PUSH: Ultra Alpha MMA Badboy Mafia Romance (Southside Brotherhood Book 2) (53 page)

“Of course you do. You need rest. A lot. I’m not working you out for at least a week, so go. Get out of here. I’ll call Simon and let him know. Then, we’ll figure out when you can come and make this official. You’re a crazy ass, kid, but you can take a beating and dish it out — even in your shape. It’s gonna be a wild ride with you; I can see it.”

***

Flynn couldn’t stop the dangling ends gnawing at him. He had to figure out how to get Lilly’s mom here, how to save the one person that Lilly needed besides him.

It was his responsibility. His promise. Somehow, he had to unravel this piece of the puzzle before anything else had a chance to go wrong.

The gym parking lot was full of blowing trash and Flynn made his way to the Bronco, his head swimming with ways to get enough cash to get Abigail here, how to get her the treatment she needed.

To save her.

To keep his promise.

He had the codes for the accounts, but getting at the money would take at least a few days. With what happened last night, he wasn’t sure how much time he had. Colin was out there somewhere, and he would finish things eventually.

And, he still needed to find his father before he found him. Now that Flynn knew he wanted him dead, the timeline for achieving his goals had become tighter, with less room for error.

Who knew if Colin had ever even intended to bring Abigail? He had been pushing Lilly to complete the critical juncture of her part of the project
before
the wedding. The code inside her brain would already have been written in, then it would have been just a matter of maintaining it. Maybe he’d never intended to bring Lilly’s mother at all. Or worse, maybe he'd intended to continue to hold Lilly's dying mother as his own personal bargaining chip for as long as she'd lived.

All Flynn knew was that he was on a damn short fuse, and somehow he needed help. Money and help. Some things you can’t do alone.

Standing in the back parking lot of Southside, Flynn walked slowly toward the Bronco. His head still filled with all the ways he needed to bring this shit storm to a close.

He had to get to the old man. Somehow, they would figure something out. Topher had to have enough to pay. Then, it was just getting her here and convincing the doctors to keep up their end of the bargain, whatever it was that Colin had set up.

He leaned on the hood of the Bronco, his ribs still giving him quiet reminders they needed time to heal.

The white paint on the hood dotted with small, shiny circles. He didn’t feel the rain, but he knew it was raining.

Then, there was another sound. Low and distinctive. Flynn caught the long, black movement out of the corner of his eye.

Flynn thought that it must be Colin’s limo coming for him so he slipped around the side of the Bronco. He reached behind him, wrapping his fingers around the cold metal, moving the gun to the front of his jeans before pulling his t-shirt over and taking a deep breath. His mind slowed, buzzing but ready to do what needed to be done.

Flynn cocked his head to the side, getting a glimpse of the sleek, black paint. The sound of the engine. He could even feel the heat from the long, black Lincoln’s exhaust as it pulled next to him.

Here it fucking is. The moment.

He didn’t turn quickly. If Colin wanted to run him down or shoot him down, that would already be done.

No, his father liked to do things with style, so he knew he would have at least a minute to think before he sprayed his brains all over the pretty, black interior of the stretch Lincoln.

He drew in as deep a breath as the pain would allow. Then, he spun on his left foot and tried to make sense of the unexpected face that appeared as the blackened window lowered.

“Get in.” Topher said as he jerked his head toward the inside of the car.

The limo smelled like wet cigar. Colin and Topher both had black limousines, but Colin would never allow anyone to smoke inside his.

The car was warmer than it need be.

Topher’s round, red face stared straight ahead, and Flynn lowered himself into the seat across from Lilly’s father.

Neither spoke but instead sat in silence, measuring each other for a long moment. Topher chewed the ever-present cigar butt, and Flynn wondered if it was always the same one or if they did actually get smoked and sucked on between the big man’s fat lips.

Flynn’s leg began to twitch and shake up and down. The adrenaline high was still rushing blood from his extremities to his heart. He had been one trigger pull away from sending a bullet into his father’s head but instead, he was quietly sitting in a limo with Lilly’s sperm donor.

“So. We got some business to discuss.” Topher’s tone stayed level and low, but Flynn could still hear the tension.

“Do we?”

“Don’t be a fuck. I’m not here to paint some damn picture, so I’m going to give you the short version.”

Topher leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees, and Flynn felt the spinning start in his head again, shadows of Lilly’s face in front of him. He was looking into her eyes seated in her father’s face and it pushed him off his game for a moment.

“I have shit to do to.” Flynn said. He didn’t have time for dick swinging. “
You came
to me, so don’t
you
be a fuck and prance around like a damn peacock. You got something to say, get it the fuck out. I’ve had a long, fucking night,” Flynn said.

“Yeah. I was there; I watched you die. Damn near heard your neck snap from where I was sitting. How come you ain’t dead?”

“Because I have shit to do. You here to finish me off? Because, just so you know, I’m not going.” Flynn reached into his belt, pulled his T-shirt up and over the black handle.

“Put your dick back in your pants, kid. I’m not here to do your father’s dirty work. I ain’t the one whose been his bitch all these years.” Topher threw that out there like a baited hook, but Flynn didn’t bite. “There’s something I need to know. What kind of man are you? Does that sick shit run in your blood?”

“No. I was here, waiting for him to take care of it myself. So, no, that
shit
doesn’t run in my blood.”

Flynn kept his eyes keened on the old gangster, with his insipid hat and his enormous belly hanging over his straining belt. His suit jacket was open and his pressed white shirt pulled at the buttons. The old man looked calm, but Flynn knew his senses were sharp. He was evaluating, testing.

“Here’s the deal,” Topher continued after the silence had done its job and raised the tension in the back of the car. “I know about you and Lilly. I’ve been a shit of a father, but I telling you, you ever hurt her, you’ll be taking the same trip as your father. Got it? But, you and your brother need to step the fuck up, you understand? Keep this deal moving, keep this SPIN business on the rails.”

Flynn blinked. His leg stopped thumping up and down as he tried to process what he was hearing in the old man’s cryptic code.

“A trip?” Flynn asked, zeroing in on that one word.

“Yup, a trip. A long fucking trip.” Topher pulled the wet cigar butt from the corner of his mouth and stared at Flynn.

“Okay.” Flynn kept his composure. But, it almost killed him not to break into a damn song, he was so fucking relieved. Clearly, Mac had done his job. Gotten to Topher and whoever else, and the clear decision was that there are things that even cross the line in our world.

“I’m going to tell you something,” Topher continued. “And you better tell that fuck of a brother of yours. Some things will not go unpunished. Even in our world. Some things, you have to pay for, you get me? You boys better rethink your father’s business strategy, got it?”

“That’s it? That’s the only reason? Mac showed you the info I gave him?”

“Yep.”

“I’m going to marry her. I’ll take her away if I have to,” Flynn said, shifting gears to what mattered to him most.

“I know you will. She needs to be a Dunleavy; that was the deal. I expect you to make it right, boy. Got it? I’ve not been there for her when I should, but—” Topher coughed before he caught his words and continued. “I’m gonna tell you something…”

He looked out the blackened window, the car still humming under them.

“I loved her mother. Like you love her. I have a heart. I’m not going to fuck with her life anymore. You take care of her, and we won’t have a problem. But, I’m going to be here, if she chooses to come to me, I’ll be here from now on.”

“Why’d you never take care of her before?” Flynn wasn’t sure he even wanted to know but the question just tumbled out.

Topher drummed his sausage fingers on his knees for a moment.

“Because I was young and stupid and bitter. Then, time passed and I was a hard hearted fuck. Told myself it was just how it was done. I never tried to find out how they were, what kind of life they had. That’s on me now, I doubt Lilly will ever forgive me, but if she ever wants something between us, I’m going to be here for her. I can’t fix the past, but I’ll try to be here now. It’s up to her. I’m not going to push.”

“I need something from you.”

“What?” Topher narrowed his eyes. It was obvious his torch was not carried for Flynn.

“It’s important. It’s not for me; it’s for her.”

Chapter Forty-one

“What?” Lilly looked exasperated.

“It’s yours.”

“How? I mean, what’s going—”

“There is a lot going on babe, but right now, you just need to be happy. It’s the first of a lot of good news coming. Just be patient.”

She kept looking at the signed deed to Mac’s lake house in her hand, then back to Flynn, eyes wide, pushing the same piece of hair back behind her ear five times.

“Babe, take a breath. Everything is going to be okay. I told you. Now, pack up ‘cause I have some plans for your ass.”

“You cannot be serious. I see that look in your eyes, Flynn Dunleavy. I know what you want.”

“I want what’s mine. Come on, I’ve got a major hard on right now, and you are the only thing I need.”

After a couple rounds of ass up, face down, Flynn could feel the exhaustion hit him like a wall.

After they stopped clawing each other, he took her to the place he loved second only to being inside of her. In the tub, with the hot water and her softness against him, he felt his body and mind relax for the first time in weeks.

He let his hands wander over the curve of her neck, her glorious tits, and down to softly stroke her belly, wondering if they were already making some Dunleavy magic inside there.

“You know, your Dad loved your Mom. It was Mac that sent her away when she was pregnant, not your Dad.”

Flynn didn’t even realize he’d wanted to tell her that before the words were already out of his mouth.

“What? Mac?”

“Yep. He hates himself for it now, but things were different then. Your Dad didn’t want you to go, I mean your mom — and you were kind of luggage back then, but really. Mac said it broke Topher’s heart. He was never the same after. Said he turned away from everything and everyone. Couldn’t even think about you and your mom.”

“Wow, my mom didn’t talk about him much. But a couple times, I got the feeling she really loved him too. Like, once in a lifetime kind of love. She always looked so sad whenever she said his name. Would change the subject.”

“Star-crossed lovers.” Flynn leaned his head back on the end of the tub and closed his eyes.

“Sometimes you only get one chance. I’m glad you didn’t let me give up. Thank you.”

Lilly’s hands covered Flynn’s under the water as they rested on her belly, turning her cheek against the flat of his chest, the sound of his heart filling her ear.

“No problem, babe. I’ve got you. I’ve got us.” Flynn was suddenly so sleepy, he barely got the words out.

“Yeah? Well, I’ve got you too, Mr. Dunleavy, and I’m taking you to bed.
To sleep
this time. Come on you, you’re going to slip under the water and drown.”

Flynn slept like the dead for fourteen hours, then woke to the smell of fresh bread in the oven and roast beef and potatoes mingling in to taunt and tease his growling stomach.

The sound of the piano in the living room playing an unknown melody, light and sad but romantic, drifted on the comforting smells, and Lilly’s voice danced on top of it all like enchanted wind chimes.

He finally recognized the music, an Irish folk song about love and loss and whiskey. It lulled him and woke him at the same time, and Flynn dragged his hand through his hair with a smile, his bare feet moving across the old, wooden floor toward the sights, sounds and smells of a life he hadn't known existed except on the pages of books and in some enchanted other world where families like his were not allowed.

As sleep had dragged him under last night, Flynn had held onto his consciousness long enough to tell Lilly all about Topher taking care of getting her mother here. The money, everything. He even said he would get her here next week, as soon as she could get on the plane.

Lilly’s face had lit up with a joy that Flynn hoped he could give her over and over in the next seventy years. Bringing her happiness gave him his own, and he knew this was how their lives were meant to be.