AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Kieran gave off the energy of a hungry predator, but Dare was terrifying in his own right. I wondered if that made him more dangerous...because he could so easily slip into a crowd undetected.
And then I realized Diggs had done the same. So had his sister-in-law and brother.
I would’ve never known what kind of people they truly were just by looking at them. Even after spending long, intimate hours with one of them.
I wasn’t sure how to feel knowing they could so easily blend in. Either they were horribly manipulative and deceptive, or somehow...somehow, Rorie had been right.
Down to their core, these mobsters were truly good people.
“Einstein hasn’t found any Borellos that went to Keane Street yet,” Dare went on. “And we’re in agreement this is old Borellos, calling us out as traitors for creating a family with Holloway members. With the Irish.” The last was an irritated, drawn-out statement made at Kieran.
“Irish or not, our history alone is a betrayal to the people you released,” Kieran said easily. “You weren’t enemies with KSG—Borellos could’ve taken up with them.”
“They’re also close,” Diggs added. “It might not seem fathomable, but everything else fits. On top of that...”—he glanced at me, his fingers clutching at my back reassuringly—“Willow saw one of them this morning.”
“How’d you—” Dare’s head listed and his eyes narrowed on me. “Sorry, what’d he say your name was?”
“Willow,” Einstein answered for me, having popped her head up again to study me curiously.
“Yeah,” I said softly, drawing the word out as I quickly took in the way they were all watching me again.
Surprisingly, Kieran wasn’t the one I was worried about at that moment because he seemed just as taken aback by Dare’s reaction as I was.
“I guess it isn’t super common,” I added uneasily, then shrugged. “It’s a family name though.”
“Dare,” Diggs whispered pleadingly when Dare’s eyebrows shot up in interest at my explanation, but Dare didn’t look away from me.
“When you say family name,” Einstein began, only to never continue.
“Um...” A nervous laugh left me, and I pressed my hands firmly together to hide how badly I was shaking. “I’m not sure why it’s relevant,” I finally said, then licked at my dry lips. “But a woman from each generation has had it as her first or middle name for a hundred years, or something like that.”
“Are you Italian?” Dare asked me and shot a warning look at Diggs when he started speaking.
“No—I mean, um, not that I know of?” I said, making it sound like a question.
“And what does the name ‘Borello’ mean to you?”
A sharp laugh left me as I wondered how this had turned into me being interrogated because of my name. “Nothing. N-nothing, except that you were just saying it.”
“What about ‘Moretti?’” Einstein asked. At that, Kieran’s head slowly shifted my way again as if he finally understood what had set them off. But instead of the earlier lethality, he looked equally surprised and intrigued.
Jess and Maverick were looking between Diggs and me, waiting to see how this would play out. And I realized then that Diggs had known this would happen because he’d tried to stop Dare from questioning me.
I looked at Diggs, my jaw hardening when I saw the apology lining his expression. “What is happening?”
“Your name...” He exhaled roughly, his eyes rolling when Einstein repeated her Moretti question. “Your name is significant to our family.”
Surprise stole through me and had another nervous laugh bubbling past my lips. “What?”
Before he could answer, Einstein groaned loudly and said, “Need answers here. Psychotic people still on the loose,” and I snapped.
“Oh my God, I don’t know what Moretti means,” I yelled as I twisted in the chair to look at her. “My name is Bennett—Willow Bennett. I’m not Italian. I don’t know who the Borellos are. I have no idea why my name would be significant to any of you, and I kind of hate that it is.”
“And they all died,” Diggs said to Dare, his voice dripping with meaning.
Dare studied me for so long that my hands began shaking with nervous energy all over again. “Supposedly,” he finally said, then asked, “How sure are you that you saw someone from Keane Street this morning?”
“I saw someone with a neon mask when I was leaving my apartment,” I informed him, then lifted my trembling hands. “If that’s who they are...”
