Mafia King (Young Irish Rebels #2) - Vi Carter Page 0,51

home.”

Emma places her nearly untouched glass on the snooker table and starts to follow me from the room.

“I need to understand this, Shay. I’ve been raised to believe that every Northerner is as responsible as the next for our divided country. That Northerners are the enemy…”

I stop walking and spin on Emma. Fear dilates her eyes quickly, and I fucking hate it.

“That’s the problem with you Southerners. That’s why I betrayed my own. You can’t brand everyone up North as an enemy. There are innocent good people. People who died for a cause they weren’t fighting. Your family has educated you with their own version of the truth, and your da…” I’m looking at her again, the daughter of the most famous bomb maker. I shake my head, holding back the flames that fan my anger.

“What about him?” Emma’s cheeks turn red, yet she holds her head high. Madness dances in her eyes.

“He killed children, Emma. He took a command, and he didn’t question it. If they killed one bad person but took out 100 innocent people, to them, it was worth it.”

“My father makes bombs. I know that.” Her gaze glazes over. “But children?” She’s shaking her head, but I see it deep behind her wide green eyes, the doubt.

“Who gave the order? Hmmm, Lucian?” Fire flickers in her eyes, and it re-ignites my own.

“He did it without thinking. He just took an order to stay in their good graces.” I’m pointing at the wall like I can pinpoint where Lucian is— like he is the one to blame for all this.

Emma spins on her heel and marches down the hall.

“What are you doing?” I don’t move.

“I’m getting answers, Shay. I can’t live like this.”

I’m speeding after her, my feet pounding on the marble flooring. The moment my hands tighten on her waist, I lift her off the ground to make sure there is no way she can escape me. Panic has me tightening my hold on her small frame.

“Let me go.” She’s struggling to get out of my arms. She’s trying to reach into her pocket, the one that holds her knife. She gets it out as I give her some wriggle room, and she swings back easily.

I release her, her feet touch the ground. She swings the knife again; I grab it, allowing it to dig into my open palm. Pain pulsates up my arm, and blood drips onto the floor.

Emma releases the knife, her gaze darting between the blood droplets and my hand. She’s breathing heavy, tears pouring down her face. She’s looking at me like I just hurt her again. I have no idea what she’s going to do, but I don’t expect the scream that’s dragged from deep inside her. It barrels through the hall, filling up every available space with her pain. The knife clangs to the ground, and I think the worst. Did she get hurt during our struggle?

“Are you hurt?” I’m checking her over, but I don’t see any cuts or blood.

Her scream ceases, and tears continue to pour. “I’m not him.” She covers her mouth with her hands. “I’m not my father.” Her lips tremble as she stares at me.

Is this why she was placed in my care? To taunt me? To destroy the last piece of me I’ve managed to keep together?

“I didn’t hurt those children.” She’s sobbing, and I can’t even comfort her.

“I didn’t do it. I didn’t hurt them. I didn’t plant that bomb. I didn’t give the order.”

The air is thin, but with it is a release, like if it all goes, I’m free of the burden I carry. “No, you didn’t, Emma. I did.”

Her tears slow, and she’s staring at me like I’m the monster I am.

I bend down and pick up the knife from the ground. “I gave the order,” I say for the first time.

She’s shaking her head. Confusion fills her face. She has no idea what Liam O’Reagan dragged her into.

“I gave your father that order.” I make it crystal clear before leaving her on the hall floor.

Drugs, drink, women, and fighting; that’s what made me whole. When my da brought me into the Republican Army, all that power went straight to my head. I didn’t think. I didn’t care. If the order was given to pull the trigger, I did it without question.

I wanted to fly. I wanted to feel like I could control the uncontrollable. Lucian’s da was in charge at the time and took me under his wing. My