had walked out on Justine after telling her to move on with her life. There had been no other choice, even if he wished it otherwise. Wishing was a pointless endeavor for an underworld kingpin. He dealt in realities. Cold, hard truths. The prospect of danger around every corner.
“I will say it once more and you will listen. You’re a goddamn fool. Whatever you said had her running out of here in tears.”
Jack’s stomach rolled over, nausea and whiskey nearly making him gag. He took another sip, even though he hated it, hoping to numb the pain quicker. Beer took too long to get him drunk.
He hadn’t wanted to make her cry. She’d been the first one to realize how incompatible their lives were, not him. He’d merely agreed with her. Even if he’d been willing to try, seeing her point a gun at O’Shaughnessy had certainly changed his mind.
I want her to watch while I kill you.
Jesus, Jack couldn’t get the scene out of his head. They’d barely made it out alive. He couldn’t risk it ever again. Not with Justine, no matter how many tears she shed.
“You know it’s for the best,” he told Rye.
“What I know is that you have the chance for real happiness and you’re throwing it away.”
“Right,” he sneered. “A chance for O’Shaughnessy to find me when I least expect it. At least this way, I can kill him and get my business back.”
“You don’t need to do that. You don’t need to be Jack Mulligan anymore. Take her and go start over somewhere.”
The idea was ridiculous. “Hide under another name? Work as a plumber or a bank teller out in Omaha? I spent my life creating this for myself. Richer than my wildest dreams, respect and fear from the Bronx to the Battery. You think I’m going to let Trevor O’Shaughnessy take all that away?”
“So you’d rather be gutted or shot in the street like a dog? Because that’s what will eventually happen if you don’t get out.”
“You don’t know that.”
Rye sent up a bitter chuckle to the ceiling. “Of course I do. You cannot stay on top forever.”
“Yes, I can.”
“You idiot. You should get out, move in with your lady and start having little Mulligans.”
Jack’s hand curled into a fist. He liked the sound of that, so much that it made him angry because he knew he’d never have that kind of future. “No one from our world is allowed to do that, Rye. You should know that by now.”
“Clayton Madden did it.”
“In a manner of speaking. He’s living above what will soon be her casino like a hermit, but they aren’t married. And he didn’t have near the number of enemies that I do.”
“Close—and he also didn’t have near the number of loyal men, either.”
“I won’t corrupt her. You’re wasting your breath.”
“You think if you leave and go straight that you’re corrupting her?”
Why was Rye pushing this? “Someday this life will come back to seek vengeance on me. If not O’Shaughnessy then someone else. I will not watch her suffer for my choices.”
“Not if you walk away clean. Tell everyone what you’re doing, let it be known that you’re going straight.”
Frustration boiled in Jack’s veins, everything he hated and loved splitting apart his mind. He stood and threw his tumbler against the wall. “I almost got her killed!” he shouted. “Or raped. You should have heard what O’Shaughnessy said. Fuck, Rye. Don’t you get it?”
Several seconds passed. “Ah.” Rye nodded as if all the problems of the world suddenly made sense. “You love her.”
“You’re not listening to me, old man,” Jack growled.
“I hear every word, even the ones you aren’t speaking. You’re scared. You love her and you’re scared.”
Jack dropped back into the chair, put his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands. “How I feel doesn’t matter. Not anymore.”
“Wrong. You don’t believe me, fine. Why not go see the one person who can really help you?”
There was no doubt as to whom Rye referred. “And why would I bother?”
“Because you can’t hide out in this big house, alone, for the rest of your life, drinking and bowling yourself to death.”
“I won’t be alone.”
“Yes, you will,” Rye said. “Because Cooper and I won’t sit around and watch you destroy yourself. Go and talk to him, Jack.”
Jack blew out a long breath, bracing himself as he raised his hand to knock. Before his knuckles even met wood, however, the door swung open.