16. Blair
SIXTEEN
blair
They had the church’s entrance taped off when we arrived.
“You shouldn’t be here today,” Liam said for the tenth time. “Too many cameras and people gawking. Sean won’t like this.”
My husband had his own family shit to deal with and wasn’t here to pass down judgment, whatever it may be.
“Aren’t you part of the reason there’s people and cameras?” I asked, taking note of every face my eyes connected with until they stopped on my brother.
I couldn’t help myself and hopped out before Liam could protest.
“Trouble lurks,” I said, stepping beside him in my five inch heels.
The ground was coated in snow but I wasn’t new to this. I could rock a pair of heels in any weather, especially when it gave me the opportunity to look down on the men in my family.
“Yeah? From which corner?”
He barely glanced my way but I felt the shift in his energy and smiled.
“All four…” this time his eyes met mine, the little upward flick to do so tickling my spirit and bruising his ego like always.
I loved being the tallest, smartest bitch in the room.
“My ma is dead but you knew that, right?”
Her body was with the funeral home Sean’s family owned, waiting for my instruction. There was no point in a home going service, when no one would show up but me. Didn’t feel right cremating her either.
Blake looked away with a shrug, pushing his shoulders back a little to prove my presence didn’t bother him.
We knew the truth though.
“Not my mother or problem,” he said, confirming what Darragh told me. “You want revenge, take it.”
He shrugged.
“Thank you for permission. I won’t feel bad for my actions going forward…” I went to leave but turned back. “Oh and let my father know, I’ll be front and center on first Sunday with my husband. It’s time for a family reunion, don’t you think?”
He gave me a sideways glance and walked away.
Yeah, I’m the problem lurking.
Liam had gotten out of the truck and moved to the curb, where he stood until I walked past him and got in the backseat.
“See, nothing happened,” I said, brushing my fingers between the pleats of my textured mini skirt as he pulled from the curb. “Take me to the warehouse. Esi is there.”
I felt Liam’s eyes trying to catch my attention through the rear view and sighed.
“What now?”
“Something is off with your friend.”
He was too observant for me.
Everything was off about Esi but that was for me to know, not anybody else.
“Does your brother give his two cents to Sean unprovoked?” I asked, lifting an eyebrow.
“When necessary, yes.”
I scoffed but knew it was true.
“Yes, Liam, something is off with my friend. Leave it to me, alright? Do you know where my husband is?”
His last text had been too vague.
I’ll be late. I love you.
“I can find out, but that’d mean exchanging something with Lorcan for it.”
Mmm.
“What do you think will suffice?”
The more Liam and I became acquainted, the better I understood his position in all this. Be loyal to me but not too much that he upsets the man paying him.
Sean was fair and I was unreasonable.
That made Liam and his brother lucky.
“You not letting me protect you correctly is a start.”
I tsked, not liking that idea but understanding with marriage came compromise.
Sean wanted me safe, Liam was here to do that in his stead.
“Alright. We’ll go with your suggestion.”
It meant Sean would make it his business to be all up in mine soon, to put me in my place or whatever.
My lips lifted at the thought, while scrolling through articles about the bodies he’d dropped on the church’s doorstep.
Pastor Nathaniel Phillips is cooperating with police , one read.
Another citing my father’s words, God will have the last say on this matter. I will continue to work with police to bring the victims justice.
What a fucking hypocrite.
He was the reason they had to die.
Annoyed, I called Jaslyn.
“You were next on my list of calls today,” she said upon answering. “Heard the church is being treated like a morgue. I think it’s best to switch gears and attack through the media. First a body and then—”
“—abuse of power and sexual assault allegations,” I finished. “You’re right. Can you meet in the morning?”
I could hear the clicking of a mouse.
“Mmmm. Yeah, I can meet at ten before court. And Ashton is giving me a look, hold on…” it went silent for a short moment and then… “Bring your husband. Congrats, by the way. I have to go but I’ll see you tomorrow.”
The line went dead and just in time. Liam came to a stop outside the warehouse and I pulled my heels off and replaced them with a pair of black Sambas.
“Stay back for me…” I held my hand up before he could argue. “Not far just enough that Esi isn’t tense. Security is not her thing.”
He nodded and we got out.
The smell of blood permeated the air and then whimpers the closer we got. Esi was in the middle of the room on her knees praying over the bloodied but alive body in front of her.
“You’re atoning for a sin you meant to commit,” I said, earning a side eye from her as she stood and revealed blood soaked clothes and skin.
Esmeralda didn’t want to be the next boss of the Constanzo family. That was supposed to be her father until he was murdered and their routes were exposed.
She was in this for revenge and I wanted the power our partnership came with. It helped I saved her life, didn’t matter I played it to my advantage once I learned who her grandfather was.
“He didn’t know anything helpful,” she said, dismissing my statement like always. “And the shipment made it to its destination without a hitch. Doesn’t it smell funny to you?”
I circled the mess she made, wondering if she’d even tried to get information out of him at all.
“Smells like a rat…” I stopped in front of her and frowned. “Look, we get it you’re a bad ass bitch with a mild temper—”
“Mild?”
“—but you can’t keep bathing yourself in other people’s blood, Esi,” I said, not missing a beat even after Liam’s outburst. “It’s becoming a thing and I’m concerned. Did you bring a change of clothes, at least?”
She looked down at herself and shrugged.
“I’ll drive safe and get my car detailed.”
Esmeralda lacked humanity on most days; her father had raised an enforcer and she embodied his teachings. I knew from the moment I met her she was different, but so was I.
What she kept close to the chest I could see so vividly. The rage of her father’s death fueled this crusade we found ourselves on.
I didn’t have to get my hands too dirty and she got to be exactly what her father intended, a monster with nothing to lose.
“Liam, get the black duffle from the trunk and then help Esi hose down,” I ordered, eyes on the not so dead groaning man in the middle of the floor. “Send for a cleanup team when you’re done.”
How was he still alive with so much blood loss?
I pulled my thirty-eight revolver and shot him in the head twice.
“Much better.”
The whimper of a man dying slowly from the inside out was not music to my ears.
“Fuck, that’s cold!” Esi yelped. “You did that on purpose.”
I turned to watch them.
Esi was in her bra and boy shorts at the entryway of the warehouse, while Liam stood on the outside and sprayed her.
“You’re the one covered in blood in the middle of fucking winter and no way to wash it off. Deal with it.”
He was irritated.
“Do we need to fuck or something?” she asked so nonchalantly I thought Liam missed it but his response was immediate.
“Yeah,” he said after dropping the hose. “Maybe we do need to fuck.”
My phone vibrated right when it was getting good but once I spotted Augusto’s name, I knew I couldn’t ignore it.
“Didn’t we talk about hovering?” I questioned teasingly. “Esi is fine…” I glanced at the standoff between her and Liam. “She’s working.”
He hummed.
Augusto Constanzo was half a year away from eighty-one. He wasn’t quick like before but no less sharp either.
Esmeralda’s dad had been his only heir and they kept a tight circle. Neither expected him to go before Augusto, forcing the title on my friend—a title she didn’t want. If he ever found out I’d been calling some of the shots for the last year, I might have to tag Sean in to save my life.
“I need you to fully take over this route issue and send Esmeralda home, Blair. I’ll have a plane waiting.”
The order gave me pause.
“Is there something I should know?”
He didn’t answer right away and I felt he’d done so on purpose to make me nervous.
I tapped the wall where I stood.
“Nothing of importance,” he finally said. “Have Esmeralda on my doorstep in seventy-two hours or I’ll send for her myself.”
And then it hit me.
Maybe he already knew.
Understanding we had to let this play out, I tucked my phone in the waistband of my skirt.
“Liam, take Esi to the airstrip for her flight back to Miami.”
Their gazes met mine as I approached.
“No fucking until you go home and figure out if your abuelo knows what we’ve been up to.”
She let out a deep huff, like this was such an inconvenience for her.
“How did he find out?” she asked, wiping her skin with the towel Liam handed over.
I watched them move in sync, passing clothing back and forth until she was dry and dressed.
Interesting.
Maybe they really did need to fuck.
“I don’t know but it’s best you go back, while I take care of the route problem.”
Thankfully, doing so meant working closely with Sean.
“What do I say to him, Blair? He’s going to want advice and strategies and that’s your thing. Honestly, I’d rather die than deal with my abuelo.”
Liam mumbled something and walked away before she could address him.
“You’re going home to placate him more than anything,” I said, taking the towel from her hand to help dry her hair with it. “He’d rather I die over this than you anyway.”
She scoffed and turned, those hazel eyes slightly on fire.
“As if I’d let anyone hurt you…” her shoulders dropped and I cheered inside at the defeat. “Fine, I’ll go back. But only after I have a little chat with your husband.”
Her gaze had moved passed me, confirming what I felt to be his arrival.
“I thought you were busy,” I said, turning on the heel of my sneakers to find him already walking toward us.
Sean had dressed to impress this morning, in a Sydell Peterson tailored suit and calf length coat. He’d gotten into mainly rocking Black designers years ago and never looked back.
I loved everything about the way this man wore Black, literally and figuratively.
Esi went to step in front of me and I put my arm out to stop her.
“He’s not a game, don’t try and play him. I say he’s good people and you’ll take my word for that, understood?”
She nodded and I accepted it, the eye roll too.
“Oisin,” I said, tossing my thumb at the five foot nothing woman beside me. “This is Esmeralda Constanzo.”
He was too busy staring into my soul to acknowledge the introduction right away, but eventually tore his eyes from mine to meet hers.
“Go ahead,” he urged. “Get it off your chest.”
And of course she took him up on it.
“Keep her safe,” she said simply. “And you’ll get to live your life in kind.”
Sean didn’t need a threat from Esi to do what he’d been doing all these years, but I could tell he appreciated someone else wanting the same for me.
And truthfully, so did I.
Esi and I weren’t as close as it seemed, we had a solid working business relationship, but I would kill for her, too.
“Liam, take Esi back to pack and be sure she makes it on her flight home.”
“I’ll wait until the plane is the air before pulling away,” he said, walking off without glancing her way.
She scoffed and followed behind him after wiggling her fingers to say bye.
“Mmm,” Sean hummed, reminding me he was here. “You talk to her like she’s your subordinate.”
I pretended I didn’t hear him.
“I thought you were busy. Why’d you pop up?”
He stepped closer.
“Lorcan, find something to do.”
Once we were alone, save for the dead body in the room, he curled his fingers around my neck and squeezed.
I heated from the inside out; my pussy began to throb simultaneously and I swear if he held on a little tighter I would cum for him.
“Esi likes the freedom of an enforcer and I like to plan and strategize. We make a good team. I wanted a way into their ranks, so we compromised.”
He pulled me to him and kissed my forehead.
“See how easy that was, baby?” he quipped, releasing me and walking away. “Let’s take a ride. I need you for something important.”
Needed me for something important, huh? I smiled and followed.
Finally.
“Good to see you, Blair,” Tadhg greeted, leaning against the passenger door as we approached their truck.
Or not , I thought.
“You too, Tadhg.”
“Liar,” he mumbled, opening his door and slipping inside. “I’m not the competition you think I am.”
It’s not that I didn’t like Tadhg.
It’s that… he was the closest person to Sean who could be what Finnegan had been to him all these years. Thinking it made me feel delusional and a little unhinged.
Was it normal to be this territorial of one person? Even when it came to their family?
Rein it in, Blair.
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