NAMES OF INTEREST:
New World Sparrows - often abbreviated to NWS. The members are known as Sparrows.
One of three global secret societies of criminals hidden in plain sight, mostly known for sex trafficking. Having infiltrated every aspect of US society, from the government to the courts to law enforcement agencies, they’ve escaped justice for their heinous crimes for decades.
Old World Sparrows - tied to the New World Sparrows. The oldest organization of the trio. Their territory is Europe.
Eastern Sparrows - the final Sparrow organization. Their territory is Asia.
Éire le chéile go deo - often abbreviated to ECD. The members are known as cheiles. An Irish organization dedicated to uniting Northern Ireland with the Republic and removing the British from their land.
Satan’s Sinners’ MC - a motorcycle club in West Orange, New Jersey. Allied to the Five Points. Led by Rex, the Prez.
Famigghia - Sicilian Mafia. Allied to the Five Points. Led by Luciu Valentini, the Don.
Russian Bratva, newly named The Forgotten Boys - Allied to the Five Points. Led by Maxim Lyanov, the Pakhan/Shukher.
United Brotherhood - An elite Russian version of the Masons. Led by Anton Kuznetsov.
PART 1
If you simply can’t understand why someone is grieving so much, for so long, then consider yourself fortunate that you do not understand.
- Joanne Cacciatore
1
CONOR
“Looks like they’re not coming for a friendly chat, Troy,” Star, the love of my life, hollered at the woman who we were trying to spare from being murdered as she loaded her SMG with a magazine of bullets. “They’re here to silence you. And to be honest, I’m not sure I fucking blame them, you pain in the goddamn ass.”
With Troy’s Range Rover doing a great impression of a burned-out shell, there was no denying the Sparrows had come in guns blazing.
As an Irish mobster who routinely pulled stunts that would give the average citizen nightmares, nothing could’ve readied me for the intensity that had overtaken the three women once Troy’s ride had been hit with an RPG from the highway.
If anyone believed that women were lesser than men, then they needed to see Lodestar, Dead To Me, and Troy gearing up for war while multitasking by bitching at one another.
“I managed to figure that out on my own, Lodestar,” Troy snarled back as she packed the holsters she wore on her hip with spare rounds. “Your digging around is probably the only fucking reason they’re on their way though. I bet Ovianar is dead and Dagda is under goddamn attack because of you.
“This is why I hated you in training. You were such a digger. You could never leave shit alone. See an unturned stone? Not for long. Star just has to overturn it and unleash Ebola on the world!”
“You managed to get those crosshairs on you all by yourself. I don’t think blaming Star when we’re here to save you is fair,” I growled.
“This isn’t helping,” was Dead To Me’s flat response. Her words were bland but her actions weren’t.
Having hauled the duffle bags we’d brought with us from the trunk, she was digging through our gear and kept shoving weapons at the bickering women while checking out the highway for incoming grenades.
Because she was right and because I hadn’t been handed a semi-automatic, I asked, “Where do I go?”
The bickering stopped, and Star’s eyes widened as she turned to me. The deepest welter of regret whispered into being in her expression, so sharp it took me aback, then she stormed over to me, grabbed my shirt, and shook me.
“You get your ass inside. You stay away from windows. You do not leave the building unless I call you. Do you understand?”
Tapping my loaded holster, I frowned at her. “I can shoot, Star. I’m not like you but I can goddamn defend myself and I can help—”
Troy sniffed. “Pretty boy like you ain’t got nothin’ in him but glittery jizz—”
My brows lifted at that. “Excuse me? What the fuck is glittery jizz?”
“All sparkly like, to make the bitches ooh and aah.”
“I’ve never made a bitch ooh and ahh—”
“I disagree,” Star butted in at the same time as Dead To Me snarled:
“We don’t have time for this.” D strapped a shotgun to her shoulder. “Conor, get your glittery jizz inside the goddamn house. This is our territory. I wouldn’t wade into a hacking war. We each have our strengths and there’s no shame in that.
“Plus, if Star thinks you’re wandering around, it’ll distract her and we don’t need her distracted. The three of us need to be hot shit.”
My mouth tightened but I nodded. I didn’t mind admitting that fighting in sieges wasn’t my strength, but… “I don’t have glittery jizz.”
The regret in Star’s eyes had dimmed some. “We can agree you’re a pretty boy, no?”
I sniffed. “If that’s supposed to make me feel better, it worked.”
She grinned, and that was the best thing I’d done the whole fucking day. If this was the last time—
No.
She wasn’t going to die.
I wasn’t going to die.
Troy rammed me in the side. I scowled at her as I accepted the SMG she handed me. “Glitter, you think you can handle this?”
“I know how to use it, yeah,” I growled. “And it’s aCooooig, thank you very much. If you don’t want me to call you Helen or The Face, then I won’t, but only if you drop this Glitter bullshit.”
It was her turn to sniff. “Don’t go G.I. Joe on us. Just head to the second floor. To the east, there’s a long corridor that leads to a door at the end of the hall. First on the right, that’s where you stand. You stay there. You guard that fucking door with your life, do you hear me?”
“You want me to guard a door?” This Australian Shepherd shit was coming back to bite me in the ass.
“I do. Got a problem with that, Conor?”
Pointing the gun at the ground, I stated, “No, I don’t have a problem with that.” Just with her.
Bitch.
She dipped her chin. “Anything happens to us—”
“It won’t,” Star snapped. “We got shit to do today and dying ain’t on the list.”
“You two have your EarPods, right?” I inserted quickly, ducking into the trunk to collect my laptop.
“We do,” Star confirmed.
“Got them,” Dead To Me asserted.
“I’ll open up a channel.”
“Can you link me in on it?”
Nodding at Troy, I said, “Will do.”
Swallowing, Star cupped my face and pressed a hard kiss to my lips. “I love you, Conor O’Donnelly.”
My eyes flared wide. “I want to hear that again when you aren’t trying to convince us we’re not going to die, okay?”
“Okay.”
Another hard kiss and I was dumping my shit on the ground and hauling her into me. I only pulled back long enough to growl, “I love you too, Star Sullivan.”