“Shit, Liam—” I started.
He held up his hand. “I’m fine, seriously.”
“You don’t look fine.” I walked over to him, concern all over my face.
The other guy stood back near the door as I began to inspect the arm. It was a deep wound, but it had already been sewed up and covered with a sterile bandage.
“What happened?” I demanded.
“Didn’t go well.”
I rolled my eyes. “Come on, sit down.”
He tried to protest, but I got him moving and pushed him gently down onto the couch. He let out a long breath, obviously still exhausted. The weirdo moved in from the door, shutting and locking it. I kept poking and prodding at Liam’s arm until he winced, obviously in pain.
“Tell me what happened.”
“De Barra thought killing me would be more profitable than overthrowing Colm. And so he tried.”
“Fuck, Liam,” I said.
“Obviously it didn’t work.”
“Who’s this?” I nodded at the other guy.
“That’s Leary. He’s a friend.”
I looked at Liam. “I thought you said nobody can know where we are?”
“He’s been helping me this whole time. Shit, aside from you, he’s the only person in this city that I trust.”
I looked back at the guy, and he smiled bashfully at me. He was thinner than Liam and shorter by an inch or two, with red stubble all over his face and a shock of orange hair. He had thick bags under his eyes, and he kept moving from side to side, almost rocking in place.
“I notice he doesn’t have any blood on him.”
“Leary saved my life.”
I stared at the guy for another second. “I’m Ellie. Nice to meet you.”
He grinned and walked over to shake my outstretched hand. “Heard a lot about you, Ellie.”
I gave Liam a look, and he shrugged.
“What happens now?” I asked as Leary sat down in the armchair.
“How long you had this place, man?” Leary asked before Liam could answer me.
“Since I started in the business.”
“Shit, it’s a little creepy, but brilliant.”
“Thanks, man.”
Liam looked back at me and I could see the pain in his expression, though I knew he was trying to hide it from me. I reached out and touched his cheek gently, not giving a shit if the gesture seemed strange to Leary. I was breaking on the inside. I hated the idea that Liam was almost killed because of me, because of some stupid shit I had seen. It should have been me out there. I never should have let him go alone.
“Where do we go from here?” I asked him softly.
He stared back, his face hard. “That’s why I brought Leary here. We need to talk about my next move.”
I frowned and sat up straighter. “You have something in mind?”
“Yeah, but it’s a last resort.”
“Can’t be any worse than what happened today,” I said, nodding at his arm.
He sighed. “It really, really is.”
I shook my head. “You’re not turning yourself in.”
“No, I’m not.” He paused, and then he said more softly, “Not yet at least.”
“Liam—”
“Just listen.”
I stopped, jaw clenched, and nodded. He could be so self-sacrificing sometimes, such an asshole. He didn’t realize how it made me feel to hear him say that he would be willing to die for all of this to be over. I would never have forgiven myself or been able to live if I knew that he had willingly given himself over for my sake. That simply wasn’t an option.
“The way I see it, we don’t have another choice. De Barra was the only boss that has the strength to go up against Colm on his own, and I don’t think we’ll be lucky or able enough to convince the others to team up. They’ll end up squabbling over who gets to lead the Mob in the end and will probably just kill me out of frustration.”
Leary snorted at that last bit and I gave him a look. He frowned at me and shrugged.
“But, there’s one more play,” Liam said, continuing. “Colm probably knows what we have on him by now, thanks to de Barra. Which means he might be open to a trade. Colm isn’t stupid, although he’s ruthless. He might be willing to accept that it’s better to trade our lives for the proof.”
Leary nodded thoughtfully. “Seems like a fair trade. Let you two go into exile, burn the documents.”
“No fucking way, Liam,” I said.
“Ellie, look, I know it seems crazy to deal with him. But Colm is practical. He might actually listen if he realizes the extent of the shit we have on him.”
I shook my head. “What if he just murders you anyway?”