The Mafia Boss

Ch. 14: Please don't finish that sentence.

I quickly finish cleaning mine and Eva's wound and go in search of Torin, not finding him in any of his usual places. His office is empty and when his bedroom presents nothing but an empty space and a blank television that's perhaps as redundant as the fireplace, I decide to give up. If he's desperate to talk to me, I'm sure he'll find me. Or—at the very leave—send one of his men to find me for him. Besides, I've yet to check on Maeve and even though I know she's sleeping, I suddenly have the urge to be near her. Despite today's positive outcome, things could've gone a lot worse. Someone on security screwed up and although I'm sure Torin is already working on it, it still has me on edge. Shane is clearly desperate. He literally killed our entire family, so I don't know why I'm so surprised. I keeping hearing about all the horrible things he's done and is still doing and whilst I'm processing it all, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't having a hard time digesting everything. At the end of the day, he's my brother.

And he wasn't always like this.

"Torin?"

I find him sat in the centre of my bed, Maeve's head on his lap.

"I was looking for you."

His suit jacket is draped across the back of my armchair, leaving him in smart trousers and a white shirt. He must've changed quickly before coming in here.

"I thought I'd stay with her for a while."

I join him on the bed, carefully peeking at Maeve's peaceful face.

"She snores," he says, smiling.

"Yeah, she gets that from her dad."

He feigns outrage and it's the first time I'm witnessing his playful side since returning here.

"Is Finn mad?"

"He's furious."

I focus my attention on the bed sheets, pulling at a loose thread. "Is that bad for business?"

"Nothing I can't handle."

There's a moment of silence before I speak up. "I thought you handled yourself very well today."

He smiles, regarding me with suspicion. "Where's the catch?"

"There isn't one."

"There must be. Imogen Murphy doesn't pay compliments without reason."

I smile. "Maybe I'm just impressed."

He nods, lightly caressing Maeve's dark hair. "Bite told me what you did."

"What did I do?" I ask, unsure what exactly he's referring to.

Torin laughs. "Well, my favourite is that you told Finn Gallagher to get his own fucking chair."

I roll my eyes.

"But I was referring to your suggestion of putting more men on the perimeter."

"Oh. That."

"You might've saved lives today."

I shrug.

"Thank you."

I gaze into his eyes, truly feeling the magnitude of gratitude pouring from him.

"Did you see Shane today?" I ask.

I attempt to level my voice but fail dramatically when it trembles slightly.

"No. We found Katalina wondering the fields. His men must've dropped her off when they realised she wasn't Maeve."

"That doesn't make sense," I tell him. "Why waste a perfectly good opportunity to blackmail us?"

Torin shrugs, too busy looking at Maeve to give my question much thought.