Page 115 of The Games We Play

“Iris.” Cillian’s voice makes me jump.

“I’ve got you,” Spark whispers as he kisses my temple and offers me his hand to stand. Then he climbs to his feet next to me, reaching for me as I stumble. Everything hurts. My wrist. My arms. My face. My ribs. Even my knees and feet, from kicking my assailant and scraping my toes on the floor.

Cillian sighs when he looks at me. It’s heartfelt. In that one stream of breath, I can see beneath the cool demeanor.

He reaches out his hand, but I step back into Spark. I don’t want anyone else to touch me. Not yet.

Noticing my action, Cillian drops his hand. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry,” I sob. “Like that covers any of this. Revenge for a dead man meant more to you than my life.”

“You were never meant to be harmed,” he concedes. “You’re free of me, Iris. You want free of Jersey; I’ll give you the money to go. You can take Michael with you. And so you know: I love Michael with my whole heart. I never intended to stop anything. I just knew you’d believe that I would.”

“You bastard,” I say, my voice cracking. My throat is raw.

“I am. You have my word that Michael can come live with you when you are recovered and ready. I’ll pay for whatever support he needs.”

All my life, I thought it was what I wanted. To be free of this.

I look up at Spark, see the tension in his shoulders.

He came for me.

He never tested me or tried to make me prove my feelings for him.

He protected me without needing anything in return.

He loves me.

“I want Michael with me. But I’m staying here. With Spark.”

His hand slips around mine and squeezes it gently.

Cillian nods. Once. “For what it’s worth, I loved all three of you.” He looks to Spark. “She gets hurt again, I’ll kill you myself.”

“Stop making threats.” I try to shout the words but my voice cracks. “Please. Put an end to this.”

King joins us and Spark stands taller.

“King and I made our peace,” Cillian says. “It’s settled.”

Tears sting my eyes. The world goes blurry. “Because Spark paid you. If you really want peace, don’t take his money.”

“How did you know?” Spark asks, but I’m too tired, too sore, too shaken to fight with him.

Cillian offers Spark his palm. “We’ll consider everything settled.”

Spark shakes his hand. “How about we stop threatening to kill each other and work together instead?” Spark says.

King and Cillian both turn to him, and I’m proud of him, of the way both of them want to listen to what he has to say.

“The harbor has always been an issue because the channel splits the two states, but the biggest dock is on the Jersey side and still has huge interference from the Italians,” Spark says. “What if we work together to reclaim it, and then you manage the New York side, and we’ll manage Jersey? We’d run your weapons because we have the connections, and you’d supplement our manpower and funds to get control of the docks.”

I’m anxious to hear what my uncle says in response, but the queasy feeling turns into spinning and then darkness.

38

SPARK