“You called, Fitzy?”
He jerks his head at the man moaning in pain. “This is Munteanu. His niece and nephew were your young houseguests.”
My eyes swivel over the man, tightening as we lock gazes. “Are ye the piece of shite who broke into my house?”
His responding stare is belligerent, but when Niall’s gardening shears pinch at his ring finger, he gurgles.
“Yes. For revenge. We wanted the Irish to pay.”
“Pay for what? Treating those children with more care and kindness than the Italians would have shown them?” Seamus scoffs, his arms crossing over his chest. Munteanu sneers.
“Kindness would have been returning them to their Papa.”
“We were doing the Italians a favor. Why aren’t you breaking into their compounds? They’re the ones who ordered the collateral be held.”
Munteanu shrugs. “We don’t have a death wish.”
“Then why did ye go after a Fitzpatrick?” Seamus takes an involuntary step forward as his temper snaps.
“Not the important Fitzpatrick.”
Rage surges through me. My entire life, I have been treated well because of my last name. The Fitzpatrick name has afforded me every luxury, every deference. But it didn’t protect my lass. The mother of my unborn wean.
This would never have happened if I had caved to Uncle Sean’s cajoling at any point, taking over my own crew. I would not have been considered unimportant. I would have been able to protect Andie and our baby together.
As my face darkens, Seamus accurately reads my mood. “Don’t even think about it, Lucky. This isn’t on you. They’ll pay for this.”
I inch closer, my fingers itching, my eyes lingering on the knives Niall laid out. Seamus throws me a warning look, turning his eyes back to Munteanu.
“Why were you so desperate to get the flash drive back?”
Munteanu flinches, trying to recover and look unperturbed. “What flash drive?”
Niall drops the gutted Disney toy on his bloodstained chest. Munteanu’s eyes widen, horror crossing his face.
“When did you steal it from the Italians?”
“A year ago. We were trying to code break it.”
“Did you ever manage it?”
“No. It wasn’t a computer code. Did you?”
“Yes.”
His eyes flicker to me, cringing at the dark look on my face. He knows he’s facing his imminent death.
“What was it?”
“Not worth dying over,” I growl. Resignation flutters across his face. “Why did ye go after my woman?”
Munteanu’s eyes dart back to me, boring into my face. “She was the housekeeper.”
“She kept my house. Yes.”
He frowns, the cogs behind his eyes whirring. “Her clothes were on a different floor of the house.”
“Aye. They were. We never got around to moving them.” Thank fuck for that. They would probably have taken Andie then if they knew she was my lass.