Honored (City Series Book 4)(29)

"Liam Sullivan, as I live and breathe."

I nodded to him. "Boss de Barra, how are you?"   





 

He stopped about ten feet away from me, flanked by his goons.

"I'm doing very well, very well. Business is booming, as they say."

"That's good to hear."

"And you? Troubles following you around?"

I nodded. "I'm sure you've heard."

"Heard? It's the only thing the Right People are talking about! Liam Sullivan, son of the big Boss Sullivan, prodigy and well beloved Right Person of the Mob, turned his back on Colm Brennan and went into hiding over some fucking bitch."

I winced at his last words but held myself in check. It wouldn't be wise to get pissed at him, though I wish I could pay him back for calling Ellie a bitch.

"That's more or less it," I said.

He smiled at me, and it looked like a jackal trying to be friendly.

"Walk with me," he said.

He started toward me and waved his two goons off. I fell into step next to him as he walked slowly toward the other side of the lot, pacing along its edge.

"What do you want with me, Liam?"

"I know you have no particular love for Colm," I started, but he interrupted me.

"Don't assume you know what I think, boy."

I clenched my jaw. "I'm sorry, Boss de Barra."

He nodded. "Continue."

"I have proof that he has been stealing from the Mob for years."

De Barra didn't react. I had expected something, maybe a slight widening of the eyes, a lifted brow at least, some sort of surprise. But he was completely placid.

"Of course he was stealing," he said after a minute.

"You knew about it?"

"I had my suspicions. It was a little surprising when he suddenly had so much muscle at his disposal. He needed money for that, money he wasn't supposed to have. I made a guess."

I nodded. I couldn't have been the only person to notice that.

"Those were my thoughts exactly. But I have proof of it now."

He paused. "And?"

"And, that's a major fucking problem, de Barra. Do you want to follow a man who has been stealing from you?"

He paused and shrugged. "He did well, hiding it."

I gaped at him. "He's a thief. That's something we kill for, stealing from your own people."

He sighed. "Liam, he's the boss now. He stole, he got away with it, and when the time came he seized power."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "So you're fine with that?"

"Ah, well, I didn't say that."

I waited, letting him gather his thoughts. I felt incredibly uncomfortable standing so close to him. Though he was a boss, and an older boss at that, he was still known to be violent and unpredictable. He did his own killing when he had to. People said he liked to send a message by wielding the knife himself.

In short, he was everything I hated about the Mob, and everything I was afraid I'd one day turn into.

"What are you saying, then?" I asked, a little too harshly.

De Barra smiled. "I only do that which profits me, Liam. That is the whole of the law when it comes to us. You can speak to me about honor among thieves, about protecting the neighborhoods when the establishment turns its backs, but the truth is, we've become drug dealers and petty criminals. The glory days are long gone, as dead as your poor father. We have a new god now, and her name is profit, and she is the only righteous bitch we follow."

I made sure my face didn't betray the disgust I felt forcing its way up through my stomach. I actively swallowed against it.

"Liam, what Colm did, the stealing and the coup, they were shit things. In the old days, they would have gotten his throat cut and his body thrown into the river. But now, we don't live in those days anymore, my boy. We live in much harder days, dirtier days. Ideals are all well and good, but if they can't put food in my stomach or gold plated fucking guns in the belts of my men, then I don't give a single fuck about it. Colm worshipped the profit and he was rewarded. Tell me, Liam, why the fuck should I test that?"

I stared at him as he finished his rant, fear mixing with the disgust. He was insane, like everyone said, absolutely fucking mad. His expression was calm and his eyes were clear, but there was something there at the edge of his voice, another presence. It was wild-animal unpredictability, it was absolute insanity, and it was the deep dark abyss the mind dips into when it's lost to whatever possesses a person in the worst parts of the psyche.

And yet, this absolutely insane man was still my only option, and I had a feeling his whole speech was a way to start negotiations.

"You say you worship profit," I started slowly. "Then picture this: Boss de Barra, king of the whole Mob and all the Right People. Imagine the profit as the money starts to flow into your coffers."   





 

He nodded. "It's a pretty picture."

"The other bosses, they don't think the same way you do. Maybe they're starting to come around, but honor still means something to them. When they see a boss of your standing waving around proof of Colm's theft, they'll rise up with you."

"They might do that."

"And when they do, knocking him down will be easy. Colm barely has control right now, imagine if half the city wanted him dead."

He was silent, a half smile creeping onto his face.

"And on top of that, I have cash. I can front it to you to pay for your muscle, as a sort of down payment. I ask only that I be pardoned and given my territory back. You can have everything else."

"It's a good offer," he said softly.

"It's better than good. It's your best shot at running this city."

His pace slowed and he stopped, facing me. I felt the sweat dripping down my neck.

"And what if the other families don't rise up?"

"They will."

"I agree that they might, but what if they don't? I'll become a pariah in this city."

"Nobody can touch you up here."

"You're probably right, but it's a big risk. And what if the others don't want me to be boss?"

"You'll take it."

He grinned. "That's a good answer."

"It's a risk, I know it's a risk. But with the money I'll front you, and the documents I'll provide, it's the best shot. Colm is still barely clinging to power. This is your shot."

He looked at me hard for a second, appraising my expression. I felt dirty, and my hands were shaking. I was making a deal with the devil, and it disgusted me. Colm was bad, but I couldn't even imagine what the city would be like with de Barra as the head of the Mob.

But I had no other choice. I'd torch every single home and business in the world to save Ellie and Richie and everyone else if I had to. I'd let it all burn to the ground, let my sweat mix with the ashes, and I'd laugh because I'd know the people I cared about would still be out in the world, safe and far away from the disgusting men that wanted to do them harm.

De Barra began to walk again, and I fell into stride next to him. He was silent for a while as we made our slow circuit around the empty lot, eventually stopping back where his men were waiting in front of the single black SUV.

I blinked. Weren't there two SUVs just a few minutes ago? Where did the other one go?

"Okay, Liam. I like your offer. Come to my place tomorrow with the money and the documents, walk me through it all, and if it's good enough, if it's not bullshit, we'll have a deal."

"How do I know you're not just going to shoot me in the head and take the cash?"

He laughed loudly. "That's the first smart thing you've said all afternoon."

"Well?" I clenched my jaw. I knew I was almost there.

"You don't know, boy, but you're desperate. You'll come, and we'll deal."

I nodded once.

"Good lad." De Barra looked at his goons. "Boys?"

It happened way faster than I could have expected. In a blink of an eye, de Barra's men leapt at me. I swung and stepped back, fighting wildly, but they were faster and had the element of surprise on me. Quickly, I was wrestled down to the ground, my face shoved into the dirt patch, and I felt them throw my gun over toward de Barra.

"Fuck, what the fuck is this?" I yelled.

I heard de Barra cackling. "Didn't I tell you?"

I turned my head, my cheek shoved into the ground. I felt the weight of two large men holding me down.

"Tell me what, you fucking psycho?"

"Profit is king, Liam my boy, and you are worth a hefty sum. That's a safer bet than your wild tale about stealing and coups. I'm sorry I had to walk you through this charade, but I wanted to be sure of what you had before putting you to the knife. And frankly, you don't have shit."

"Fuck you, de Barra, you spineless piece of shit!"

"Goodbye, Liam." He nodded to me, and was gone, back into his car.

The engine started and it pulled away, leaving me alone with the two big goons. I struggled but their grip was like iron on my body as they hefted me to my feet and began to drag me off toward the alleyway.

My heart hammered in my chest. De Barra betrayed me and was selling me out to Colm. That alley, that fucking alley was going to be the place I would die. I struggled, but it was useless. The goons were big and practiced, had probably killed a hundred men the same way they were going to kill me. And even if I got away, they would just gun me down as I ran like a coward.   





 

It was the end for me. I had taken a gamble and I had failed. I failed Richie and I failed Ellie and I failed everyone else that relied on me.