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Connor snickers, shaking his head. “A shopping list is what a list of requirements is called.”
“What requirements?”
Connor blows out a breath, tangling his fingers together. “Paddy had to take his dive. I’m staying here because my mammy is looking after two children at my house.”
“The Italians wanted you to babysit for them?”
“No, lass. Someone owed them money and couldn’t pay. They demanded collateral. They took his children.”
My breath sucks in, bile churning in my stomach. “Your mother is holding two children hostage?”
“Collateral. And she’s doing it under protest. They mainly bake and watch TV. She told them their pa needed to travel for work, and she is looking after them. They Skype with him.”
Okay. That doesn’t sound as bad as I initially thought. But it doesn’t answer my initial question.
“So, where have Paddy and Niall gone? To visit your mother and the kids?”
Connor blows out a breath, shifting in his seat, looking decidedly uncomfortable. My eyes narrow at the sight. “What?”
“D’ye know who Niall is, lass?”
“Uh… Seamus Fitzpatrick’s bodyguard?”
Connor snickers, shaking his head. “That’s usually Paddy.”
Oh. So, Niall would be…?
“Niall is the Reaper.”
My heart thuds in my chest. The…Reaper? The…IrishReaper? Holy fucking shit. He’s a renowned hitman. Everyone in Boston knows who the Irish Reaper is. He’s the bogeyman people tell their kids about.
“Paddy is… killing people?” I ask in a small voice.
Connor sighs, making a face. “Niall’s the one doing the actual…deed. Paddy could have stayed here but insisted on being with Niall.”
I sit back, hugging my pillow to my chest, my feet tucked up beneath me, my world tilted on an axis, my breath cold in my nostrils.
“Are you okay, lass?” Connor’s voice flutters at the side of my numbness.
“Why does Paddy want to be there? If he could be here…wh-why would he want to see that?”
“Paddy insists on being there because this is all so he can keep you. He feels responsible.”
Niall is doing it for Paddy? For us? So Paddy can keep me?
“It’s my fault?”
“Jesus fuck, lass. It’s no one’s fault. Paddy will do anything to keep you, to have you safe. He didn’t want you to know because he didn’t want you to feel like you do now. I shouldn’t have told you.”
“No! You should have. It’s right that I know.”
Connor looks doubtful. “Are you all right, lass?”
I nod, feeling ill. “I will be…. They go a lot. Do they just have to keep k-killing people until they’re told to stop?”
“No, lass. Four hits.”
Four. Tonight is the third time Niall collected Paddy, and they left together. So… it’s almost over.Shoving to my feet, I drop my pillow, hugging my middle and staring out the window.
