Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
KIERAN
I’m used to torturing people, not suffering through torture. But it seems Riley Walsh is my personal brand of torture. Untangling myself from her arms when the sun hasn’t even risen is hell, and it’s safe to say I’m starting to crack.
The last few mornings, I’ve forgone my morning workout to stay in bed with my arms wrapped around her warm body, watching as the sun slowly starts to stream in through the curtains.
But my work never sleeps, and now that Ronan has stepped back, I need to step up.
So, I force myself to pull on a pair of workout shorts and hit the gym.
It feels good to get the blood pumping and work up a sweat, despite having done just that every night since Riley and I made up.
But I refuse to go soft just because I’ve got a girl in my life. My brothers wouldn’t let me live it down. So, to prove a point to myself, I pick up a heavier set of dumbbells for each of my exercises and push myself even harder than usual.
Once my shirt is soaked through with sweat, I sneak back upstairs to take a shower.
Riley is still fast asleep, curled up into a ball beneath the covers.
I chuckle as I catch the sound of her soft snores. I’m definitely going to tease her about that later.
Slipping out of my workout stuff, I step under the scalding hot water and quickly rinse off.
I’ve got a long day of meetings ahead of me scheduled all over the city at our family’s various establishments, but the sooner I get them over with, the sooner I can get back to my girl.
I’m standing under the spray with my eyes closed as the water streams down my face when the door creaks open.
“Hey,” Riley’s voice cuts through the steam, soft but steady.
I open my eyes to find her leaning against the doorframe, completely naked.
“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” A smirk pulls at my mouth as I eye her mouth-watering curves.
“You tell me.” Her eyes flick to my hardening cock.
“I think you’ve had enough sleep.”
She laughs before stepping into the shower without waiting for an invitation.
Her soft hands run up and down my chest as I move to grip her waist, squeezing gently as I admire how her nipples start to harden.
“I can’t get enough of you,” I groan as I reach up to palm one of her breasts.
“Mmm…” Riley’s head falls back on her shoulders. “Me neither.”
“You’re going to get me in trouble for being late to my meeting.” I rub my thumb back and forth over her nipple.
“Well, how long have you got until you need to go to work?” Riley looks up at me under her lashes. Her eyes are already glazing over, and my cock twitches as I fight the need to reach between her legs.
But not yet. I want to tease her a little longer.
“That depends…”
“On?”
“Many things.” I lean in to kiss her jaw.
Riley arches into my touch as my hands roam down her back until I’m cupping her ass.
“But for the right price, I can be willing to skip my first meeting.”
Riley squirms in my arms, causing the head of my cock to rub against her stomach, and I let out a low groan as my hips buck against her.
“Don’t tease me, little dove.” I back her up against the wall of the shower.
“I didn’t do anything!”
“I suggest you turn around and show me that perfect little ass.”
Riley bites her lower lip but does as I ask.
“Good girl. Now, bend over so I can fuck you.”
The sex is quick and rough, just how I like it, and from how limp Riley is in my arms as I carry her out of the shower wrapped in a towel, I know she enjoyed herself too.
“Back to bed for you.” I set her down and kiss the top of her head.
She lets out a sigh of contentment before curling up on her side, still wrapped in the towel on top of the comforter.
By the time I’m dressed, Riley is fast asleep once again.
I need to head downstairs to make a coffee for the road, so I grab my phone off the dresser. It’s already buzzing with an incoming call from Doyle, but I ignore his relentless calls until I’m stepping off the elevator into the garage.
“What is it, Doyle?” I demand as I head to my car. “If you’re calling to bitch about my little brother, save it. I’m not interested.”
“I’m not calling about Brennan.”
“Then what do you want? I’m busy, and you’ve got a job to do.”
“It’s Finn.”
I halt in my tracks as my blood runs cold. “He better not be fucking dead.”
“He’s not dead.”
“Then what is it?”
“He wants to talk. Says it's urgent.”
My pulse quickens.
Finn is a wildcard, and my gut is telling me that this isn’t a good thing.
But I can’t ignore him.
Though if it turns out he’s only trying to pull my strings, he’s going to find himself staring down the barrel of my gun.
“I’m on my way.”
Doyle meets me outside Finn’s cell wearing a grave expression. He looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks from the purple shadows under his eyes.
We’ve been working our men to the bone recently, trying to stay on top of the O’Keefe threat, and even though Sean has agreed to back off, that doesn’t mean we’re going to ease off the gas.
“He better not be bullshitting me,” I grunt as I approach Doyle.
“Guess you’re about to find out.” Doyle unlocks the cell.
The single fluorescent light overhead casts long shadows over Finn’s gaunt face.
He doesn’t look up right away, but once the door clicks shut behind me, he slowly lifts his head, and I catch the calculated gleam in his eyes.
“Don’t waste my time, Finn. What do you want?”
He smirks as he continues to stare at me. Even after all this time, his spirit is yet to break.
“I’m ready to talk,” he chokes out before violently coughing. A few splatters of blood hit the concrete, and I wrinkle my nose.
“What changed your mind?”
“Does it matter?”
“I’m curious about your motive, that’s all. Was it finally seeing your long-lost father figure, or have you finally realized you’re on the brink of death?”
Finn huffs a laugh, which sets off another violent coughing fit.
Stuffing my hands into my pockets, I watch with silent satisfaction as he struggles to take a breath.
“Neither,” he gasps.
“If I had to hazard a guess, your lung has been punctured by a broken rib, which, left untreated, could kill you. I’m only saying this to remind you that your pathetic little life is in my hands. So, you better start talking.”
“I will, but…there’s a…catch.”
This fucker has got to be kidding me.
“You’re not exactly in a position to be bargaining with me, Finn.”
“You want… information, and I want…my freedom.”
I bark a laugh.
“Freedom? You think Ronan’s going to hand that over to you on a silver platter?”
Finn stares at me, and slowly his lips pull up into a smile, revealing his blood-stained teeth.
“I thought you were…in charge? That means…final say is…yours.”
Technically, he’s right, but that makes this deal even riskier. If I make the wrong call and let Finn walk…
“That’s one hell of a price.” I try to ignore the voice in my head that is telling me to run this by Ronan first. “You better have something damn good or you’re wasting my time.”
Finn narrows his pale eyes. “What I know will be worth it.”
I scoff, shaking my head. “You expect me to take your word for it? You’ve had weeks to strike this deal, but you haven’t, which makes me think something else has changed. Something you’re not admitting to.”
“What can I say… I’m tired of sitting…in my own shit.”
“Yeah, I’m not buying it.”
“I have proof.” He winces as he takes a breath. “Not just empty talk.”
A heavy silence hangs between us, and my mind races as I weigh the options.
Ultimately, even if Ronan has put me in charge, I still need to run this by my brothers. I might get the final say, but my family isn’t a dictatorship. Everyone gets a say, except for maybe Cormac, considering the fact his loyalty to the family appears to be conditional.
“I’ll think about it.” I don’t hide the skepticism in my tone.
“You better think fast… And when you take the deal…I want the agreement in writing…or everything I know dies with me.”
“I swear you never used to be this fucking stubborn.”
“People change.” He stares at me long and hard, and this time I’m the one to look away first.
“I need to talk to my brothers.”
“Trust me. You want to hear this.”
“I’ll make you a counteroffer.” I take a step closer and crouch low so we’re looking at one another at eye level. “Give me something to prove that you’re not trying to play us, and I’ll make sure my brothers agree to grant you freedom.”
Finn doesn’t even hesitate.
“There’s a document… Someone close to your family… is trying to destroy you…from the inside.”
My pulse spikes as his words register.
Is this the situation with Stephen all over again?
“I don’t believe you.”
Finn’s eyes flash. He knows my family would never risk turning our backs on such a threat, especially after what happened with Stephen.
If we hadn’t caught him when we did, he would have handed Ciara over to Declan Walsh from right under Ronan’s nose.
If Riley is in similar danger…
My chest tightens.
If Finn has to walk for me to uncover the threat, then so be it. I’ll do anything to make sure Riley is safe.
“I have the original on my laptop… But if you want names…real proof… you’ll have to make this deal happen.”
I’m already dialing Brennan’s number as I exit Finn’s cell. I need to think, and I can’t do that when I’m breathing in air that reeks of piss.
Stepping outside, I put my phone to my ear and wait for my brother to pick up his damn phone.
“About fucking time,” I snap when he finally answers. “I need you to break into Finn’s apartment and find his laptop.”
“Get Doyle to do it,” Brennan mumbles, sleepily. “He took over my shift until tonight.”
“I don’t want Doyle, I want you.”
“Why? What’s in Finn’s apartment?”
“I don’t have time for twenty questions, Brennan. I need you to just do as I ask.”
“Jeez, fine I’ll do it. Give me an hour.”
“You have twenty minutes. Call me when you have the laptop.”
I pace back and forth in front of the warehouse, kicking the gravel beneath my feet as I wait for Brennan to call me back.
Every few minutes, I stop and open up my call list, my finger hovering over Ronan’s name. But then my conscience gets the better of me, and I shut off the screen and stuff it back in my pocket.
There’s a reason Ronan put me in charge, and not just because he needed to step away to focus on Ciara. He trusts me to make the right decisions for our family, so I need to put aside my own insecurities at being nothing but the muscle and approach this situation critically.
When my phone lights up with Brennan’s call, my pulse spikes as I put it to my ear.
“So, brother, I take it you needed me to look into some cryptic-looking document?”
I frown. “How did you know?”
“Hazarded a guess. Besides, it was literally saved on the desktop under our family name. I figured this was what you needed me to look into.”
“Finn’s offering us some information.”
“About fucking time.”
“He’s trying to strike a bargain, but until I agree, I wanted to make sure that we had something to use.”
“Well, whatever this is, it’s legit.”
“What is it?” I ask, though from Brennan’s answering silence, I’m not sure I want to know.
“There are just pages of transactions wired to Finn. I’m talking millions of dollars.”
“For what?”
“From the looks of it, to wreak havoc on our family.”
There is typing in the background, and then he curses. “Dad’s murder is on here.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Deadly.”
“But that’s not possible. Riley said she could confirm Sean was the one to kill our father.”
“It could be linked. But there are no names linked to these transactions. For all we know, it could be Sean wiring the money. But until Finn divulges the identity, we’re just as in the dark as before.”
“Fuck. I’ve got to go.”
“Keep me updated.” Brennan hangs up the call.
I stalk back into the warehouse, and Doyle opens up Finn’s cell once more.
“Brennan confirmed the document exists.” I fold my arms across my chest. “But I’m going to need more than that if I’m going to give you your freedom.”
“Along with the original document…” Finn sucks in a breath and winces. “I can provide the…correlating bank statements to…prove that the payments were made.”
I shake my head, the weight settling deep in my chest.
This is bigger than I imagined, but if the information Finn has is real, it could allow us to finally avenge our father’s death and put the whole ordeal behind us.
And from the look in Finn’s eyes, he knows it too.
“You give me freedom…I give you everything.”
I exhale slowly.
If this turns out to be the wrong call, I’m royally fucked. But it seems like I don’t have much of a choice.
“I’ll have a lawyer draw up the papers. I’ll be back in the morning.”
Finn’s lips pull up into a wicked smile that sends a chill down my spine. “Good. I’ll be waiting.”
I take a step forward and lean in so that our faces are barely an inch apart.
“If you’re playing me, I swear to God, I’ll kill you with my bare hands.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.”
As the door to Finn’s cell slams shut behind me, my mind starts to race.
This deal could save my family, or it could be the end of us.
Either way, it’s too late to turn back now.