Page 11 of The Mafia Assassin's Redemption-

“Dude, it’s late.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a big boy who’s not afraid of the dark, Dec. Go bother Lucie.”

He rolls his eyes at the mention of our sister-in-law. “I’m pretty fucking sure she’s doing the nasty with Cal.” He shudders and pets Clawzilla’s paw. “Don’t worry, guys, I won’t let you see such horrors.”

Dec rubs the top of Arnold’s head and deposits the cat on the dog’s back. This time, Arnold’s whine is louder and Clawzilla gives a hiss of annoyance.

Our operations have been running smoothly and our power base growing. Seamus is out collecting payments and probably up to no good with some hot girl.

Dec and the animals follow me from the shared floor to the front door, where I grab my long coat and pull it on. I don’t wear it much. Even after all this time, more than a decade that’s passed, it reminds me too much of Shiv and the little girl whose family I failed to save.

The little girl who’s all grown up and causing her own quiet brand of trouble in New York City.

“This is the second night you’ve gone out this week. Last time was three days ago. Three!”

For fuck’s sake. “I bought a boat a while ago. You’re welcome to come help me do some work on it.”

There’s no boat, but I’m running out of excuses.

“At this hour? No, thanks. I’d rather playCall of Duty.”

I roll my eyes at Declan. “You’re allergic to hard work.”

He grabs Arnold’s leash. “Take Arnold. He needs a walk.”

Which means Declan couldn’t be bothered to do it earlier. Clawzilla jumps down and finds a nice space in the middle of the floor to bathe himself. I grab Arnold’s lead and clip it on.

I need air. I need to clear my head.

Three days ago, I stood in the alley near the church Harry works out of. It took me a while to track her operation since all the moving parts have firewalls and no apparent connection. But I figured it out in the end.

The little girl I saved from the fire, the one I watched over from afar, and the one I arranged for the Holy Mary School for Orphans in Dublin to take under their care in exchange for both protection and regular payouts, hasmore than grown up. I had connections and she needed a place to live and thrive.

And now she plays the part of Little Miss Pious perfectly.

Fuck, maybe she is, but she’s my secret. Cal doesn’t know about her, and even Mam, who tracked down her uncle for me, doesn’t know I’ve kept tabs on her all this time.

I’ve taken out every threat to her. Crushed every person who wanted her family eliminated for whatever reason, probably power and money, until no danger remained.

For three years I’ve just kept track of her whereabouts, and since we moved to New York, I personally check up on her.

And Harry’s kept out of trouble. Until now.

The Ricco family. I looked into them. They’re sadistic and she just helped Lara disappear, Salvatore Ricco’s favorite punching bag and shared family sex toy.

She had that altercation with Bernardo three days ago, and today all hell’s broken loose. Details are on the chats I’ve hacked. The money that’s been moved tells me they’re going to rip things apart to find Lara.

I hope to fuck the underground movement she’s involved in is good enough to keep her safe. If not… I’m doing something I haven’t done in years.

I’m carrying my gun.

I would take it on all missions, but these days I’m the brains that allow us to stay one step ahead of our enemies, so there really isn’t a need for me to be carrying.

I’m not saying I’m smarter than my brothers, but I am a computer geek, and since hanging up my hitman hat, I threw myself deeper into it all. Now I know the route the cops might take, how long they’ll take to arrive, how to hack surveillance cameras, bank accounts. Dig up dirt on threats.

It’s Sunday, so evening mass is still in session. I pull mybaseball cap from my pocket and put it on, tugging the bill down low. Arnold takes off at a good pace.

He wants to run. I can feel it in the jerk of the lead, the way he checks back with me to see if he can.