Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Ciaran
Although I was used to navigating legal documents I couldn’t make sense of the information on the screen in front of me. I’d arrived at the office earlier than usual but so far had done nothing productive. As I stared at the laptop, I stifled a yawn.
Considering some of the dubious things I’d done in my life, I usually slept surprisingly soundly. Last night, I hadn’t. For hours, I’d tossed and turned, unable to find peace no matter what position I tried. I counted sheep, imagined myself walking slowly down a long flight of stairs, and did breathing exercises. I even played sounds of the ocean I found on a meditation app. None of it worked.
It wasn’t my conscience that bothered me. The men whose lives I’d taken to protect my family’s interests were not the ones that haunted me. It was Annie, the woman I met at Lola’s . Every time I closed my eyes, my mind drifted back to her, and I had to fight the urge to go and claim her.
When I’d seen Annie on the security feed, walking into Lola’s , my curiosity was piqued. Not a lot of women came to the club, and none that looked as sweet, innocent and obviously out of place as she did. It was clear someone like her didn’t belong in that dump. According to the information I’d had my men dig up on her after she left, Miss Annabelle Calder was a twenty-three-year-old teacher at a tiny village school. Since her mother died, she’d lived alone in the house where she grew up. There was nothing remarkable about Annie’s life, but there was no denying the woman herself was something special.
In her flowery dress and cardigan, with that golden hair cascading over her shoulders, she looked like a princess who’d unwittingly wandered into the dragon’s lair. There were plenty of men in Lola’s last night who’d have taken advantage of her. Thankfully, I got to her first.
It was purely a coincidence I was there. Lola’s wasn’t somewhere I went unless necessary. It was one of several properties my father acquired before his untimely death and my first thought had been to sell it. I had no interest in owning a sleazy strip club, but my brother, Sean, persuaded me not to. It turned out the club was surprisingly valuable, not so much for the money it raked in, but because the clients often shared information with the dancers. They told them all sorts of things they should definitely have kept to themselves.
I had to drop into Lola’s to deal with a staff issue. Several employees had quit after a fight with the manager, a waste of fresh air called Ronnie. When I learned he’d been putting his slimy hands on the female bartenders, I fired him. Then, for good measure, I had my men teach him a lesson he wouldn’t soon forget, because shit like that could not go unpunished in my organization.
With nobody there to work the bar, one of my enforcers, Jojo Sullivan, had to step in to serve drinks. That was a disaster waiting to happen. He lacked the sunny demeanor required in the hospitality industry. Thankfully, he hadn’t had the chance to drive away too many customers before the regular staff agreed to return.
It was all a pain in my ass, but the silver lining was obvious. If I hadn’t had that headache to deal with, I wouldn’t have met Annie. Our conversation may have been short, but I enjoyed spending time with her and found myself inexplicably drawn to her. Annie was beautiful, for sure. She had delicate features and these enormous, beguiling blue eyes, but that wasn’t what drew me in. Her warmth and openness appealed to me.
While people who knew my reputation were rightfully wary of me, she was unguarded. She spoke to me like I was a regular guy and not the ruthless head of the Reilly family, whose ass everyone felt obligated to kiss.
The moment she said she was looking for that scumbag, Danny Mulhearn, my heart sunk. The name of that vile creature should never have touched her soft pink lips. Mulhearn rose from lowly street thug to become second-in-command of the Cleary family, our deadliest rivals. Even among the crime families who operated in Michigan, he was considered a nasty piece of work and he’d been orchestrating moves against my family for months now.
I hoped Annie would heed my warning to drop her search for Mulhearn. Just asking about him could have gotten her into trouble. His name rubbed people the wrong way. If, by chance, someone did point her in his direction, it wouldn’t have led to anything good. Unlike me, the lowlife had no problem with hurting women. If he thought there was a way to use a long-lost relative for his gain, he’d have shown no hesitation.
Speaking to Annie was great, but kissing her was a mistake. I shouldn’t have regretted tasting those perfect lips, but I did because it left me yearning for more. Sadly, I wouldn’t be able to indulge my desire to explore every inch of her beautiful body. She was leaving soon, and I couldn’t offer her a reason to stay. A girl like Annie deserved romance, the possibility of a committed relationship. To fuck her and cast her aside would have been criminal.
Several of my men, the older guys mainly, had been hassling me to pick a bride. They believed marriage would show I was serious about the future, stable in a way that my volatile, womanizing father wasn’t. He’d lost the respect of a lot of his men when he left my mother to raise my siblings and me alone. They didn’t want to see me following his destructive path.
I’d been giving serious thought to marriage for some time. Annie would suit me well, but there would be no benefit to a union with some random woman I’d just met. I needed a bride with the right connections if I was to expand the Reilly empire, so I didn’t know why I was even thinking about Annie in terms of marriage. We’d only talked for a few minutes, and I didn’t believe in love at first sight.
Did I?
“Hey, boss!”
I looked up as Max O’Byrne strolled into my office. Aside from my brothers, he was the person I trusted most in our fucked-up world. We’d been friends since middle school, so when I asked him to take Annie back to her hotel, I knew he would deliver her safely.
It was a relief when he reported back that she was staying in a five-star accommodation. I wanted her to be safe. The thought of her roaming about the city asking about a vicious criminal made me shudder. That’s why I’d asked Max to have someone watch over her until she got back on her plane.
“Max.” I closed my laptop. I was supposed to be reading over the contracts to buy a parcel of land over in Dearborn that was ripe for development. So far, I hadn’t taken in a single word. “What’s happening?”
“Your girl is up and about.” He dropped onto the chair in front of my desk.
I glanced at the limited-edition Hublot watch on my wrist. It was barely eight o’clock. Annie was obviously an early riser. I liked that. I was always up with the lark myself.
“She’s not my girl,” I denied.
“But you want her to be.”
Max shot me a knowing look, and I shrugged.
“Come on, Ciaran, I saw how much you liked her.”
I aimed for nonchalance when I replied, “She’s a pretty girl.”
“It’s more than that. You were into her.”
“Maybe, but there’s no point pursing her. She’s headed back to Scotland, and I need to get serious about finding a wife.”
“Hmm.” Max rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I hear Daria Costa’s engagement fell through.”
It had, because her fiancé found out she was spreading her legs for a dozen different men. Her promiscuity didn’t bother me too much. I wasn’t exactly a virgin myself and, if we married, I’d soon bring her into line.
There were definite advantages to a union with Daria. Marrying into the Chicago mob would have helped my organization expand its interests in Illinois. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a bullet I was willing to take for the team. Daria was a spoiled brat. She whined constantly about everything and nothing. After ten minutes in her company, I’d probably have throttled her.
“She’s too spoiled.”
“You’re probably right,” Max conceded. “What about Ella Rossi?”
I screwed my nose up. “She’s a kid.”
“She just turned eighteen.”
I shook my head. That was still nine years younger than me. While the age difference wasn’t necessarily a deal-breaker, I couldn’t consider Ella. She was na?ve to the point I worried if she even knew the intimate things that went on between a man and a woman.
“Isabella Graziano?” Max tried.
Though the sister of the most powerful man in Cleveland ticked most of my boxes, I couldn’t consider her. To become head of his family, her brother Francesco murdered his own father and two of his brothers. I would never enter negotiations with a man so lacking in honor. Apart from the fact he made me sick, he couldn’t be trusted.
“Her brother’s a snake.”
Max nodded in agreement.
“A Russian, then? Kataryna Belkin is the right age. She’s unattached and not bad to look at. I hear she’s clever and ambitious, so she’ll keep you on your toes. Plus, her family has connections in Chicago, New York and Vegas, not to mention Moscow.”
Making an alliance with the Belkin Bratva wasn’t the worst idea. They had a global reach. Together, we would be a formidable force. I had to admit, the Russian heiress was already at the top of my list of potential brides. We would make a great couple, but now I couldn’t think of anyone but Annie. Perhaps once she’d left the country and was beyond my reach, I’d be able to let go of my desire for her.
Fuck! Who was I trying to kid? Scotland wasn’t beyond my reach. Hell, if Annie moved to the middle of the Antarctic, I would still be able to get to her. I’d just have to push her from my mind.
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to speak to Sergei Belkin about an alliance,” I told Max. “Set up a meeting.”
“You sure?”
Despite the nagging doubt twisting my gut, I nodded. Never one to waste time, Max took his cellphone from his pocket.
“Huh!” he exclaimed as he looked at the screen.
“What?”
“Ritchie messaged me. Your girl’s on Woodward Avenue.”
There were several places she could be going, but I’d have bet good money she was headed for the arena. There was only one reason she would be going there, and it wasn’t to watch the Red Wings training. She was looking to speak to the guy who suggested she’d find Mulhearn at Lola’s . She obviously hadn’t heeded my warning.
“That little brat.” Pushing up from my seat, I jabbed a finger at Max. “Tell our guys to intercept her and bring her to my apartment.”
“Okay.” A huge grin spread across Max’s face. The cocky bastard knew me too well. I could never have resisted such a provocation. “And Sergei Belkin?”
“Leave it for now.” I would decide whether I wanted to pursue a relationship with his daughter later. Before I could even think about that, I needed to deal with Annie. She was about to learn what happened when you disobeyed me.