Page 164 of Vows of a Mobster

Tears stung my eyes. I brushed them away with the palm of my hand, while still gripping the gun with the other. “We met at a coffee shop. He came in and said his family expected him right away so he couldn’t spend time easing into it and getting to know her. She didn’t like strangers back then. But I talked her into going with him. He seemed fidgety, but I thought maybe he was just nervous. I had the worst feeling but my desperation made me blind. Emma cried as he put her in the car seat and I kept trying to soothe her. I gave her the favorite teddy bear of hers, so she wouldn’t feel alone. I mean, he had a carseat and even my friends that went through the pregnancy and birth with me tended to forget the carseat. It meant he was excited about it, at least that’s what I told myself. As he drove off, I called Ma-” I cut myself off. “I called my friend, telling her that he agreed to help. She freaked out. Saying she found out he was on drugs. All of the sudden, all the signs were there. I should have seen them but I didn’t. The teddy bear had a tracking device in it. I frantically connected to it and went after him. I got to this warehouse, a building outside of town that I never even knew existed. It seemed wrong he would have gone there but the tracking device positively showed my daughter there. So I went in.”

“And killed him?” Declan’s younger brother accused me.

“Yes,” I muttered. “I went in to find him selling my daughter to a man. I lost my mind and started screaming. Someone pulled out a gun and dropped it. I picked it up and killed him.”

“Your first time shooting and you managed to kill?” the old man asked. I had a feeling he was a lot sharper than I’d like him to be right now.

“My biological father was a cop,” I told him, holding his gaze. “Whenever I got to see him during my visitations, he’d take me to the gun range.”

The silence lingered and the story seemed farfetched to my own ears. It was true, for the most part. I only left out certain details to ensure I was the only guilty one.

“Why did you hide her from us?” Declan Sr. asked.

I swallowed hard. “I didn’t know anything about Kyle’s family. I didn’t know anything about you till I started digging for Kyle’s side of the family a few weeks ago, hoping to find a matching donor. I found out Kyle’s parents were dead and the only lead I had anymore was your name, Aoife. It was on one of the obituaries online. I started to suspect he might have been connected to you that night at the restaurant.”

I tried to stick to the truth as much as possible. The only thing that mattered to me was that Marissa, Mateo, and all their family came out of this alive.

“This is only your word against my nephews,” Aoife said, although her tone was gentle. “And you have been lying a long time. He was my sister’s only son.”

Accusation and heavy silence lingered. It was deadly silent but also deafening.

Declan’s eyes were on me. There was actually sadness in them, although I wasn’t sure if it was for me or his dead cousin. Probably the latter. It was a shame, because in a different kind of life, I would have liked him.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered. “That is all I have. But for my daughter, I would have done it again. I should have never reached out to him but I made that mistake. I wasn’t going to let my daughter pay for it.”

“Life for a life,” the old man spoke.

“I don’t fucking think so,” I was so focused on the men in front of me, I didn’t hear Mateo approach. “Don’t apologize, Brianna,” Mateo was right behind me. His hand wrapped around me while his other hand held the gun pointed at the old man.

“Please, Mateo,” I tried to lower his hand but he stood there like a stone. I couldn’t even bulge him.

“Get behind me, Brianna,” he ordered me, without even sparing me a glance. The O'Connors raised their own guns, pointing them at us, yelling.

“I can prove it,” Giovanni’s voice yelled through all the commotion.

My eyes snapped to him. “I can prove it,” Giovanni repeated.

“How?” I whispered.

“If I prove it,” he ignored my question, his focus on the Irish mobsters. “Do we have your word this is over, and we can all go back to our homes?”

“Depending on what you show,” Declan responded.

“It has evidence that Brie is telling the truth and Kyle was going to sell his daughter to a human trafficker. You know what the little girl’s fate would have been if they took her.”

The old man nodded.

He connected his phone to the wide screen. Marissa and I shared a glance, fear making my pulse thunder in my ears.

“Giovanni,” I whispered.

His green eyes shifted to me, his finger hovering over the press button.

“It’s okay, Brie. Trust me.” I swallowed hard, scared and hopeful at the same time.

The moment the screen connected, everyone’s eyes focused on it. Mateo’s eyes lingered on me. Fury, disgust, disappointment or something else in them. I wasn’t sure. It was too late now. I had to save my daughter.

I broke eye contact and knew what was coming. I saw it play out in my head so many times.