Page 62 of Finn

“And what would you have me do, Una? Send him off with my congrats on a new path and let him terrorize people I protect? Burn down my businesses so he feels like a big man? He is going after me—don’t you understand that?”

“You don’t know that!”

“I’m going to find out, and when I do, I will take the necessary steps.” I met her teary gaze. “I have no choice here. He is the one who has broken the rules. He is the one doing this. I cannot let it go.”

“Even for me?”

I shook my head. “Even for you.”

She sat back, pale and shaken.

“So, you’ll kill him.” Her voice trembled, and she spoke the words softly, more tears glimmering in her eyes. “My only family.”

“I am your family now. We have a future. But your fucking brother keeps getting between us,” I fumed. “This will only escalate, Una. He’ll get bolder. He might even come after you, and I can’t take that chance.”

“He wouldn’t hurt me.”

“If he’s messing with drugs, he’s not the person you thought him to be. I don’t think he ever was.”

She wiped her cheeks. “I know him better than you.”

I smiled sadly at her. “Then I need to remind you that he has hurt you. And to loosely use your own words, Una, you see him with love. He will forever be a boy to you. Your roles were always upside down. You took on the caregiver role, and you can’t let it go.”

“Will you give him a chance?”

I scrubbed my face. I wanted to yell at her and tell her how many chances he’d had. Remind her of the money he’d stolen. How he’d left her looking after her dad and lived his life.

“I will have my men bring him in and talk to him.”

“I don’t know…” She trailed off, letting the words remain unspoken. But I heard them as plain as if she had shouted them.

I don’t know if I could forgive you.

I sat back, feeling defeated. “So then you’ll hate me, and he wins anyway.”

She didn’t reply.

* * *

The rest of the flight was spent in silence. She pretended to sleep, but I knew she wasn’t. I didn’t know how to talk sense to her. To make her see the man who chose this path, not the boy she was trying to protect.

I passed the time working on my laptop, staring at her over the top every time she shifted, hoping she would open her eyes and we could try to reach a compromise.

Before Roman had told me what was going on, I’d planned on bringing Brian in, talking to him, putting the fear of God and me into his soul, and then sending him to another city for a fresh start. Even forgiving his debt. Maybe sending him to Ireland. I would never do that for another person, but I would do it because of Una and the deep love she had for him.

But if Roman was right and Brian had joined a gang intent on creating discord and using the knowledge of my organization to do so, he had to be stopped. He carried too many secrets I had a feeling he’d be happy to divulge to make himself a name and harm my world.

And for someone like him, there was only one way to silence him.

I rarely ever gave that order. It was always the last resort, unless my life was in danger. Or to protect those I loved. I preferred peace. Talking. Compromise. But he was tying my hands. As always with Brian Murphy, he chose the most difficult, painful path.

And this time, his decision was going to have life-altering consequences for me.

The pilot announced we were beginning our descent, and Una sat up, going to the restroom then returning. Her eyes were dull, the smile she offered me as she sat back down without any emotion behind it.

“Do you want anything before we land?” I asked.

“No, thank you.”