Chapter 152

Paulie scrubbed a hand over his face. "Don't make me do this."

My stomach dropped into my toes. "He meant to..."

"...Yeah."

I gave a strangled laugh. "Don't hold out now, Uncle Paulie."

He closed his eyes briefly and swore.

At some point, when I was twelve, Adam got hired for a job. The ultimate score. Paulie didn't know what the gig was, just that over a few months, Adam became withdrawn. One night shortly before my thirteenth birthday, my dad came to Paulie, scared. Whatever he was involved in, it was deep and deadly. In order to protect us, my father decided to leave. Pretend we didn't matter.