Conall (11 page)

“No, they wouldn’t. And we need to keep it that way. Here’s what we can do…”

Just then a loud banging sounded on her door and they both looked up. “Stay here, Tony. I’ll get it. No one knows you’re here, right?” she asked.

“No. No one,” he said as he stood up.

Just as she got to the door it burst open and she was pushed back landing hard on her ass. Three guys walked into her apartment. Two of them had their guns drawn, one did not. But the sneer on his face told them that he was the one they should truly be afraid of. “Tatiana Barbosa. Nice to finally meet you,” he said in a cold, calculating voice. As one of the guys closed the door behind them, he walked into the living space as if he owned it. “Did your brother tell you that he has something that doesn’t belong to him?”

“Man, I don’t have your packet. It wasn’t there when I arrived,” Tony yelled out, his arms up to show that he was unarmed.

The man spoke again. “Is that right? Well, that’s not the word on the street.” Looking down at his hands, he removed his gloves and turned his steely gaze back to Tony, “So, what happened when you showed up at the meeting spot?”

Although he had not raised his voice, Tatiana knew better than to think he was calm about this situation. No, the guy was bristling and chomping at the bit to make someone pay. Looking over at Tony, she shook her head no, pleading with him to not give away what he knew. It would be the only way to save them both.

“Uh, there were all these cars there, but I couldn’t tell who was in the warehouse. I snuck inside to the place where we were supposed to meet, but nothing was there. The guy was nowhere around. I waited a few minutes and then I left.” Although a bold-faced lie, she thought it just might work.

“No. I think you’re lying,” the head guy said.

Or not.

Thinking quickly, she stood up and went to put herself in between her brother and the thugs that had just burst into her home. If she could get to her phone, she knew exactly who she would call. But would he make it in time? Better yet, could she get to her Walther P99 handgun stored in the cabinet near her bedroom door? Yeah, she had her own secrets and preferred to keep it that way.

“Listen. I don’t know why you’re here, but if my brother says he doesn’t have your packet, then he doesn’t have it. You should just leave. This is my home and I don’t need this shit happening here.” She tried to inject a bit of female hysteria in her voice to keep them off-guard.

“Oh, Tatiana, I have a better idea. I think we need to encourage your brother here to come clean. Not only did he steal from Paddy O’Shea, but he has our names on the street. I don’t like that one bit. So, I think we need some leverage to help him remember what he saw in that warehouse. Don’t you think?” Nodding his head toward her, the two goons pointing their guns at them walked toward her and Tony.

Her brother grabbed her arm, trying to pull her back, but she stood firm. Never in her wildest dreams would she expect to be in this type of situation. After today, she would kick her brother’s ass if he got involved in anything else shady. Her blood pressure was probably through the fucking roof right now.

One guy stormed over to her brother and smashed the butt of the gun against his head, dropping him to the ground as blood began to pour from his head. The sight almost brought up her lunch, but she held it back. “Keep your hands off of me. No! Don’t touch me,” she screamed out. Maybe one of her neighbors would call the police if she yelled loud enough.

Just as the guy reached for her, the front door slammed open again. Damn! She was going to have to replace that and she knew these fuckers weren’t going to pay. Ducking down at the noise, she watched in awe as Conall stormed in. Another guy was at his back with a gun in each hand, one pointed at each of the goons that were standing in front of her and her brother. Conall’s weapon was dead to rights on the guy that had done all the talking.

“Paulie, Paulie, Paulie. Tsk. Tsk. What are you doing here in my girlfriend’s home? You should know better than this. You don’t come to Boston and we don’t come to Providence. You broke the rules,” he said in a smooth tone.

What the hell? Conall just came into her apartment with guns blazing. She should be upset. She should be screaming her head off right now. At least some crying, right? Taking stock of how she was feeling at the moment, she shook her head.

All she could think of was that her man looked so badass right now.

Was it wrong of her to be dripping wet right now? When this was all over, she was going to fuck the living shit out of that fine-ass Irishman. Well, after she got him to promise to leave her brother alone. After all, she still had to keep her promise to keep Tony safe. The fact she was beginning to fall in love with an Irish mobster had no bearing on the situation.

While everyone’s attention was focused on Conall and his one-man hit squad, Tatiana was busy trying to low-crawl over to her brother. Reaching him, she put up a finger to her lips, telling him to keep quiet. Looking back and hoping beyond hope that the attention stayed squarely on the men pointing guns at each other, she slowly opened the drawer that held her 9mm and lifted it out. She was not a victim. Never would she allow someone else to dictate what her response should be. She would go down fighting if need be to save her life, and the life of her brother. Shaking so fucking badly in fear, she hoped and prayed her mettle wouldn’t be tested. This was the kind of thing she would be happy to leave to the goon squad over there. Right now, she just needed to get her brother out of here and make sure they were both safe. She prayed like hell that Conall had a plan.

Tony’s eyes went wide as he saw the pistol in her hand. Vigorously shaking his head from side to side, he mouthed in her direction, “No, Tatiana. Put that away. Let’s get out of here.”

Glancing behind her at the muted conversation between Conall and the man he’d called Paulie, she turned back to her brother and whispered, “No. You’re hurt. Get in the room. When we get out of this, I’ll deal with you.” Turning her body to the side, she placed the weapon in the waistband of her pants, thankful that she’d had on a baggy T-shirt when Tony had stopped by. Just as she finished, Conall’s voice called out to her.

“Tatiana? You okay, baby?” How could he talk to her as if they were all sitting around a picnic table? Didn’t this man realize this was a life-and-death situation?

Looking around the men blocking her from his view, once she got a look at his eyes, she knew exactly how Conall felt about this situation. Oh fuck. Somebody was going to die today. She just had to make sure it wasn’t her.

“Y-Yes, I’m fine, Conall. How you doin’ baby?”

Smiling slightly at her ill-timed humor, he shook his head as if pleading for patience. “I’m okay, sweetness. You just stay right where you are. Do you hear me?”

“Sure, I hear you.”

“Now, Paulie. What am I supposed to do with you? You break into my woman’s house. Scare her and her brother. You broke the rules, Paulie.” His cold voice reached her and she knew it was about to go down. Motioning to her brother, she tilted her head toward the back of the apartment as he began to scoot his body in that direction.

“I have no beef with you, Conall, or with your brothers. I’m only here for what belongs to the Family. Tony Barbosa has something of ours and we want it back.” He reminded her of a snake with his slick hair and beady eyes.
Don’t trust him, Conall
, she pleaded with her eyes.

“No, actually, he doesn’t have it. I do. And the fact that you came in here and threatened my woman…well, that to me is unforgivable.” With those words, Conall glanced at Tatiana, a cold look in his eyes and she knew, this was the part of him he’d been trying to hide. The part of him he’d pleaded with her just hours ago to truly see. To accept. To love.

His finger pulled the trigger and three bullets exploded from the gun and entered Paulie’s body. Yelling at her brother to run into the bedroom, she watched as Conall and his guy fired into the other guys standing in her living room. The force of their bullets spun the bodies around as they tried to escape the firestorm that had rained down upon them. Pulling her own gun out of her waistband, she watched in horror as one of the goons raised his gun to her, intent on firing at her.

Without a second thought, she removed the safety and fired one bullet, hitting him between the eyes. Once her bullet entered him, his lifeless body fell to its knees and then onto his face. Dropping her gun, she stood up and ran over to Conall, grabbing him around the shoulders, jumping up as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Thank God you came,” she cried as she kissed his face.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Tatiana, please!” he begged as he pulled her back to get a look at her.

“I’m fine. My brother got clocked on the side of the head, but he’ll be okay,” she responded with a smile.

Conall stared at her in disbelief. She knew this wasn’t the response he expected. Probably thought she was in shock. Part of her was, but the other part was just glad that she was alive. She’d survived a shootout in her own home. How badass was that?

“Tatiana. I’m sorry baby. I never…I had to come protect you,” he whispered in a strained voice. “Your brother. Where is he?”

Surprising him again, she kissed him firmly on the lips, still not unwrapping her legs from around his waist. “No, Conall, you can’t hurt my brother.”

“I won’t. I just need to talk to him.” Looking around the place, he turned to Dillon. “Actually, we need to get the hell out of here. Grab her brother, call the cleanup crew. We need to find out if her neighbors called the police and ensure it’s our guys who respond. I need to get Tatiana and her brother away from here.”

“You got it, boss. I’m on it.”

Finally releasing him, she stood on her own two legs, her arms still holding him. Anything she needed to do to stay connected to him, that’s what she needed right now.

Dillon walked out from the back, her brother leaning on his arm. Blood was pooling on the left side of his face as he stumbled. The fearful look on his face told her that he’d recognized Conall. Sighing deeply, she turned to Tony. “Tony, this is Conall. We all have a lot to talk about, but not here. It’s going to be okay, little brother. I promise. Come on, let’s go.”

Turning to Conall as Tony walked out the door, she said, “Promise me we’ll settle this.”

“Tatiana, I’m not worried about your brother. You realize I already decided not to harm my future brother-in-law, right?”

“Future brother—? Huh? Wait, is that a proposal?”

“No, baby, that’s a promise that I aim to fulfill very soon,” he said with a serious look on his face. “Sweetheart, do you realize you just shot a man? A made man if I’m not mistaken. Settling this is far from over,” he said, his voice gruff with emotion.

“Conall, I know exactly what I did.” She looked down at the body sprawled on her floor. “I had to protect myself, my family, and you. I would do it again if I needed to.” Turning back to him, she looked into his eyes, so beautiful and green. “Remember when I said I was drawn to you? To the man you were inside?”

“Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?” he asked as he nodded to Dillon and began steering them out of her front door.

“I have to tell you something.” She looked up at him. How would he respond to knowing what she had done all those years ago? If she finally admitted to someone else what she had done, would that change how she felt? Would the guilt and regret descend on her?

The darkness in him matched hers and for that she would not apologize. It made her who she was. Who knew that one mistake—or maybe it was the best decision she’d ever made—pick the one that fit the best, would take her life into a new direction.

No, she would never be his light at the end of the tunnel, but as long as she was by his side, she would help him find his way home to her. Whatever the future held for them was still a mystery, but this man was all she needed. Yes, he was a criminal. A wolf in sheep’s clothing so to speak. The chameleon who could change his skin when the situation called for it. This was the man she wanted by her side.

“What is it that you need to tell me, Tatiana?” he asked her as they reached the car.

Climbing into the waiting vehicle, she sat across from the brother she’d protected all these years and held tightly in the arms of the man she was willing to bet would protect her with his dying breath. Finally, it was time to let the demons out and share her secrets. And this time, she knew there was someone on the other side, ready to catch her when she fell. The one person who would understand her dual nature. As they pulled away from her home, a place she never wanted to return to, she looked up at her future sitting next to her.

“Once, a long time ago, I let my demons out to play…”

* * * * *

Conall stared at Tatiana with new appreciation in his eyes. His woman was more than he ever would have expected. No wonder she’d been drawn to him and unafraid. Looking at her as she poured out the entire story, he was in awe of her bravery, very fucking proud that she had made the son of a bitch pay. Her soft voice brought him out of his inner musings.

“Conall, say something.”

“There’s nothing to say. You did what you had to do,” he responded. Grabbing her hand with his, he pulled until she was sitting on his lap in the backseat.

“I just want you to know that it’s okay,” she whispered.

Lifting her chin with his finger, one dark eyebrow lifted in question, “What’s okay?”

“Who you are. What you are. As long as you keep me safe, I’m okay. All I want is you. The good, the bad, and the ugly,” she said with a slight smile, kissing him softly on the lips. “I knew you would come for me. I don’t know how, but I did.”

“Baby, hearing you say those words…well, I’m glad you did. Because honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to let you go,” he said. His hands cupped her face. “Nothing will ever stop me from getting to you. This life can be tough. In such a short time, you’ve come to mean more to me than I ever expected. I will always come for you, Tatiana. Slay any dragon. Soothe away any nightmares. Just stay. Don’t ever leave me.” Their gazes held, communicating more than words could ever say.