AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Even the ones who had
come to hate or fear my presence couldn’t forget what today was. Couldn’t forget they’d lost the man they’d readily followed—some even above my dad.
Both Conor and Beck tensed beside me but didn’t say anything. They knew not to after all these years.
I gave no indication that I’d heard them at all. They liked it when I responded, and I didn’t want to give them anything to like.
“Ah, give it a rest. That got old years ago,” one of my dad’s men said with a groan. “She doesn’t know where she is anyway. Lily.” He exaggerated my name, smacking the table in time with the syllables. “Look at her . . . Nightshade’s fucked her stupid. Her pretty little head is so full of air she doesn’t even know her own name anymore.”
Beck’s chair shot back as he stood, his hands fisted as he slammed them on the table. But before he could say a word, my dad laughed long and loud.
“Well, fuck me. I’m gonna have a hell of a time replacing you when Kieran catches wind of that comment.”
I let my eyes flit in the man’s direction for only a second to see him pale and sink into his chair before I looked blankly at the wall again.
Bailey. He’d been with Holloway nearly as long as Mickey, and was just as devoted to the gang and what they stood for.
But Aric’s death had changed so much more than some would ever understand.
With Mom turning into a shell of herself after the death of Aric’s twin, Aiden, and then leaving to live with her family about a year ago, a couple of the families who had been in the mob for generations thought Mickey was losing his hold on the gang. Now Bailey and his son Finn were just waiting for one more thing to go wrong. One more thing to loosen the grip my dad had on Holloway before they could slip in and try to take it from him.
Their greed had grown too great over the years for them to realize that Mickey was three steps ahead, just waiting for Bailey and Finn to present the perfect opportunity to be taken out.
And with that one comment, Bailey had started a ripple effect that couldn’t be stopped. Now he was being held above open water, dripping blood, and Mickey was going to let him bleed before he attacked.
“Anyone have a problem with Lily being here?” Mickey called out.
His tone rang with false concern. Something about the sincerity called out to them, begging them to tell him their problems. It was one of the reasons he was such a good leader. His ability to be anyone they needed him to be. But there was a razor edge to his voice that warned what would happen if they ever gave him the wrong answer, ever disappointed him.
When he spoke again, that razor was all that was left, and it sliced through the room like a threat. “That’s what I thought.”
I could feel every one of the men’s stares as my dad began the meeting, but I forced myself to maintain my façade. Forced myself not to show any hint I’d been paying attention or knew their eyes were on me.
Truth was, my mom and I were the only women allowed in this room. But she’d been so lost in bottles of whiskey even before Aric died that she’d stopped coming long before I was old enough to sit in on the meetings.
As it was, I only came when I wasn’t given an option, and I did the same thing every time.
Maintained a blank stare. Never let a word leave my lips.
Dad had called me out a few times afterward, telling me I needed to start paying attention and participating if I wanted to gain the men’s respect before I took over.
Beck often elbowed me to make sure I was awake.
And whispers floated around the room whenever Kieran was out—which was most meetings.
“You think they drug her?”
“Fucking zombie.”
“How much you wanna bet she’ll drool?”
“Why’s she here at all?”
“She should go back to her fucking sanctuary.”
But it didn’t matter what they said. It didn’t matter what they thought. Because people often said things they normally wouldn’t when they thought you weren’t listening, and I knew I’d heard more than I was ever supposed to.
Like Bailey and Finn’s plan.
