“Do what, Da?” I questioned.
“Snatch her. She was so beautiful, Finn,” he said, his tone borderline dreamy. “I saw her walking down the stairs about to be announced for the ball, and I knew I couldn’t let anyone else see her. All that red hair—I wanted that fire for myself.”
“Did you know who she was?”
“I knew her father had a debutante at the ball, and the other women were all milk and water misses.” He coughed, but this time it sounded weaker than before. “No passion in them. No fire. I had a feeling she was Cormac’s, and I was right.” His hand tightened on mine. “She did wrong, Finn. I know she did. But she won’t—” He sucked in a shaky breath. “It’ll be difficult without me.”
I gnawed on the inside of my cheek. “Her boys will watch over her.”
He nodded. “My boys are good.” He squeezed my hand then cackled gruffly, “The apple fell far from the tree.”
When he started coughing again, blood didn’t just come up, it spewed out onto the grass.
Eyes averted, I heard the sounds of a vehicle and prayed it was the EMTs, but I recognized Junior’s Range Rover.
Aidan’s hand squeezed mine, hard enough to hurt, as he whispered, “At least it’s not suicide. Could never…” He wheezed. “…die like that. The cathedral… that wasn’t how I wanted to go. Thank you… for… saving us.”
His words had me tensing. “You’re not going anywhere.” The way he was talking made me wonder if he was sick.
Blood spattered from between his lips as he ground out, “He gave me just enough time to suffer, but at least I get to say goodbye to you.” His eyelids drooped. “Got scared at the end. Ran like a pussy. But it’s better this way.”
Every muscle in my body tensed up at that. “You know who did this?” When he didn’t answer, I almost shook him. “You knew a shooter was here?”
His hand clenched tightly around mine. “Remember, son, the ECD leaves no man behind, and they won’t stop until they avenge their dead.”
Casting a look at the cars, I pleaded with them to speed up. “I don’t understand.”
“Served myself on a platter to them. Lena would never…” He swallowed. “I broke her. I’m the reason she did what she did. The blame rests where it should. I broke up our family. She’s paying the price now.”
Lost for words, the sounds of doors being flung open drew my attention.
Screaming out a warning, I yelled, “There’s a gunman. Active shooter,” and watched them all drop to the ground.
Senior’s hand squeezed mine again as I watched the others scramble toward me. “They’re… here?”
The slurred words were barely understandable, but I squeezed his hand and rasped, “Yeah. They’re here.”
Eoghan reached us first, then Brennan and Declan. Junior appeared a second later.
Eoghan grabbed something from his pocket, a knife I saw a second later, then after rearranging Da and shoving my coat away, sliced down the back of Senior’s. I watched as Brennan started helping, baring the open wounds to our gaze.
Declan grunted at the sight because the damage was extensive.
“Hollow-point bullet,” Eoghan grated out, drawing something else from his pocket.
Duct tape.
“You carry that wherever you go?” I bit off.
“In my line of work, yeah.”
Senior groaned as his youngest taped up his back then carefully turned him over to deal with his front.
“Where’s—” He gulped. “—my boy?”
A wild look appeared in Eoghan’s eyes as the tape started shifting against Aidan’s blood-slick skin, and I closed mine a second, well aware that if the EMTs didn’t get here soon, Aidan would bleed out.
I peered up at the road, praying I’d see Kid’s Mini, and when I did, I rasped, “He’s coming, Da. He’s driving like a lunatic.”
His smile lit his face up. “That’s—” He sucked in a breath that sounded like a death rattle. “—my boy.”
“Fuck,” Junior ground out.
Eoghan, Junior, Declan, and Brennan worked hard to tape up the massive crater where the hollow point had done its damage.
I just held our father’s hand, but as they worked, Senior told me, “Second you walked into my house, it was like seeing Frank again.” He smiled. “I miss him, but I’ll see him soon. Paddy’s back. You won’t be alone—”
“Shut up, Da,” Brennan snapped. “You’re not allowed to die.”
My teeth clenched at that, and I bowed my head, trying not to fucking cry, but Christ, it was impossible.
My throat was thick with tears as I rasped, “He’s right, Da. You’re not allowed to die.”
“Da…” Senior smiled again. That ghostly wisp of a smile. “Look after your mother until she comes to me.”
And that was when his eyes closed.
He sucked in the longest breath imaginable before it rattled out, stuttering to a halt.
And I knew, I knew, that he was gone.
Sixty
Eoghan
I heard Conor’s scream before he flung himself beside us.
Dead didn’t mean dead. People died before surgery all the time. We just had to keep him alive.
We just had to.
Da wasn’t allowed to die.
I started CPR, carefully pinching his nose as I pressed my mouth to Da’s to breathe for him, as Conor snarled, “Let me help.”
Brennan’s voice sounded like it came from a distance as he muttered, “Eoghan’s got it under control, Kid.”
Conor didn’t listen. His hands took over for me, letting me focus on getting oxygen to Da’s brain.
“Where are the fucking medics?” Declan shrieked.
Finn spat, “They’re incoming.”
For another ten minutes, Conor and I worked. We didn’t stop. We carried on, but when the ambulance finally showed up, I knew it was too late even though Conor was in denial.
When the EMTs rolled up, rushing toward us on the grass verge, Conor got in their way while I slumped back, watching as if I were outside the scene as my father was—
My cheeks ached with how hard I ground my teeth together, and it was quite by chance that I looked at Finn. That our eyes caught and held. That was what opened the gates to grief.
We stared at each other, both of us shaking our heads, trying to reason what had just happened.
Trying to understand.
Da couldn’t be dead.
We’d just been bitching about him on the ride over the bridge. About how he liked to waste our fucking time.
But…
This was the opposite of that.
He was gone.
Fucking gone.
“He can’t be dead,” Conor howled, and when he went to punch the EMT who’d pronounced the time of death, Declan ran over to get in between the two men before it could escalate.
Brennan, on his knees, stared down at the blood-soaked patch of grass where our father had just laid, and he grated out, “It isn’t possible.”
A shaky breath escaped Aidan, and he whispered, “It is possible.”