Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 96808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard. I look across the room where Rico is standing in the shadows. It’s like I can feel him rolling his eyes too. However, we want this to happen just right and will wait to make sure it does.
“Hey, it’s me,” Juliana says into the phone.
“I thought you were coming with us to the salon. The girls are looking for you. Are you on the way?” her friend says as she places the phone on speaker.
“No, I’m taking some time to chill.”
“Are you still coming to the club?”
“I don’t think I’m going to come out tonight.”
The friend sighs. “Is this about your car? You can be forgetful sometimes, Juliana. I don’t think anyone is moving your car around.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. Look, I have to go.”
“Okay, call me later. Okay?”
“Yeah, I will.”
She hangs up and starts mumbling to herself about no one believing her. “Forgetful. I’m not a fucking idiot. This is not all in my head.
“Oh, look, just what I need. Thank you, Anton,” she sings to herself.
It looks like she’s found our parting gift. Just as we hoped, she enters the bathroom and starts the water for a bath. We continue to wait impatiently.
I know I’m ready for this to be over. My wish is granted as Juliana starts to play music from her phone as she gets undressed. A smile comes to my lips as the scent of off-smelling weed fills the room.
You see, we had Anton bring Juliana here to relax and let her guard down. Then we made sure to leave her a K2 blunt laced with fentanyl. Juliana is about to have the high of her life.
Right on cue, she begins to cough in the bathroom. Rico and I walk out of our hiding places and join hands as we stroll into the bathroom. Juliana’s eyes grow wide the moment she sees us.
I give her a bright smile and wink at her. She starts to pound at her chest as her eyes water. Rico kisses my temple as we both start to laugh.
“Wh … what are you doing here?” Juliana manages to choke out.
“Neither of us believes in sending people to do our dirty work. When we want someone touched, we make that shit happen ourselves,” Rico says smoothly.
“Ge … get the fuck out,” she says in a panic.
“Not yet. We’re here to watch you die, bitch,” I hiss.
Her coughing fit increases, then she begins to foam at the mouth. It doesn’t take long for the life to leave her eyes as she slumps in the bathtub.
I brush my hands together as if wiping off dirt. Then we turn to leave the way we came. Our job here is done.
CHAPTER 36
Old Friends
Mason
Two years later …
“Everything all right? You hanging in there?” Da asks on the other end of the phone.
“I’m doing fine,” I lie.
Boston sucks, but I guess I should be happy I’m still in America at least. Lorcan didn’t get so lucky. After Da made a deal with Abato, Lorcan had to fake his death and go to Ireland with Da.
None of us are welcome back in New York. Emilio Gallo made sure of that. We’re lucky we made it out with our lives.
Da has been disgraced because of our fuckups. Lorcan and I shit the bed big time. The only reason our territory wasn’t stripped from us is because of Abato’s deal with Da.
I still don’t know the details. Da said we would give it some time, and we’d be back, but then the boss back home got involved and our cousin Darragh was sent to take over. That was about two years ago, after everything went to shit.
It seems whatever deal they made fell apart after Abato found Juliana dead in a hotel from an overdose. A hotel owned by Emilio Gallo. I don’t believe there were any coincidences there.
Now I don’t know where any of that leaves us and I can’t ask Da because he loses his shit every time I mention it. I’ve been biding my time here with a small-time crew.
I went from running my own shit to being an errand boy overnight. I can’t even tell anyone who I am. The Sullivan name has become shit far beyond New York.
It makes me sick when the guys start talking shit about us. I took pleasure when the boss needed someone to off Maxton. I volunteered right away. He talked the most shit all the time.
“You hold your head up, you hear me? I’m going to make this right if it’s the last thing I do. This is my fucking karma for what I did to Jack. You boys don’t deserve this,” he says, almost like he’s speaking to himself.
“Jack Raven? As in Oni’s father?”
“Aye.”
“What are you talking about, Da?”