Page 21 of Conor
Ivy squares her posture and looks him straight in the eye. “I know what you wanted him to do, but you can’t fault him for having a heart. He’s given me the chance to let my son grow up with a mother. He’s a good man. An honest man. And I think that he saved my life.”
My eyes drift over her, drinking in the details of her face. I’m looking for the lies in her words, but I can’t find them. She’s vulnerable, but not as delicate as I thought. Her honesty comes off as genuine, and surely Crow will recognize that too.
Crow pours himself another drink and swirls the amber whiskey around his glass. “Ivy, I need ye to do me a wee favor now then. I need ye to wait up at the bar for Conor.”
Our eyes meet, it looks like she’s actually worried about me. But I rationalize it’s more likely she’s only worried what will happen to her if Crow decides to off me tonight.
“I’ll be out shortly.” I squeeze her hand. “It’s okay.”
She wraps my coat around her like a security blanket before she takes her leave, allowing Crow to speak his piece.
“You went against a direct order,” he barks. “And ye have it in your thick head that you can just come in here and tell me that it’s all sorted?”
“That isn’t what I said. I know there are other details we need to work out, and ye have every right to throttle me for what I did. If that’s your wish, then I don’t need to grant ye my permission. My loyalty is to the brotherhood, let there be no bones about that. But I can’t stand for an innocent woman and child to suffer just to save our necks. This was the only way I saw fit. And I know ye must be able to understand that, given the past history ye have with Mack.”
“Quit bringing up my goddamn wife,” he says. “She’s got nothing to do with this. That was different.”
“How?” I ask.
“Because I cared about her.” He slams his glass down on the desk. “You barely know this girl. And now ye’ve just gone and saddled yourself to her for life. Have ye even considered that?”
“I know enough. She’s had a rough go of it and she deserves a chance. I don’t have any regrets over my decision.”
Crow stares at me, dumbfounded. I’m fairly certain there’s only one conclusion here. He’s going to tell me to get my arse down to the basement, so he can break my leg or cut off a finger or something equally gruesome to dole out the punishment I deserve. But instead, he just sighs.
“Let us be clear about one thing,” he says. “I’m not going soft in me ways. But I’ve watched you struggle to prove yourself to this syndicate from the day ye came stumbling into it. And if there’s anything I can say about this bombshell ye just dropped on me, it’s that I think ye finally have.”
His words take me by surprise, and so does the laughter that spews from his chest. “Ye must really have a pair on you to walk in here tonight like ye did and state your case. You’ve come a long way from the young lad I first met. And for that, I’m proud of ye, Conor. But let’s not make it a fecking habit, aye?”
“I’ve no intentions of disobeying ye again, Crow. Ye have my word on that.”
“Grand,” he answers. “Because now I have another task that will put that to the test.”
“What is it?”
“You and Ivy need to keep this on the downlow for a while. Just a month or so. Let the lads see ye together and know ye’re a couple before ye go dropping the big news that you’ve signed your life away to this girl. Otherwise, it will raise questions and set precedent for the other lads to go marrying whoever they fancy when the situation warrants it.”
“It will remain quiet,” I assure him.
Crow nods. “Don’t think that just because you’ve put a ring on her finger, it’s over. She’s protected as long as she’s worth protecting. It’s up to you to keep her in line, now and forever. I expect ye to make a real go at it. Give her a life that she would die for, a husband she’s proud to call hers. And down the line, get her in a family way.”
The image of Ivy with a belly full of my child springs to mind, and my dick swells unexpectedly at the thought.
Crow smirks like he knows exactly what I’m thinking, and then he gestures for the door. “Now get the feck out of my office. I’ve got shite to do.”
Ichucked in the end, just as Reaper predicted.
It wasn’t Albie’s expressionless eyes or the gaping mouth where his tongue used to be. It was after Reaper got rid of the body, when I looked around the room, there was blood everywhere. And without the task of sawing off appendages and torture to distract me, I could smell it everywhere too. The metallic tang so thick on your lips you can taste it.
“Let’s get ye cleaned up a wee bit,” Crow says. “We’ll sort ye out a lap dance before you come back down.”
“Thanks,” I mutter. “But I have a girlfriend.”
He gives me an odd look, almost like he doesn’t believe me. “Well she’s not here now, is she? And ye don’t seem all that concerned about her grieving over your loss.”
His words hit me hard, but I don’t bother mentioning that my girlfriend overdosed last month, right after she finished fucking her dealer. “I’d rather just get on with it,” I say. “If you don’t mind.”
Before Crow can agree, Rory appears at the bottom of the steps with an older man in tow. Crow’s face turns to stone when he spots the man, but he dips his head as a sign of respect. “Niall.”
