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I’d seen him felled by grief a lot this past year, and the sight of him down and injured, my old man, wicked and brash, taken out like he was prey, stirred my temper and triggered my fears like nothing else could.
Managing to shrug out of my coat, I balled it up and pressed it to his back where the bullet had done terrifying amounts of damage.
Turning him over as carefully as I could, I let his weight increase the pressure on my coat, praying that would stem the blood flow. He let out a hiss before, arms flailing, he screamed in agony.
“Da,” I intoned grimly. “I need to stem the blood flow.”
His voice was weak, a soft slur, as he muttered, “Finn?”
I watched his head flop to the side as he tried to find me, and I dropped down to look at him so he was more comfortable.
“It’s me, Da. I got the medics coming in. Don’t worry. We’ll patch you up soon.”
His eyelids fluttered, and for a second, he seemed to stop breathing.
I choked out, “Da? Wake up. It’s not your time to die yet, old man.”
A whisper of a smile ghosted around his lips and he said on an exhalation, “We always think that, son.”
Tears pricked the backs of my eyes. “You still got plenty of Manhattan left to torment.”
“Been a bad man, Finn,” he whispered, breaking off a second to groan. “I deserve this end.”
His pain hit me soul deep, so I whispered, “Come on, Da. You got this. Keep it together. You can’t leave Lena. You can’t—”
His hand snapped out at that, and he grabbed mine. “Knew I’d end this way. Second I saw her, I knew she’d be my death.”
“Lena’d never hurt you,” I argued.
His head wobbled like he was trying to shake it. “The ECD… they’re poison. Worse than Sparrows. They’re believers.” Then he smiled, and his teeth were bright red, coated with blood that had me looking up at the road, trying to see if the ambulance I’d ordered had arrived. “I’d still do it though.”
“Do what, Da?” I questioned.
“Snatch her. She was so beautiful, Finn,” he said, his tone borderline dreamy. “I saw her walking down the stairs about to be announced for the ball, and I knew I couldn’t let anyone else see her. All that red hair—I wanted that fire for myself.”
“Did you know who she was?”
“I knew her father had a debutante at the ball, and the other women were all milk and water misses.” He coughed, but this time it sounded weaker than before. “No passion in them. No fire. I had a feeling she was Cormac’s, and I was right.” His hand tightened on mine. “She did wrong, Finn. I know she did. But she won’t—” He sucked in a shaky breath. “It’ll be difficult without me.”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. “Her boys will watch over her.”
He nodded. “My boys are good.” He squeezed my hand then cackled gruffly, “The apple fell far from the tree.”
When he started coughing again, blood didn’t just come up, it spewed out onto the grass.
Eyes averted, I heard the sounds of a vehicle and prayed it was the EMTs, but I recognized Junior’s Range Rover.
Aidan’s hand squeezed mine, hard enough to hurt, as he whispered, “At least it’s not suicide. Could never…” He wheezed. “…die like that. The cathedral… that wasn’t how I wanted to go. Thank you… for… saving us.”
His words had me tensing. “You’re not going anywhere.” The way he was talking made me wonder if he was sick.
Blood spattered from between his lips as he ground out, “He gave me just enough time to suffer, but at least I get to say goodbye to you.” His eyelids drooped. “Got scared at the end. Ran like a pussy. But it’s better this way.”
Every muscle in my body tensed up at that. “You know who did this?” When he didn’t answer, I almost shook him. “You knew a shooter was here?”
His hand clenched tightly around mine. “Remember, son, the ECD leaves no man behind, and they won’t stop until they avenge their dead.”
Casting a look at the cars, I pleaded with them to speed up. “I don’t understand.”
