“I’m not just a pretty face, Alejandro. Scommetto ce l’hai piccolo. Or if Italian isn’t to your liking, maybe Russian is. Nyet? Togda potseluy menya v zadnitsu, mudak.”
“Are those the only languages you know?” Rosa asks curiously before her brother has a chance to talk, completely unaware I just told Alejandro he has a small dick in one language and to kiss my ass in another.
“Depends on the enemy. Pays me well to know what people are saying about us.”
“I’ll take that into account in the future,” Alejandro spews, unimpressed.
When Colin clears his throat, his nonverbal way of telling me to knock it off, Rosa’s undivided attention falls from me to my cousin in the driver’s seat instead.
“Does every member in the Kelly clan have such linguistic versatility?” She directs the question at my cousin.
“Hell no. Colin barely speaks English. Isn’t that right?”
“Briseadh agus brú ar do chnámha,” he curses me in Gaelic.
Rosa’s gaze remains fixed on the rearview mirror, taking inventory of my cousin’s irate demeanor.
It’s only when she takes longer than considered dignified, staring at another man that isn’t her fiancé, that I realize it’s Colin’s marred, burnt features on the left side of his face and neck that have caught her interest.
Sometimes I forget that my cousin isn’t the prettiest thing to look at. Some women have too much of a frail stomach to even utter a dia dhuit when in his presence, while others like to add a bit of scary to their bedroom escapades and are all too eager to pull him by the hand into a dark corner just so they can jump on his face.
I wonder which end of the stick Rosa falls onto.
When she sees that I’ve caught her in the act, she instantly turns her face to the window once more, but not before I catch a glimpse of her crimson cheeks, almost as red as Colin’s hair. I’m not sure if it’s my overprotectiveness of my cousin that has me sitting up straighter in my seat and nipping our conversation in the bud, or if I don’t want to add further to her embarrassment by calling her out.
Whatever the reason, all I know is that Colin was right after all.
This wasn’t just your ordinary pickup.
Something tells me that after today, life as we know it will never be the same again.
Chapter 4
Colin
I keep my back flush against a pillar, vigilantly watching both entryways into the strip club. Even with my earpiece in and the men outside giving me the all-clear, I remain in my highly alert state.
Uncle Niall is keen on reminding me that I should relax more now that Tiernan is about to tie the knot, but old habits die hard. If one of our enemies decides to pull out of the treaty at the last minute, then this fucking bachelor party is the perfect opportunity to take us all out in one fell swoop.
Shay was thinking with his dick when he decided to throw his brother this fucking party on the night before his wedding. Not that it surprises me that Shay would pull this sort of stunt. What shocks the hell out of me is that Tiernan went for it.
But as my gaze lands on the Hernandez bastard in our midst and I watch him silently fume in his seat as our men enjoy a few lap dances from The Pit’s finest talent, I’m inclined to think Tiernan only gave the thumbs up to this bachelor party just to get on Alejandro’s last nerve.
Still, I would have preferred he’d come up with a different approach to fuck with his new brother-in-law than come to this crowded cesspool of a strip club. Anyone could easily come in undetected and hide a few well-placed bombs to blow us all to smithereens. At least that’s what I would have done to my enemies if given the chance.
Thankfully, I had ample time to come to The Pit earlier and scope the place out while Tiernan and Alejandro were conducting business back at his office downtown. One can’t be too careful, even if the consensus is that the Mafia Wars will be a thing of the past after tomorrow.
Wars don’t usually end with wedding receptions.
At least I’ve never seen it happen in my lifetime.
From the second-story balcony, I continue to stand guard as I watch most of our soldiers have a grand old time throwing dollar bills onto the stage, while the strippers shake their asses at them like they are in a bad rap video. Shay is making his rounds downstairs, ensuring that everyone is enjoying themselves, while Tiernan, Alejandro, and I sit in our VIP section, watching it all go down. The music is loud and obnoxious to my ears, as the half-naked girls continue to do their job at getting as much money out of our men’s pockets as they can. I guess I should be thankful that the girls handpicked to entertain us upstairs are keeping their dancing to the pole at the corner of the room, not brave enough to come to our table unless called upon.