told you about snitches?” I teased as I followed Gretchen to the house, Summer at my heels. She pouted at me and sighed.

“Snitches get stitches.”

“Yeah, so shut up,Summer,” drawled Caleb, pushing open the screen door as he glared at his sister. They were twins but couldn’t have looked more different. Caleb had blonde hair and deep green eyes that he clearly inherited from me, whilst Summer had chocolate brown curls and blue eyes. We joked that Summer was added last minute, being the smaller twin and a complete surprise at the second scan.

“Enough. Inside,” I commanded as we walked into the open-plan kitchen where Gretchen was unpacking the bags.

“Daddy...”

“Raven, I’ve got to take this little lady for some ice cream. She’s clearly experiencing severe withdrawal. It’s been what, a day since you last had ice cream, squirt?”

I ruffled her silky hair as she held her arms up to me, her tiny frame as light as a feather in my arms as I hoisted her up.