Page 95 of Sins of Innocence

Because if he's not a traitor, I don't know the meaning of the word. And like Neeve's class and teacher learned this afternoon, my vocabulary skills are just fine.

O'Grady scowls, but beads of sweat form at Casey's temple and Duffy tugs at his shirt collar, loosening his tie.

They know the shit they're spreading is disloyal to their underboss and they're starting to worry about how he's going to react when he finds out.

Too bad for these assholes that Mick already knows.

Mick tilts his head, neither agreeing, nor denying with Kenneth's claim. "Right now, there are four would be rapists to deal with."

"My son's no rapist!" O'Grady bellows. "It's not his fault if that traitor's whore daughter led him and the other boys on and then cried Wolf when Fitz came into the locker room."

I'm not as kind to O'Grady as I was to Kenneth. He had his warning and he chose to ignore it. When I return to my chair, O'Grady's out cold on the floor with a broken nose. I would have broken his jaw, but that would have delayed the meeting.

"What the fuck, underboss? Are you going to just sit back and watch while your psycho killer loses his temper and attacks his betters?" Duffy demands.

Mick's jaw clenches. "Wraith didn't lose his temper. I don't like the chances of any of you gobshites if he does."

The boss is getting as sick of dealing with these asswipes as I am.

"I warned you all about insulting my family." I lean back negligently in my chair. "And the underboss is right. If I lose my shit, none of you are walking out of here."

I don't say alive, because I might let them live. But there will be broken bones. There will be blood.

"She's not your family," Casey points out like he's trying to be reasonable. "You aren't married to her mom yet."

I pull out my knife and toss it upward, catching it on the way down. "My woman." Toss. Catch. "My kids." Toss. Catch. "My family."

"What da fud? You brode my doze," O'Grady whines, groggily trying to sit up.

Gripping the tip of my knife between my thumb and forefinger, I flick my wrist and a second later, it embeds itself on the floor half an inch from O'Grady's thigh.

He jerks, spraying blood from his broken nose.

"I could have shoved your nasal bone up into your brain." He could be dead. He's not.

It's the only mercy he'll receive from me.

I get up and retrieve my knife before grabbing O'Grady's arm and hauling him to his feet. Look at me being helpful.

"You going to risk me cutting your tongue out?" I ask conversationally.

He shakes his head rapidly and then moans.

"Here." Mick tosses a bar towel toward O'Grady. "Clean yourself up."

I snatch it from the air when it's clear the older man isn't going to catch it and shove it at him. I might be a little overzealous with my shove because he stumbles back into Kenneth's chair.

"Fuck," Kenneth grumbles. "Sit down before you fall down."

Sliding my knife back into its sheath, I shift to lean against the front of Brogan's desk. I've been up twice already and Mick hasn't even laid out the repercussions for the boys and their families. No point sitting down again.

"Are you denying your sons attempted to rape Wraith's daughter?" Mick asks Kenneth and his cronies.

No one speaks.

Accusing the daughter of a dead traitor of lying is materially different than accusing my daughter. Troy's not here to speak up for Sadie and if he was still alive, no one would listen.

I'm Mick's psycho killer and I've already proven I'll retaliate against any insult against my new family.