Page 3 of Aidan (The Doherty Mafia)
First, I needed to go get some groceries for the apartment, so I headed to one nearby.
It just took me a few minutes in the store and soon, I was walking back to the apartment. As I walked, I could sense eyes on me.
At first, I thought I was just self conscious because I was back here and afraid of people watching me and judging me. How much did people around here know? Did they recognize me?
I kept my head down and hurried back to the apartment building, but the feeling didn’t leave me—of being watched. By the time I had the key in the lock, I was sure I could hear footsteps behind me.
I hurried to get the door open and two hands appeared on either side of me, pushing the door open and shoving me in.
It all happened so fast. One man wrapped his arms around me with one hand strapped to my mouth to keep me from screaming.
The other guy shut and locked the door.
“You breathe one word or make a sound and you’re dead,” the man hissed in my ear before releasing me. I fell backwards, banging against the wall while struggling to catch my breath.
I could still feel how tightly he had held me. Like he was going to squeeze the life out of me. I shuddered in fear because this seemed so unreal.
Who were they? What did they want?
But I had been warned not to say a word—and hadn’t I always been a girl who did what she was told?
They stood in front of me. Tall burly men with tattoos and beards. They snarled at me like wild animals and in that moment, I knew it was not a false threat. They really would kill me if I took one misstep.
“You’re Aidan’s chick, aren’t you?” one of them asked.
I shook my head because it wasn’t true. I hadn’t belonged to Aidan in a very long time.
“Don’t you fucking lie to me!” The other one lunged at me, pinching my cheeks with his thumbs and pulling me towards him. He gripped me so hard that my face ached. It felt like my neck was about to snap. I was convinced I was going to die.
“Yeah you are. We saw you two together. You liked riding his bike as much as you liked riding his dick.”
They laughed at that.
How did they recognize me? I didn’t even know who they were.
The guy gripping my cheeks released me.
“You should know you’re being watched, bitch,” he said.
“Someone from the Baron family will always be watching you,” the other one chimed in.
I didn’t know what he was talking about. I had never heard of the Baron family. I had a vague idea that Aidan’s father was involved in some under the rug business. That his family had connections with the Irish mafia—but nothing else. I was clueless.
But now, I was scared.
They turned to go and I almost breathed a sigh of relief at that. They were going to leave. But before they did, one of them lunged at me again, grabbing me by the back of my hair.
I could smell the stench of stale beer on his breath.
“We’re going to find him. This is war,” he snarled.
With tears streaming down my face, I fumbled with the lock until I was satisfied the door was finally locked. But that didn’t mean they wouldn’t return or they couldn’t kick the door in.
My body ached from being thrown around. I had goosebumps on my skin.
I didn’t even want to look through the shutters to see if they were still there. I was sure I had come to within inches of dying.
My first instinct was to reach for the phone and dial 911.
But what would the police do? How would they help me? And even if they came over here and took a statement, it didn’t mean they could keep me safe from being attacked again.
What if they targeted my mother in the hospital next?
I paced around the room, my phone clutched tightly in my hand.
The only other option I had was to call Aidan and tell him what happened. What they had threatened me with. After all, it seemed pretty obvious that this was connected to him, so maybe he would have some answers.
But after all these years—and after the way I disappeared from his life without an explanation—why would he even want to help me?
Two
Leah
I realized I’d dropped my bag of groceries outside when the men shoved me in. I was too afraid to even step outside and retrieve it.
I wasn’t sure how I would ever leave this apartment again.
However, I still hadn’t been able to decide what to do about Aidan.
My hand shook uncontrollably every time I looked at my phone and thought about getting in touch with him. Technically, it wouldn’t be hard to find him.
