“That’s bullshit,” Ronan shook his head. “People who worked for Gotti keep their mouths shut. Even still, let’s steer clear of him.” The last thing Ronan wanted was to get tangled up with a guy like that. He’d dealt with a few mobsters over the course of his career, Vito Dragonni, most notably, and the number one thing with those guys was loyalty. Lose that, and you sleep with the fishes.
The Taproom was empty, just as Ronan thought it would be. Fitz and Jude pushed two four-top tables together and got the kids settled in.
“What are we gonna do today?” Wolf asked, before shoving a huge bite of pancakes into his mouth.
“We’re gonna drive into Newport and do a little shopping and have lunch,” Cope said. “They also have an arcade with games and rides. After that we’ll come back to the hotel and spend the afternoon at the beach.”
“Maybe they’ll have cute sundresses we can wear on our dates!” Aurora clapped her hands together.
Wolf groaned out loud. “I don’t want to shop for dumb clothes.”
“There’s a shop that sells shark things, tee-shirts, hats, toys. Maybe we’ll go in there while the girls are looking at dresses?” Jude asked.
Wolf’s eyes lit up. “That sounds cool, Daddy!”
Ronan was about to say he wanted to come along too, when loud voices caught his attention. They sounded like they were coming from inside the bar kitchen. “What’s that?”
“It’s Lainie, she’s really upset.” Everly’s voice trembled as she spoke.
As Everly spoke, Lainie’s voice got louder. “Stop, Kurt! Just stop. I can’t take this anymore. We’re over.”
“We’re over whenIsay we’re over, got it, bitch?” Kurt shouted. A loud smack came just after.
Ronan and Jude were out of their seats and heading toward the bar when Lainie burst through the swinging doors. She held her right hand up to her cheek. Kurt was right behind her. He grabbed her ponytail and yanked her backward.
“Take your hands off her, now!” Ronan said, his voice low and menacing. His entire focus was on Kurt’s left hand, which was balled into a fist.
“Who the fuck are you?” Kurt snarled.
“Detectives,” Jude said. “Now do what my partner said and let her go.”
Kurt shoved Lainie into the bar. Several glasses clinked together and fell, crashing to the floor. He came around the bar, straight at Ronan. “Mind your own fucking business, pal. You don’t want a piece of me! I guarantee it!”
“Fitz, call 911,” Jude said, never taking his eyes off Kurt.
“No, don’t!” Lainie called out. “I’m fine. Really, I’m okay.” She rushed around the bar and came to Kurt’s side. She grabbed his balled up fist and tried to pull his fingers apart. “This was just a little disagreement.” She turned to Kurt. “I have prep work to do. You need to leave.”
Kurt took half a step toward Ronan, who didn’t budge. “You heard the lady. Get. Out. Now.”
“Suck my cock, fuckwad!” Without waiting for a response, Kurt turned and stormed out of the bar.
Ronan had several come-backs lined up, but remembered the kids were sitting a few feet behind him and didn’t want to traumatize Lainie any more than she already was. He heard Fitz on the phone with the police. He’d let them handle things from here. “Are you okay?” Ronan motioned toward her cheek.
Lainie pulled her hand away and there were raised, red finger marks. “Yeah, I’ll be fine.”
“The police will be here in a few minutes,” Jude said. “We all heard him slap you.”
“No, it’s okay.” Lainie offered a pleading look. “I just want to get back to work. This is the last full week I have left here. My tip money pays for books and things my scholarship doesn’t cover. After the summer ends, I’m going my own way when we get back home.”
“Was Kurt like this before you came to Hurricane Pointe?” Ronan asked, thinking about the research he and Tennyson had done the night before.
“No. Before we got here, Kurt was sweet and kind to everyone. A lot of guys flirted with me and asked me out, and it never once bothered him. In fact, he said that made him even prouder tobe my boyfriend. I actually thought he was the one, you know?” Lainie wore a wistful look.
“I do know,” Ronan agreed, “but there’s something Tennyson and I learned last night that might change things.”
“What do you mean?”
“Ten and I suspected your relationship with Kurt was exactly mirroring the relationship between Vivienne and Walt in 1933. We looked into arrest records for the years since the hotel reopened as Hurricane Point in the 1960s and found that once a year or so, there’s a report of domestic violence taking place on hotel grounds.”
