Chapter 18
18
DAIRE
It took Fionn just under nine weeks to work out the code, which was a record, according to every other one of our smartest men trying to work on it. I didn’t expect it to take that long, but I didn’t understand anything to do with what the detective had done. No one could figure out what Diaz was using to hide her informants’ identities. When Fionn tried to explain it to me—it had something to do with numbers and math, which made me drown it out immediately—I brushed him off with a simple kiss and an “I trust you.”
In those months, a lot had happened in the Company, which meant our resources were spread thin. Sloan had sent two of our best men, Cillian and Aspen, along with Jamie Shannon, to Miami to send a message to Thiago Reyes. They killed Thiago’s cousin, Joaquin, in retaliation, and that meant Sloan was prepared for even more attacks from Reyes’s men.
“What did you work out?” I asked from where I lay on the bed beside Fionn, who was curled over the book that Folliero had given him. The code had driven Fionn crazy, and it had taken every part of my Daddy-ness to distract him when he needed a break.
Fionn turned to me, eyes bright with pride. “A meeting time, date, and place. There was a phone number, too, but it was a burner phone and out of service now. It was all too long ago.”
“So what’s the next step, boy?” I stroked my fingers down his naked back, tracing the ridges of his spine until I reached his tailbone. “That’s over eight years ago. Too long.”
He sent me a grin. “Usually, yes, but I know something you don’t, Daddy.”
“What?” I shuffled to sit up and cuddled in closer to him. Laying my head on his shoulder, I stared down at a pile of numbers and words on the legal pad he was using. My gaze met the date and address that he’d finally figured out.
“This—” He tapped the address with the end of his pen. “—is a parking garage across from an independent bank. Real Time Financial. That bank is owned and run by Ciro Armetta, the cousin of Alonzo Armetta.”
“One of the five families’ bosses,” I said.
In New York City, there were five Italian families. Folliero was the kingpin of them all, but they each had their own territory. They belonged to Sloan in a lot of ways. They couldn’t do anything that would affect the balance of power in the city without the permission of Elio, then Sloan. There was a lot of tension between the families, which had been the cause of some gunfights and, ultimately, the Giordanos trying to invade Folliero’s dominion. It was a mess that Sloan had to fix.
“Right. Well, I say cousin, but if you want to get technical, he’s Alonzo’s first cousin once removed. The son of Alonzo’s cousin.” Fionn tapped the pen harder against the legal pad. “What you may not know is that Ciro is paranoid. He believes everyone is out to get him, and I also think he’s one of those preppers. Last I heard, he even has a bunker.” He rolled his eyes. “Anyway, he is renowned for keeping all his security footage. All of it. Which means that even though this meeting happened an eternity ago, he probably still has what we want.”
I stared at him in awe. “How do you know all of this, boy?”
A flush spread across his pale cheeks even though he grinned. “Because I like to know who we’re dealing with, and that includes family members. I don’t trust Alonzo as far as I can throw him because that man is a psycho. Have you seen how he treats his own son?” He shook his head. “So, I did a deep dive, and I have dossiers on each member of the five families...and the Sabbatinis in St. Loren, the Leawoods in Ft. Leawood, and the Scullys in Dallas. Actually, I have dossiers on all our allies and enemies. Anyone who has anything to do with the Company.”
I frowned and turned him so our chests were touching. “Does Sloan know this?”
He shrugged, his blush deepening. “Yes and no. When he wants data about someone, I give it to him, but I don’t think he’s aware of how much I dig. I know everything, from how much money they have in their bank accounts to when they take a shit.”
“How?” This was entirely new information about Fionn, and I was thrown for a loop.
He laughed. “Guys in the Company mock me, but there are those outside who respect me enough to work for me. Diaz had informants and so do I.”
“Fuck, boy. You make me so proud.” I dragged him in for a deep kiss, and he moaned, eyes slipping closed as he rocked his hardening length against me.
I took him apart, making him cry out as I bent him over and ate him out, and he came with the kind of force that made me miss being young. But the sight alone had me painting his ass and lower back with my cum.
Then, I wiped him down, and we dressed. We headed out of my penthouse to my car, which I used to drive us to the bank in the middle of Manhattan Valley. Fionn walked like a man on a mission, and I merely followed—his shadow and soldier. I was his in every way, both in body and loyalty. My life belonged to him, and every day I saw him in a new light. He was stronger than he let our men believe. He was also cunning, but he was quieter than Sloan about it.
A few choice words from Fionn, and the employee he talked to practically fell over her own feet to run and get the manager.
As soon as the door she disappeared through opened again, I sized up the man who stepped out. Ciro wasn’t what I’d imagined. He looked like a young man with short dark hair, light green-blue eyes, and a five-o’clock shadow. He was taller with a sinewy build. He had to be older than Fionn. If he’d owned the bank for over ten years, he’d have to at least be in his mid-thirties. His gaze was suspicious.
Fionn greeted him with a nod. “Ciro Armetta.”
He frowned at Fionn as he came to a stop in front of him. “Fionn Killough. What are you doing here?”
“Is that how you say hello?” Fionn grinned and held out his hand.
Ciro hesitated before he shook the offered palm. “Hello, and how can I help you?”
I narrowed my eyes at him and gave him a once-over. Was he seriously a prepper? He seemed too...calm. Reserved.
Fionn released his hand and pointed at the entrance we’d come through a moment before. “There’s a parking garage across from this bank, and we need video footage from eight years ago. I know you keep all the security footage, and I want a copy.”
Ciro stared at Fionn for a long moment, tongue pressed to the inside of his cheek. His gaze cut across the bank, almost as if he was searching for someone, before he tilted his head to silently ask for us to follow him.
He took us inside the building and down a wide hallway with other office-like doors attached. He stopped in front of the farthest, down at the very end, and typed a code into a keypad. The door opened, and he gestured us inside. Once we were past the threshold, he followed us in and closed the door behind us. Numerous locks engaged, and the sound was ominous, but Fionn didn’t seem surprised as he casually took a seat at a table. The area reminded me of a police interrogation room without the two-way mirror. The décor was plain and boring, all whites and creams, and there was only a table and four chairs, two on each side, as furniture. There was, however, a wall of televisions with live footage from inside the bank and outside, too, including the garage across the street.
“It’s safer in here,” Ciro said as he marched over to a seat on the opposite side of the table from Fionn. He collapsed and sighed in relief. “That was close. There’s always ears everywhere. You can never be too careful.” He gave me a look and waved his hand at the chair beside Fionn. “Sit, sit!”
Now this seemed more typical for a prepper with a bunker.
I did as he insisted and sat down.
“This is my safe room. Completely soundproof and there are no signals in or out of here. It’s secure.” He patted his hands on the surface of the table. “Now, tell me, what are we looking for?”
Fionn pulled out his phone from his pocket, opened his app with notes, and showed Ciro. “Date and time. I need all surveillance footage of the garage a few hours around that.”
Ciro narrowed his eyes. “You shouldn’t leave important information on your phone. Anyone can hack it.” Then, he snorted. “I can get it for you, but it’ll cost you.”
Fionn smiled, but there wasn’t anything nice about it. The expression reminded me of the cold and aloof Fionn, the one who had something to prove, and yet it also looked a lot like the expression Sloan made as a dangerous warning. “Do I look like the type of person you should be trying to bargain with? I could make Alonzo’s life hell, and how would your lunatic cousin like that, hmm?” He leaned back and crossed his leg, completing the perfect boss appearance, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the long lines of his sinewy body in the custom-made suit. The power exuded off him.
I hid the smirk that threatened to slide onto my mouth.
The corner of Ciro’s mouth twitched, a subtle sign of his irritation. “We’re allies.”
“And we can make your cousin’s life hard in this city.” Fionn shrugged. “Your choice.”
Ciro laughed tightly. “I will have the footage to you by end of day.”
“Wise choice.” Fionn stood, and I followed. He straightened his suit jacket. “If I don’t have it by this evening, I will visit again.”
“You can’t make demands like this,” Ciro snapped.
“You’re right, but let’s put our cards on the table. I now owe you a favor. Not your cousin, you.” Fionn grinned. “And having a favor owed to you by a Killough is a rare commodity, don’t you think?”
Ciro swallowed and nodded. “Deal.”
Fionn and I spent the rest of the day at my penthouse. I did paperwork for Sloan’s legal businesses while Fionn perused Diaz’s notebook to see if he could find more information. He’d decrypted secret meetings that had nothing to do with the Company, which he said would be beneficial for us, and I believed him. If we knew about informants of other criminal enterprises, we could trade the secrets for something we wanted.
Finally, I decided he’d had enough of straining his eyes on that notebook. I rose from my desk and went down the steel steps to the living room, where he was seated on the couch, a pen clutched between his teeth as he frowned down at the book.
I leaned across the back of the couch and curled my arms around him, earning a smile in response. “Enough of this. We’re going out.”
“Where?” His eyebrows furrowed. “We have a lot of work to do. Between the rat, Reyes, and the businesses?—”
“Shh.” I kissed his cheek and moved around to the front of the couch. I grasped the notebook and threw it on the cushion beside him before I dragged him up. “We’re going to Southampton, where you’re going to update your uncle, say hello to Lor?—”
Fionn opened his mouth to protest. He’d barely spoken to Lor since Sloan had told him the truth about Lor’s relation to them, but that wasn’t anything new. Fionn’s attitude toward Lor had grown saltier, and Lor had noticed, if his sad pouts that he directed at Fionn meant anything. The boy had no one his age, and it was obvious he wanted Fionn to like him.
“No. No more excuses, boy. Sloan isn’t giving the Company to Lor, and Lor isn’t the kind of person to join a mob. He’s an academic, like Vail. I’ve let you have your tantrum over it, but we’re done now. If you keep up with this attitude, I will put you over my knee and spank your ass red in front of everyone.”
He shuddered and his pupils went wide. “Yes, Daddy.”
I plopped a kiss on his mouth. “You can drive today. It’ll be good practice.”
He coughed, nearly choking on his own saliva. “What? I don’t have my learner’s permit. If they pull us over?—”
“Then, I will handle it. You need to know how to drive, even if someone chauffeurs you around for the rest of your life.” I stroked my thumb across his jaw. “I’m putting my foot down about this. You will get your learner’s permit and then your license. Am I clear, boy?”
He licked his lips, eyes darkening as he stared up at me with lust that would give anyone a spiked heart rate. “Yes, Daddy Daire.”
“Good boy.” I brushed my nose over his. “Now let’s go.”
I grabbed my keys and dragged him toward the door. He huffed at the rough handling, but he didn’t protest.
As soon as we arrived at the SUV, Fionn froze, as if the reality of what we were doing had hit him. He swallowed visibly and glanced toward me. “I don’t think now’s the right time to learn. You should drive. I can study first, and when it’s quiet with the Company, I can get into the driver’s seat.”
“Fine.”
He relaxed but hesitated when I smirked.
“I’m driving until we get to the Hamptons, and then you’re taking over.” I held up a finger when he opened his mouth to protest. “No arguments. The city is too busy for a learner, but as soon as we get out of here, you’re in the driver’s seat.”
He sighed in defeat and slid into the passenger seat, while I took the spot behind the steering wheel. The traffic through the city was hell, but it started to peter out as we headed toward the Hamptons. As soon we reached an area I decided was quiet enough, I pulled the SUV off to the side of the road.
Fionn gave me a panicked look. “Daddy, I don’t think?—”
“Shh.” I turned toward him and stroked a finger down his cheekbone. “You’re okay, boy. Don’t fret about this. We’ll take it slow.” I smiled in encouragement. “Come on, let’s swap seats.”
Despite his obvious dread, he did as I’d directed, sliding out of the passenger door so we could change sides. The moment he clutched the steering wheel, the anxiety in his eyes deepened and he glanced at me for reassurance.
I grabbed his hand and dragged it from the wheel so I could lay a kiss in the middle of his palm. “We’ll start slow. How much do you know?”
His expression shuttered, shame filling his eyes and making his cheeks turn a bright red. “I...know the traffic rules and where the accelerator and brake are. This vehicle is automatic, so I don’t need to change the gears.”
“Right.” I laid a hand on the back of his neck and caressed it soothingly. “We’ll go slow. You can drive a manual another day. Right now, you just need to know how to drive and be confident. It’s all about keeping calm and driving not only for yourself, but for others, too. There are shitty drivers on the road, boy, and you need to watch them and be prepared to react to their stupidity. Do you understand?”
He raised his chin. “Yes, Daddy.”
“Good. Now I want you to take us to the house. The Mercedes is yours to control.” I pointed where his feet were, each foot on a different pedal. “Only use your right foot. If you use two, you could end up hitting them together, and trust me, you don’t want to do that.”
Fionn removed his left foot from the brake immediately and blanched nervously.
I smiled. “You have this, boy. Guide the SUV out into traffic.”
He straightened his back and stared with an intensity out on the road. He checked his mirrors without me telling him to do it, put the SUV into Drive, and hit the accelerator slowly. The Mercedes rolled forward. I stayed silent, letting him gain confidence. He drove about a quarter of a mile before he took a deep breath and guided the car onto the road.
“All right, now let’s get onto the 495,” I murmured with encouragement.
“Do you think I can do this?” He glanced at me from the corner of his eye.
“Yes, boy, I do. Now turn left up here and get us onto the interstate.” I brushed my fingers over the back of his neck. “You’re a Killough. You can do anything, and this is your territory. Remember that.”
He took a deep breath and did as I’d ordered, taking the turn and guiding the car onto the 495. He hit the accelerator as we merged into the interstate traffic, which wasn’t too bad right now, but he was going slower than the speed limit. Behind him, cars honked, and he winced every time the sharp shrill blast of a horn blared at him.
“Keep calm, boy. That’s one of the most important things about driving. Don’t panic.” I rested my hand on his thigh and squeezed it.
He exhaled loudly, his gaze never leaving the road in front of him. A red Ferrari roared up beside us, and the guy gave us the middle finger. I rolled my eyes and tugged out the gun I kept in the glove box before pointing the muzzle at him, and even from here I could see his eyes widen before he zoomed forward.
Fionn laughed. “Daddy, put that away. We don’t need a reason for the cops to pull us over. I’m already driving unlicensed.”
I smirked and opened the glove box again, stashing the Glock back inside. “Patience is a virtue and that guy needed to learn a lesson.”
“The only one you should be teaching anything to is me.” His hands tightened around the steering wheel, but he was doing well, considering this was his first time and I’d thrown him in the deep end with Interstate 495.
“You’re doing good, boy, and I’m so damned proud of you. You’re staying calm, and all you need to do now is go a little faster.”
He sucked in air between his teeth. “I don’t know if I can.”
“Yes, you can .” I squeezed his thigh again. “Faster, boy.”
“Fuck.” He inhaled, then exhaled again, and the car began to pick up speed. When he reached 70 mph, his hands shook a little, but he focused on the road.
“Good boy,” I praised gently. “You’re doing great. When I get you to the mansion, I’ll give you a reward.”
“What kind?” He sent me a quick glance, and I laughed.
“You’ll have to wait and see.”
“You’re mean, Daddy Daire.” He smiled anyway.
“Now that I have you here with no way to escape, talk to me. How are you feeling about the entire Lor thing?” I studied his face, watching the way his eye twitched and his mouth pinched.
“What do you want me to say?” His knuckles turned white. The speed he was driving at went up and down, as if he was struggling to focus.
“Start with the truth on how you’re feeling. You’ve been so wrapped up in figuring out Diaz’s notebook that you’re ignoring the other issue, and as your Daddy, I’m not going to let you do that anymore.” I gave him a pointed look. “Talk.”
“Are we doing therapy?” he teased, but I saw this for what it was—a distraction.
I narrowed my eyes at him, and he sighed.
“There’s nothing to say. He’s my cousin. Even if Sloan doesn’t give the Company to him, who says he won’t want to fight me for it in the future?” His eyebrows furrowed in frustration.
“Who says your brothers won’t do the same?” I asked.
He frowned at me. “Because they’ve had nothing to do with the business.”
I grinned. “And neither has Lor. If anything, he’s averse to the idea of criminal life. He studies it with Vail, but has he ever done anything illegal?”
“No, but . . . .” Fionn sighed, and I laughed.
“Boy, you can’t argue your way out of this. Like with Conall, your hatred for Lor comes from your own insecurities.”
He huffed and rolled his eyes. “Sure thing, Dr. Phil.”
“You’ll get a spanking for that later. Merge into the next lane.”
He glanced in his mirror and did as I instructed, so distracted by our conversation that he drove with a confidence I’d only seen in people who’d been behind the wheel for years. “What I’m saying is that I don’t trust him.”
“You didn’t trust Conall, either, and now you two are besties.”
He snorted. “We are not . I respect him a little now, that’s all. Can we not do this, Daddy?”
“Why? Is it making you uncomfortable?” I asked.
“No, but I don’t see the point. Lor is my cousin. I can’t change that, but it doesn’t mean I have to be nice to him.” His jaw twitched, a visible sign he was gritting his teeth.
I sighed. “He doesn’t know that, boy. He’s as innocent as you are in this. Your problem with him isn’t because he’s related, but because you think Sloan pays more attention to him.”
“That isn’t true.” The words left him too quickly, and the sharp bite to them told me everything I needed to know.
“You’ve said it yourself, so you can’t deny it. You think Sloan cares more for Lor than you.”
“Uncle doesn’t know him,” he snapped. “Lor could betray us. His father’s not exactly trustworthy, is he? He’s supposed to be Sloan’s advisor, but he’s never around, too busy flaunting money around the city in the local whore houses. Who says he’s not the rat?”
“He might be,” I agreed. Lorcan had always been on my list of potential traitors because Fionn was right. The man was slimy, and there was no love lost between him and Sloan. The only reason Lorcan was on the board was because Sloan’s father asked Sloan to put him there. “But Lor isn’t his father. Are you Eoin?”
“That isn’t fair.” He sent me a glare.
“Exactly, so why are you treating Lor like shit, boy?”
He braked a little too hard, and there weren’t any cars in front of us, so I assumed I’d pissed him off, but I was happy to leave the conversation like that. Fionn was the kind of person who needed to ruminate over the information before he came to a reasonable conclusion because, despite being a young man who acted like a brat at the best of times, he was also incredibly intelligent. The problem was that his emotions always got the best of him and didn’t give him a chance to reflect on himself.
Soon we were heading toward the exit to Sloan’s house, and I directed Fionn, all his nervousness about driving gone as he focused on doing what I told him. When he pulled the Mercedes to a stop and put it into Park, I grinned widely at him.
“Well done, Fifi.”
He stared outside the window at Sloan’s house, and his eyes widened. “Fuck. I drove here.”
I laughed and hooked my hand around the back of his neck, dragging him over the middle console for a hard kiss. “Nearly all the way, but it’s a start. The 495 is no joke, and you did really good, boy. When you’re confident, we’ll navigate the city.”
He chuckled as I unbuckled his seat belt.
We both slid out of the SUV, and he met me on my side, dragging me into a hot messy kiss that had my toes curling with the desire to take him to his bedroom and have my way with him, but that wasn’t why we’d come here.
Instead, I dragged him inside the house, ignoring Mr. Hopper as he grunted a greeting to us in his gruff, no-nonsense tone.
“Where is Lor, Mr. Hopper?” I asked.
The older man raised his chin as he closed the door behind us. “He’s in the guest apartment with Dr. Mifflin, sir.”
I inclined my head in thanks, but before I could head up the stairs, Fionn grasped my elbow. I glanced at him, and he winced.
“I don’t think now is the time to talk to him.”
“Fionn—”
“I know what you’re going to say, Daddy.” He shot Mr. Hopper a look when the older man cleared his throat. “And I understand that I need to put aside my differences with Lor, but I’m not ready yet. I swear, I’ll treat him with more respect, but I can’t talk to him right now.”
I cradled his face between my palms, and he stared up at me in a way that made my heart sting. A vulnerability shone through, begging me to let this go, and I couldn’t force him to do something when he didn’t want to. I smiled and laid a gentle kiss on his perfect mouth. “Promise me to think about it, okay?”
“I promise.” He hugged me, and I drew him in as close as I could get him, relishing his warmth.
Footsteps echoed around the foyer before they stopped. “Am I interrupting?”
We pulled apart and glanced toward Sloan, who stood beside the staircase. He had his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.
“I—” Fionn’s phone buzzed and he tugged it out of his pocket. “I have the footage.” He grinned at me, then Sloan. “It’s fuzzy, so I’ll need to send it to someone to get it cleaned up, but I have it.”
“What are you talking about?” Sloan walked closer to us, coming to a stop at Fionn’s side.
“I decoded Diaz’s notebook. The phone number of the rat was a burner phone no longer in play, but she also included a date, time, and location for the meetup.” Fionn straightened, smiling proudly. “They met at a car garage in the city—right across from Real Time Financial.”
“Ciro Armetta’s bank,” Sloan said.
Fionn laughed. “Yep, and Ciro’s notoriously paranoid, so Daire and I went there today and asked for the recordings. He just sent them over.” He waved his phone at Sloan. “And I know the perfect person to up the resolution. There’s a couple of hours of footage in here, but if Zak can clean up the visuals, we can look to see if I recognize anyone.”
Sloan’s mouth curled into a smirk. “Good job, nephew.”
Fionn froze and swallowed. He squared his shoulders and returned the grin. “Thank you, Uncle Sloan.”
“Well, then, I’ll let you get to work.” He winked and turned to walk back the way he’d come, probably to head to his office.
Fionn licked his lips and moved toward me, and I opened up my arms to bring him into a hug, laying a kiss on his forehead.
“You’ve done amazing, boy. Now let’s finish this, all right?”
“Yes, Daddy Daire.”