Page 115 of The Boss

“Enough,moy syn,we could not act or we would have,” Allie scolds me.

“So Quinn has to act. You’re a part of the story, since you shot the Volotov heirs, we just have to decide your role.”

“Wouldn’t…” Luna frowns, “Wouldn’t it be best for me to go home? Figure out Papa’s secrets.”

“Do you think you can?” Allie asks, “You were there, in his study every night. Clearly he’s hidden his tracks well.” Luna’s face falls, so Allie goes on, “That’s not a reflection on you. I’d be surprised if even Bosco knew the truth. Not the whole of it, anyway.”

“I didn’t know what to look for before, with your help, I’m sure I could get deeper, learn more,” she says, determined and angry and so beautiful…as she plots to leave me forever. Fuck!

“You can’t kill him,” I say, a last ditch effort to keep her close to me.

“That’s true. You’ll have to hide your anger, disgust, your disloyalty,” O agrees.

Luna frowns, “For how long?”

“As long as necessary,” is O’s answer. I grunt. Mark does too. It’s a phrase we’ve all heard a million times.

“What?” She says, looking around the room.

“It is…not easy,” I explain. “Living with the enemy, biding your time.” Mark grunts in agreement again. I jut my chin toward him, “He has to see her uncle and remain calm. Almost every night I feed my father, letting him die slowly and painfully. When I want to run him through. I almost shot him during the attack.”

“Why didn’t you?” Luna asks me.

Brian’s pained face flashes before my eyes, “Because death is still too fucking good for him.”

“You have proven yourself patient, meticulous. You can do it,” Allie encourages her.

“But it’s a shit burden to bear, Luna. Stay away from him, keep yourself from having to see his face,” I plead.

“And stay with you?” She scoffs.

I step forward but Allie does too, eager as she repeats, “Or come with me.”

“Okay, okay,” Ellie moves toward the bed with her hands out. “Lu, you have your options and ideas and your pulse is going crazy. You need to rest. I’ll sedate you if I have to.”

“We have matters to attend to,” O says to Allie. She rolls her eyes and then nods. My parents turn to my wife, “You’ll be collected in a couple days. You can weigh your options then.” O shifts to me, “You go tend to your wounded.”

“My wounded are right here,” I say, meaning it.

“Just go, Qu—Va—just go. Mac needs you. Sheila, everyone. They need you,”and I don’tis what Luna is saying. She locks eyes with me, “Go.”

I freeze, clenching my jaw so hard I prompt a headache.

My parents leave the room and Mark follows. Ellie looks at me, then my wife, then me again. She offers a sad smile that I hate, because she can see what I’m trying to ignore. Luna doesn't want me here.

Fighting the urge to rush to her, to grab her delicate face and beg for forgiveness, beg for her love, I stay rooted. She sniffs and looks everywhere but at me. Years seem to pass in the next few seconds.

Finally I try again, because I have to. My voice is gritty on its way out, “Mac can handle it.” She shakes her head and starts to argue so I keep talking, “I didn’t have control, surely you see that now. I couldn’t tell you anything, I wanted to. I asked you over and over, because I hoped you’d join me, see me, want me. Then I was going to take you to the shack on my own terms, after I could explain that—”

“Bullshit!” She looks at me again, furious. It’s a welcome sight, her face finally glaring at me. “How can I possibly know this wasn’t the plan all along? To pretend to fall for me. To get me tojoin your big crusade. Maybe the attack was fake! Maybe O killed Shae!”

“No.”

“You don’t know that for sure!”

“I do. They gave us a heads up but my comms were off because I was on my way to find you. Yes, they let the attack happen. They underestimated the artillery the Russians had in their vans. We always spare women and children. Weneverlet innocents die.”

“And was she an innocent? What if she was sniffing around your shack and Allie decided to have her shotby accident?”