“You don’t understand, man,” I said into my phone and took a swig from my IPA. Gilly the bartender gave me a disapproving look. Was I drinking at ten in the morning? Yeah. Did I give a shit? No. I owned The Slaughterhouse, a dive bar in Fishtown, so Gilly had to serve me even if it was God o’clock on Rapture Sunday.

Conrad cleared his throat on the other end of the line. “I understand perfectly.” The cold killer was the only one I could talk to, even though he was officially dead. He and his woman, Charlie, had settled in a little town out west and made a new life for themselves. The tinkling laughter of a little girl in the background made me smile. “Tell my niece that I’ve got some real heavy shit to discuss over here, but that I miss her.”

“She knows. All three of them keep asking when you’re coming to visit.”

“Not anytime soon.” I took another swig. “I’m meeting the Irish this afternoon. I’ve got a rat. I’ve got a Dmitri. And, the worst part, I’ve got a raging boner for Sabrina.”

“You could have left the boner part out.” His low smooth voice conjured familiar images of late nights spent doing the old boss’ dirty work. Those days were simpler, back when I had no idea how difficult being in charge was. It looked so easy. You gave an order, your soldiers followed it. The parts I didn’t see—dealing with the cops, money laundering, accounting, thieves, rival organizations—came crashing down on me as soon as I took the reins.

“The boner was the best part.”

He grunted in disapproval. “Look, it’s obvious to me that she wants you for the long haul—”

“No, she just thinks she does.”

“The fuck does that mean? You don’t say that stuff to her, do you?” The last sentence was delivered with a hint of alarm.

“Well, yeah, I told her she doesn’t know what she’s talking about when she—”

A rusty laugh crackled through the phone, which then turned in to a full-throated guffaw. “You told your woman that she doesn’t know what she’s talking about?” He howled with laughter as I downed the rest of my beer, then ordered a whiskey.

“Ah, shit, Nate. I knew you were dumb, but you’re really outdoing yourself over there.”

Charlie’s voice whispered in the background. Conrad relayed what I’d told him, and then I heard a low whistle.

“Charlie’s not pleased, I take it?”

“She just said you’re lucky Sabrina hasn’t kneed you in the nuts.”

“Fuck.” I drank half the whiskey in one burning gulp. “So what do I do?”

“Do you want her?”

“Yeah, she’s the fucking sun. Hot, smart—she got a full scholarship to Temple, for chrissakes—caring, has this amazing smart mouth on her. Jesus, the things she says.”

“I hear all that. I do. But is there more? Do you just want to hit it and move on, or what?”

The thought was—and I admit this was odd—abhorrent to me. Even being away from her for this impromptu bitch session with Conrad was making me itch to get back to her, to take back what I’d said. “No, not with her. She’s different.” And wasn’t that a sobering thought?

“Different.” He chuckled. “Yep. I had an inkling that day when we found her. She looked at me like I was the boogeyman from her nightmares—and I’m pretty sure I was—but when she saw you, it was over.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that she loved you on some level then. As much as a thirteen-year-old can love, anyway. Now that she’s grown, she’s totally fallen for you.” He paused. “I don’t see why. You’re such a son of a bitch.”

“Love?” I sat back in my chair and finished my drink before holding up two fingers. “Make it a double.”

“You drinking?”

“Yeah.”

“Meeting with the Irish this afternoon?”

“Yeah. But they’re piss drunk half the time. We’ll get along famously.”

“Keep your wits about you, boss. Sabrina’s got you turned every which way. Getting trashed when you’ve got business to attend to will only make shit worse.”

“Right.” I downed a big swallow as I held the phone away from me. “Got it. Don’t you think this is…I don’t know. Soon? She’s too young. I’m too…too me?”

“I can’t really weigh in on that. The second I saw this sexy little piece through her shop window, I was a goner.

I nodded, though he couldn’t see me. “True.”

“Look. She’s had five years to think about this, and it sounds to me like she spent the whole time in love with you.”

“In love with the idea of me—” I corrected him. “As something I’m not. I’m not a good guy like she thinks.”

Charlie’s voice murmured in the background. Con laughed. “Charlie says you need to stop trying to play the heavy and just be yourself. That’s what Sabrina loves.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Why would she love me?”

“No clue. Ow!” Con laughed again. “Lay off me, woman! Charlie says you’re very loveable.”

I grumbled, no real words forming.

“My advice—apologize and quit telling her she doesn’t know what she feels. That’s a sure path to losing a nut. If you feel the same, then say it. If you don’t, you need to say that too so she can move on. But don’t ruin this thing just because you know deep down that you’re a shitcake who doesn’t deserve a beautiful, college-bound, amazing woman.”

The truth in his words burned almost as bad as the cheap whiskey. “Damn, since when did you get so insightful?”

“Since I married a woman who”—smack noise and then a squeal from Charlie—“gets me on every level.”

“Hey Con, don’t pork her in front of the kids.”

“Good point. Lock the door, baby.”

I drained my glass. “On that note, I’m out.”

“Call me anytime, asshole. I still owe you bigtime.”

“And don’t you forget it.”

“Go get her. And don’t let her go.” The call ended, and I ordered one more drink. I had a lot of thinking to do, and I always seemed to get my best ideas when I was toasted. Right?

* * *

Peter was slapping me in the face. Why the hell was Peter slapping me in the face? I tried to focus on him when he smacked me again.

“Cut it out!” I blocked his next attempt.

“Finally. Jesus Christ, man.” He slumped back against the seat. We were in a car. When did we get in a car?

“What’s happening?”

“What’s happening?” He glared at me. “What’s happening is that you got so trashed at The Slaughterhouse that Gilly called me to come and get your ass. We’re supposed to meet with the Irish in half an hour, and you aren’t even coherent!” He turned to David in the driver’s seat. “Step on it.”

“I’m going as fast as I can. Don’t jump all over me. This isn’t my fault.”

“Just fucking go.”

David grumbled as my eyes closed.

Smack.

“Jesus! Stop hitting me!”

“Wake the fuck up! Here.” Peter handed me a cold Gatorade.

Hope flared. “Got any liquor in it?”

“Fuck no.” He unscrewed the cap for me. “Just drink it.”

“Where’s Sabrina?”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Drink. It.”

“Tell me where Sabrina is and I’ll drink,” I said to one of the two Peters.

“She’s at the house, probably still up in her room crying over some asshole who’s been trying to break her heart. Now drink the goddamn Gatorade.” He thrust the bottle toward my face.

I grabbed it and took a few sips.

“Nuh uh. More than that.” He tipped the bottom up, and I swallowed slowly.

Sabrina was crying? Over me? I certainly wasn’t worth her tears. Not a chance. She deserved better.

“Crying?” I swallowed a few more gulps.

“Yeah.”

“Shit.”

“Pull your head out of your ass. You have much bigger problems. The Irish are going to crush our nuts into a paste if you aren’t on your game.”

I nodded as if I agreed. But I didn’t. Sabrina was more important to me than all of the Irish mobsters in the world. What had I done? Wait, did he say crush our nuts into a paste?

“A paste?”

“Yes.” His glare helped me focus the two Peters into one.

“That’s fucking brutal, man. Way to kill my buzz.”

The vein in Peter’s temple bulged. “Can we just throw him out of the car and split the operation between us?” He thrust the Gatorade back into my hands.

David grunted a laugh from the driver’s seat. “We could. But that would be a lot of work. Would really cut into my murder schedule.”

I snickered into the bottle. “I’m supposed to kill you two for that, right? I know it was you, Fredo.”

“He’s quoting The Godfather. We are fucked.”

“Everything’s fine.” I sat up as the car slowed and stopped in front of the house. “I’ll talk to her and smooth things over.”

“I’m not talking about Sabrina!” Peter climbed out of the car. “The Irish will be here in ten minutes!” He slammed his door, then gave a Hulk-roar of frustration and beat on the roof.

“You really pissed him off this time.” I could hear the scary smile in David’s voice.

“He loves me.” I burped and elbowed the door open. The sun was extra bright as I stepped out of the car and wobbled toward the front door.

“You’re such a dick.” Peter slung one of my arms over his shoulder and helped me into the house.

George blanched when he saw us. “You okay, boss?”

“I’m good. Great. Thanks for anal. I mean asking.” I tried to wink, but all I did was blink really hard.

Peter hustled me through the foyer and into the back hall, finally depositing me at my desk while yelling for Opal to bring water.

“I’m fine.”

Opal hurried in with a bottle of water in each hand. “What happened?”

“He got trashed.”

“But the Irish?” She handed me a bottle.

Peter took it, opened it, and handed it to me. “They’re still coming.”

“Oh dear. I’ll fetch some bread to help soak up the alcohol.”

“We have it all under control. The Irish. The shipment to the airport. The Russians. All of it.” I drank the water. “The only thing I don’t have under control is Sabrina.”

“Wrong. The thing you don’t have under control is yourself.” David lingered in the doorway. “I’ll have a chat with George and Tony, make sure they’ve got the extra security handled for the meeting. You sober up.”

“I’m already there.” I propped my feet up on my desk.

“Right.” David shook his head and stalked into the hall.

My thoughts returned to Sabrina. Maybe I had time to go up to her room and apologize before the Irish arrived. A glance at Peter told me that wasn’t happening. His angular face was all sorts of angry-crumply, the lines making him look ten years older.

Opal returned with a plate of bread and butter. I ate under Peter’s watchful eye.

After what seemed like all of thirty seconds, David appeared in the doorway. “They’re here.”

I stood and schooled my features.

“Crumbs.” Peter pointed at my lapel.

I brushed them off and walked around my desk to greet the Irish. Colum’s security guy, Sully, walked in first and checked the room.

“We’re hiding the bombs under your car right now.” I smiled. “But this room’s clean.”

Peter’s eyes widened. “He’s kidding.”

Sully squinted at me, then marched out of the room toward the parking area.

Peter glared at me. “What the hell, Nate?”

“Oh, come on. You know it was funny.”

He rubbed his brow with two fingers. “It’ll be a fucking miracle if we make it through this meeting without a shoot-out.”

Colum strode into the room, his son Angus behind him and his second in command, Leary, following. The Irish boss was a classic ginger with flaming red hair, freckles, and gin blossoms on his nose from a life of good drink.

He gave me a bear hug and clapped me on the back. “About fecking time we got together again.”

His son, Angus, was the spitting image of his father, though trimmer and with some good looks thrown in from his mother. Leary was around Colum’s age, late fifties, with beady eyes and a wicked business sense.

“What did you do to Sully? He hot footed it out the front door like he had a bee up his arse.”

I shrugged. “I may have joked that we were planting bombs under your car.”

Colum pulled back and stared at me, the tension in the room ratcheting up to smothering levels. My inner alarm bells cut through my drunken haze as Colum eyed me.

Peter edged closer to us, his hand hovering at his stomach, ready to grab his piece if shit got real.

Then Colum’s face crumpled into a grin. “Jaysus, I bet he’s out there right now on his back under the Escalade, checking every little thing.” He laughed so hard tears glistened in his eyes before settling down. “Oh, feck me, that’s good shite.”

Peter let out a sigh of relief and motioned for the Irish to have a seat on the sofas as I walked around my desk and sank into my chair.

“Anybody want a drink?” I smirked at Peter.

“I just had a little nip in the car, so I’ll be good for a bit. Now, let’s get down to business, shall we?” Colum sat next to his son while Leary stood off to the side, staying alert.

“The merger.” I nodded, the drunken cobwebs slowly clearing.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Colum relaxed into the sofa, his portly stomach protruding over his khaki pants. “You’ve got problems to solve before we can even begin to talk about marriage again.”

“The rat.” I leveled him with a hard stare. “That’s going to be taken care of in short order.”

“Know who it is, do you?”

“Not yet.”

Leary shook his head.

“You got something to say?” I fired off at him.

He focused on me but kept his mouth shut.

“Don’t mind Leary. He’s just a little skittish seeing as how the Genoas killed his Da all those years ago, and here we are talking about alliances with what’s left of that organization.”

“What’s left?” I leaned forward and wove my fingers together on the desk. “What’s left is the biggest, fastest-growing, and most robust organization this town has ever seen. We’ve doubled our legit operations since I started, cut back on the shit that brings the most trouble, and have collected record profits. The Genoas had a family business. We have an empire.”

Angus glanced at his father. Clearly, the son was interested in what I had to offer despite the old man’s reticence.

“I’m not doubting you.” Colum held up a hand. “Not a bit. But this problem with the Russians, that could lead to a war we want no part of. We’re like you, trying to get some more solid businesses to front the rest of our operations. It’s a slow process, but Angus has been spearheading those efforts.” Pride gleamed in his eye. “Got a business degree from Yale and came right back to the family to use it.”

“Then we’re on the same page.” I would keep trying to woo him. The Irish had the capital and the means to solidify our grip on the city. The Russians wouldn’t have a foothold once we’d joined forces.

Both of us knew that the Irish would stand to gain greatly from an alliance. But Colum was smart—he wasn’t betting on a horse until there was a clear winner. Once I beat out the Russians, the deal would be as good as closed. But if the Russians somehow managed to stumble into a win, he’d ally with them in a heartbeat.

Colum stayed cagey. “We are on the same page, but like I said, I can’t get involved in this Russian mess. Once you clean all that up, we’ll be happy to meet you at the altar.”

“I’ll need a pre-ceremony blowie, as is custom.”

Colum belted out a belly laugh. “Jaysus, this guy.”

“What about the last shipment of weed?” Angus kept his voice low, but asked a pointed question.

I turned my attention to him. “What about it?”

Colum scratched his chin. “Angus brings up a good point. If we ally with you, who’s to say these ambushes won’t continue? Maybe if other organizations see you as weak, they’ll start coming, too.”

Anger rode me, but I kept a lid on it for once. “Weak?” I smirked. “Did you tally up the body count from our little Russian interlude? Dmitri took a solid hit. He’ll take more and more if he tries to fuck with my shipments.”

“But he will.” Colum leveled his intelligent gaze on me. “He’ll be back for more. Word on the street is that you have something of his. Something that he’ll happily spill an ocean of blood to get back.”

My stomach churned. He was talking about Sabrina. The word was out about her, which made the threats swirling around us infinitely more complex. Dmitri wasn’t just playing a private game anymore—he’d opened up the table. If the Irish knew, then so did everyone else.

I hadn’t heard about a bounty, but I wouldn’t put it past Dmitri to offer serious cash for anyone who could bag her and bring her to him. I’d have to keep her close, under lock and key. Despite the crush of dark thoughts, I kept my poker face. “What I have is my business. If Dmitri feels somehow slighted and wants to run his organization into the ground over it, that’s his downfall.” I drummed my fingers slowly on the desk. “I’m more than happy to help him accomplish that goal.”

Colum stayed silent for a few beats, the earlier tension slipping back into the room through the crack under the door. After a while, he said, “Messy. I don’t like messy.” He shrugged. “But things always are when a woman is involved.”

He rose, the others following his lead. “We’ll reopen this discussion again soon.”

I didn’t like the heavy-handed way he ended the meeting. He needed to know who had the big swinging dick in the room, and it wasn’t one of the guys from team Lucky Charms. “You know, Colum. Once I destroy the Russians and take all their shit, I’ll be even bigger.” I stood and walked around my desk. My height gave me an advantage as I stared the old boss down. “I’d become the largest game in town by far. So, instead of worrying about others trying to take me down, maybe the real worry should be that I won’t be happy with most of the playing board. Maybe the real worry is that I’ll take it all.”

His eyes narrowed, all hint of amusement gone. Despite his façade, he was a shrewd man. One that knew how to play the game.

“Let me show you out.” I gestured toward the door. The dismissal was clear.

Colum shuffled out, followed by Angus and Leary.

He paused in the foyer and turned to me. “I’ll tell you what. Though we can’t seal the deal right now, I’d like to do a little exchange to show my good will.”

I liked his new tone—deferential, but not kiss-assy. “Exchange?”

“Yeah. One of your guys for one of mine.” He glanced at his son. “Angus is a huge asset to my organization, and he’ll give you a good idea of what we bring to the table. Let him stay here for a few weeks, get the lay of the land, and maybe I could reconsider helping with the Russians. No promises, though.”

I turned my focus to the son. “You cool with that?”

A frown ticked at the corner of his mouth. “I’m not sure—”

“Oh.” Sabrina stood halfway up the stairs, book in hand, wearing nothing but a white bikini. She dropped down another step, her breasts jiggling, her mouth-watering body on full display to all the assholes below. “Sorry. I thought the meeting was finished.” She slid her gaze to mine, a sly smile playing across her lips.

She must have wanted another spanking. But she couldn’t hide the slight puffiness around her eyes. She’d been crying just like Peter said. The regret socked me in the gut and danced with the jealousy already tangoing there.

“Nice to meet you, young lady.” Colum stepped forward and held out a hand, luring her closer.

Sabrina hesitated, but then walked down the steps and shook. “Sorry,” she said again.

“Don’t be. We were just finishing up. I’m Colum. And you are?” He knew damn well who she was.

I stepped forward, cutting in front of Colum and blocking his view. “This is my—” My what? My ward, my sort of niece, my new obsession, my spankbank superstar? “This is Sabrina.”

“It’s my pleasure, Sabrina.”

“Thanks.” She had to look over my shoulder to meet his eyes. “I was just on my way to the pool. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Don’t you have a t-shirt or something?” I hissed.

Her light blue eyes found mine. “I have lots of them.” With that, she sauntered off toward the back hallway, her plump behind swaying in the bikini bottoms that cut up her ass cheeks in a small rectangle.

Spanking. Oh my god, the spanking I’d give her.

“Nice to meet you.” Colum called after her.

“Lay off.” My voice was low as I turned back to him.

He smiled. “I can see why she’s such a bone of contention. Now, Angus, about the swap. I think you’d do well to—”

“I’ll stay here. Sure.” Angus’s gaze was glued to the hallway where Sabrina had disappeared. “I’m sure I could learn a few things about going legit, so I’m in if that’s what Da wants.”

Oh, fuck no. I didn’t need this horny schoolkid around Sabrina. But I couldn’t turn down the olive branch from Colum. Blowing the deal between us wasn’t an option, especially when I might need to lean on him for help against the Russians. Would it blow the deal if I punched the ginger in the mouth for looking at my girl?

“It is exactly what I want. And who would you be sending over to us?” Colum glanced at Peter.

Not a chance. “Go get Tony,” I called to George at the front door.

He walked out and came back in a few moments with a guy about Angus’s age.

I motioned him over. “This is Tony. He runs security around here.” Not a total lie. Technically, George was head of security, with Tony as his second in command. But I wasn’t going to give up any key players when we were on the verge of all-out war with the Russians.

“Tony?” Colum sized him up. “Sounds good to me.”

Tony shot me a confused look.

“You’ll be interning with the Irish for a few weeks. Be on your best behavior.” I had no doubt Peter would show Tony the finer points of spying and relaying information back before he left for his Irish assignment.

“Okay.” Tony was smart enough to keep his questions to himself.

“We can swap this afternoon. I assume they need to get some things together before the exchange,” Colum said.

Angus shot another look down the hallway toward the pool. “I’ll be back this afternoon.”

The booze had mostly worn off, but I’d never let sobriety stop me from being an ass, and I wouldn’t start now. “Sabrina is off limits.”

“Come now.” Colum clapped me on the back. “Angus will mind his manners. Won’t you, son?”

“Of course.” He snapped his gaze back to mine. “You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Franco.”

At least the kid had the sense to address me with respect. I’d give him that. “Good. I’ll see you back here this afternoon. The housekeeper will prepare a room for you.”

“Thank you.”

I showed them out, everyone having a laugh at Sully who leaned against the Escalade, dust on his pants and an oil stain on his shirt.

“No bombs, eh?” I waved.

He glowered.

Once they were gone, George closed the door, and I turned abruptly and headed toward the pool.

“Hey, we need to talk about what went down with the Irish.” Peter dogged my heels.

“Later.”

“Nate—”

“I said later.” Nothing would keep me from Sabrina. Not now.

He made a frustrated sound and stopped as I continued down the hall and out into the sun. Sabrina swam beneath the water’s surface, her long blonde hair flowing out behind her as she shot along the bottom.

I stopped dead when I saw her white bikini lying on the concrete at my feet.