Exploding: A Mafia Romance (The O'Keefe Family Collection #1) (15 page)

I
t took
an entire inning of lighthearted play before she began to soften to her brothers again, noting that they did not make good on their earlier threats that hinted at James’ demise. Carrigan had just finished rebuilding his classic Mustang with the help of his siblings, and she wagered they didn’t want to see their hard work shattered. James was mute, his mouth in a tight line, but that was the worst of it. As the game went on, moods lightened, and Fallyn began to loosen up again.

Killian turned to Finn, Vince and Fallyn on the bench. “Are we gonna let some bigshot lawyer walk away with his pride?” The slight ribbing at James lightened the tension and made it about the game, which Fallyn appreciated.

“Never!” shouted Finn, fist raised. Vince laughed – a thing he didn’t do often. The levity looked good on him, and Fallyn felt sad at the loss of so many smiles he could’ve had throughout the years if things had been different.

“What?” Vince asked when he noticed her staring at him.

“Nothing. I just like it when you’re happy. You’ve got a nice smile. Who knew?” Fallyn caught herself too late and hid under her blue baseball cap, hoping her transgression would go unnoticed.

Finn swaggered up to the plate, readying himself like a professional baseball player. “Throw me a decent pitch this time, Seamus. Might not want to look like the coward you are and punk out by walking the star player.”

Seamus threw the ball hard and fast, his anger the easiest to provoke. Finn grinned at the challenge and cracked the ball for all it was worth, making it all the way to second base before the ball was retrieved.

When Fallyn took the bat, Seamus relaxed his stance. “Move it in, guys.”

Fallyn steamed when her brothers and James stepped closer, anticipating her barely-there hit if it ever came. “You guys are jerks!” she called.

Seamus grinned and called to his father on the bench. “Dad, can you believe your baseball skills aren’t genetic with this one? You think your precious baby girl’s going to strike out this time, or should I let her get in a bunt to save face in front of the new guy?” He slapped the ball into his mitt a few times to assess the best pitch to throw.

Patrick shook his head, suddenly angry at his children. “That’s not my daughter!” he yelled, pointing a shaking finger at Fallyn, who went white. “She’s not my daughter!” He stood from the bench, his towering height demanding to be reckoned with. Killian and Nurse O’Malley subdued Patrick, sitting him back down on the bench using dulcet tones and firm hands. They took a time out so Killian and Finn could help Nurse O’Malley get Patrick to the car so he could go home for the night.

“Sorry, Vince,” Killian murmured when he sat back down on the bench. “Told you he wasn’t quite himself anymore.”

Vince was horrified. He’d not seen much of Patrick in the last couple years since Killian had taken over for him. He’d known Patrick was getting old and forgetful, but he’d assumed it was the “where’d I leave my keys” kind of forgetful. He had no idea he was to the point where the patriarch he’d always respected couldn’t recognize his own daughter. His gaze shifted toward Fallyn, and he began to see why she was such a private person who kept the deeper cuts and bullet wounds to herself.

Tears welled in Fallyn’s eyes, and she hated herself for the weakness. Carrigan started jogging toward her, but Fallyn would not be pitied. “It’s fine.” Her tone was laced with the frustration of all the things she wished could be that she knew could not. She wished she could date Vince, but it was impossible. She wished she had the same fiery passion with James, but she did not. She wished her father knew her, but he did not. When Finn’s hand rubbed her back, she shrugged away from it. “I said I’m fine! Go back to your base,” she barked, angry at her brothers for making certain they were the only men in her life. When Seamus stood on the pitcher’s mound looking on her with sadness and pity instead of his usual brassy ego, she shouted at him, “Pitch the damn ball already!”

Seamus threw a light underhanded pitch to her right down the center, cursing loudly when Fallyn’s bat cracked on the ball, sending it flying with all of her fury past James and her brothers. She ran to first base, crashing into Carrigan, who lifted her off her feet in a giant hug she would never admit to needing. “I know you,” he assured her as he held her suspended in the air. “I know who you are. Daddy knows too, it’s just buried.”

“I know,” she whispered, squeezing her tall brother around the neck. He leaned over so her toes touched on the ground. “It’s fine,” she lied. “I’m fine.” She turned to the others, who were staring at her with pity. “Play ball, guys.”

Seamus pitched to Vince, and to his credit did not hit him with the ball once throughout the entire game. Everyone had been under strict instructions that Vince was not to be harmed, and they fell in line with varying degrees of unhappiness. Seamus’ team won in the end, and he danced with only mild obnoxiousness, the levity muted by the family drama.

James shook Killian’s hand. “Thanks for the game, guys. It was good to meet you all. I’ve got an early day tomorrow, so I’m taking off.” James bowed his head to Fallyn and cast her a weak grin, but she was too upset about her father to pay attention.

A few of her brothers broke out into lighthearted games of catch, but Fallyn remained on the bench with Killian and Vince. “Sorry you had to see that,” Killian said to Vince.

“How long’s he been like that?” Vince spoke with his arms crossed over his chest, mulling over the events of the evening in his quiet way.

“The dementia? It’s been bad for a while, real bad in the past year. Not sure how much time he’s got left. The failed memory part is rough, but the mood swings are worse.”

Vince stood, motioning for Killian to join him. Fallyn could tell that Killian had not expected to be wrapped in a hug, but she knew he needed one. Vince held Killian a few beats, patting him hard on the back in that unshakeable way two men who’d been through a war could. “I’m sorry. I’m real sorry, Kill.”

Killian froze, but returned the hug after a few beats. “Thanks. That means a lot.”

The siblings watched the holy hush fall over the baseball diamond, bringing a small push towards the peace they’d all been needing. When Vince broke the hug, he sat back down on the bench next to Fallyn, who was staring resolutely at her knees, the brim of her hat obscuring her face.

Fallyn inhaled sharply when Vince’s arm went around her and drew her closer until she was engulfed in the hug that broke her and bumped her hat to the dirt. Tears flowed down her upturned nose and onto Vince’s shirt. He even lifted the hem of his shirt to mop of some of her indiscretions when she soaked through the material over his heart. “I know, Fally. I know.” He held her face to his chest, cupping around her temple to shield her eyes from view and preserve the pride he knew was bruised at being so openly emotional. He held her tight to him, keeping her together while she fell apart.

“My own Daddy doesn’t even know who I am!
He
sent me away to college because things were too violent here with the turf wars. I didn’t want to leave him! Then I come back and he’s already half gone? If he hadn’t sent me away, I would’ve been here and he wouldn’t have forgotten me so easily!”

Vince rocked her, his hold on her firm but gentle. “Let it out. I’m here.” He ignored the men who eyed him with curiosity and wariness. He was holding their collective treasure; he knew he had to tread lightly.

“The bakery? I opened it hoping he could see that I could do something on my own without everyone doing it for me. So he could see the school he sent me to did a good job. I wanted to make him p-proud of me, b-but he doesn’t even know who I am!” She wailed into his shirt, letting the material and the firmness of Vince’s chest muffle the sound. “It’s because of you guys!” she spat, pulling back to glare at her brothers. “Daddy sent me away because you lot couldn’t handle being in the same space as the D’Amatos! I lost years I could’ve had with Daddy because of your stupid territory wars! I’ve got news for you – when you fight, people get hurt. You all hurt me! I’ll never get that time back. End it now! I don’t want any more guns. I don’t want any more fighting. If Vince needs something to make his streets better, you give it to him.” Then she surprised Vince by fisting the material of his shirt and yanking him closer. “And you,” she seethed, her mouth mere inches from his. “Stop fighting with my brothers. You’re not hurting them, you’re hurting me! Is that what you want?”

Vince shook his head, meeting her eyes with sadness and resolve. When he pulled her back into his arms, she broke all over again.

When Killian’s hand moved on her back, Fallyn stiffened. Vince had taken a big risk, and she would not let him get bitten because of it. She kissed Vince’s chest, knowing her face was covered still, and pulled back, wiping her tears away on her own. “Thanks,” she said to him. “Man, did you step in the mess today. Kill promised you a baseball game, and you get two O’Keefes losing their minds. I brought muffins, guys. Eat up.”

The men devoured the muffins, not because they were hungry, but because they wanted the distraction from the night that had taken such an unfortunate turn.

V
ince was allowed
into their territory that night. The eight all went to one of Killian’s restaurants where they ate like the ravenous beasts they were. Fallyn was sandwiched between Killian and Vince, who had dropped their boss façades and started actually being the friends they used to be before they were forced into being enemies.

“Pass me the potatoes,” Vince asked Carrigan, who obliged, actually making eye contact that was not threatening as he did so. Vince spooned out a healthy portion, and then put a scoop on Fallyn’s plate, which she hadn’t touched. “You should eat something,” he urged her.

Fallyn had been pushing the salad around on her plate since they’d sat down. She wanted to run away from the awful of the day, but knew there would just be more that found her tomorrow. She glanced around at the cream and green walls with pictures of her family on them framed in gold. They were all black and white, shot by Finn who’d had an eye for that sort of thing. To anyone else, they were just wall art to make the meat and potatoes restaurant feel more homey, but these were captions of her childhood. The photo of her as a little girl swinging between her mother and father tugged at her heart. The five-year-old girl in pigtails was frozen in time mid-giggle. That was before the world crashed down around her, taking both her parents away long before she stopped needing them.

One by one, her brothers left to go home, each following Killian’s example and hugging Vince with a hard slap on the back before they left. Seamus did his in more of a challenge. There was a threat to his hug that held the warning of “I’m watching you”, but Vince took it in stride, sitting back down with Fallyn, Carrigan and Killian.

Vince took a few more bites of the lamb that was so tender, he knew it had most likely been braised all day. “I’m working on my brothers,” he said as he chewed. “But it’ll be a longer road until they’re ready to put their guns down. I can’t picture Tony crossing over into your territory, but maybe someday.” Vince watched as Killian pulled his sister into his side, eating with one hand so he could comfort her with the other, his arm around her patting her hair as she leaned into him. He had always known the O’Keefe family was close, but it was clear she was their collective prize. Though Vince had made great strides today, he knew there would be unfathomable resistance if they caught onto the thoughts he was entertaining concerning Fallyn.

“Tony’s got a temper. I see him wanting to question you sometimes when you make a move for peace when he wants to fight,” Killian observed. “Not telling you how to run your family, but I’d keep an eye out if I were you.” He took a swig of his beer. “I have the same problem with Seamus. Manual labor helps. Gets out his aggression so there’s less of it to throw at me.”

“Thanks for the heads up. Tony’s falling in line alright for now.” A small smile played on his sculpted lips. “So, Little Keefer, got a big second date planned with James for tomorrow?”

Fallyn felt Killian stiffen before he pulled his arm from around her. “No,” Killian answered for her. “You’re done seeing him.”

“You want I should bash in your windshield? Because I’m already on edge. Don’t boss me, Killian. My love life’s got nothing to do with you.”

“End it, or I will.”

“I’ll help,” Carrigan offered with a threatening scowl.

“You so much as lay a finger on any of the air surrounding James, and you can say goodbye to your phone, your laptop, all of it. I set up all of your passwords, and can delete every single file in a heartbeat. In fact, you might just find a Facebook profile with your name on it and all your pictures thrown up for the world to see. I forget, did Beth know about Melissa or Stacy or Natalie? One way to find out, right?”

“James isn’t right for you, and you know it. You’re just being stubborn because I told you no.”

Fallyn leaned her elbow on the table and propped her head on her palm with a sigh, her fight deflating. “Shut up. It’s my decision. Let it play out how it will. We’ll see what happens. You know, like a normal relationship. I’m not asking, Kill.”

“I can’t believe you’d keep something like that from us. You really went on a date with him? How? When?”

She scoffed. “You really don’t know why I kept that from you? Were you there tonight?” She stabbed her potatoes with her fork, but only pushed them around on her plate. “You don’t have to worry about James. He’s long gone by now. Not every guy wants a girl who threatens to bash in people’s windshields with a baseball bat.” She cast her brother a smile filled with mirth. “Don’t worry, big brother. I’ll die alone, just how you all want it. Right on schedule.”

Killian’s face soured. “That’s not what we want, but James just isn’t right for you. He was forty-five minutes late. Strike one, and that’s the only one he gets. Plus, he has no idea who you are.”

Fallyn stood, disgusted at the turn her budding relationship had taken. “Thanks to you all, no one ever will. Be careful, Kill. Push me too hard, and you’ll wake up to find me gone.” When he looked like he might have something to say to this, Fallyn tugged on her baseball hat and took her plate to the gray basin at the end of the table. “I’ve got an early morning tomorrow, filled to the brim with all my spinster activities. Have a good night, guys.”

“Spinster activities?” Vince inquired. “I can’t picture you knitting.”

Fallyn flipped her hair over her shoulder. “For the record, I knit like a dream, but I don’t spend my Sundays doing that. It’s the one day a week the bakery’s closed.”

Carrigan drank his beer down to the dregs. “She volunteers at the hospital and then takes muffins and stuff to N.A. meetings.”

Vince’s eyebrows furrowed together. “N.A.? But you’re not…” He motioned to her, confused at what she would be doing at a meeting for recovering addicts.

Killian scoffed. “Of course she’s not a recovering crackhead. She takes the day-old muffins and stuff down to the meetings to them.”

Fallyn felt put on the spot. “It’s only my third time doing it, but I like it.”

Carrigan looked at his empty bottle as if he wished for more beer to magically appear in it. “Did you want me to go with you to the hospital tomorrow?”

“No,” she replied without tact. “After the way you behaved today with James? I could use a break from all of you.”

Carrigan exhaled with relief. “Thank God. Going there is so stressful.”

Vince ran his thumb along the lip of his beer. “Not a fan of hospitals, Carri?”

Carrigan shook his head. “It’s not that. It’s what she does there. I usually can only make it through one hour, and then my nerves are shot for the day. I don’t think I could handle that tomorrow. I have big plans to actually rest on my day of rest.”

Killian filled in the blanks for Vince. “She goes there to hold the crack babies.”

“What?” Vince tilted his head at Fallyn. “Don’t they scream nonstop?”

“Yes, they do,” Carrigan responded for his sister. “They scream and shake no matter what you do. It’s awful.”

Fallyn shrugged. “It’s not so bad. They need to be held, but no one wants to do it. Those poor nurses have their hands full, so they appreciate being able to hand off the screamers to me for the morning.” When Vince looked at her as if she was a strange new breed, she felt the need to explain her choice. “Look, when Papa D started up the drug trade, it didn’t just affect the people who wanted to throw their lives away. We’re not allowed in your territory to help and make sure that poison doesn’t spread to ours, so this is one of the only ways I can actually help. The muffins take a tiny financial burden off the N.A. programs so they don’t have to worry about feeding their members. And the babies? Well, they’re going to have a hard life. Most of them are orphaned right after the mom gives birth to them. What’s that going to do for the city? Besides, if a bunch of babies throwing fits bothered me, I would’ve thrown in the towel on this lot a long time ago.” She pointed to her brothers, who stiffened. “There’s really just not that many ways for us to help you, Vince. This was all I could think of.” She lowered her voice. “I’ve been doing this at the hospital for months now. So if Tony or anyone gives you problems about making nice with us, know that we’ve had your back for a long time.”

Vince blinked up at her, floored. “I don’t know what to say.”

“I do,” she continued. “If Tony or anyone under you has a problem with you chasing the drug runners out of town, send them to the hospital to hold the crack babies with me. I’ll be there from nine till noon tomorrow. If they see the damage it’s doing to babies, hopefully those little screams will say more than you ever could. Maybe that’ll get through to them.”

“Not a bad idea,” Killian agreed.

Carrigan groaned. “One day I want you to tell me you’ve decided to volunteer at an amusement park or something awesome. Not something that makes me want to put my head through a window.”

Fallyn kissed her brothers goodnight and ruffled Vince’s perfect hair, casting him a shadow of a small smile before she left.