Page 82 of The Mafia Assassin's Redemption-

Outside, sirens start to get louder, and I round a corner as everything goes cold.

A dead man’s sitting up in a chair, a bullet hole through his skull.

“Jesus Christ.” Seamus stops next to me. “Who the fuck is that?”

EIGHTEEN

harry

Clawzilla issoft and purring on my lap while Arnold rests his paws on my thighs.

My head is spinning as I try to reconcile the monster with his family. The fact that the animals are sweet and Lucie the kind of person I’ve always wished I could be friends with are things that don’t fit with what I know about Torin.

What I knew.

Thought I knew.

He’s not a picture-book hero in any way, shape, or form. He’s soaked in blood, something I could maybe understand if he hadn’t killed my family. He said he didn’t but this is me, not believing him for a second.

I close my eyes as Arnold rises up to lick my cheek, resting his face near my shoulder like he knows I need the uncomplicated caress and doggy hug.

They both warm the cold that’s chilling me from the inside out.

The rug is thick beneath my feet as I sit slouched on the sofa with the family pets.

The Murphy family pets.

“He’ll be back,” Lucie says as I flick open my eyes to take in her slightly drawn face.

All the guys are out. And the fact that Torin told me not to leave the house already clued me into the fact that they were doing something dangerous.

“I was forced into this,” I mutter.

“Things change,” she says. “And… things get complicated on the surface, but underneath, you might find they’re much simpler.”

“You’ve got that wrong. Surface is way simpler than what’s happening inside.”

Lucie smiles as she stands, tidying and putting away the card game we started. She’s nervous, worried. It’s in her quick movements as she pours water for herself and picks up the whiskey to top off my glass, which to be fair to me, I’ve only had a couple of sips from.

“No, I meant it the way I said it,” she says.

I curl my hand around my glass, taking a swallow as she continues.

“I… I don’t know what happened and why you think you hate him, but you also like him.”

“I don’t like him.”

“You want him.” Her voice drops. “You look at him like he’s a forbidden dessert and you’re on a no-carb diet.”

Do I? “Maybe, but he did things. My family’s dead because of him.”

She just looks at me, but I’m saved from explaining further as the front door opens and voices fill the place. Clawzilla abandons me and races to the door of the living room and then saunters away. Even Arnold makes a soft sound and pads out of the room.

“Walkies?” That’s Declan. “Not you, Lucie, I’m talking to Clawzilla and Arnold.”

I tune them out because my stomach is twisting and my thoughts rolling like wild waves through me.

I told Lucie Torin’s the reason my family’s dead.