Page 32 of Colin (The Doherty Mafia)
She was naive like that.
She tried to roll him over and then saw his muddied eyes staring up at her with a gunshot wound in his chest where he’d bled out.
She screamed before falling faint on the grass beside him. Her scream had rung out around the estate and men came to her aid. Our father was informed, and knowing we were going to be on our way back home, he made the decision to not inform us until we got back in town.
So when I arrived at the house, men were standing guard everywhere on the estate. Our stepmother had locked herself in the bedroom and was refusing to come out. Isabelle, our stepsister, had tried coaxing her out and eventually given up and gone home.
Our father paced around the house, barking orders at everyone and losing his mind. The one thing that boiled his blood was anyone in his family being directly affected by what he considered to be ‘business’.
Aldo Baron was ‘business’, and he had just brought it into the home sphere.
Many years ago, our mother had been murdered in our own home. Not in this one because our father burned that house down in his anger. He never wanted us or anyone to step foot in that house again. And now his second wife had found her bodyguard lying dead in the garden.
It was obvious to all of us that he was losing his patience with Aldo. Maybe he had hoped the feud would go away. Maybe he wasn’t fully aware to what extent Aldo was willing to take this.
I knew because I was the one who had helped Aidan take down the Baron men who were about to kill Leah. It had to be done. And if Dad knew the kind of danger Leah was in, he would have done the same.
But now Aldo wanted revenge. His own step daughter was marrying Killian. His men had been gunned down.
Killing our stepmother’s bodyguard was only the beginning of the rest of the show he was going to put on.
And someone needed to fill our father in on it.
“I’ll do it. I’ll explain everything,” Aidan said when we were all in the room together. We said nothing, as he walked out to go search for Dad.
“So this is war,” Dad growled.
He stood behind his large desk in the office with his knuckles planted firmly on it. The rest of us were dotted around the room, standing with our feet apart and hands behind our backs. Like soldiers.
I could see the rage in our father’s eyes.
He’d been relying on us to take care of the Baron business—because he didn’t think it was going to turn into a serious problem. But it had.
“He decided it was war from the moment I refused to hand Reese back to him,” Killian spoke up.
Dad glared at him.
“She is not his property,” Killian reiterated, meeting our father’s eyes.
None of us knew what Dad was going to say. None of us knew how he really felt about Reese and Killian getting married. She was supposed to be our uncle’s bride after all. And now Connor was dead, and it was because of her.
“No, she is not. You have claimed her. You’re going to marry her, which makes her a Doherty. And that motherfucker doesn’t get to touch a hair on her head.” Our father spoke through gritted teeth.
And finally, we knew what he was really mad at—Aldo. Not Killian or Aidan.
I could see Killian breathe a sigh of relief at that.
“So, you’re telling me, it was Reese first and then Leah?” Dad turned to Aidan, who nodded at him.
“And next my wife,” Dad added. “So, he’s targeting the women.”
I breathed in deeply at that. This was why he was the head of the family. This was the reason why our father was considered to be one of the most respected and also the most feared mafia boss on this side of the country.
He spotted a trend with Aldo Baron which none of us had.
“So the first thing we have to do is amp up security around all the female members of this family. Whether they fucking like it or not,” he continued.
I had to look away.
I thought about Marley. She was at my apartment by herself, and if Dad was right, then she would need security too.
But she wasn't actually a member of the Doherty family. We were married, but it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like anyone other than my brothers would find out about her. Most of all, I didn’t want to have to explain it to my father.
So I said nothing.
It was just a matter of a few days, right? Once Marley saw what she needed to see in New York, once she had her fun, she’d leave and I wouldn’t have to think about her again.
