Free Hard Up: A Military Mafia Romance by Vivian Wood

kill us in the first place,” growled Callum. “They brought this upon themselves. Can’t you talk some sense into them, negotiate on our behalf?” Callum hated to ask, but maybe his uncle was feeling generous today.
    Fallon gave a humorless chuckle.
    “Doubtful. You killed Antony Valetti.”
    That made Callum stop and stare at his uncle, taken aback. Why was he acting like this whole situation had a foregone conclusion already?
    “I know, but — “
    Fallon held up a hand, silenced Callum.
    “Yeah. And a hit on you changes things, says they know who and where you are. Big problem, since you don’t take orders from your father about who you run around with. You practically gave the order yourself when you came down here.”
    Callum kept his face carefully blank. There was an ocean of distance between him and his father. Hell, he’d joined the Navy at seventeen, just to escape the shadow of his old man.
    And that was back when he and his mother had lived in Stoneham, a quiet life in the suburbs of Boston. Barely seeing his father, except for holidays.
    Before his father had even truly come into power in the Cúram.
    “So they know where I am,” Callum said, changing the subject.
    “Yes. So what are we going to do about it?” Fallon asked, looking him dead in the eye.
    Callum was silent for a minute, unsure how to respond. When Callum didn’t answer, Fallon spoke again.
    “Callum, I want you to think very carefully about what you say next. Because you are family, and we don’t lie to one another.” Fallon took a breath. “Were you the one that killed Valetti? Because it wasn’t done with your gun, it was done with an old revolver.”
    Callum sucked in his breath. He hadn’t expected the Cúram to dig up the autopsy. He could lie, but… It seemed unwise, given that Fallon had come all this way to ask about it person.
    “It was the girl,” he admitted with a shrug. “I’d be dead without her.”
    Fallon looked speculative, folded his hands together.
    “You’re sleeping with her.” Fallon’s accusal was brief, so unsurprised that Callum almost didn’t naysay it.
    “No,” he said at last.
    His uncle made a face, whether at the pathetic lie or the idea that a girl wouldn’t sleep with Callum, he didn’t know.
    “What’s her name?”
    “Viola.”
    “Somebody’s gotta pay, and it ain’t gonna be more of our guys. She’s the only one who’s not family, you get me?”
    “We’re beyond that,” Callum pointed out. “They already killed two of our guys in the street.”
    Fallon stared at him for a long second, then nodded. “I know.”
    A thought sprung to Callum’s mind, something half-formed.
    “What if there’s another option? Vi saw a second guy turn tail and run. What about him?”
    Fallon brought his hand to his chin thoughtfully.
    “Another guy?” he said. He peered out his window, mulling it over. “That could work. If we can find him, that is.”
    “Let me try. I can get a description from her, put a bound and gagged order on him. We can scoop him up. If he thinks that the boss he saw murdered is dead, he needs to clean up the one loose end before he’s good to go back to New York.”
    The thought of Viola as a loose end was something Callum didn’t like to delve into too deeply.
    “Which is your girl,” Fallon nodded. After a moment, he said, “Okay.”
    “Okay?”
    “Okay, as in, you’ve got my approval temporarily . I’ll give you a few days to look into it.”
    “Thank you.”
    Fallon gave him a hard look, then shrugged. “It’s good for business.”
    Fallon glanced away, and Callum realized he was dismissed. Opening the door, he slid from the car. He straightened himself, nodding to Brian, and headed to his SUV.
    Declan was nowhere to be found. He didn’t care for authority figures, so that was no surprise.
    Pulling the car out, head full of swirling thoughts, he headed home.

    C allum came home to the sound of the treadmill going. Peeking in the gym, he found