She rolls her eyes as I release a thick laugh and we climb back into the towncar.
Once we leave Scarsdale, we return to Brooklyn. The sky’s turned even grayer and more overcast with clouds that threaten rain.
It takes us another half hour to reach the cemetery.
Killian stays by the SUV, giving us space, his eyes scanning the perimeter out of habit, a cigarette between his lips.
Even now, with Dren and his crew wiped out, old instincts die hard. We still have no shortage of enemies and have got to be ready at all times.
Lochlan’s grave is a simple affair. A polished headstone with his name and dates, a small plot of grass that the groundskeepers keep neatly trimmed.
There are no flowers or tokens of remembrance. The Callahans don’t do sentiment, and his widow, Cara, hasn’t had the strength to visit. Even less so now that she’s not only dealing with the death of her husband but her only son.
But today, Simone carries a bouquet of white lilies.
I stand in front of the headstone, my hands shoved in the pockets of my long coat, searching for what I even want to say.
“I avenged you,” I tell him. “Dren’s dead. The Albanians are finished. But it cost a high price. It cost us… your boy.Eddie.”
The name sits heavy on my tongue. My nephew. Lochlan’s son. The kid I watched grow up, taught to throw a punch, and hazed through his first years as a buttonman.
The traitor who sold us all out for revenge. He not only tried to kill me, he tried to kill my wife.
“He turned on the clan, Loch,” I explain gravely. “Turned on all of us. I had to put him down. You would’ve been ashamed of him. If you’d lived long enough to see it.”
I stare at the gravestone, unable to shake the gut feeling that’s been bothering me for days.
…ever since the moment I killed Dren.
I’d told him I was doing it for Lochlan and helaughed. The fucker told me I was clueless and had no idea what was going on.
I’ve turned it over and over again in my head, picking apart what the hell he could’ve been talking about.
Who the hell was Eddie working for?
He’d been so full of rage, so bitter about what happened to Lochlan, he decided to betray us and help the Albanians.
I look up, suddenly sensing eyes on us.
Scanning the cemetery, nobody else is around. It’s just me, Simone and Killian off by our vehicle.
So why the fuck does it feel like somebody’s watching us even now?
Simone steps forward and kneels, laying the lilies at the base of the headstone. “I never met him… but I’m sorry I lost a brother-in-law.”
“He would’ve liked how savvy you are. Loch was all about optics. But that’s how life goes sometimes,” I say, sliding an arm around her. I look around again, checking for anything unusual. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”
We turn and start back toward the SUV, leaving the flowers and my brother’s headstone behind.
Killian gives a respectful nod as we return then flicks his cigarette butt to the grass.
Seconds later, we’re pulling away from the cemetery. In the backseat, I reach for Simone’s hand. She lets me take it, her fingers warm and soft against my rougher ones. I lift her hand to my lips and press a kiss to the back of it, earning a smile out of her.
“You okay?” she asks.
“Just doing some thinking.” I hold onto her hand and watch the city roll past outside the window.
“About what?”