Lorenzo
I woke up this morning to Quinn’s side of the bed empty. I don’t know why the fuck that pissed me off, and I’m annoyed by my reaction to it.
When I noticed the bed was empty beside me, I wanted to track her down and make her talk to me, but when I arrived in the kitchen, I found my father grinning at me and my brothers laughing.
The women had gone early for an all-day shopping spree.
Giovanni thought it was hilarious to inform me that my wife had taken my credit card with her.
Like I give a fuck if she spends my money. I have more than enough to have her shop all day for her entire lifetime and then some.
“What are you going to do about the information we found out yesterday?” my father asks as we’re having breakfast.
“I have a meeting with Tempest at eleven. I’m going to have him dig into the shit that Daire’s been doing.
I have a feeling that she’s been blackmailing Tony Geraghty.
Why else would the man stay at Ronan’s side?
He knew that bitch was bullying his daughter, that she’s the reason Orla’s dead and he’s stayed dutifully by his side. ”
Ciro scoffs. “From what we heard yesterday, I doubt Tony Geraghty gives a fuck that his daughter’s dead.”
“What happened to Orla’s mother?” Gio asks. “I’ve not heard anyone speak of her at all.”
“Gone,” our father says, taking a sip of his coffee.
“When Orla died, the woman blamed her husband, not that anyone can blame her with all the shit that happened. It was rumored that he was having an affair, although no one knew with whom. I’m wondering if his wife, Claudette, found out?
But the woman vanished after she buried her daughter and hasn’t been seen since. ”
“Is she alive?” I ask, wondering if she’s gone of her own accord or if she’s gone because she knows too much?
“Hmm, now that is something you may want to look into,” my father says. “Yesterday, I would have said she left to find peace, today, it seems otherwise.”
“I’ll get Marco to look into it,” I tell him and then look to Ciro. “Will you get him onto that?” I glance down at my watch and see it’s almost time to meet Tempest. “I’ve got to go.”
Twenty minutes later, Tempest and I are sitting in my office. “Congrats on the wedding, bro. Your wife looked gorgeous, so I’m surprised that I’m here. I thought you’d have taken her out of the country by now.”
"Tell me what you have," I say, ignoring his words about Quinn.
He grins at me, used to my no-nonsense bullshit.
“I dug deep into the organizations that have been trying to muscle in on your trade. I found an offshore account that they all lead back to.” He reaches into his jacket and sets a folded paper on the desk.
"My contact found it ten days ago. Took this long to trace it properly.
" He leans forward. "There's an offshore account moving significant money.
Not small transactions, but large ones, and doing so regularly.
The money connects to the shell companies we've been tracking, the acquisitions, the ventures that got undercut. "
"Who is it tied to?"
"Someone protected," he says, scrubbing his hand over his face.
"Someone with enough power to hide this account under dozens and dozens of shell corporations." He grins at me. "It took my contact ten days to get this far. He’s not a man who likes to lose and he’ll uncover everything about the fucker behind it all.”
“This is good,” I tell him. “We’re getting close, but the question is what do we do now?”
His grin widens. “The timing of deposits aligns exactly with the intelligence incidents across your family and the Delaneys. And there are transfers out that match the timing of the shell company moves."
"It's someone close to our organization," I say.
"I think so. I haven't found anyone who could be a suspect."
"But you have a shortlist?"
"I do," he says. "And there's something else."
I look at him and wait for him to tell me. The man loves his dramatics.
"The Morozovs," he says. "They're being hit too."
I go still. What the fuck? That’s all four families. How the fuck is this possible?
"Deals falling through, their routes have been intercepted, not to mention their contracts disappearing to competitors who shouldn't have known those contracts existed.
" He holds my gaze. "It's not just your family, Lorenzo.
It's everyone in the syndicate. Someone has a grudge or someone wants the power the syndicate has. "
Once again my mind can’t help but be drawn toward the thoughts I had last night. Daire. That fucking bitch has ties to everyone.
Daire Delaney is set to marry Rurik Morozov the moment that Olezka Morozov returns from business in Russia. She’s carrying his baby. She’s a woman who knows how to manipulate and she’s damn good at doing it too.
"This isn't about revenge," I say.
"What are you thinking?" Tempest asks. "I know you, Lorenzo. You’ve got something on your mind. What is it?”
I tell him everything I learned last night, the way that Daire is able to manipulate everyone around her and do it without a second thought.
"How certain are you that she’s behind it?” he asks.
I sigh. “My gut is telling me it’s her.”
He nods. “That’s enough for me, but Lorenzo? I need you to understand that your anger could be overriding your judgment. We have her tied to the Delaneys and the Morozovs, but no connection to your family or the Kings.”
“Bruno,” I tell him. “He and Daire have been close for a while. If anyone is selling us out to her, it would be him. As for the Kings, that’s a job for you, my friend. I need you to look into this. I trust you, Tempest. I know you’ll do this and do it quietly.”
He stands. "I'll keep pulling the financial thread. I want to find the account holder. Once I have a name we can move on it. While I do that, I’ll have my contacts search into the history of Bruno and Daire and see if there’s any ties to the Kings.”
I know when he says contacts, he’s talking about his brothers from the motorcycle club and I’m good with that. Those men are family, they watch out for one another, and if Tempest needed me, I’d bring my family on board knowing they’d have my back and, in turn, his.
"Keep it quiet," I say. "If she knows we're looking—"
"She'll start burying everything and judging by how well she and her parents managed to bury the Orla Geraghty situation, they’ll do a damn good job of it," he says. "But I know how to be quiet, I’ve got this. The truth is coming out, Lorenzo and when it does, everyone involved is going to die."
Too fucking right they are. Whoever is behind this along with whoever is selling us out is going to die and before they die, they’re going to be in a world of hurt.
We say our goodbyes and he leaves my office. Once he’s gone, I read through the documents that he brought with him. We’re close, I know we are, it’s only a matter of time until we uncover everything.
I make my way downstairs, I need a damn coffee and that’s when I see the women.
Well, Valentina and Quinn. Both of them have their arms filled with bags.
Quinn’s still in her coat, looking slightly flushed from the cold air outside, her hair windblown.
She's laughing at something Valentina just said, it’s a real laugh, one that I haven’t seen before. God, she truly is beautiful.
"Good afternoon," I say.
"Good afternoon, Lorenzo," she replies, that smile still on her face.
Valentina looks between us with bright hopeful eyes. I step forward and take Quinn’s bags. “Come with me," I ask.
I watch as she blinks, then nods her head, but the smile is still on her face. "Okay," she says.
I hand her bags to Leo, one of my men. “Leave them in our wing,” I instruct him as I reach for Quinn’s hand. She tenses but doesn’t pull back. I lead her into the gardens where there’s an arbor, and we sit.
"I know about the diary, Orla’s diary," I tell her, wanting to get this over and done with. She goes very still at my words, but I don’t stop.
"Conn brought it to a meeting yesterday.
He found it at Tony's house, in the room where Orla kept it hidden under the floor, after Orla died. " I turn to look at her. "I read it."
Her eyes are wide and filled with tears. "All of it?" she asks, her voice shaking and low.
"Not all of it, no. Conn had tabbed what he thought was necessary and your brothers and I, along with my father and brothers read it."
She looks away from me. Her gaze goes to the Hellebores that are in bloom in the gardens.
"Daire lied to me," I say. "About what happened, but more importantly, she lied about who you are.
" I take a deep breath and lay everything bare.
"Everything she told me was constructed to make me believe the worst about you. I believed it because..." I stop, trying to figure out how to say this in a way that doesn’t make me even more of an asshole and the truth is, there isn’t any other way.
"I believed it because I was already looking for reasons not to trust you, and she gave me one. "
Quinn doesn't say anything.
"I was wrong," I say. "About all of it."
She breathes out slowly. "I know," she says, quietly.
That's all. Not I told you so, not, do you understand what that cost me? Just I know. I hate how exhausted she sounds, like this has been weighing her down for years and it has. But not anymore. It’s out in the open and she can finally be free from it all.
"Tell me what happened," I say. "From the beginning, I want to know all of it."
She looks at me. "Why?"
"Because I got it wrong, and I want the real version. I want to hear what happened from you."
She's quiet for a moment. Long enough that I think she's going to refuse, that the damage is too extensive, that she's decided the explanation serves me but not her and she has no reason to give it.