“He didn’t rape me,” I assure them, but it doesn’t appease Niall. “He would just t-touch me through my clothes.” I make a small gagging noise in my throat, but I thankfully don’t hurl. “Then he would m-masturbate all over me. M-my face.”
“Jesus fuck,” Connor mutters from across the room, and Seamus rubs his eyes.
“You can’t kill a city councilor, Niall,” he snaps. My head jerks up as I realize they have been having an entire silent conversation over my head.
“Like feck, I can’t!” Niall explodes, his arms tightening around me like he can keep me safe from the world if only he never lets me go. “He’s a fecking dead man!”
“N-no, Niall.” I tug on his arm, trying to get him to look at me. “If you do that, you’ll have to go away again. I want you to stay h-here.”
Niall’s eyes meet mine, and a tiny bit of the rage slips away, but not much.
“Then we’ll go away together,amhuirnín. We’ll have a lovely little holiday afterward. I can take ye to Ireland. Ye’d like it there.”
He says it so matter-of-factly that I shiver.
“We need to discuss this with Sean.” Seamus glares at Niall. “You’ll not move on this until we clear it. Understood?”
Niall glares furiously at Seamus like he wants to punch him, so I twist, straddling his lap, placing my hands on either side of his face, forcing him to look deeply into my eyes.
“Forget about him. Please,” I whisper, pleading with him with my eyes. “I don’t want him here with us. This is our space.Ours.” There is ferocity in my tone, and finally, Niall slumps beneath me.
“For ye,amhuirnín, I’ll not kill him.Yet.”
It’s all I can ask.
Niall
Mellie wanted to go to the grocery store, so I have followed her around, carrying the bags of fruit. Something about smoothies. It was a nice day, so she insisted we walk. She insisted she could go alone, but I haven't let her go anywhere alone ever since she was accosted by those fucking lying cops. What if they grab her?
If I haven’t heard from Sean and Seamus about Hart fucking Remington’s death in the next two weeks, I’ll go to them about it. I’ll sleep easier when he’s no longer in this world. A city councilor has a lot of leverage, as evidenced by the ballsy move the cops pulled with Mellie.
You would think the Fitzpatrick’s would want the problem taken care of as soon as possible. If the cops are pulling our employees off the street, what’s to stop those Vice cops out the front of Oracle from finally storming Connor’s tables?
We all know that’s the only reason they’re out there. They don’t give a fuck about strippers, money laundering, torture, or any of that shite. They’re only interested in the high rollers who sit at Connor’s tables.
They watch some of them come in. The others don’t enter or leave through the club. There is an underground parking structure a few blocks away. A tunnel runs under the streets to Oracle, the stairs opening directly up on Connor’s gaming floor, in a small landing on the other side of the room to the usual entry. When Sean plays the tables, that’s how he enters the club.
I shift the bags to one hand, my other sliding into Mellie’s, tangling our fingers together as we stroll along the fancy strip mall toward our building.
Mellie smiles up at me, a tinge of pink coloring her cheeks. I know she likes it when I do couple-y shite with her. I never imagined myself wanting to do things like holding hands as we walk in the sun, but for Mellie, I’d do it all.
She hesitates beside a window filled with porcelain figures. They’re colorful, gaudy, and a little creepy. Coming from me, that’s saying something.
I look at the window, studying the figures as Mellie does.
“Can we go in?”
I blink, nodding and following her in. Mellie didn’t bring anything like this when she moved in. I’ve no idea what caught her eye, but I only hope it’s not too creepy.
“Can I help you?” the saleswoman smiles brightly at us. Mellie’s fingers trail over a tray of figurines, pausing on a small dog. A terrier.
“Can I buy this one, please?”
“Of course!” The saleswoman rings it up, wrapping the item in plastic wrap and paper, putting it in a bag like it’s the most precious thing on earth – which it isn’t. I’m holding the most precious thing on earth’s hand.
“Thanks.”
Mellie clutches the bag, leading me back onto the street, heading for our building, only a block away. She doesn’t mention her purchase, so I bite my tongue.