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“Didn’t you know Cormac and I are old friends, Sean?” I frown at him. “I would have thought a man of your intelligence would have figured that out by now.”
“Snake!” Sean spits. “Macaulay, you ungrateful cunt!”
“Yeah, okay,” Cormac chuckles. “Your time is up, Sean, but I’m willing to at least let you walk out of here with a little dignity.”
Sean shrugs Cormac off him and straightens his coat. “Cheeky fucking cunts! Every one of you!” He points at the men seated around the room. “You’ll all fucking regret this!” he hisses and then he storms out of the room.
Once he is gone, I turn back to the assembled men. “As I was saying, here is how things are going to work from now on. I’m going back to New York as soon as my father’s funeral is over. I don’t have time to be back and forth to Ireland every five minutes to check on what you are up to. I trust Cormac, so as far as you’re concerned, he speaks for me. I trust that all of you will just keep doing what you’re doing. There is no need for anyone to be negatively affected by my father’s death. Things will continue as they were, but with Cormac at the helm. Understood?”
“Yes,” they all nod their heads and voice their agreement.
“Good. Now clear off,” I say and they all stand to leave. “Not you,” I say to Cormac and he nods his head and takes a seat again.
“Nicely done,” Paul says when there are only the three of us left in the room. “Now how about you fix all of us a nice whiskey from that well stocked bar there?” He nods his head toward it.
“What am I? Your fucking bartender?” I frown at him.
He laughs and shakes his head. “I don’t see my nephew for twenty-five years and this is how he treats me.” He slides off his suit jacket and hangs it over the back of his chair. “Shall I fetch us a drink then?” He coughs and rubs his chest.
“Sit down, old man,” I say with a sigh. “I’ll get us a fucking drink.”
“Take off your coat if you’re staying, lad,” Paul says to Cormac. “Makes me uneasy when people wear coats indoors. Like they’re hiding something. We’re all friends, aren’t we?”
Cormac looks at me and I nod my head and take off my jacket too before I walk behind the bar and pour us all a large measure of fine Irish whiskey.
When we each have a drink, Paul, Cormac and I raise our glasses in a toast. “To the most evil cunt to have ever walked this earth,” Paul says before he downs his. Both Cormac and I nod our agreement but I have never seen such obvious, undisguised hatred for my father from Paul before. I mean I knew that he always hated him, but his venom now is only matched by my own, and I had plenty more reasons to hate my father than our uncle did. Or so I always thought. Now I know differently and my conversation from two days ago with my Aunt reminds me that I need to speak to him, but it’s a conversation we need to have in private.
Cormac and I down our whiskey too and the three of us slam our glasses down onto the table. Paul wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. “I need to go.”
I frown at him. “Now?”
“Yeah. Something I have to do.” He stands up and puts his jacket back on.
“I need to talk to you about something, Pol.”
“Yeah, I know,” he nods his head. “Later, though. I want to meet this girl of yours too.”
“Then at least leave me your number?” I frown at him.
“Okay,” he nods his head and takes his cell out of his pocket before pressing some buttons. My own cell phone vibrates in my pocket.
“Now you got it,” he says, still clearly distracted by something.
“Dinner tonight?” I suggest.
“Tonight,” he agrees but he is a million miles away.
“Good to meet you Paul,” Cormac says as my uncle starts to walk away.
“Yeah. You too, kid. See you later, Shane.” He winks at me and then he walks out.
“Seems like he had to be somewhere real fast,” Cormac says with a smile.
“Yeah,” I frown as I watch him leave. “Slippery fucker. Did he say anything while I was getting drinks?”
“He only asked how long I’d known you, but then I had to take a piss, so we didn’t talk long.”
I nod my head absent mindedly and then I remember the real reason I am here today. I have known Cormac since we were teenagers, ever since we both started working for my father. He has always hated Sean O’Connor as much as I have, and he was never my father’s biggest fan either. I lost touch with him when we moved to New York, but once I found out Patrick was dying, I reached out to Cormac and he soon proved himself to be the perfect choice to take over here.
