Page 20 of The Mobster’s Daughter (Massachusetts Mafia #2)

Caitlin

C aitlin sat on the bed for more than an hour, waiting for Grady to come upstairs to talk to her.

Any second he would make his way up the stairs, grunt a half-assed apology, and she would forgive him.

They were both under a lot of stress. It didn’t help that she intentionally pushed his buttons to get a rise out of him, knowing damn well it would end in sex.

She couldn’t stay angry with him when she was the reason he lost control.

As the minutes ticked by and he didn’t appear, the realization came over her that Grady didn’t plan to seek her out and apologize. Maybe this time she’d succeeded in completely pissin g him off.

But wasn’t that what she wanted? To push him away? It would make it easier to leave him when t his ended.

Except, what if it never ended? It wasn’t unreasonable to see her life stretching out before her, one crazy problem after another, the inevitable drama always a part of her life because she was a mobster’s daughter.

And there was Grady, in the background, pushing her away while trying to keep her close, her emotions nothing more than a yo-yo on a sho rt string.

Caitlin didn’t think she could live like that, on the edge, unsure of her future.

The idea of escaping all of this and escaping from her shitty life took hold until she couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Would anybody really miss her? Leaving meant her father had one less thing to worry about, and Grady was free to find someone else or keep being alone.

She could disappear, and once this blew over, she could stay gone. It would be best for everyone involved.

Finn was the answer. She just had to talk to him, make him understand it was the right thing to do. If she could get him to see reason, she could get the money and find some place far away.

She left the bedroom and went to the top of the stairs. It was quiet, no voices or other sounds coming from the first floor, so she tiptoed downstairs, pausing every few seconds to listen. When she got to the bottom, she peered around t he corner.

Grady sat on the chair with his feet stretched out in front of him and his hands folded on his stomach. His eyes were closed, and he snored quietly. Caitlin watched him for a few minutes, but he didn’t move an inch. Now was her chance. She stepped into th e kitchen.

Grady’s jacket was on the table. She checked again to make sure he was asleep, then she darted across the room on her tiptoes and dug through the pockets until she found the keys to the Bronco.

She grabbed her sweatshirt off the back of the couch and slipped it on over her shirt, then she picked up her shoes.

Outside on the front porch, she dropped the shoes on the dying grass and stepped into them. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure Grady hadn’t snuck up behind her, then she jumped over the creaking steps and headed for the barn.

The doors were wide open; Dante must have opened them when he left and forgot to shut them.

Or he figured there was no harm in leaving them open.

Caitlin ran the rest of the way to the barn, wrenched open the Bronco’s driver’s side door, and climbed in.

It took her a minute to figure out how everything worked and to adjust the seat, then she started the Bronco.

She didn’t wait to see if Grady would come running; instead, she put the SUV in gear, hit the gas, and flew out of the barn.

She kept her foot off the brake as she careened around the corner onto the main road an d sped up.

Caitlin pushed her hair off her face and watched for a sign. While she knew her way around the Boston area fairly well, she wasn’t familiar with Lancaster. She pulled up the GPS on the center console and programmed in the address to Finn’s club, the Emeral d Diamond.

Boston was an hour away. She kept checking the rearview mirror, expecting Grady and Dante to come roaring up in Dante’s big-ass truck. It wouldn’t be long before they figured out where she went.

Less than twenty minutes from the club, she saw her reflection in the window.

Shit . Her hair was a mess, and she didn’t have any makeup on.

And there was no way she could go in the Emerald Diamond wearing sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt.

She had no money, so it wasn’t as if she could stop somewhere and buy clothes.

But maybe there was something she could do about it.

Back when she was in high school, she had gone to a party at a frat house and while she was there, this guy threw up on her.

Afraid to go home covered in puke—and grossed out by it—Caitlin had strolled into a laundromat and swiped the clothes from one of the unsuspecting patrons, then dumped her stuff in the trash.

There was no reason she couldn’t do that again.

She just needed to find a laundromat and, hopefully, somebody her size.

It took her thirty minutes of driving around before she found a twenty-four-hour laundromat. For once, luck was on her side. A woman who looked to be in her mid-to-late twenties was inside, doing her laundry. Now she ha d to wait.

The woman was Caitlin’s size, shorter by maybe two or three inches, but close enough that in the end it wouldn’t matter.

When she got up and walked to the back of the laundromat, Caitlin jumped out of the Bronco, jogged to the front door, and slipped inside, just as the woman went through a door marked Restroom .

Her laundry was folded in neat piles on a table between the washers and dryers.

Caitlin sifted through them, grabbed a pair of dark jeans, a black-and-silver T-shirt, a worn denim jacket, and a pair of stark white socks.

Inside a large tote bag sitting beside the baskets, she found a small, zippered pouch of makeup.

She picked that up as well, then she darted back out the door and ran to the Bronco.

She threw everything on the passenger seat, then drove several miles until she saw a convenience store.

When she emerged from the restroom ten minutes later, she looked presentable enough to get by the bouncers at the Emeral d Diamond.

When Caitlin pulled into the Emerald Diamond’s parking lot, it was full.

While she desperately wanted to use the valet service at the club, it would be difficult to explain the bullet holes in the Bronco.

Instead, she drove to the back and parked next to her cousin’s Mercedes, then she walked to the front of the building.

The bouncer manning the door was a guy she recognized, so she eased past the line of people waiting to get in and strolled up to him.

“Hi, Adam,” she said.

A smile spread across his face. “Caitlin, hi! What are you doing here? I thought you were in New York going t o school.”

“Yeah, I’m, uh, taking a few days off,” she replied. “Hey, is Finn here tonight?”

Adam nodded. “Yep, he’s at his regular table. Do you need me to wal k you in?”

She shook her head. “No, I ’m good.”

The bouncer unhooked the velvet rope and gestured for her to enter. She ignored the dirty looks and cries of protest from the patrons she bypassed, patted Adam’s arm, and pushed open the club door.

The music slammed into her like a freight train. Her ears pulsed and the neon lights bouncing around the room made her head momentarily swim. Caitlin forgot it was Friday night. The place was packed, which explained the full parking lot. She took a deep breath and plunged into the crowd.

Finn’s table was at the back of the club, in the VIP section, as far from the entrance as one could get.

She elbowed her way past dancing couples, groups of college girls wiggling to the music, and the men watching them.

By the time she got to his table, she had declined four offers to dance and at least six offers to buy he r a drink.

Her cousin stood with his arms crossed, talking to a pretty brunette in an Emerald Diamond polo.

Caitlin recognized her as one of his employees—Lainey, something.

Another woman sat behind Finn, glaring at the back of his head.

Caitlin couldn’t help but laugh. Little did she know Finn was taken—the man was in love with his work and maintaining his position in the O’Reilly family hierarchy.

The woman’s glare shifted to Caitlin as she approached.

The table was on a raised platform, separated from the tables of those unable to afford the VIP experience.

She walked up the steps with confidence she didn’t feel.

When she was close enough, she reached out and touched her cousin’s arm.

He turned, his eyes widening in surprise when he realized i t was her.

“Caitlin?” Her cousin pulled her into a hug. “What are you doing here?” He held her at arm’s length. “Does your father know you ’re here?”

She shook her head. “No, and you can’t tell him.”

Finn pursed his lips and turned to the girl next to him. “Hey, Lainey? Can you grab us a couple of drinks? A beer for me and a white wine for m y cousin.”

The girl in the Emerald Diamond polo nodded and headed for the bar. Finn looked at the woman seated behind him. “Will you give us a minute , please?”

She shoved herself to her feet with a heavy sigh. “Whatever,” she muttered, then disappeared into the crowd.

“Sorry about that,” he said, nodding toward the woman he’d asked to leave. He took Caitlin’s arm and led her to the couches clustered around a table in t he corner.

The deep thrum of the bass vibrated through her body as she sat down and folded her hands in her lap. The noise and the people blurred into the background as Caitlin contemplated how to ask her cousin to help her.

Before she could speak, Lainey reappeared and put their drinks on the table. She smiled at them before she hurried away. Once she was gone, Finn patted Caitlin’s arm, drawing her attention ba ck to him.

“Where’s Grady? Why aren’t you with him?” he asked.

“I … I can’t be with him anymore. I’m safer on my own. Look, it’s a long story. Just trust me, okay? I need to d isappear.”

“What the hell do you mean, d isappear?”

“I want to go where no one will find me,” Caitlin said. “But I ne ed money.”

“You can’t barge in here and ask me for money,” Fin n replied.

“I’m serious.” She leaned closer so he could hear her over the music. “You’re the only person I can ask.”

He sat back, his blue eyes scanning the crowd.

His usual smirk was gone, replaced with worry.

“It’s a death sentence, Cait. If you disappear, Moretti will send everyone after you.

He won’t stop until you’re dead. What do you think that will do to Uncle Sean?

Or Aunt Maeve?” His gaze flicked to her, hard and u nyielding.

“I can’t think about my parents right now.” She clenched her fists and her nails bit into her palms, stinging. It kept her tears at bay. “If I disappear for a while, maybe this will all b low over.”

Finn shook his head, running a hand through his dark blond hair as the flashing lights threw blue and purple shadows across his face.

“Running won’t fix it. Moretti’s reach is longer than you know.

Shit, it’s longer than any of us know. He’ll find you and when he does, he will destroy you.

And then he’ll come after your family to f inish it. ”

“Are you going to help me or not?”

Her cousin’s jaw tightened. “You know I can’t. We need to call you r father.”

The club roared on around them. Caitlin envied them, these people whose lives were their own. She wasn’t given the same luxury, not when she was a mobster’s daughter.

“Please, Finn?” Her voice cracked on his name, her emotions overwhelming her, exposing her, laying her soul bare.

“Be reasonable. Let’s go up to my office and call you r father.”

She shook her head. “If you won’t help me, I’m leaving.” She got to her feet with her wine glass in her hand. She downed the wine in two swallows. As she turned to leave, she saw Grady. How the hell had he found he r so fast?

“Caitlin!” He yelled so loud she heard him over the music. He attempted to push through the cro wd to her.

There was no way she would leave with him. He’d probably drag her back to her father or dump her at the mansion. As far as she was concerned, that wasn’t happening. She glanced around, desperate to find an out. Twenty feet away was a door. Her out. S he bolted.

A gunshot rang out. Caitlin ducked, then looked over her shoulder. She didn’t see Grady, not that she could through the crowds of people rushing for the fr ont door.

Finn grabbed her arm and dragged her toward a different door, his gun in his left hand, his body in front of hers. “Come on! We need to get you out of here!”

A loud crash drew her attention; it was Grady grappling with one of the Italians from New York—Joey LaGuardia. Jesus, what was he doing here? Joey rolled away from him, grabbed his gun, and fired, missing Grady but hitting the mirror behind him, which shattered.

Caitlin ducked as glass exploded around her, a scream in her throat. She had to get out of the club before Joey go t to her.

Grady raced toward her and Finn, holding his left arm. When he reached them, he pointed at the door. “Go! Through the kitchen and out the back entrance.”

She did as he said, running full speed. She hit the metal bar with both hands and the door flew open.

Hopefully, there wasn’t anyone behind it.

The kitchen was empty. On the other side of the room, she saw the door leading outside.

She glanced over her shoulder, wondering if she should wait for Grady.

Another shot rang out, deciding for her.

Forget the money, forget Grady, forget this goddamn family. She had to get away, or she was dead.