I tapped my fingers on the window and considered my position. I could refuse to take the girl and fail this test. I resented being tested at all and my long service to the Don should’ve been proof enough of my loyalty. But I understood how the family worked, and I knew that they had to be sure, even when there was no reason to doubt.
Loyalty was the most important thing to the Valentino family, loyalty above all else. Loyalty above self, above love, above life.
I was a loyal killer, but I had the wrong kind of mother, and not that we were getting into a war with the Irish—they had to be careful.
If I accepted, the girl would be mine to keep safe. I didn’t know how that would go. She’d already given me trouble, and I had no reason to think she’d sit around my apartment looking docile and taking commands. She’d be trouble, and I didn’t want or need it.
I had enough trouble without some girl to make things worse.
But I knew there was no turning this down. If the Don ordered something, then it was my duty to obey, no matter how distasteful.
Ewan found a spot a block away from my place. He shifted in his seat and looked back at me. “What do you think?” he asked.
“I think it’s a shitty thing for your father to do,” I said, glancing at Tara. “But I can’t exactly turn him down.”
“No, you can’t,” Dean said. “Lucky for her, too, since if you refused, I had orders to kill her and toss the body in the Schuylkill.” He laughed and shook his head. “God damn, that would’ve been such a pain in the ass. And I just got this car cleaned.”
“Smells like puke,” I said, and reached out to grab Tara’s wrist.
She struggled for a second, then glared at me. “I don’t get a say in this?” she asked.
“You heard him,” I said. “You can stay here and die, or you can come with me to my apartment, and maybe you’ll survive all this if you’re smart. I guess it’s your call, but I’m tired, and I’ve got your dad’s fucking blood on my shoes. So get out and come on if you want to keep on breathing.” I kicked Dean’s door open with a curse.
Dean laughed and leaned across the passenger side seat. I stood on the sidewalk as he rolled down the window.
“Just be careful,” he said. “Consider the girl a gift as much as a test.”
“You’ve got a funny idea about presents,” I said. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with her?”
“No clue,” Dean said, tapping his finger on the gearshift. “Good luck though. I’ll check in tomorrow.”
Tara got out and came around. She stood next to me on the sidewalk, and Dean waved as he pulled out and drove off.
We stood side by side in the gloom of the weak street lights. There were no stars in the sky—there never were in the city. Too much light pollution. Too much regular pollution too, I’d bet.
Passyunk was a popular street, but at around one in the morning it was mostly clearing out. Bars closed at two, and beyond that, the place turned into a ghost town. Tara looked around and I could practically read her mind.
She wondered how she could get away.
“Try screaming again,” I said, shaking my head. “Go ahead, I won’t stop you. Hell, run away, if you want. I won’t chase.”
She narrowed her eyes, then looked over my shoulder, probably judging the best route. “Why?” she asked without moving.
“Because then you wouldn’t be my problem anymore. The Don would send someone to kill you, and I’d wash my hands of the whole thing.”
She went stiff. I pretended like I wasn’t watching her, but studied her in my peripheral vision. She was thin and pretty, and that hair made my heart race. If I’d met her under different circumstances, she would’ve been my type.
Unfortunately, she was the cousin of my enemy, and I had no use for her. I didn’t hurt women, and I definitely didn’t use them as some kind of sex toy, the way Dean probably thought I might.
She wasn’t a gift then. She was a pain in my ass.
“You’re bluffing,” she said.
“You heard him back there,” I said. “He had orders to kill you if I didn’t take you. If you want to die, you can run away. Maybe you’ll make it, but I doubt you’ll get far. No money, no ID, no nothing. You could go to the cops, but eventually they’d let you out, and you really think we don’t have people in the police?”
She narrowed her eyes. Maybe that last bit was a little too far, but it was actually true. The Valentino family played the long game, and some of the younger distant cousins had joined the police force a few years ago. They weren’t powerful or important, but they were on the inside.