Crush(94)

Silence filled the space between us as he let go of my arms. And then his hearty laughter echoed through the night sky. “Mark my words . . . someday you’ll change your mind.”

My phone buzzed and I carefully pulled it out of my pocket to sneak a peek. It was James and the text read, I finally scored.

“See, you know I’m right,” my grandfather gloated.

The smile on my face wasn’t meant for Gramps, but he didn’t know that and I wasn’t about to tell him what it was for.

The lecture that would ensue would be endless.

And I’d had enough of those for one night.



The wind picked up and snapped me back. My mind still a whirl, I tried to think this through. If Mickey had sought retribution for someone messing around with his wife, what would he have done if he killed his wife because of another guy—because of Patrick Flannigan?

Even if Frank didn’t think so, Mickey O’Shea could very well be the kingpin to this entire operation. He had motive and reason to go after Flannigan. But why wait so long? It didn’t make sense.

The Priest was someone, and if not Mickey, who? Michael? Payback for his mother’s death? Or someone else entirely?

I didn’t know the answers but was going to find them out. Frank gave Miles some names of former Dorchester Heights Gang members and he was going to ask around. We had to be close. There were too many coincidences. Too many connections. Too many deaths. And way too many threatening phone calls.

Shuddering, I moved faster through the alley. Elle’s hand was safely in mine. I needed to get us away from here, from the chaos. I had to escape this madness if only for the night. Still, even as I thought it, I knew it wouldn’t happen. Elle had to stay out of this. She shouldn’t be taking risks. I had to convince her. Before we turned the corner onto Tremont Street, I stopped. “We need to talk.”

Elle was shaking her head. “Logan, I know what you’re going to say and you know I can’t stay out of it. I have to protect that little girl, now more than ever. What if Lizzy married Michael because he was like our father? I don’t remember what my father was like with us when we were little. Maybe he was just as loving as Michael is with Clementine now. And where will that leave her?”

Elle was practically hysterical and although I didn’t want to understand her driving need, I did. In fact, I felt protective over Clementine myself.

“I have to be there for her, to make sure nothing bad happens to her.”

I pinned Elle against the brick wall. I needed to calm her down. Standing in front of her, I looked down into her terrified stare. “I promise you I will help you to ensure she grows up happy, healthy, and normal.”

Her eyes burned into mine. “You can’t make me that promise, Logan. There is no way you can do that. This is all me. I have to do this myself.”

The scent of her skin, the warmth in her tone, the pull of her body—they were all I needed to reassure myself that I could do this, that I could help her. I had to. I pressed my hands to the wall above her head. “Elle, I don’t want you to do anything tomorrow when you go visit Clementine. It’s too dangerous. Let Miles and me figure out a way to get the information we need and deliver it to Blanchet.”

She shook her head violently, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I know I’m the reason you’re in this situation with the DEA, why you’re still involved, but you can’t do anything with what you find out about Michael until I secure Clementine’s future. I mean it, Logan. You can’t.”

I lifted her chin. “Hey, don’t cry.”

Her head dropped to my shoulder and she started babbling. “If something happens to Michael, I don’t know what will happen to Clementine. I won’t be able to live with myself knowing I might have been the one to wreck her entire life.”

I pulled back. “Hey, that’s not going to happen.”

“It might. I don’t think Michael has named anyone as her guardian yet. If he goes to prison, she could become a ward of the state until custody is determined.”

“He hadn’t filed—”

She cut me off. “Promise me, Logan. Promise me.”

I clasped my hands to her face. I couldn’t stand to see her so upset. “I promise, Elle. I promise.”

Her eyes were wild now. “Even if Michael catches me, he won’t hurt me. He has no idea about the two of us and besides . . .” Her voice dropped off.

“Besides what?” I asked.

She stared at me for the longest time and then dropped her gaze. “He wants me to move in with him. He thinks I can help him become DA and then judge. He said if I do that, I can be a bigger part of Clementine’s life. That I could help raise her.”

The words were unexpected. They were like a hard punch to the gut, and once again I couldn’t breathe. “What the hell are you talking about?” I bit out.

She flinched at the harshness in my tone. “When I thought you left me, I spent the weekend at his house and he made me a proposition—if he could have me, I could have Clementine.”

Everything around me seemed to be moving. The earth was no longer steady. There was a great divide between Elle and me. My world felt like it was falling apart. I fixed her with a turbulent look. “He . . . propositioned you? And what, you’ve been considering it while f*cking me?”