The Apprentice (The Killough Company #4)

Chapter 9

9

FIONN

I spent the morning trying to think of what to say to Daire and came up with nothing, so we got ready in a silence I didn’t particularly enjoy. He sent me off to brush my teeth first, and by the time I left the en suite, he had one of my suits lying on the bed. I assumed Daire had a Company man drop it off, but I didn’t gather the courage to ask about it.

Once I slipped the suit on—an olive dress shirt with a forest green vest and jacket and light brown pants—I left the bedroom and headed along the hallway, then down the black steel stairs.

Daire was in the open-plan kitchen, wearing a dark charcoal suit with a black shirt, staring down in front of himself. I couldn’t see what he was looking at because of the large island blocking my view, but I didn’t have to guess before a bark gave me the answer to my unasked question.

He nodded and grinned, then laughed as he grabbed a piece of meat off a plate on the counter and passed it to one of the dogs. “Good girl.”

The sultriness of his praise sent a shiver down my spine. I inhaled, closing my eyes for a moment to remind myself that I’d firmly decided last night it was time to move on. Opening my eyes again, I forced a smile and strode over to the kitchen.

Daire glanced up at me and the smile fell off his lips. His expression turned stoic as he straightened. “Sir.”

My stomach churned in disappointment. Did he dislike seeing me that much?

Pushing aside the thought, I squared my shoulders and straightened. “I’m ready whenever you are.” I paused and stared around the quiet penthouse. “Where’s your brother?”

He made a sound that wasn’t quite a snort but wasn’t anything pleasant, either. “He left early. Or maybe he didn’t stay at all. Aodhan’s got the energy of a teenager. He doesn’t need much sleep.”

“How much older than you is he?” I walked around the island to stand directly in front of him, then looked down at the Dobermans and their stiff sitting position. Their attention was firmly on Daire—their eyes never leaving him. It was clear they were waiting for orders.

Me too, girls. I internally sighed. I was the future boss of the Killough Company, and while I yearned for that position and power when it was time for Sloan to step down, there was one man I wanted to take commands from. Daire was a Daddy, and he demanded compliance simply by speaking with his rough, dominant voice.

I needed that.

“A year and a half older.” He brushed his hand down the side of his face. “But he’s never acted like it.”

“He’s different from you,” I said carefully.

He did snort this time, and it was a strange sound that didn’t fit him. “Well, we both couldn’t be reckless idiots. One of us had to step up and take care of our family.”

He spoke the words as a fact, but what he hadn’t realized was the information he’d shared with me. I picked up on what was left unsaid.

“And that was you. The responsible brother.” I knew exactly how that felt. Most men in the Company, including Sloan, forgot that I had two younger brothers. It’d always been my job to step up and be the mature one. When my mom needed money, she came to me. When my brothers needed something to do with college, she came to me. Sloan had no idea it was happening because I purposely kept it secret. My uncle didn’t know as much as he thought he did. Sloan wasn’t the only Killough who could keep a secret.

Daire stared down at his dogs in thought for a long moment before he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.” He straightened and snapped his fingers, and the dogs’ attention broke. They turned to walk away, giving me a careful look as they trotted past and ran toward the living room to jump on the leather couch.

I watched them get comfortable and smiled. “They’re beautiful.” I turned my gaze back to him and chuckled. “I didn’t know you were a dog person.” My gaze slid to the sleeves of his suit, and I thought about what hid beneath the clothing. The ink I loved. Daire was a mystery, but there was also a lot I could gather through the small amount of information he did share. I was good at connecting the dots. “I had no idea you were a tattoo person until you came home from that trip, either, so....”

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” He cleared his throat and reached down to button up his jacket. “Let’s go. We’ve got a big day, and Sloan gave me permission to show you around the city.”

“Which parts?” I stepped back as he stalked past, and I followed him as he headed toward the entrance of the penthouse. As soon as we stepped over the threshold, he closed the large door, and the security system beeped to signal it was activated. “Sloan started teaching me that kind of stuff, then Conall happened.”

Daire stopped suddenly, and I bumped into his back. I shifted away as he spun around to stare down at me. His brow creased in a frown. “Did you ever think it wasn’t because of Conall?”

I blinked. “What?”

He chuckled in an unamused way and shook his head. “Boy, you’re so quick to blame the boss’s pet because of your jealousy that you don’t stop to think with that big brain of yours.” As if to make a point, he tapped my temple. “Conall came at the same time as trouble started brewing. Sure, Sloan had you doing important work like running some shipments or talking to the port associates, but things changed the moment Toscani started stirring the pot. Sloan pulling back on your training had nothing to do with Conall.”

“He was pissed at me for snooping through Conall’s belongings,” I argued, shame causing heat to flood my cheeks. I didn’t know why I’d gone into Conall’s room and looked through his drawers, but my protectiveness for my uncle and our business made me irrational, and I’d acted on an impulse.

He grunted and crossed his arms. “That’s child’s play. He already made an example of you about that.”

Sloan hadn’t, though.

While he’d made a show of sending me away with soldiers, they’d left me in the basement where Sloan usually tortured people. Sloan had then sent Daire down to deal with me. And by deal, Daire did nothing but sit in a chair and ignore me.

I had demanded his attention, but he hadn’t done a damned thing. When a few hours came and went, he finally spoke, telling me to get my act together if I wanted to be a mob boss. I realized then it was a show of dominance. Sloan wanted his men, including Conall, to think he had hurt me. They’d thought my injuries were under my clothes, leaving the perfect appearance for an apprentice. They were wrong.

So, I’d played the role like I’d expected Sloan wanted me to by snubbing everyone I could for a reasonable amount of time, and the small smirk Sloan had given me had said I’d done a good job of acting.

Like the bratty nephew.

The kid who’d needed to be disciplined. Despite being relieved Sloan wasn’t actually going to hurt me, the shame of it hadn’t been any better.

Daire sighed. “I’m not going to spell it out for you. Come on. We don’t have time for this.” He spun on his heel and stalked toward the elevator. I sped after him so I could get through the doors before he closed them. We stayed silent on the way down and as we walked through the lobby. A few people stopped to stare, and they seemed to recognize Daire because a sharply dressed man with short dark hair, round tortoiseshell glasses, and a light gray tweed jacket nodded at him as he strode past. This guy was the only one Daire acknowledged.

I didn’t ask who he was, but if I threw the handsome man a glare, who could blame me? All I got in return was a quirky smile. Snorting, I followed Daire out through the glass doors of the building.

“Are we going to take your bike?” I asked hopefully. I’d wanted a ride on that thing for too long, but I’d been denied every time I’d asked. The excuse was that Sloan hated motorcycles, and it wasn’t a lie. Sloan never understood why Daire rode one, but I thought it was sexy as hell.

Daire sent me a pointed look over his shoulder. “Company business means?—”

“Company car. Yeah, I know.” I smiled, and I didn’t miss the small, amused grin that he gave me in return.

We paused on the busy sidewalk, and a few moments later a sleek black BMW parked in front of us. I hated that most of the cars looked the same, but it made sense that they were identical. Sloan didn’t want them to stand out. We were nobodies, like everyone else in this big city, and we were especially not doing anything illegal.

The driver stepped out of the car and opened the back door for us, and Daire nodded in thanks before he slipped inside. I went around to the other side and got in, not bothering to wait for the driver because I didn’t have the patience.

As soon as the driver returned to his seat, raised the partition, and set off, I gave my attention to Daire. “So, what are we doing today? Before Conall came along, I was handling the port and some of the drugs. I was doing important things.”

He gave me serious side-eye. “Stop being a brat.”

“I’m not,” I argued, but it came out in a whine. I snapped my mouth closed and huffed. I refused to cross my arms like I really wanted to do. “I was ready for more. When Conall was taken, I had an automatic rifle in my hands.” I raised my palms at him, as if it was there for him to see. “I was prepared to kill for Sloan.” I hadn’t, but I didn’t mention that. There was so much gunfire in the warehouse after Conall had been kidnapped that all I could do was freeze and watch the scene unfold. “I’ve always been the perfect apprentice, and then suddenly, I was nothing. Invisible to Sloan.”

Daire leaned back in his leather seat and closed his eyes. “The boss gave you the job of finding the rat. That’s a big assignment, boy. Appreciate what you’ve been given.”

I noticed how much more often Daire was calling me “boy” outside the bedroom. The pet name was becoming more regular and it was music to my ears. Boy . I wanted so badly to be his full-time boy.

I turned my head to hide a smile and stared out the window as we passed by the New York high-rises. The sky was cloudy and gray, the beginnings of snow drifting through the cool winter air. Somewhere outside was shouting. We passed a recent car accident. Two men threw their arms up and pointed at each other, clearly furious, and I snorted. Just another day in the city.

“Where exactly are we going first?” I asked. “Where do we find our dealers who sell the product?”

“Everywhere.” The amusement in Daire’s tone made me roll my eyes.

“You’re so funny.”

He chuckled, and I shot a surprised look at him. The sight of him being carefree and genuinely entertained made my stomach twist into knots. I smiled, ignoring the lightness in my chest at the notion that I , Fionn Eoin Killough, made Daire Reardon laugh .

“We’re suits, so we don’t get too involved with the nitty-gritty stuff. We handle the high-profile areas, but there’s a chain of command for a reason. It’s best to keep our hands as clean as possible.” His lips quirked into a half smirk that I thought was unusual for him. “If we lose a couple of runners or higher-ups, it won’t matter. They’ll get compensated and protected in prison. When they’re out, if they keep their mouth shut, they get rewarded for doing their time and staying loyal.”

The logic made sense. “So, why are we visiting them? You said last night that you wanted to run numbers, right? See which areas are profitable and which aren’t.”

“Yes, but we can do that from one location. The Amatory.” He rolled his shoulders, and I watched him carefully, reminded again of the ink on the skin hidden beneath his suit. I’d never thought of myself as someone who liked tattoos on a man, but they were perfect on him—like intricately designed icing on a very delicious cake.

“That’s a brothel.” I frowned. “The Amatory Lane, right?”

He hummed in agreement. “It’s on the Upper East Side and is now run by Bohdan, that Ukrainian Sloan likes. Sloan transferred him from the Genie to the Amatory a few months back.”

“Why are we going there?”

“Because it’s the best location we have to run our operation.” Daire tapped the window with the knuckle of his pointer finger. “Out there, Fionn, the DEA and FBI are always hunting for ways to bring down the Company. The Amatory is the best place we’ve got. You’ve never been there, have you?”

I shook my head. “The only brothel I’ve been to is the Virtue.” My nose scrunched. “They’re disgusting.”

“Why?” He squinted at me with a serious stare. “Sex workers are no different than any other career. They work hard. Sure, they give their bodies, but don’t a lot of jobs expect that? Construction workers use their bodies, so do football players and ballerinas and nurses who are always on their feet. What’s the difference?”

I straightened. “I didn’t know you were a supporter of our whores.”

“Sex workers,” Daire replied simply. “Sloan calls them whores, and I respect that he’s the boss and he can do what he wants, but trust me. These men and women are as important as drug runners or money launderers. Sex sells, boy. If you respect them, they’ll show you their loyalty.”

I pressed my lips together. “Do you have a lover in one of our brothels, Daire?” A weird feeling clenched my stomach, and I rubbed the area where it hurt. Fuck .

Moving on! Did my body not know what that meant?

“No—” His expression turned serious again and he clamped his lips into a thin line. “—but if you’re going to be boss one day, you need to understand that every part of your company makes it a whole. If one piece of the puzzle is missing, then it’s not complete.” He turned his head to stare out the window.

After a long moment, I sighed. “Tell me about the Amatory and why it’s important.”

He sent me a small, proud smile. “Because, boy, it’s a hub. It’s fronted by a real business, unlike the Exotic Virtue, which is only real on paper. The Amatory is a private hospital.”

“Right. I remember Sloan telling me about that one. He said it brought us the most money.”

The hospital took years to build, and Sloan had been excited about the new venture. It’d opened up seven months ago. He hadn’t moved any of the criminal parts into it until recently, which made sense because he needed the legal portion to run smoothly before adding more variables. He kept me up to date with what was happening, but I’d never been there yet. Sloan always let me know when it was the right time to get involved.

“Yes, because of what it includes. This business is exclusively for the upper crust. You need to be a member to even walk through the front doors, and that membership costs you three hundred grand a year.”

I whistled. “That’s a pretty chunk of change.”

“Exactly. Once they’re in those doors, they have access to top tier doctors and surgeons. Our products range from general practitioners to plastic surgeons to any other specialty you can think of, including holistic and mental health, and the privacy is immaculate. Then , behind the legitimate front are our exclusive services—private hands-on care for all your physical needs. Only members we trust are allowed in there, and they pay for the privilege of top-notch services.”

“How do we know they won’t go to the cops?”

“Because, if they do, we have dirt on them. And you know how Sloan works.”

“He’d kill them or their families if they opened their mouths.”

“You got it, boy.”

“Okay, so the brothel’s hidden behind the hospital, but the drugs work because it’s a medical clinic. The feds could search the business, but they’d need some good proof to do it.”

“See, that big brain of yours does work.”

It helped that Sloan gave me a small rundown of the idea already, but I liked that I was getting more knowledge about it. The Killough Company was huge when it came to our legal businesses, and Sloan hired trusted men to manage them. One boss couldn’t keep an eye on all of them.

“Shut up.” My cheeks burned and I chuckled in embarrassment.

Daire grinned widely. “All our books and data are in the Amatory. You could call it our own little research facility. For the rich, going into a private hospital for drugs makes things a lot easier. No one knows what someone’s in there for and it’s impolite to ask why they’re seeing a doctor.”

I whistled. “Wow. That is smart.”

“Thank you.”

“It was your idea,” I guessed, laughing.

“Yes, it was.” He pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, and this was the smuggest I’d ever seen Daire, who never took credit for anything. “And on top of that, we get our percentage of medical fees, and the doctors won’t say a word because they’re just happy to get paid a lot more than anywhere else.”

“I’m impressed. Why wasn’t I let in on this sooner?”

“Because it’s our golden project. You needed to be ready for it.” He stared at me for a long, silent moment. “And now you are.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Daire confirmed. “To make the clinic more untouchable, Sloan’s got a bit of a bleeding heart. We do charity work through the clinic. We do a free chemo clinic four times a month. We give out twenty free transition surgeries per year, based on a raffle, and offer free psychological sessions for up to one hundred members of the LGBTQ community a year. Now, imagine if the feds tried to investigate us.”

“The people would rally.”

His eyes sparkled. “Exactly. We might cater to the rich, which has its own benefits because who wants to take on people with money and power, but we also help those who need that extra bit of support.”

The more Daire spoke about the Amatory, the more attractive he became. He was sexy, but his brain made him damned irresistible.

I tilted my head, unable to break my gaze from him, and he stared directly back at me. As if he was a magnet I was drawn to, I began to lean forward. My need to feel his lips on my own was an unstoppable force. He began to move toward me as well.

The force of the car stopping jerked us apart, and Daire didn’t waste a second, throwing open his door and stepping out, acting as though we hadn’t been about to kiss.

I mentally cursed myself and exited my side, ignoring the burn that assaulted my cheeks and made my stomach churn. I straightened my jacket and raised my chin, gathering the courage to put on the stern expression I was known for.

I paused to stare at the building and took a moment to appreciate the hard lines and boring architecture. To everyone passing by, the business looked like any other with four walls of windows, over ten stories high. There was a driveway that wound around into a semicircle near two automatic doors, and I assumed it was a drop-off zone for patients. Our driver hadn’t stopped there, though, and instead parked in one of two designated VIP spots near the side.

The large name on the building caught my attention.

The Eoin Killough Memorial Hospital.

My breath stuttered and drawing air into my lungs became difficult. Dad. Sloan had named it after Dad. Tears prickled the corners of my eyes, and I wiped them away quickly. The image of Dad’s face from the photo on his grave flashed through my mind, and I wondered how he would’ve felt about this. Would he have loved it or hated it? I didn’t know and that tore me up inside. I rubbed my chest to soothe the agony ripping my heart apart.

Daire stared, giving me a moment.

I inhaled deeply. When I nodded, he gestured for me to follow him. I didn’t argue, forcing my feet into action as we headed toward the sliding glass doors. As soon as we entered, we were approached by a guard who stopped when he got a good view of us. He nodded at Daire and moved backward again, and Daire gave him a short finger wave in thanks.

He leaned close to me. “When you first enter, a patient is expected to show their membership card,” he said, voice lowered.

“Do we accept emergencies? What if we accept someone and they aren’t a member?” I asked.

He made a sound in the back of his throat. “Then, they can expect a hefty bill. The kind that’s a lot worse than what they’d get from any other hospital.” He shrugged. “We have our own EMS transport, and those who aren’t under our employment know not to bring patients here unless they’re a member.”

I hummed in acknowledgement as we walked past a reception desk operated by an alert young man with short blond hair, green eyes, and a suit that looked slightly too big for him. He nodded with a small smile as we passed, and I couldn’t help but return it. We went through a set of doors that Daire had a key card for and down a long light blue hallway that led to another desk, this one manned by nurses.

Daire stopped in front of the circular desk and grinned at one of the ladies in blue scrubs. She appeared to be the oldest, with fine gray hair pulled into a small bun and a pair of green cat-eye glasses. As soon as she saw Daire, she tugged her spectacles down to the end of her nose and looked over the top of them.

“Well, well, well. Look who decided to show their ugly mug.” The teasing lilt in her Brooklyn accent had me smiling. “What happened, kid? You lose a bet?”

“Ha ha. You’re hilarious, Meredith.” He flashed his white teeth and patted the desk ledge in front of him. “I’m here on business.”

“Look at him.” She laughed and glanced at the other nurses as she straightened her back with her arms against her side as though mocking Daire. “ I’m here on business. ” Deepening her voice, she mimicked him.

He shook his head. “One day, you’re going to tease the wrong person.”

She laughed. “Honey, I’m not that stupid. You don’t see me doing the same thing to Mr. Killough, do you?”

He sighed and waved his hand at me. “This is Fionn Killough.”

She clapped her hands. Eyes bright, she grinned wide. “Ah, the prodigy taking over the big business!”

I nearly choked and glanced at Daire. “She knows?”

He laughed in answer. “She’s a nurse.”

Meredith tsked a lot like Sloan did when he was lecturing me and waved her hand impatiently while slapping the other on her hip. “We know everything. We also know more than the doctors, but don’t tell them that. You don’t want to hurt their inflated egos.”

“They’re not that bad,” Daire argued.

She shot him a narrowed stare. “The one doctor we do like, we don’t see very often because you always take him away.”

He winced. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” It was clearly a lie, and the small ashamed smile said otherwise.

She grunted and turned around toward one of the other nurses. “Gloria, do you remember Rory?”

Gloria was a tall, rotund redhead with bright lipstick the same color as her hair. She put her hands on her hips and gave Daire a disgruntled look even as she spoke to Meredith. “Rory? Oh, yeah, the cute natural redhead doctor with the adorable Irish accent. The only one who treats us with respect. The same one who actually acknowledges all the work we do, but also the one who Daire pulls out of the clinic all the time for personal emergencies. That Rory?”

Daire held up his palms to them, laughing, as he gave in to their playful scowls. “Okay, fine. The boss makes that decision. Rory is better equipped to be his personal doctor than anyone else.”

Meredith shook her head and tsked again before she turned her attention to Daire. She stared at him over her glasses, a friendly smile curving her mouth. “So, why’s the young Killough here? Not that I don’t appreciate the broody big boss. He’s very delightful to stare at when he’s scowling at everyone. And that pet of his is cute as a button.” She shook a finger at me. “But you are even more adorable.”

“Thank you?” I didn’t know what else to say. The snappy banter between the nurses and Daire had my head spinning. They were obviously good friends, and it was the kind of interaction that I hadn’t thought Daire could have with someone.

He stepped closer to me. “Don’t listen to a word she says, Fionn. She only compliments you when she wants something.”

Her jaw dropped open and her hands were back on her hips again. “ That was rude. Now I’m not going to tell you what your men have been gossiping about this morning.” She pursed her lips smugly at him, and he sighed. “They’re like a bunch of old ladies getting together for morning coffee to spill the tea .”

“What did they say?” he asked, straightening.

She huffed. “What makes you think you deserve to know after that?”

“Really? You want an apology.” It wasn’t a question, rather a statement. He cocked his head, and when he realized he obviously wasn’t going to get what he wanted, he gave me an incredulous look that made me chuckle. “Fine. I’m sorry, Meredith. You’re always the sweetest, most informed person in the building. No one else could find the gossip like you. You are just...a diamond. You blind me every time I walk through those doors. I need to wear sunglasses to look upon your beauty.”

She dropped her hands from her hips. “That’s much better. Now the tea I heard is that you threw Mr. Prodigy here—” She gestured at me with a small giggle. “—over your shoulder like a man possessed and carried him right out of some nightclub.” She grinned at him, amused. “They called it a lover’s tiff. You were very jealous of your boy toy talking to another man apparently.”

“Please tell me you’re joking.” His voice hardened.

My spine went stiff. Fuck. I wasn’t surprised. Mobsters were gossipers, and even though the Italians and Irish weren’t entirely friends, more like acquaintances, some of them met up on occasion.

“Am I the type?” she asked, and it was the first time I’d heard her tone serious since we’d arrived.

Daire rubbed a hand down his face. “No. No, you’re not.” He offered her a small tilt of his head. “Thank you, Meredith. If you’ll excuse us, we need to go educate some Company men about respect.”

She fluttered her hand at him. “Have fun. Don’t spank their pretty bums too hard. We’re nearly at capacity and can’t afford any more beds for them.”

Daire spun on his heel and stalked down the hallway, and I was quick to follow him. We went through another set of locked doors that he used a key card—it seemed like a master key—to get through. This hallway looked like any other, except there were no doors leading into patient rooms. At the very end of the narrow hall was one door to the right, and he slammed his way through it.

Inside were ten men, all dressed in different styles of suits. Six were sitting around a circular table, two standing beside a coffee maker, and two were seated on a couch against the wall to our left. As soon as we entered, they all jumped in surprise but settled back into their chairs when they saw Daire.

I recognized one of the guys as Irving. With short brown hair and hazel eyes that always seemed angry, he wasn’t the friendliest man to be around, but Sloan believed he could be trusted. He’d always told me that just because a man wasn’t liked, didn’t mean he was wrong for the job.

Irving grunted and hooked his thumbs in his pants pockets, standing tall. “Sir.”

I didn’t know which one of us he was talking to, but there was a touch of disgust in those hazel irises as they settled on me.

Daire stared around the room. “Sit down. All of you.”

The men around the table and couch sat immediately, but the soldiers near the coffee maker walked over to join the others on the couch. When they were all seated as ordered, Daire stepped farther into the room. He opened his mouth to speak, but I grabbed his arm, effectively stopping him.

I shook my head at him. “It’s my turn.”

His eyebrows rose, but he tilted his head in acknowledgement and shifted out of my way.

I clasped my hands behind my back and straightened, moving closer toward the men. I kept my chin raised, hoping to look powerful. Inside, I was a mess. My stomach churned and my heart thumped rapidly. I’d never spoken this way to my uncle’s men. I’d let them say what they wanted behind my back, and I might have this time, too, if I hadn’t been told by the nurse that they were gossiping. I couldn’t be seen as weak any longer. It was time for me to step up and be the person I wanted to be when I was boss.

“You think you have the right to disrespect me.” I stared around the room, focusing on Irving, who seemed to be the ringleader. “You think I’m weak .”

The silence was heavy in the room.

“You’re wrong.” I gritted my teeth. “I’m not my uncle, but you’d be a fool to think I’m frail.” I crossed my arms. “How I enjoy my personal time is no one’s business, but I’m going to tell you this so you can pass it on like the twelve-year-olds you are.”

Daire made an amused sound close to a stifled laugh.

“I’m young, but I know what I want, and I know what I am. Yes, your friends did see Daire throw me over his shoulder and carry me out of that club last night, but what they didn’t see was him taking me home and fucking me.” A lie, but an easy one to tell. They didn’t need to know the truth. I stopped pacing and did another take of each of their faces. I tamped down a grin at the sight of their shocked expressions.

One of the men swallowed deeply, his Adam’s apple bobbing. His eyes widened.

“That’s my thing. I like a cock in my ass, and I like being manhandled when I’m having sex with someone. But don’t mistake that as weakness. Just because I like to be fucked doesn’t mean someone can fuck with me or the Company, which I will inherit. If you come for me, I will put you six feet under next to anyone else who crosses me. Daire is my toy when I choose for him to be, and we can play however I want.”

I didn’t miss the twitch of Daire’s mouth. Good. If I was a hole to him, then he was nothing but a dick to me. He could chew on that.

“But you and the rest of the Company men belong to me.” I poked my chest. “Mine. Don’t forget that. If I hear any of you cowards speaking about my business behind my back again, I’ll send you somewhere you’ll learn what being a little bitch is really like.”

The creak of the door had me turning in time to see Sloan walk in wearing a deep crimson suit that matched the color of Conall’s collar. Behind him, his pet leaned against the threshold.

Sloan smirked. “That explains a lot.”

My cheeks flushed with scorching heat, and I refused to glance toward Daire. I didn’t want to know what he thought about my little speech. “Uncle, I didn’t know you were here.”

“Clearly.” He looked over my shoulder at his men. “Well, you heard Fionn. Get back to work.”

The men scampered like roaches, striding past Sloan and Conall as fast and efficiently as they could. My heart raced, rattling hard against my ribs, and I ran a hand over my chest, willing it to slow down.

“Good job. I would’ve done it with less... language, but well said.” Sloan patted me on the shoulder and walked toward Daire.

Adrenaline pounded through my veins, making it hard to breathe. I moved forward, eager to get out of the room as it pressed down around me.

When I got to the door, Conall grabbed my arm to stop me. He winked. “You had those men shitting their pants. I’m pleased, Fionn. You did good. Sloan was proud of you.”

I didn’t know what to do, but I forced myself to give him a small, tight smile. “Thanks. I need air. Yeah. Air.”

Conall let me go, and I stumbled out of the room and headed back the same way we’d come in. I passed the nurses, and Meredith said something to me, but I didn’t have the mental bandwidth to hear what.

I left through the front doors and froze, sucking in the cold fresh air as deeply as I could. My hands shook as the adrenaline began to seep out of me. Excitement took over. I’d basically told Company men to fuck off. I had stood up for myself and I was walking on air because of it.

Closing my eyes, I leaned my head back and inhaled. Perfect.

When the time came, I was going to dominate. The Killough Company belonged to me. I could do whatever the hell I wanted, and Daire? Well, I would leave him alone and move on to someone who desired me back.

My moment was ruined when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I yanked it out to stare at the name that flashed across the screen.

Mom .

My heart froze and familiar pain throbbed there as I answered the call and laid the phone against my ear. “Mom.”

“I need money.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Of course she did. “Why?”

“Your brothers are in college now, Fionn. They have needs.” She huffed on the other end of the line and something clattered. “I don’t get paid for another week, and it’s urgent. Can you give me the money or not? I can ask your uncle.”

I stiffened and glanced around the busy Manhattan neighborhood. Everyone went about their day, unaware of my struggles, something I was used to in my own house. My heart hurt, and as much as I wanted to tell her no , I’d started something I needed to finish. If Sloan found out about my stupidity, it would be another X in the negative column for me. After my win today, I refused to let that happen. Sloan had given her money regularly since he’d taken me in, but this was different. He gave her a set amount and never a cent more. I was the idiot who couldn’t say no to her.

“How much do you need?”