Rake: A Dark Boston Irish Mafia Romance (The Carneys Book 1) - Sophie Austin Page 0,65

The gun goes off, the report sharp in the barren cold. I’m screaming, and my brother’s eyes go wide.

But he doesn’t fall. Finn wrestles with P.J., who’s trying to push by him to get to Benjamin.

“What the fuck happened to you?” P.J. yells. “You hot for this bitch now or something?” He goes to pistol-whip Finn, but Finn lands a devastating punch in his stomach that makes him double over.

The gun flies out of his hand and lands at my feet. I feel like I’m moving through molasses as I reach down and pick up the weapon.

P.J. doesn’t notice and slams his shoulder into Finn’s waist, knocking him off his feet. He kicks him in the shoulder, then turns to face Benjamin.

He sees me approaching with the gun and laughs at me.

“Is this a joke?” he asks. “Give me the gun, sweetheart. Do you really think you can pull that trigger? No fucking way. You’re too soft.” He laughs. “Besides, I can think of more fun things we can do. You must be a real good lay if you got Finn here to take a bullet for your brother.”

That laugh.

That fucking laugh.

Disgusting fucking piece of shit.

“Don’t make me hurt you again,” P.J. says as I point the gun at him, my hand shaking.

“You won’t touch her,” Finn slurs, struggling to his feet.

“Sit down, Romeo.” P.J. elbows him in the head and blood sprays from his mouth.

Benjamin doesn’t know what to do. He’s looking frantically between me and P.J.

“Stop!” I scream.

P.J. rushes toward me and takes a swing. A wild haymaker. It connects with my cheek, and he kicks me in the chest. I taste blood as I fall to my knees.

But I still have the gun.

My brother howls my name again, and P.J. smashes his fist into my head once more.

“I don’t need a gun to fuck you up, honey.”

I shoot two rounds directly into P.J. Hennelly’s head.

He falls to the ground, his eyes open, blood pouring out of the wounds in his skull. I drop the gun and vomit.

My brother is on his phone, calling the cops.

Finn is up and limping toward me. He holds his shoulder, a blossom of blood spreading across his beautiful coat. He was shot protecting Benjamin.

I murmur his name and he drops to his knees next to me.

“Sasha,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

I clutch at his good arm. I can’t see straight. He’s saying something else, but I can’t hear him anymore. The snow falling around me looks like shooting stars.

I make a wish.

20

Sasha

I blink my eyes open slowly, the fuzzy, familiar warmth of painkillers offering me a false sense of comfort.

The smell of the hospital is familiar, but it takes me a minute to remember why I’m here.

And what happened.

Doherty Park. Again.

I killed someone. I took a life. Did I do it to save my brother or to get revenge? I don’t know how to answer that and the truth of it is, I may never know. And where is my brother? I try to sit up and groan as a wave of pain forces me to lay back down.

“Sasha!”

Jamilah sits next to me and clutches my arm.

“Baby,” she says, tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m so sorry this happened to you.”

“Benjamin?” I murmur, trying to contain my panic.

“He’s fine, honey. No injuries. He just had to use the bathroom. The police will want to talk to you both eventually, but since there isn’t a guardian present and Benjamin’s a minor…”

I close my eyes again to clear my head before reaching over to her.

“Sasha,” she sighs. “What am I going to do with you?”

I lick my lips so I can speak. “Did we win?”

She looks confused for a minute, but then squeezes my hand. “Only you could think of the election at a time like this. But we did. By a landslide.”

The relief that settles over me is indescribable. Again I’m not sure if it’s the satisfaction of revenge against Carney rather than the high-minded protection of the workers, but I suppose it doesn’t matter. Both could be true at the same time. And I knew how I’d get back at him again and help Finn at the same time.

Shit. Finn.

“Is Finn okay?” I ask.

“He’s in surgery,” Jamilah answers. “They didn’t tell me more than that.”

My brother comes back into the room and when he sees that I’m awake, he rushes over and grabs my hand.

“I thought he’d killed you,” he says, his eyes red and puffy. “I should’ve been the one to shoot