Enzo (Jinx Tattoos 1)

“No, Keir. You can’t, because the Army becomes your life, and everything revolves around that. Listen, we’ll come to you at the gallery.” She hung up, sick of his voice. She walked to her mother’s door and knocked. When it opened, she found herself staring down the barrel of a gun. “Jaysus, Mary, and Joseph, Mother!”

“Couldn’t be too careful. I was afraid they’d found you and were using you as bait—whose bairn is that?”

“Mine?”

She narrowed her eyes. “Aibhlinn Marie Leahy, get your ass in here and start talking. And I want the truth, not whatever trumped up bullshit you’re feeding other people.”

She snickered. “Aye, Mum.” She then explained it all. It felt good getting everything off her chest.

“Sounds to me like the two of you gave that little girl a better life. Sometimes, things aren’t black and white. I know the way we brought you up has scarred you. Those bad memories have a way of lingering. But this isn’t that, and Enzo is nothing like your father. His connection with the MC is friendly, and not a bad one to have. When trouble comes around, they’ll stand by him. That’s smart. You aren’t me. You won’t make the same mistakes I did. And to he honest, I didn’t know any other way. All the boys were the Army growing up. It didn’t occur to me to date someone who wasn’t. You have a better life. I made damn sure of that. So, we’ll handle this and you and Enzo and Aoife will go on and be happy.”

“What are we going to do, Mom? From what I can tell, they want to smuggle art. Hell, I think they already were.”

“I can’t believe that bitch Maureen would play me like this. I was trying to get her boy out of this shite.” She shook her head.

“He made it sound like he didn’t have a choice,” Aibhlinn said.

“Don’t you get soft on me now, girl,” her mother warned, bouncing a happy Aoife on her knee. “You got too much to lose.”

“I know, Mum.”

“First

thing you need to do is call your man and let him know what’s going on.”

“No way, I could put him and Aoife in danger—”

“The worst thing you could do right now is try to handle it on your own.” She shook her head. “They try to use fear to isolate you and then they exploit.”

She bowed her head. Her mother had far more experience with the Army. She would be a fool to ignore her advice.

“Then it’s settled. Call him now.”

“Fine.”

“Ack, you’re so stubborn. It’s payback for the hell I gave me own mum.”

“How can you be so calm right now?” Aibhlinn asked, flustered.

“Because we’re out from under their thumb. This isn’t their turf. If anything, they’re putting feelers out for a new venture. It costs money to fund bombs, guns, and extortion, but they won’t be making a penny more on the backs of our family.”

With her mother fired up, she couldn’t help but feel better. As the matriarch of the family, she had a strong sway.

Pulling her phone from the diaper bag, she phoned Enzo.

“Hey, Ave, everything okay?”

“No, we have a problem,” she said.

Chapter Twelve

Enzo

He’d never known anger like this. He could literally kill the bastard with his bare hands if given the chance.

“You have to chill, brother. We have to know the game they’re playing before we move in,” Snake advised.

“It’s an insult for the IRA to try to move their shit in here under our noses,” Big Mike stated. The massive black man had been the acting President for the past ten years and he had a reputation for a reason. While he was fair and pleasant most of the time, he didn’t tolerate betrayal or disrespect. He’d been a nomad for ten years, and the wildness in him still remained.