Fearless Sinner (Empire of Sinners #3)

Chapter 29

Cillian

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Chloe is dancing, doing ballet. And she looks amazing. Like a magical dream come to life before me.

We’re at her studio, but she doesn’t know I’m watching her. She’s so lost in the music and her movements that I don’t know if she’s even on this planet. She looks like she’s fused with the melody and she and the music are one.

The same piece by Bach from the other day fills the room from corner to corner. She's had a music system installed, so she doesn’t need to use her phone. That said, she’s spoken of getting a pianist when her classes go live in September.

After we saw her mother at the hospital, she wanted to come here to the studio. I dropped her off and waited downstairs while I took a few calls, then I decided to head back up here to watch her.

She’s been coming out to practice almost every day since we got back from our honeymoon, so I didn’t want the current circumstances to interrupt her.

There’s a fuck of a lot going on outside these walls that I need to figure out and fix, but watching her dance soothes me nearly as much as being near her.

I have an army of men, but I can’t bring myself to leave her in the care of anyone who isn’t me.

I know there’s going to come a point when I have to, but I want to hold on a little longer. Just until my mind sharpens and I have the mental energy to think clearer.

Watching Chloe tames the beast living in my soul who wants to rip the world apart to obliterate his enemies so he can keep her safe.

I’d unleash him, but the problem in doing so is I only see red when I get like that. I don’t think straight. I kill anyone who gets in my way and I act purely on the will of the savage inside me.

I can’t do that with Lance. He’s using strategy to outsmart me, not muscle.

Dante, Jaxon, and Virgo—who refused to go to the safe house with Olivia—are coming to my place later tonight. We’re to review the evidence we have so far and plan out our next moves.

While Virgo is helping me, Olivia is staying at Dante’s house with his wife. I would have raised hell, but as far as safety goes, there’s probably nowhere safer than their place.

Seamus also refused to go to the safe house. I was told he cursed my men to hell and back yesterday and busied himself with the situation with the Gallaghers.

He is also coming to the meeting tonight because he wants to be present for all my meetings and involved in all plans, whether he plays an active role or not.

Once again, everything feels like it’s out of my hands and getting out of control.

But this—watching my wife dance—transports me to somewhere that’s not here.

Chloe has the grace of a swan, and I love that her body looks more athletic than willowy like most dancers I’ve come across.

The black sleeveless leotard she’s wearing with a soft pink chiffon skirt flowing around her hips accentuates her frame.

The way she moves, twirling and leaping, shows she was born to do this.

But I know she’s only operating at possibly forty percent of what she used to be able to do. She looks more stable than she did weeks ago, like she could summon that extra sixty percent of her talent in a heartbeat.

Chloe leaps through the air as the intensity of the music heightens, and then she twirls into a series of pirouettes until the music slows to a stop and she curtseys as if she’s performed for a full audience.

She stays in that curtsey for a few moments, as if she’s savoring the feeling of it.

It’s not until she lifts her head that she notices me and moves. She stares back at me with a deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression, and her full lips part.

I smile back at her and she brings a hand to her cheek.

“I didn’t know you were there.”

“I wanted to watch you while you were in your element.” I push away from the wall and make my way over to her.

I slip my arms around her tiny waist and pull her close. She rests her hands on my chest and gives me a little smile. For a moment, we feel the way we did weeks ago, and I enjoy the reprieve the universe is handing me.

“You’re amazing.” My voice is low and reverent, respectful of the magic she left in the air from her dancing.

“Thank you. I feel slightly stronger.”

“You look it.”

“The pain doesn’t get me so quickly now, but it’s there.”

“Don’t hurt yourself.”

She shakes her head. “I won’t. I just want to get myself in shape before my classes begin. Of course I love dancing, too. I wasn’t able to do much of it over the last… two years. It’s good to be able to do it now and here, in my very own studio. Thanks to you.”

I brush my nose against hers. “You deserve it, Chloe. Promise me you’ll always dance, no matter what.”

“I promise.” The softness in her eyes turns to worry, breaking the moment. “Do you have to leave me today?”

“No. Not today. I’m going to stay with you for the rest of the day.”

Hearing that seems to make her feel better. “Thank you, Cillian. After speaking to my mom about Harlan, I feel more nervous than ever.”

I could see that her mood took another nosedive the moment we left the hospital. She became silent, and we barely spoke to each other on the way here.

“Try not to. I’m taking care of everything. I don’t want you to worry.”

“But I do.”

I lift her chin so we’re eye to eye. “You have to try, lass.”

“Okay. I’m going to practice another half an hour, then we can head home.”

“Of course.”

“Will you watch me?”

“I’d love to.”

The smile returns to her eyes and her lips, then she saunters away and starts playing the next piece of music. She steps into a sequence and then molds with the music again.

I feel like I could watch her forever and like she’s the other half of my soul.

My life feels like it was given to me to exist with hers.

It’s a bitter-sweet truth in my heart.

“Don’t you ever try to send me to a safe house ever again.” Seamus’ eyes blaze and his skin flushes with rage as he walks toward me.

I’m standing by the drinks cabinet in my living room smoking a much-needed Cohiba cigar. Because Seamus wanted to speak to me in private, he decided to arrive ahead of the guys.

“I am your advisor,” Seamus continues. “Don’t you dare insult me like that again.”

I frown at him and take a long drag on the cigar. “Seamus, it was no insult. Going to the safe house is for your safety.”

“You heard me. The job of the advisor is to be at your side. You can’t do everything on your own. I know you think you can, but you can’t. These are dangerous times, and you need me.”

“Fine.”

“Nephew, don’t fine me. I’m serious. I’m the person you talk to, to brainstorm ideas. You can’t get this wrong. If you do, people die.”

This time I nod, because he’s right. “Noted, and I apologize.”

“Apology accepted,” he mumbles in a gruff voice. “How is Chloe?”

There are so many answers to that question, but he means how she’s holding up in the situation.

“Not good.”

“Where is she?”

“Upstairs talking to her cousin on the phone. I’m keeping an eye on her here. The only person I trust to keep her safe is me, but I know I need to be out there.”

“You do need to be out there. Stay with Chloe as much as you can, but remember you have trained men who are loyal to you. They will protect your wife with their lives.”

“I know. I just feel like Lance is always watching us.”

“That’s all the more reason to be on the battlefield, lad. We stand a better chance of getting him if we have you.”

“I’ll be out there tomorrow.” I don’t want to leave Chloe, but I have to resolve this mess. “I’m taking Chloe to the studio in the morning. When we get back here, I’ll head out.”

“I’ll stay with her tomorrow. I’ll be here when you get back.”

“That means a lot. What’s going on with the Gallaghers?”

Seamus scrunches his face up in displeasure. “Those bastards. They’re what you call backstabbers. I spoke to them and made them aware that you aren’t happy with their threats and it would be noted in the clan records. I also felt their actions were disrespectful because they wouldn’t do this to your father.”

“Thank you for pointing that out. I don’t want them as investors. I took a quick look at the board and the other investors. I think we’d be fine without them and whoever else they influenced to leave. We have the brewery in Ireland, and I have the shipping company. I’m a multi-billionaire just off my own back.”

“Then they can fuck off.”

I’m so surprised he agrees with me I nearly drop my cigar. “You’re not going to argue? The Gallaghers have invested with us for seventy years. That’s nearly for as long as the bank has been in our family.”

“You don’t need anyone who thinks it’s okay to make threats on you. Big or small. So, of course, I’m not going to argue. In fact, I was going to suggest the same.”

“Thank you for backing me, Uncle.”

“Always. I’ll speak to them in the morning and start the removal process.” He comes closer and rests his hand on my shoulder. “I must confess that I’m also backing you because I have hopes that you’ll stay with Chloe.”

“Uncle—”

“No, don’t.” He holds up his free hand to stop me. “Don’t say anything. I know how you feel. You’ve told me repeatedly, but that doesn’t stop me from hoping. Or advising you. I see the way you look at her. I see the way you protect her. I see the way you love her. Don’t tell me you don’t.”

“I do love her.”

“Then it’s a start. Hope always starts with something small, and if you can admit that to me, then I can keep my fingers crossed.” He gives me a warm smile.

Just then, the front door opens, and Dante, Virgo, and Jaxon walk in.

Seamus releases me, but he seals the hope of our conversation with a curt nod. And just like last time, his words stay with me.

“Hey, guys,” I say, putting out my cigar.

“Me in a safe house, Cillian? Really?” Virgo quirks a hard brow.

“Not you, too.”

“Of course, I’m going to say something. We have psychos running around making very real threats. Now’s the time you need me.”

“I know.”

“Olivia is safe. Let me worry about my wife.” He places emphasis on the word wife as if to remind me that Olivia is under his care now.

“Alright. I hear you.”

Jaxon holds up a memory stick. “This is the recording from the surveillance I set up in the hotel room. We’ve watched it already, but I thought we could go over it together quickly. We were also able to find a possible lead.”

“What?”

Jaxon looks at Dante, who takes over. “One of my lookouts found the place we think Harlan and Lance relocated to when they left New Jersey. I sent my men there to check it out and they found another note.” Dante pulls it out from his pocket and hands it to me.

It’s got the fucking smiling face with the eyes crossed out, along with the words Sorry I missed you.

“Motherfucker.” So much for my plans to smoke him out. I’d say that I have, but now he’s playing chicken with me to see who’s the bravest of them all.

“It’s like playing games with the Joker. He’s not just one step ahead, he knows how to put you ten places backwards. I say we should still check the place out.”

“I’ll do that tomorrow.” This shows I need to be on the streets.

“I’ll go with you.”

“Thanks. Let’s go to my office.”

We head there and I set up the flat screen TV on my wall to watch the recording.

I press Play, and the footage starts. Harlan walks into the hotel room and places a bag down.

It’s so strange to see him on here after so many weeks of looking for him. What’s stranger is seeing him in his final moments before his life was taken away from him.

I feel that regret again as I stare at him. He has a trusting face and looks like the kind of guy who would be more at home in a library or an accountancy firm. He doesn’t look like the backstabbing bastard who helped my biggest enemy screw with me.

As he opens the bag, a knock sounds on the door. When he opens it, two masked men wearing full black rush in. They’re both tall, but one is taller than the other.

The tallest one throws a punch in his face so hard that Harlan drops to the floor. Then he cowers like the coward he is. I’ve never known him to be a fighter. At least I was right about that.

The tall guy kicks him in the stomach repeatedly while Harlan begs him to stop.

“YA sdelal s vami,” the other guy says in Russian. Those words translate to ‘I’m done with you.’ I realize that’s fucking Lance Polinsky. But that’s not all—I think I recognize his voice.

“No, please. Don’t kill me. I did everything you said,” Harlan cries, but before he can even attempt to get up, Lance pulls out his gun and shoots him right in the head.

Harlan’s body shuts down as if it’s been switched off. He doesn’t even twitch. He just stops moving. Stops living.

Lance moves closer to Harlan and I keep my eyes glued to him. His movements and build seem familiar now, too. Very, very familiar.

I know this fucker. But who is he? And where the hell do I know him from?

He places the note—like a fucking calling card—on Harlan’s body, then he and the taller guy leave the room.

“Play the recording back to when Lance first spoke,” I ask Virgo because he’s next to me.

He rewinds the recording and I get up, moving closer to the TV.

“You recognize something,” Dante notes.

“His voice and…him. I know this guy.”

I narrow my eyes as I stare at the screen and watch the replay. I try to pick out the timbre of his voice and analyze his movements a little more.

I search my mind but can’t put my finger on who he is. He’s not one of my guards. They were all accounted for at the time this happened, and like Seamus said, my men are loyal to me.

“If those things are familiar to you, then Lance is someone you see regularly,” Seamus says, flicking his gaze from me to the screen.

“To cover all bases, I think we should investigate everyone we work with,” Jaxon suggests.

“Agreed,” Dante replies. “You said the guy at the warehouse told you that Lance is someone who walks amongst us. This confirms he’s been around you. Most probably talking to you and you didn’t know him.”

The same chill of terror from the other day coils through me, fucking with my mind again.

I look at the note on the table Dante gave me and realize that Lance is like death to me.

Not even with the help of the Creed, one of the most powerful groups of crime lords on this planet, have I managed to nail this bastard down.

I’m trying. God knows I’m fucking trying. But if I can’t catch him, it’s game over.

This man will continue to piss with me.

Then I'll start losing people the way I lost my parents.

I can’t let that happen, but how do I stop it?

Chloe fills my mind, and for the first time, I feel worse than ever just for thinking about her.

If this guy knows me, he’ll know my wife is my weakness. She’s the chink in my armor and the vulnerability to use to destroy me.

Because I love her.

No matter what my plans were, I’ve never hidden my love for Chloe from anyone. I didn’t just wear my heart on my sleeve.

I held it out for the world to see.