This Life II

by Dee, Cara

  That was a big maybe, though. And so was that window.

  “It’s very small, that window,” I noted. “You think any of you guys would be able to crawl in there?”

  Finnegan furrowed his brow at the picture, straightened up, folded his arms over his chest, and sucked his teeth. “Well, nothing’s set in stone.”

  I suppressed my smile, though when he shot me a quick wink, I couldn’t hide it anymore.

  “You’re right, son,” Shan said. “This is quite the obstacle course. We have to get over a seven-foot-high wall, past a yard with four guards and four dogs, then up to a second-story window none of us will fit into.”

  “Emilia and I would fit,” Luna muttered.

  I smashed my lips together and stared at her in disbelief.

  Was she on drugs?

  But then, the guffaws of literally all the guys caused my mood to shift, and I became annoyed. Okay, we weren’t trained, but they didn’t have to laugh at us. Assholes.

  “I love you, Luna,” Liam laughed. “Don’t ever change.”

  “Good one, squirt.” Kellan chuckled at his sister.

  “Anyway.” Finnegan grinned and twirled a finger to get back on track. “Pop’s right. We have a lot of obstacles. If we could guarantee one window being open on the second floor, we’d only need the camera drone. But we can’t. At least two men have to get in.” He turned to Eric. “Do you think we can use the grocery delivery?”

  Eric tapped away at the keys on his laptop, maybe pulling up the Avellino family’s account at that store?

  “Keep in mind that they probably have pictures of all of us,” Liam mentioned. “Most of us are known from before, but whoever wasn’t coulda been picked up by their drones.”

  Crap. I hadn’t thought of that. Then they knew what I looked like too. On the other hand, I’d already had a run-in with them.

  “The wife wouldn’t know,” Finnegan pointed out. “Probably not the local goons either. Most importantly, they wouldn’t expect to see us there.”

  “Every delivery in the archive has taken place on Thursday evenings,” Eric said.

  That was two days from now.

  “Hm.” Finnegan pinched his lips, visibly displeased. I knew he’d wanted to strike quickly. “Maybe if we create a diversion back home…”

  “That would be good either way,” Kellan said. “Give the rats a place to search.”

  Finnegan nodded slowly, thinking, and then he patted his pockets. For his smokes or painkillers, I guessed. “All right. Let’s take a break. Colm and Mack, you have an errand to run. Then I want Kellan, Eric, Liam, and Sullivan to join me in the garage.” He glanced over at me. “It looks like we’re staying, so if you want anything from the city, give the list to Mikey and Joel.”

  I nodded in understanding. There was plenty we needed.

  I supposed the fun was over for now.

  And it had been fun, when I thought about it. I liked being part of things.

  Luna and I lost a couple hours going through the house to see what we needed. Alec had a crazy-long wish list of snacks; apparently, he had a lot of Italian favorites, and it’d been “forever” since he’d vacationed here. Poor little rich boy.

  The men scattered; many went to catch some rest, and some hung out by the pool. Except for the ones Finnegan had disappeared with. The clock was ticking, and there was no sign of him. Given he hadn’t had breakfast and it was nearing four in the afternoon, I was wondering if he’d killed everyone in the garage.

  Luna took a nap too.

  I was growing restless. Maybe Sarah could sit at the pool all day, with a bottle of wine and a book she’d picked up at the airport. I couldn’t. I was even starting to dislike my dresses. I’d pretended for days without a break, and I wanted something casual. I wanted fun.

  I wanted excitement.

  Autumn and I chilled in the living room for an hour, but I couldn’t sit still. I kept looking toward the front door and the door to Luna’s bedroom.

  I wanted to know what she truly wanted. Did she get the same rush I did? But I didn’t want to turn into some criminal. Then again, wasn’t all this criminal? Christ. Life was easier when everything was black-and-white. But if I put it this way—what we did now, what our men were planning…I could justify that. Criminals had hurt us, and now we’d hurt them in return. I didn’t feel bad one bit about that.

  What the Sons did for a living on a regular basis was a whole other story. I couldn’t get behind grand theft. Or rather, I couldn’t be a part of it. It wasn’t like I could stop my husband from doing what he did.

  Well…

  Oh, shut up.

  I hadn’t been strong enough to turn Finnegan in to the police when I supposedly hated him. There wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell I’d be able to do it now when I was sickeningly in love with him.

  “Hey.”

  I swung my gaze toward the bedrooms and was nearly floored by the relief. Luna stood there, rubbing sleep from her eyes, her short hair pointing in every direction.

  “Finally.” I smiled and left the couch. “Wanna talk or work out or cure my boredom some other way?”

  Luna grinned sleepily and gathered her hair into a little ponytail. “We can work out. Do you need to borrow clothes?”

  “Yes. Yes, please.” Before I left the living room, I leaned over Autumn and kissed the top of her head. She was lost to the cartoons on her tablet.

  Once we were behind closed doors, Luna offered me a pair of army-green cargo shorts and a snug T-shirt that read “Born to Raise Hell,” and I instantly felt more like myself. The shorts ended right below my butt; they were loose and ridiculously comfy.

  “Oh, you’re keeping those threads,” Luna told me, eyeing me. “They’re perfect on you.”

  She and I were about the same height and build, so I didn’t think they looked any less good on her. But I beamed and said the shorts were too comfortable for me to decline.

  “So, you’re bored, huh?” She smirked slyly and stepped into a pair of yoga pants.

  “I keep thinking about earlier,” I admitted. “I’m done pretending, too. I want more.”

  Victory was written all over her face. “I knew it. Gah! I’m so glad you joined the family, Em. I’ve been waiting for someone like you.”

  I chuckled awkwardly and sat down on the edge of one of the beds. “Look. It’s not like we’re starting the Daughters of Munster, right? We’re just gonna try to be more active in this revenge operation.”

  Knowing my husband, it wouldn’t be a whole lot.

  Luna raised her brows, a slight smile playing on her lips, and she sat down next to me. “The Daughters of Munster has a sweet ring to it. You gotta admit.”

  I grinned and rolled my eyes, but on the inside, I was reeling. Did she want all that or not? Because it was starting to look a lot like it.

  “I’m not gonna overwhelm you.” She patted my knee and stood up. “I’m as bored as you are, and I wanna get involved. How far that would go, I’m not sure of yet. What I do know is that I wanna be the badassest badass that ever badassed. It makes me feel strong and confident—the opposite of what I feel when I gotta sit on the sidelines and be some clueless little damsel in distress.”

  She had my full agreement on that one.

  Butterflies wreaked havoc in my stomach at what all this could mean. The excitement was undeniable, as was the fear. We had a lot to talk about, though this was a good start. We wanted more. End of discussion for now.

  I’d never practiced Krav Maga with someone I was more evenly matched with. Finnegan had trained me in Washington; we’d headed into the woods and worked out for hours. And while he’d taught me so, so much, I felt this was a good next step for me.

  Luna and I brought our water bottles to the lawn on the other side of the pool, and the boys watching from the loungers seemed to lose interest during our warm-up. Or maybe they knew better than to look.

  After that, we got started.

  For each day that passe
d, Luna became more and more important to me. She was fierce, smart, and genuine. I looked up to her, and she brought out the best in me. She hadn’t done a lot of Krav Maga, but from an early age, Kellan had put her through all kinds of training, kung fu, tae kwon do, even street fighting. She was quick on her feet and didn’t hold back.

  Naturally, we fought with open palms and good-natured bops instead of fists and our hardest kicks, but that didn’t mean shit didn’t hurt.

  “Ouch!” A laugh burst out of me at the same time as my eyes welled up. She really didn’t hold back, and it was a freaking rush. I rubbed my chin after taking a smack to it, and Luna smirked and took a swig of water.

  “You could go all out with Finn,” she told me. “I’m no different. Come at me hard. It’s better we practice on each other and take a few blows that teach us something.”

  I nodded and wiped my forehead. She was right.

  Okay, I knew this. Krav Maga had quickly become my favorite. There were fewer rules, and it was all about self-defense. Knock down your opponent as swiftly as possible. Don’t wait and try to anticipate your enemy’s next move. Just fucking go for it.

  We cranked it up whenever we started a new round, including how forceful our hits were.

  I lost track of time and budding bruises.

  I ducked sideways and dodged a hand, immediately grabbing ahold of her elbow and yanking her back to my chest. Then I twisted it behind her, to which she threw back her head and knocked me on my forehead. The spark of determination was so strong that I completely ignored the pain. It fueled me instead.

  When she got free and tried to backhand me, I slapped away her hand and planted my knee in her stomach.

  The noises that escaped us were strings of hissing sounds, grunts, snarls, and the occasional huggh, hai, ouch, fuck, ahh, and hoh. Were we even human anymore?

  “Holy shit,” she laughed breathlessly after another round. She cupped her chin and touched her bottom lip.

  I was panting too hard to utter any words, but I saw she was bleeding from her lip.

  Worry slithered through me, and I was sure she could see it on my face.

  She shook her head. “I’m okay. Keep going. I fucking love this.”

  So did I.

  8

  Finnegan O’Shea

  Jesus Christ.

  I’d had a feeling Luna would be a bad influence on my wife.

  As if I didn’t have enough problems to deal with.

  Standing in the terrace doorway in the kitchen, I watched while Luna delivered one hell of a blow to Emilia’s rib cage. But rather than tumbling to the ground in pain, Emilia shoulder-checked Luna and sent her flying. And she didn’t stop. Emilia was on her again, with quick jabs and kicks until Luna declared defeat for that round.

  I’d practically grown up with Luna. She’d had a better—albeit forced—relationship with her and Kellan’s parents; Luna had hated them for pushing Kellan away for being queer, though she hadn’t been allowed to leave until she’d turned eighteen. But she’d still spent a lot of weekends with us, and she and I had never gotten along.

  She’d turned everything into a gender war, and my conservatism had been her favorite target. In response, I’d cranked it up around her and gotten immense joy from making her so angry that she’d cried.

  We’d both mellowed out since then, but now she posed a problem where Emilia was concerned.

  I already knew I’d married an adrenaline junkie in the making, and Luna was luring that side of Emilia out further.

  More than that, every primal fiber in me wanted to play with the results; I wanted to see what Emilia could become, how far she could go, which…was everything I didn’t need. In my world, Emilia belonged in the shadows. She was supposed to be docile, obedient, and busy raising kids.

  I sure as shite wouldn’t mind the last part, but the rest made my skin crawl. I’d grow bored and lose all respect for a wife who played the part of a doormat.

  So I was stuck.

  “She’s going to change the very foundation of our syndicate.” My pop’s quiet voice brought me back to the present, and I tilted my head as he came up to stand next to me. “They both will.” He turned to me slightly. “Unless you put a stop to it.”

  Put a stop to it…

  I faced the backyard again. Emilia had lost the last two fights, and now they were at it again.

  I flinched as my wife took a fist to her jaw. But goddamn, she didn’t relent for a fucking second.

  My men who were gathered around the pool were watching the girls, because they saw what I saw. A threat. A new dawn. I heard bits and pieces from Mack. He called them future assets. Thankfully, Liam was shaking his head. My cousin and I shared the same old-school values we’d grown up with. There wasn’t a fucking chance we’d let women into our syndicate, much less wives and sisters.

  Just the thought of having Emilia nearby anything I called work-related…

  Christ.

  Being on the run, we didn’t have much of a choice. But on a day-to-day basis? Get the fuck out.

  And that raised the million-dollar question: “How the fuck do I put a stop to that?”

  Right at that second, Pop and I watched Emilia struggle herself free of Luna’s hold, carry out two swift jabs to Luna’s throat and chest, then pull back and deliver a fantastic high-kick to the side of her head.

  I wouldn’t mind intervening with a couple points on strategy; a high-kick was bound to leave you vulnerable, but holy shit, she’d become good at this. Pride surged in my chest. That slip of a girl was my motherfucking wife.

  It hit me hard that she could be anything she wanted. She was building herself up, she was changing, she was growing into a powerful woman, and if I was honest, I wanted her next to me, never two paces behind.

  I just couldn’t reconcile that desire with the fact that I’d be constantly near a heart attack if she got close to danger. That, and, well, the Sons.

  “Our old-timers will never accept women in the syndicate,” I stated quietly.

  “No, they won’t,” Pop agreed. “Or maybe I should say we. I won’t either.”

  For what reason? My father had always been as strong and ruthless as he’d been kind and humble, but all that had changed when Ma was taken from us. He was a shell of his former self today, and everything terrified him. Shit that Pat and I had accomplished as kids was now out of the question if Pop had a say.

  I understood him. He was afraid to lose more people, but that was no way to live.

  Except when it’s about allowing women to work with us.

  That fear was valid.

  “Would you allow it?” Pop wondered.

  I shook my head, even though a part of me—that stupid thrill seeker in me—was changing his mind. “No,” I replied resolutely. “Over my dead body.” Legit. I wouldn’t go there. Even if a day came when all of me wanted Emilia to join—and I shuddered at the thought—I wouldn’t let it happen. “We’ll find some other way for the girls to get their excitement.” I gestured toward the living room. “Come on. The boys and I came up with a plan for Thursday.”

  The girls wanted to be present this time too.

  Couldn’t say I was surprised.

  Flushed and adorably banged-up from their workout, they leaned back against a wall while the guys filled the couches and then some.

  Liam took his place next to me, as did Eric.

  “Mikey’s gonna deliver the groceries on Thursday,” I started by saying. Mikey nodded once. We’d already talked to him. “A handful of us will find a secluded place on the route and intercept the delivery truck. Mikey will get behind the wheel, and he’ll get a drone into the house that Eric will operate from nearby.”

  Sullivan cleared his throat, a faint grin tugging at a scar along his cheek. “Doesn’t, uh, Mikey look a little too Irish?”

  A collective chuckle flitted through the living room, and I cracked a smirk too.

  “He’s the only one of us who’s fluent in Italian,” I repli
ed. Mikey’s pop had been stationed here or something, and the guy didn’t even have an accent. He was our best choice. “He’s going to Florence tomorrow for a nice little beauty appointment.”

  We weren’t exactly gonna turn him into some guido from Jersey, but he’d get a subtle tan, he was going to dye his hair a few shades darker, and he was getting contacts to hide those baby blues.

  “What’s the purpose of the drone?” Pop asked and lit up a smoke.

  Emilia rolled her eyes in the background, though I knew she wouldn’t tell my father off in front of everyone about the smoking.

  “When the coast is clear, it’ll administer sedatives to the dogs,” Liam answered. “We can’t rely on a schedule—we don’t know when they feed the dogs—and we wanna enter the property as late as possible. So Eric’s gonna construct four pockets with a release button to attach to the device.”

  “The sedatives will be stuffed inside treats or something?” Emilia guessed.

  I inclined my head. “Furthermore, we’ll already have a camera on the inside before we get there. A big bonus.”

  Luna looked skeptical. “The drones we shot down at the ranch were huge. How’s Eric’s drone going to fly around the villa undetected?”

  “Because it won’t be huge,” I drawled.

  She shot me an annoyed look.

  “The ones I bought aren’t bigger than racing drones,” Eric explained. “They’re about this big.” He closed his fist. “Plus the propellers.”

  I stuck my hands down into the pockets of my pants and moved on to the next obstacle. “If we succeed, that means the dogs are taken care of. And as Liam mentioned, we’re gonna enter in the middle of the night. We’ve dealt with nighttime security patrolling before. It’ll be quiet, easier to hear anyone approaching, and the general defenses will be down. These guards have likely never seen any action against their boss’s house, and they don’t walk around and think this night could be it.” I paused. “We’re looking at rounds a couple times every hour, but there’s no way we’ll have to deal with all of them. They gotta sleep sometime, and as far as we know, it’s the same four faces that appear on the footage we have—night and day. Meaning, they probably work in shifts.”