Unforgivable Secrets | One Mistake Away Series Bk 1 [Mob Romance]

Chapter 22 - Do You Love Her?

CONTENT WARNING: Language, Violence, Yada Yada. Enjoy ;)

---------------------------------------

Mason's POV:

The pub was dark, but classy, covered in Irish paraphernalia. Dim spotlights put emphasis on the booze on the wall. The countertop was a glossy, rich cherry wood along with nearly all the cabinets and cupboards. The chairs swiveled, covered in dark leather as the cushioning. The bartender spoke in a thick Irish accent, clearly a native of the country and not from around here. In a right mood, I would have been in awe, yet only negative energy flowed through me.

"Tomas, get my friend a strong drink. Put it on my tab." Smitty waved the tall, lean bartender down before taking a seat.

"Friend of yours?" I inquired, trying to pull myself out of the gutter. I was not a fun drinking partner right now.

"You could say that. I ran around with his twin when we were in high school. He stayed in Ireland to run the twin bar and Tomas came here to chase a girl and get this place going." Smitty shrugged, staring up at a soccer game on the flat screen.

"Take it he didn't get the girl?" My fingers smoothed out the stress lines wrinkling my forehead.

Smitty chuckled. "Oh he got the girl. Her daddy wasn't too thrilled, but they have three kids and a happy life."

Nodding, I sighed. The idea felt too far away to fantasize about.

"Do you love her?" Smitty fixed me with a look. "I mean willing to travel hundreds of miles to find her and take your time to win her over. The type of love that would have you begging at her feet. willing to die for her. Do you have that kind of love, Vitali?"

I stared at him barely taking the time to blink. "Yes." There was no hesitation because no matter how frustrated or disappointed in her decisions I was, at the end of the day I cared about her. I wanted her happy. I loved her with a love that I didn't understand.

"But at the end of the day, I don't agree with what she does. What happens when we make the decision to be together, to have kids, and her job puts our family in danger? What happens when we have police knocking on the door and our kids see their mother taken away? What happens when a bullet meant for someone else hits her? Or what if I make more enemies than I all ready have? Neither of our lives our designed to have a family, but I know it's what we both want. We're a ticking time bomb ready to self-destruct without any notice."

Tomas slid a dark colored drink over to me. He towel dried his hands, listening to our conversation. "If you love her you'll be willing to take the risk. Any marriage has risks. You could be a pastor and have an angry churchgoer shoot up your house over something stupid. You could be a fucking factory worker and happen to be at a movie with your family and an out of control gunman comes in firing at random. The world is not a safe place. Why put your life on hold for something that may never happen?"

"But both of our lives have more risks than the average person. We have a higher chance of something like that happening." I argued.

Shrugging, Tomas began wiping down the counter. "Are you willing to die a lonely man because you wouldn't take the chance?"

Swallowing, I thought about my brother --- my dead baby brother. They were right. "I killed my brother when we were teenagers. I swerved to miss a deer and he didn't survive the crash. I understand the risks of someone close dying and I don't want that to happen to anyone else."

Smitty stared at the bar, swirling his drink around. "And you'd do anything to spend a little more time with him, wouldn't you?"

Dropping my gaze, I blinked away the unnecessary emotion filling my eyes. My voice barely came out. "In a heartbeat."