The Absolution of Aidan(41)

“Ma’am,” I say politely.

“Wh… what are you doing here? And you?” She points to Roan. “You’re the freaking mob.” She says, dropping her hand from where she was holding a wet cloth up to her lip.

“I am,” Roan speaks truthfully.

“Great. Can this day get any worse?” She saunters over to sit on a blue, flowered couch. I glance around the room, a homely sensation passing through me. Pictures of Anna and dickface line the entire mantle above the fireplace. It’s apparent to even my eye by the way she’s looking up to him in several of the pictures that the woman adored her father. That look is mirrored right back at her by her father. No wonder the man was gone half the time. This was his happy place. Maybe he wasn’t a dick to the two of them. Who the hell knows? Tearing myself away from the photos, I train my thoughts back to the reason we’re here.

“Listen, like I told Anna, we’re here to offer you our help.” Her demeanor changes instantly. Her shoulders sag forward and a relieved smile spreads across her face.

“Mom. We need their help. You know we do. Plus, you know I’ve done my homework. I really believe we can trust them. You know what dad said if anything were to happen to him.” Anna moves to sit next to her mom.

My head jerks back as if I’ve been punched in the damn face. “I know what he told us, sweetie, but I’m scared,” her mother whispers.

I catch my buddy looking at me with a taken-aback expression written all over his face, like my own.

“Ma’am,” I say once again.

“Please, call me Grace.” God, she sounds and acts so differently from my own mother. I’m confused. This bizarre shit has my head lighting up with a million questions.

“It’s clear you need our help, and it’s blatantly obvious we all have a lot of questions. But one thing I can promise the two of you is we’re here to assist you in anything you need.” The hard timbre of honesty in my voice is apparent to the two of them. The last thing innocent and sweet-looking Grace says before we help them pack up their personal belongings so they can follow us to New York is, “Help us kill the rotten son of a bitch who killed my daughter’s father.”



“You should mind your own business, fucker,” a deep raspy voice calls out from the shadows. I’ve taken the women to their hiding place and dropped of Roan. The minute I park my truck in the garage at Deidre’s building, I’m assaulted by some dickhead’s words. “Who the fuck are you?” I creep toward the voice as I tug my gun out of my back pocket. It’s obvious this is one of Ryan’s buddies or someone he’s hired to threaten me.

“I’m the one who’s going to fuck you up, Aidan, then toss your ass in jail. I’m the man with the badge.” I scoff. As if a crooked cop or a damn liar who thinks he can scare me off is going to make me back down.

“Jail? For what? Taking care of what’s mine?” I deride this corrupt idiot.

“I doubt very much the gun you’re packing even belongs to you. That’s a charge right there, among other things. Resisting arrest. I can nail you with as many charges as I see fit.” He stubs out his cigarette like we’re in some damn movie.

“I don’t have time for this shit. You want to take me on all by yourself in the middle of a parking lot, then bring it, motherfucker. I guarantee you will not be taking me anywhere. I, on the other hand, can make sure you disappear.” I stand there watching this arrogant prick as he contemplates his next words. I’m not dumb. These cops have no clue what my family will do. He’s not one of ours, that’s for sure. If he were from New York, he sure as hell wouldn’t be here alone. There would be a slew of other cops here waiting to take me in. Fucking cops. At least I’m not afraid to admit who I really am. I’m not on some fucker’s payroll, who’s scared to do his dirty work himself. Fuck no.

“Consider this a warning.” The fucker lunges at me. I dodge him. And with the shit day I’ve had, with the images about a man slapping a woman around in my mind, I let this beefed-up, bald-headed slime ball have it. I pull my gun out, tossing it on the ground, kicking it a few feet away, then take him on with my bare hands. He doesn’t stand a chance in hell against me. Not with the way I feel.

The lot is empty. I couldn’t give two shits if security sees this shit. If they do, good. Get them down here and let them deal with this fucker. I’m going to beat his ass, act like nothing happened, and get to my family.

I punch him repeatedly. It’s like I’m a wild man trapped inside of one of those cages with an enemy and only one can survive.