“The fucked-up message left on my door, mafia style? Dead fish, blood, nails, ring a bell?”
Fucking hell, this guy is clueless.
“I assure you, Otelia, I’ve done no such thing. When I have a point to make, it’s done with the utmost knowledge that the beneficiary would never be heard from again unless you consulted a Psychic-Medium. I would never be so sloppy or cliché as to tack a fish on someone’s door.”
The only thing I’d managed to get out of him was bellyaching about his marital problems. I was starting to really question the cinematic mob machismo I’d watched so often on television. I felt let down by the realization that these so-called bosses were just like everyone else—trekking through the dog shit of everyday life like the rest of society. Sadly, for O’Brien, that included dealing with a wayward wife who was about as loyal as a stray dog. I had enough and was ready to return to Mac so we could get the hell out of here, fish incident be damned.
“Thanks for the tour, Kallum.” I moved to step away. “Good luck with your new business. I’m sure it will be a great success.”
His voice stopped me before I managed to get away.
“Otelia?” he called. “Do you believe that love conquers all?”
The sincerity in his question left me reeling. Did I still believe in love? Not long ago, it would have been a resounding yes! Yes, damnit, love conquers all. It was promised to me, and I was still searching for it. Now, I wasn’t so sure. Throat constricted with sorrow, I could only nod my head in agreement and walk away.
Love.
You cockeyed bitch.
CHAPTER 27
MacCabe
MOB ETIQUETTE.
O’Brien took advantage of it, leaving me here to entertain his wife while he marched off with my companion, reminding me of my place. I could shoot this motherfucker up and jack my dick at the same time. That’s how less of a shit I gave about this fucking place and the man who owned it. He’d disrespected my name. He’d disrespected my authority. And he’d disrespected my manhood when he invited Otelia to leave with him. I wanted to follow them, bring her back to me, where I could keep her safe. If he so much as farted in her direction and offended her delicate nature, he was a motherfucking dead man, etiquette or not. Fortunately, I was able to catch Ferdi in my line of sight as he passed by in the crowd and wordlessly commanded him to track their movements. Bella sensed my agitation.
“Don’t be so uptight, Darragh,” she hissed. “He’ll bring the whore back in one piece.”
A low growl formed in my chest. “Fucking right, he will, and don’t call her a whore.”
“Why’d you bring her here anyway? She’s nothing but a worthless piece of trash and so beneath you. She could never live up to your family’s standards, let alone be a wife to you. I’ve been waiting for you to come for me, Darragh. The other night when we made love in your office, I believed it was a new turning point for us, a new beginning. The way you made me feel after years of being away…I couldn’t get you out of my mind.”
I gave the woman in front of me my full attention. “You’re talking crazy, Bella. What we did wasn’t love making. It was fucking. Don’t delude yourself. We didn’t cuddle afterwards, whisper sweet nothings to each other, or go in for round two. We both got off, and it was whacked. It will never, fucking ever, happen again.”
“It was everything, and you damn well know it. You never forget about your first love, Darragh. I know I broke your heart, but I was wrong, okay? I admit that I made a mistake, one I’m willing to rectify in order for us to be together,” she spat.
I didn’t have time for this bullshit.
I looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to what was going on. Bella was being reckless as fuck with her mouth. Her choice of words alone could get me killed if she wasn’t careful. Back in the day, I would’ve done just about anything to hear her begging for me to take her back. Now, I couldn’t wait to get as far away from her as I possibly could.
The biggest mistake of my life was screwing this woman knowing full well she was married to a boss. What turned out to be a lapse in judgment on my part clearly meant something more for her. I needed to get her mind back on the right track before her husband returned.
“Look, Bella. What we had has been over for a long time. You have your life with O’Brien, and I have mine with whatever woman I choose to spend it with. There is no going back. We came here tonight to check out the fights, place a few bets, and drink a few cocktails. Now it’s time for us to leave. Good luck with the rest of your life, and tell your husband I said thanks for the hospitality.”
“I know what you really want, Darragh, what would really make you happy.” She reached out and lightly touched my arm. “Say the word, and I can make this all go away, and you’d never have to worry about Kallum again. Your business would be safe, and we could run this whole town…together.”
Before I got the chance to tell her she was batshit crazy, Otelia came barreling towards us without O’Brien as her escort. Bella removed her hand and took a step back with an audible huff, face completely torn the hell up with annoyance.
“Back so soon?” she taunted. “My husband must be losing his touch with the ladies.”
“Take me home, Mac,” Otelia ordered.
Her eyes were lit with fire and something else I couldn’t quite figure out. She muscled past Bella without so much as a backwards glance to see if I would follow. The high heels she wore clunked against the pavement as she hurried towards the limousine drop-off station. There was no wait. We shuffled inside the first one available and set off towards the empty lot where I’d left my car parked. I fired off a text to Ferdi, letting him know that we were leaving and he should find a way back to the penthouse. Otelia pressed herself against the far end of the leather seat, her head rested against the doorjamb, absent. The entire ten-minute ride was completely silent.
Fucking splendid.
I was done with this deep freeze bullshit. The second the limo pulled away, I was on her ass. Otelia was ignorant to our ways and probably mistook my previous behavior as a green light to throw her attitude around. Well, her temporary reprieve was over. I wanted answers. She tried to open the passenger side door, but I refused to push the key fob.
“Want to fill me in on what happened with O’Brien?”
No answer.
She harrumphed and folded her arms over her chest.
I advanced, glaring.
She saw me coming, but it was too late.
I slammed her small frame against the side of the car, not enough to injure but enough to corral her bullshit. My hand reached up of its own accord and squeezed the living shit out of her mouth and cheeks, causing her lips to pucker. I wanted to kiss them. She tried to fight it by grabbing hold of my wrist, but I was too strong, too determined, and too fucking pissed.
“I asked you a question, woman, and I expect a motherfucking answer.” I settled my knee between her legs, spreading them open, wider, mindful of her bare pussy beneath the tight skirt. “What did he offer you? Money, expensive trips, clothes, his cock?” I ground into her center.
My dick becoming increasingly harder the angrier I became. O’Brien had stolen the woman I’d loved right out from under me with minimal effort. I’d been weak then, both in mind and body, unprepared to fight for what I wanted. Things were different now.