Page 8 of Nolan (The Doherty Mafia)
“There is no need to talk about them.”
“But I want to know. I want to understand why they’re doing this.”
“They are the Irish mafia,” he replied.
That sent chills down my spine. The mafia? It was a territory I’d never ventured into before. They hadn’t really crossed my mind.
“You’ve got the mafia after you?”
Aldo nodded.
“Why do you think I’m hiding out here in isolation? These people are ruthless. They won’t hesitate to kill anything and anyone in their way.”
“But you have to stop them!”
Aldo smirked bitterly, still shaking his head. There was a distant look in his eyes, like he pictured them plundering through his home.
“I can’t stop them. I am just a businessman, my dear. You see how many men I have at my disposal? They have a whole army.”
It made me mad. It made me so mad. The idea that these assholes could come in and take this man’s life’s work away? Scare him into hiding? It was unfair.
“But maybe you don’t need an army of men,” I remarked.
Aldo turned to me, confused.
“You don’t have to worry your pretty little head over this. You don’t have to worry about me. You just focus on your work. On college. Building your own life. That is all I want now.”
“But I want to help you too, just like you’re going to help me. Isn’t that what my mother would have wanted?” I asked.
Aldo stared at me in disbelief.
“I don’t know how you can help me,” he said.
“We’ll think of something. You just have to tell me everything you know about this mafia family,” I replied.
Adrenaline flooded my veins. Suddenly, I felt very excited. I wanted to fight for justice. I wanted to help Aldo however I could. Most importantly, I wanted to make my mother proud—wherever she watched me from.
Four
Nolan
After spending most of the day in bed with the two chicks whose names I still didn’t know, I decided to finally show up at the family home. I was aware the meeting would’ve been long over.
So when I turned up, the rest of the family were lounging about the house, eating and drinking. But they were still talking about Aldo and what needed to be done about him.
Isabelle, our stepsister, seemed to be the only one remotely excited to see me. Tristan seemed to be avoiding me. Maybe he didn’t want to have an argument in front of the rest of the family.
“What was decided today at the meeting? Or is that something nobody wants to share with me?” I asked, standing in the middle, looking around the room for answers.
Some of the others stopped talking and exchanged looks.
“I made the brownies you like, Nolan, they’re in the kitchen. I’ll grab them for you.” It was Reese. My sister-in-law. She wanted to diffuse the situation and was just trying to be nice, but it only set me off more.
“I didn’t come here for the brownies,” I growled.
My brothers all turned to me now. They realized I was looking for a fight. If I was being honest with myself—I didn’t come here to have a quiet friendly chat with my family. I’d thought about them all morning and the ways in which I had been wronged.
“If you wanted to be a part of the conversation, you should’ve been here for the meeting,” Colin snapped.
Aidan held up a hand. He always tried to make peace amongst us. He usually failed because tensions ran high around here. It was Aldo Baron’s fault and the way he affected our business and our family—but we only had each other to take it out on.
“He’s here now and we could all sit down and talk about it,” Aidan said.
“If he was serious about being a part of the decisions we make, he’d turn up in time. We all did,” Colin snapped again.
“Where were you?” Brendan asked, narrowing his eyes on me.
All of a sudden, it seemed like my brothers had turned on me. I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Banging some chicks,” I snarled. Brendan rolled his eyes while Killian walked up to me calmly.
He sensed I was just pushing them, trying to trigger a bigger fight. He put his hands on my arms and I yanked away from him.
“Take a minute. Go get yourself a beer and come back here so we can talk calmly about this,” he said in a lower voice.
The only reason I walked away from him and out of that room was because he was our oldest brother. Second in command to our father. I knew there’d be some serious consequences if I disobeyed his orders.
But I knew I was very close to being done with this fuckin’ family.
I didn’t expect any of them to come find me.
I chain smoked in the garden by myself, wandering around the mazes. Our stepmother was obsessed with the garden and her roses and the place looked pretty good. But I didn’t notice the natural beauty of the garden today. I had other things on my mind—like how my family failed me. Or maybe I’d failed my family.
