The Venetian and the Rum Runner - L.A. Witt Page 0,61

He sighed, eyes unfocused, but then he shook himself. “Anyhow. Robert and some other men went there a lot, and some Sicilians started coming. Started making trouble. My brother, he didn’t know they was all Black Hands, and one of his friends got in a fight with one. Broke his nose and cost him an eye.”

Carmine winced.

Danny took another drink, but he didn’t put down the glass. “Few nights later, the men was back, and they brought some more with them. Beat the holy hell out of all of them.” He swallowed hard and finally turned to Carmine. “Robert and two of the others died. Another’s never going to be himself again.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Aye. Well. When some Irishmen tangle with Sicilian gangsters…” He said it with as much bitterness as he’d had the night he’d first rejected Carmine’s proposal, but he sounded tired this time. Worn down and wrung out from carrying the weight of his brother’s violent end. With a sigh, he thumbed the rim of his glass. “My brothers and I, we all grieved of course, but Hugh…” Danny shook his head. “Hugh and Robert was close all their lives, and no matter how much Rowan and I told him that revenge would just mean more bloodshed, Hugh wouldn’t hear of it. So he joined the White Hands.”

Carmine exhaled. Danny didn’t need to say much more. There were still fragments remaining of the gang that had been the White Hands, but they’d mostly been crushed out of existence, and the fight had been long and bloody. Carmine had lost friends and a cousin to that particular battle for dominance between the Irish and Italian gangs.

Danny cleared his throat. “So all that’s left now is me and Rowan. He’s got a family, and he’s killing himself trying to keep Hugh’s family fed too.” He looked in Carmine’s eyes. “That’s why I came back. After I said I wouldn’t work for you. I don’t… I never wanted to be involved in this, but I can’t watch my kin starve. Especially not the children. And the lads in my crew—they was no better off. None of them.”

Nodding, Carmine quietly said, “I couldn’t watch mine starve neither.” He gestured around the underground office. “That’s why I’m here.”

They held each other’s gazes, and there was something like understanding in Danny’s eyes. Maybe they’d come to America on opposite sides of years-old battle lines, but they were just two men trying to survive in a city at war with itself. Maybe tonight, Danny could see that they weren’t so different, him and Carmine.

“I, um…” Danny’s eyes flicked down to the glass in his hand. “I suppose I should be going.”

“Right. Of course.” Carmine cleared his throat. “I’ve kept you longer than I should have.”

Danny made a mock toast, then finished his drink. He reached past Carmine to put down the empty glass. When he straightened, their eyes met again, and Carmine’s heart jumped. The room around them suddenly seemed huge, the enormous expanse emphasizing how little space remained between the two of them.

He took a breath, ready to say something, but Danny picked just that moment to let his eyes flick down. Right to Carmine’s lips. Back to his eyes.

Danny swallowed. Then Carmine did.

Blood pounded in Carmine’s ears as he and Danny stared at each other.

Maybe he’d gone mad, but he was somehow certain that the intense look in those blue eyes was an invitation, a plea, a demand.

Christ. Maybe they weren’t so different after all.

Abruptly, though, Danny stepped back and looked away. “I, um… I should go.”

“Right. Right. I’ll… I’ll see you after your next run.”

Danny nodded, and he headed for the door.

“Uh, Danny?”

Danny turned. “Hmm?”

Carmine held up the bundle of cash wrapped in butcher paper and string. “You forgot something.”

“Oh.” Danny laughed, the sound nervous and breathless, and Carmine couldn’t help getting a little breathless himself as Danny crossed the office again to take the bundle. “Sorry. Thank you.”

“It’s all right.” Carmine held it out.

Danny took it, but Carmine didn’t let go right away. For a couple of heartbeats, they stared at each other again.

Then Carmine released the bundle. Danny tucked it under his arm, and they held each other’s gazes while Carmine’s heart slammed into his ribs.

Without a word, Danny turned to go, and this time, Carmine let him. When the door shut behind Danny, Carmine released a breath.

What in God’s name had just happened?

Chapter 13

In the back of the butcher shop, Danny pulled off the hood and exhaled