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“Not a problem,” Savage said, slapping her brother on the shoulder. “Family comes first.” Lil wondered if they would feel the same way when one of their family members brought trouble straight to their doorstep because she was pretty sure that was what would eventually happen.
Cian
Cian Walsh woke to the sound of the garbage truck driving by, and he nearly fell off the makeshift cot he had rigged to sleep on. He was exhausted, but that was nothing new for him. He had felt that way since leaving Ireland over two months ago. At least, he thought it was about two months ago since he lost track of days and even hours while living life on the run. And it was his fault that he had to run. He was an idiot—first class and had no one else to blame but himself.
He’d gone and gotten himself involved with the “wrong crowd” as his Ma used to say. His only saving grace was that she and his Da were no longer around to watch him completely feck up his life. He’d heard the rumors, that he was being hunted, and that showing his face again would only get him and everyone he cared about killed. The joke was on them though—there wasn’t anyone like that in his life. He only cared about one woman, and she had no idea how he felt—and now, she never would. Telling Lil that he wanted her could never happen now, and even though that felt like a punch to the gut, it was the only way he’d be able to keep her safe. Lilianna deserved at least his protection in all of this, but he left her unwatched in Ireland, hoping that no one else would have picked up on his feelings for her. If anyone from the Dead Rabbits found out that he was in love with Lilianna James, there would be no stopping them from going after her.
That’s what the gang called themselves—the Dead Rabbits, after the New York City gang of Irish mobsters who ruled the streets back in the late eighteen hundreds. They thought that they were clever, naming themselves after a gang of Irish prohibitioners, but what they were doing was so much worse. What the Dead Rabbits did in Dublin played a major contribution to the meth problems plaguing his home city.
Cian thought that putting food in his belly and a roof over his head was worth selling his soul to the devil, but he was wrong. When he joined the Dead Rabbits, they assured him that what he’d be doing for them would be on the up and up. They said that he’d be delivering packages of supplies to their vendors, and they made it sound like he’d be working for the postal service. But the job paid a whole lot more than the postal service did and he should have known even then that he was getting into something that he shouldn’t. Once he realized that he was essentially running drugs for one of the biggest mob organizations in Ireland, he tried to get out, and that was when he was told that there was only one way to get out—in a body bag. That’s when he took off. He’d heard through the grapevine that the Dead Rabbits were looking for him, and their threat to kill him and everyone he cared about if he ever showed his face again in Dublin. That’s when he decided that a fresh start in America might be in order. He got on a plane and never looked back.
He wanted to call back home to a few old friends and ask about Lil, but he also didn’t want to give away the fact that she was important to him. Cian knew that doing so would defeat his whole purpose of coming to America to keep her safe, so he didn’t give into temptation, as much as he wanted to. He needed to put her in his rearview and forget that he had ever met her.
For now, He wanted to find a job and with little to no work experience, he wasn’t sure what he was qualified for. Cian was pretty sure that his skills running illegal drugs might not land him his dream job in America, so he decided to start small. He searched online for hours every day and was even willing to move to a new town to find work, but the task was nearly impossible. Most days, he found himself giving up and just playing video games or screwing around on his social media accounts. He had set up a new account with an alias and he was sure that no one would figure out it was him. He’d used a nickname that Lil had given him when she was just a young girl. She liked to call him “Sleeveless” because he, unfortunately, chose to wear those stupid muscle shirts without sleeves. He thought that it showed off his muscles, but he was fooling himself. They only showcased his scrawny arms and kids made fun of him for wearing those shirts. He couldn’t do much about that since he didn’t have the money to just purchase new shirts. His mother was dirt poor, trying to raise him, feed him, and keep a roof over his head after his father died. She had her hands full and there was no way that he’d whine about needing new shirts.
He scrolled around on his social media page and when he found a friend request, he leerily opened it. It was from someone named Banshee and he wanted to laugh because that was what he used to call Lil. He used to like to say that she was as loud as a Banshee and would probably drive him mad or deaf with her screeching.
He accepted Banshee’s friend request and a private message popped up on the screen. It was from her, and Cian was beginning to wonder just who this Banshee was. “Worried about you,” it said. “Get in touch. I’ve followed you here.” He quickly closed the page and turned off his phone, as if the social media site had offended him in some way.
“Who the hell?” he whispered to himself. Had someone followed him from home, or was someone fucking with him, trying to lure him out of hiding? Cian knew that the only way he’d find out was to ask.
He turned his phone back on and opened his page back up, quickly finding the private message. “Who is this?” he asked point-blank. He knew that a response might take hours to days but when he saw the three little bubbles in the comment, he knew that he was about to have his answer.
“Lil.” Was all that was typed back. Why the hell would Lil follow him from Ireland?
“Why are you here, Lil?” he asked.
“Because your friend, Sid, came looking for me,” she answered.
“Shit,” he growled. “He’s not my friend,” he quickly typed back.
“No shit,” she typed. “I gathered that when he threatened to kill me if I didn’t turn you over.”
“I’m sorry,” he typed back.
“Apologize to me in person. We need to meet,” she insisted. There was no way that he’d meet up with her. Sid had Dead Rabbits watching all over the globe. If he met with Lil, it would put them both in danger and he wouldn’t allow that.
“No,” he typed back. “I won’t meet with you. It’s just not safe, Lil,” he said.
“It’s not safe for either of us now, Cian. We need to come up with a plan and Cillian and some friends are willing to help us do that,” Lil typed.
“Your older brother?” he asked. Last he heard; Cillian was in prison.
“Yeah, he’s out now and has a family. I’m staying with them. Let us help you, Cian,” she said. He wanted to tell her that he would let them help but doing so would put them and their families in danger.
“It’s just not safe,” he insisted. “If we get too many people involved, none of them will be safe.”
“Fine,” she typed. “Meet with just me then. We’re both already in danger, so what can it hurt?”
It could hurt a lot. Hell, it would hurt his heart when she looked at him with judgment in her beautiful eyes. She would look at him like that too—especially when he told her about how he’d gotten himself tied up with the Dead Rabbits.
“Just give me a chance,” she begged. He was the one who should be begging her for a chance. He was a fool for thinking that he had gotten away unscathed by all of this. His past was quickly catching up to him in America. Cian just never imagined that it would be in the form of the sexy little hellfire who followed him across the globe.
“Fine,” he agreed. “I’ll meet with you, but then you will need to steer clear of me, Lil. I’m not any good to be around right now. It’ll only bring you more hardship if you stick around.”
“I doubt that,” she insisted. “But we can talk about all of that when we are face to face. I’m going to send you an address where I want you to meet me,” she said. “You good with that?”
“Sure,” he agreed. He just hoped that he didn’t have to travel too far because he was just about out of money and a road trip wasn’t something he could afford at the moment.
