American Dynasty

T H I R T Y - T W O

Flynn cursed so profusely in Irish Stella could barely keep up with the syllables tumbling from his lips. "How did they find out?" Flynn demanded, running his hands through his hair. 

"Find out what?" Stella asked, her features marred with confusion. 

Flynn glanced at her before taking her hand. "It's hard to explain, doll. But you need to get out of here and out of sight. I-" 

A loud banging at the door interrupted him. "I do believe that would be them," Aiden said, raising an eyebrow. "How do you want to do this, Flynn?" 

Flynn's blue eyes darted between Aiden, Stella and the door. He grasped Stella's shoulders tightly and looked her dead in the eyes. "Hide." 

Stella gulped and nodded before disappearing into the kitchen. Brady came bolting down the stairs followed by Lachlan and five other enforcers. A couple of his hitmen and sharpshooters were close behind, already cocking their guns. Lachlan carried an enormous Tommy gun in his meat hooks for hands, looking ready to fire at anything that moved. Flynn watched them grimly as they all piled into the parlour. They were outnumbered three to one. The banging continued, and Flynn could hear Joe Masseria yelling his name. 

All of a sudden the door flew open. The biggest enforcer of Masseria's group had kicked it clean off its hinges. At once everyone raised their guns at each other, yelling and screaming. Flynn had his gun trained on Joe, Brady with his on Beppe. 

Joe spat at Flynn. "Scum. I should have known better than to trust a pikey." 

Flynn set his jaw. "Care to explain? I'm a little confused at what exactly made you want to kick down my door." "You know exactly what I'm talking about, you traitorous little shit! Vinny, bring him in!" The group parted to let a burly man through. In his hands he was dragging a worse for wear Eddie McGrath. 

"I'm sorry Flynn, I tried to hold out but they threatened to kill my son," Eddie tried to explain as he wretched and coughed up blood. 

Flynn's eyes narrowed. "You threatened to kill a kid?" 

"So?" Joe scoffed. "The kid is collateral, if anything." 

"How dare you." Flynn's heart leapt into his throat at the sound of Stella's voice behind them. 

"Stella?" Beppe croaked, lowering his pistol. 

Stella approached the group of men as if none of them were holding loaded guns. She looked Joe dead in the eyes. "You threatened to kill a helpless child?" 

"Stella, it's just business," Joe crooned, though his voice held a note of impatience. "Your father and I-" 

"And you," Stella rounded on Beppe, her eyes full of fury. "You condoned this? I'd expect nothing less from a monster like Giuseppe, but you? You're supposed to be the good man Matteo and I always knew you to be." 

Beppe sighed. "Stella, please would you simply-" 

Quicker than lightning Stella reached up and smacked her father hard across the face. Everyone present looked utterly shocked as the sound echoed in the room. "You do not get to patronize me, not after all you've done," Stella snarled. 

Beppe held his reddened cheek, staring at his daughter in disbelief. "Stella I-" 

"No," she said firmly. Father and daughter stared each other down defiantly, neither willing to budge. Everyone looked incredibly uncomfortable except for Joe, who was watching the scene with growing interest. 

"My, my, Beppe. It seems like your daughter has quite the mind of her own. My question is, exactly what were you doing here at this hour, my dear Stella?" Joe had directed the question at Stella but his unwavering attention was on Flynn.

Stella eyes flickered to Joe for only a moment. "Because I love him." 

"Stella!" Beppe looked utterly disgusted. "He's-he's Irish scum, he-" 

"Is more of a man than either of you will ever be," Stella retorted, nodding towards Joe. Flynn stepped forward finally coming out of his shocked daze. Stella carefully stepped back from her father until she was nestled at Flynn's side. 

"Stella, you do this and you are no longer a Biancardi," Beppe warned, his tone full of loathing. 

Stella lifted her chin and sniffed. "I think I stopped being a Biancardi a long time ago, Papà." 

Beppe's face contorted with fury as he lifted his gun and pointed it at Flynn. Before either him or Flynn could react, Stella snatched Brady's gun out of his hand and pressed it to Beppe's temple. Another shocked silence fell over the room. 

"Don't make me do something I'll regret," Stella whispered, her eyes full of tears. 

"You wouldn't," Beppe murmured, refusing to lower his gun. 

"Don't try me," Stella warned, placing her finger on the trigger. The silence was deafening, it was as if everyone in the room was collectively holding their breaths. After what felt like an eternity Beppe lowered his gun and holstered it at his hip. He glared at Flynn with pure hatred. 

"This isn't over." With that, he disappeared out the door. The other men looked around uncomfortably before following him out. 

Only Joe remained, studying Stella curiously. He grinned and winked at Flynn. "Told ya. She's a natural born killer." 

He tipped his hat at them and followed the rest of his group, whistling as he went. "Well that was quite a mood swing," Brady muttered, taking his gun back from Stella. 

Flynn pressed his lips together as he wrapped his arms around Stella's small frame. He breathed in the scent of her perfume she always wore, but nothing could comfort him at this point. "It's because he knows that I've now made a much more dangerous enemy in Beppe. I've taken the most precious thing in his life from him, and he won't stop until I'm dead."