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“Listen, fucker. This is my pub and it’s under the protection of the Irish mafia, which means Leah is too. Lay a hand on her again and it’ll be your head on a platter,” Sean warned.
My eyes opened wide at the insinuation.
There’s no way he could mean anyone other than Kieran and his family.
“Fuck off,” Trevor blurted out, but I’d known him long enough to tell that he was a little bit worried at Sean’s proclamation. He took a step back and I took the opportunity to move a bit behind Sean just in case my ex decided to make a move to grab me.
“Listen, asshole. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll give you a thousand bucks right now to fuck off and never come back. You take it and go back to where you came from and leave Leah alone to live her life,” Sean rumbled. I’d never really taken him to be a scary guy, but right now I was very much thankful his ire wasn’t turned in my direction.
“Make it two thousand and we got a deal. She isn’t worth it anyway,” Trevor snarled.
I glared in his direction. He hadn’t changed, not even a little bit. He was the same dickhead that hit me back then and the same one that would lift a hand at me just because he could now.
Sean reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of cash. He didn’t count it, just tossed it to Trevor with the kind of confidence that told me he’d known what my greedy abusive ex would demand all along. He caught it and stared down at the money, a bit starry-eyed.
We had never come across that kind of cash in Turners Falls.
With one last sneer in my direction, Trevor tucked the cash into his pocket and stole off down the street, leaving Sean and me alone in the back alley.
“When you said this pub is protected by the Irish mafia, you meant Kieran Murphy, didn’t you?” I asked quietly.
“I did, Leah.”
I was quiet for a moment as he turned to face me.
“You’re going to need to tell him about this so he can protect you. I won’t always be around, but Kieran has the kind of power to make sure that man doesn’t come anywhere near you again,” he stated.
I shook my head.
“Please, that part of my life is over. He won’t come back. He’s an ex and he’s going to stay that way,” I replied quickly.
“Do you want me to tell him?” Sean lifted an eyebrow.
“Promise me you won’t. I’ll tell him,” I vowed.
It was a lie. I didn’t want to tell him. It was my own problem to deal with, not Kieran’s. There was a part of me that was also afraid that he might not be interested in me anymore if he found out about Trevor, that he would consider it ‘baby daddy drama’ and walk away from me.
I didn’t know if I could handle that.
“Please, Sean?”
His expression was suspicious as he gazed back at me, but eventually he shook his head.
“Fine. Fine. As long as you tell him. I’m walking you home tonight though. I want to make sure he isn’t lying in wait for you somewhere along the way. Forget about the trash and go inside. We’ll go in five minutes,” he dictated.
I didn’t argue and went inside. I was just relieved he agreed to not tell Kieran. Hopefully, that meant that I could keep it my little secret and nothing would come of it in the end.
That night, I slept in Emma’s bed.
* * *
The next morning, I woke up feeling as though I was in a fog. I readied breakfast with the fresh groceries Kieran had bought me the night before. Emma was delighted when I surprised her with a plate of eggs and sausage, which helped distract me from the pit of uneasiness brewing in my belly from the run-in with Trevor.
I didn’t like that he’d found me. I’d been so careful. Both jobs paid me in cash. I paid Irma in cash too. Everything was under the table, which meant he shouldn’t have been able to track me down. We had no contacts in Turners Falls that traveled to Boston or even spent much time there. The few friends we did have didn’t have the kind of money to eat or stay in the city.
I didn’t use credit cards and I had been careful to stow away money here in a safe spot in the apartment rather than at the bank where he might have been able to track me down. I’d even sold the car for cash at the soonest opportunity, so he couldn’t have found me that way either.
I ate quickly, glancing at the clock to see that it was almost time to go.
