29. Sean
TWENTY-NINE
sean
“Blair should be here learning about all this,” Tadhg said, agitating me more than I already was.
I cut my eyes at him and he sighed, handing me the folder I’d been waiting on.
“Let it go,” Finn said, half asleep on the couch in my office at the docks. “This ain’t more important than what she’s doing right now.”
Philly had become our main hub for business deliveries through the docks but New York was more legit.
The docks ran like a well-oiled machine, nothing illegal in or out unless authorized.
With Violet and Blair going dark for hopefully not too long, Finn suggested we keep busy by going through the abandoned shipment log.
“There’s six shipments I think we should look at,” Tadhg said as I flipped open the reports. “The highlighted ones specifically.”
Once a cargo shipment makes it to the docks, the consignee—receiver or owner—has thirty days to accept. A number of reasons could stop a receiver from claiming their property, sometimes its financial and other times its legal.
I went over the highlighted slots first, noting that all had been incurring fees for three months now.
Typically abandoned shipments are ceased by customs if legal and auctioned to offset costs. In order to work around that, we held on to abandoned shipments longer and took the goods for ourselves. What we didn’t want, we left for customs to handle.
I skimmed the slots Tadhg deemed unworthy, one seemingly catching my attention.
“Look at that and tell me what you missed.”
While he read it over, I picked up the phone.
“Cut the lock on container A469…” I waited for confirmation before hanging up. “The business address registered for that container is in Everwood.”
“You think he abandoned it on purpose? It’s says four failed attempts at contact.”
Finn got up and took the papers, did a quick scan and gave them back.
“He left instructions and paid the initial fees. I’d say it was abandoned on purpose,” he said, opening the door. “I want to see what he left us. Let’s go.”
I’d rather destroy the entire fucking thing and pretend it was never here, but we were already in too deep. There was no going back on the deal I made, conditional or not.
Despite feeling on edge, I got up and followed behind Finn and Tadhg.
We drove over in an ATV and I sat back while they got out to see what was inside the container.
“Mr. O’Sullivan,” one of the dock workers called from the open door, eyes wide. “Uh. You might want to see this.”
I got out and went inside, frowning at the strong smell of marijuana that hit me. Finn and Tadhg were both smiling.
“This is a lot of fucking weed,” Finn said, glancing at me with dollar signs in his eyes. “I get it. You didn’t want any of this but we’re here now and I think the muthafucka is solid.”
My frown deepened.
“You never met him.”
“Semantics…” he waved me off. “My big brother ain’t no bitch. If you felt like he was trying to get over, you would’ve killed him right there and dealt with the fallout later.”
“Not only did you hear him out,” Tadhg added, cracking open another crate to see what was inside. “But your wife didn’t feel off about him either. That says a lot.”
I was a second away from telling them both to quit touching shit, but Finn’s phone rang and he smiled after glancing at the screen.
“Moonlight,” he answered, walking past me to step outside. “You never call.”
“All this happiness floating around is making me sick,” Tadhg mumbled, dropping the top he’d open and turning to look at me. “ZiZi asked for a divorce but I ain’t giving her shit.”
I lifted an eyebrow and he sighed, brushing a hand down his face
“I messed up,” he went on, looking everywhere but at me now.
“The fuck does that mean?” I asked, tipping my head. “You cheated?”
He turned slowly, lip curled up like what I said offended him.
“What you take me for?”
I didn’t respond and instead waited for him to elaborate, so I could understand.
Tadhg and ZiZi got married four years ago, been together for about eight. No kids, just the two of them.
“Last year she mentioned wanting to start a family,” he finally said, looking past me at Finn as he entered again. “I don’t want kids. Never have. And now my wife, who I fucking love more than anything, does.”
Finnegan whistled.
“Ain’t that some shit y’all should’ve talked about?” my brother asked before I could. “You know before you got married.”
Tadhg closed his eyes and took a deep breath. I could feel his frustration.
“We talked about a lot, including kids. Her wanting them now is completely out of left field and I said something I didn’t even fucking mean.”
When he started popping open another crate I knew that was the end of our conversation. And it wasn’t shit Finn or me could do, but let him stew in his feelings until he was really ready to talk.
“Leave this,” I said. “I’ll have them move it and we’ll deal with what’s inside tonight.”
They both nodded and left after watching a crew member secure it with one of our personal locks.
“Aye…” I stopped Finn before he could follow behind Tadhg. “What they up to?”
He smirked and I felt his bullshit before he could get started.
“What do I get for sharing information?” he asked, leaning against the side of the ATV. “I’ll give it up for a hundred grand. Send it to Violet though, all my money is hers.”
I took a step toward him and he immediately lifted his hands in mock surrender while laughing.
“Do I look like I’m in the mood, Finnegan?”
He shook his head and I stared at him expectantly.
“They followed Landell up to Ithaca,” he revealed, arms crossed. “I didn’t get all the details but I gave them my code to the ranch.”
Something about that agitated me more.
“Did they use it yet?”
I knew he checked already and got my confirmation when his little smirk turned into a frown.
“Nah. Not yet. Got a feeling plans changed…” he slid into the front seat of the ATV. “Ain’t shit we can do about it right now. Tell him to get the fuck in, Tadhg. We got shit to do and places to be.”
Tadhg, while staring at his phone, repeated Finn’s word, “Get the fuck in. We got shit to do and places to be…” he looked up as I passed to hop in the back. “I need to see ZiZi. She’ll deal with me if y’all are there.”
He drove us back to the office and we switched from the ATV to the truck we’d come here in. I’d given Lorcan and Liam the day off.
“She ain’t speaking to you either?” Finn asked. “You sure this just about having a baby? Maybe you ain’t been paying her enough attention.”
“It ain’t that.”
I tuned them out and scrolled through the listings the real estate agent sent. None of the previous options were good enough. And even though we could build something upstate near my parents, Blair and I preferred the city.
All of our memories were here.
“Should I buy a brownstone, gut it and let Blair turn it into what she wants? Or build some shit upstate?”
Finn looked back from the passenger seat.
“Can we deal with one problem at a time? Did you hear what this fool said?”
I put my phone down and met eyes with Tadhg in the mirror, already over his marital problems. Not because I didn’t care but because it felt like he wanted to suffer alone.
“Even if I wanted to change my mind about kids, I can’t,” he said, focusing on the road. “Got my shit snipped before I met, Zi.”
“And he never told her,” Finn added, giving me the most important detail. “I get it. You thought y’all had an agreement but that’s some shit you tell the person you want to marry.”
“You do know you can get that shit reversed, right?” I asked, to be sure I was understanding correctly.
He nodded, eyes meeting mine briefly.
“Ain’t no guarantee we’ll conceive, and honestly, I’m not interested in trying.”
Ah.
“It’s sounding like you need to let her go,” I said, earning a glare I could care less about. “You lied by omission for eight years about a vasectomy. She changed her mind about kids after all that time. What that sound like to you, Finn?”
“Sounds like Zi wasn’t honest either, probably thought after some time you’d agree.”
Tadhg sighed and I picked up my vibrating phone, swiping the screen quickly at the sight of Siobhan’s name.
“What’s wrong, Von?”
She huffed into the phone.
“I’m about to murder everybody in this bitch, Sean,” she said. “Is my brother or sister with you? I need to talk to one of them but neither are answering their phone. Something happening I need to know about?”
I ignored her last question.
“Talk to me first.”
I could hear a door shut before she spoke again and put the phone on speaker so Finn and Tadhg could hear.
“First, his dad is a fucking liar,” Siobhan started. “There’s a clause for a baby within five years or Ziad will be removed from his position. I’m not giving nobody a goddamn baby.”
Finn snorted. “Neither is your brother apparently.”
“What does that mean, Finnegan?” she asked, getting off topic.
“Focus,” I cut in. “I’m assuming killing everybody in that bitch is not what you really want to do.”
She tsked .
“It would make my life easier but no it’s not. The plan was to consult with my siblings but since nobody loves me enough to answer my call, coming to you first was my only option. I need to tell him who I am.”
Tadhg came to a stop outside of the home he shared with ZiZi and parked, holding his hand out for the phone once the car was off.
I decided to let him handle his sister.
“Fuck no,” he immediately told her. “That wasn’t the plan and we don’t know them or their intentions.”
Siobhan let out a frustrated sigh.
“Plans change. And I’m starting to get antsy. I feel like his brother might be trying to kill him. It’s all in his eyes and there was an incident.”
My eyebrows shot up at that, but I kept silent; this would be his job after Eoghan stepped aside.
“Elaborate.”
“I really hate when you sound like daddy,” she said, tone much softer now. “All of the tires on my car were slashed. Ziad is losing his shit about it and I have to act like I’m this weak ass bitch when I’m not. Let me tell him who I am so we can fix this shit correctly. It’s either that or I start moving behind the scenes.”
And from what I was hearing, she didn’t want to do that.
“You falling for him?” I asked.
Silence.
It went on for much longer than I cared before she replied.
“I… like him, yes.”
For a second, I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.
Just as I’d thought; the women in my family were going to be the death of me.
“Plans change, huh?” I mumbled, more to myself than her. “Bring Ziad to me.”
“I’ll be home tomorrow,” she said without hesitation. “Whatever you do, don’t kill him, please.”
She hung up and Tadhg handed my phone back.
“Come inside. Zi won’t ignore me with you two here,” he said, looking at Finn then me. “I’m losing my mind without her. I just need five minutes of peace in her presence.”
Part of me wanted us all to suffer.
I couldn’t be with Blair let alone speak to her, but the desperation in his voice was hard to ignore. Finnegan and I found ourselves following him inside the brownstone without complaint.
Laughter filled the space when we entered and I could visibly see Tadhg stiffen at the sound of another man’s voice.
“Fuck,” Finn mumbled once we got sight of Zinnia damn near sitting in the lap of her guest. “Tadh—”
“Oh, I see,” Tadhg said through his own laughter, pulling the gun from his waist.
Finn and I moved to different corners of the room.
“Baby…” Zi was standing now, her eyes moving between the three of us before landing on me. “Sean, he’ll listen to you. Don’t let him do it.”
I shook my head.
“No can do, Zi. You knew the consequences.”
She looked away, not even sparing Finn a glance.
He wouldn’t oblige and she knew it.
“How long?” Tadhg asked, looking at her over the arm he had aimed at the man sitting silently on the couch.
I kept my eyes on him; he was too calm.
“It’s not like that,” she said, shaking her head. “I would never do that you… to us . Believe me and let him leave. We can talk about it.”
I slid the gun from my waist when a pair of eyes met mine, the corner of his mouth lifted smugly.
“Damn, Zi,” I said, disappointed in her. “You let the enemy in.”
She smacked her lips.
“What the fuck are you talking about? He been working the same job as me since I started. Ain’t nobody an enemy here. I know how to move.”
Tadhg chuckled.
“Right. You know how to move but there’s another man in my fucking house!”
He tapped his chest with the gun.
“Have you forgotten who the fuck I am?”
Tadhg turned away from her and met eyes with a dead man before pulling the trigger and tapping him in the arm. “Let me remind you then.”
“Fuck!”
I reached for Zi and pulled her back; this wasn’t about to end how she hoped.
“Sean, make him stop,” she whispered, tugging on my arm.
“He can’t stop me,” he said, pointing to the spot next to him. “Come here or I’ll finish the job, baby.”
She let me go and rushed forward.
“Who the fuck is this? And if I feel like you’re lying, I’ll kill him and you.”
Finn and I looked at one another and started moving simultaneously. Nothing about this felt right or maybe we were just paranoid.
“We’re just co-workers,” I heard Zi say. “That’s it. Nothing more.”
“Nah. He came with an agenda.”
Finn went to the front door and locked it.
I went halfway up the stairs and stood there, leaning against the wall while he checked the back door and then emerged, shaking his head.
“Ain’t nobody else here but me,” ole dude spoke, grabbing our attention but not enough to get us to move from where we could see all blind spots. “I only want my bitch and that’s it. She ain’t tell me you were out of your mind.”
He glared at her.
“Shut the fuck up, Aaran!” Zi screamed. “He will kill you! Is that what you want?”
“You think I’m getting out of here alive?” he asked her, holding on to the arm Tadhg shot. “You think I’m going to die without telling him the truth. Nah, fuck that…” he looked Tadhg dead in the eyes. “That’s been me for over a year and that baby she carrying mine too.”
It wasn’t shit we could do to stop him from putting a bullet between his eyes. And he did it without hesitation.
Now Zi was screaming and he had the gun pointed at her.
“You think I won’t fucking kill you?” he asked as I descended the steps to stop him from doing that .
He would regret it and I couldn’t live with myself for allowing it.
“Can’t let you do that,” I muttered, standing next to him. “Hand me the gun, Tadhg.”
His wild eyes met mine and I felt his fucking pain.
“Nah, I’m not giving you shit. She’s carrying another man’s fucking baby, Sean. My…” he turned back to her. “What I do to deserve that?”
Zi was trembling when she whispered her response.
“I can’t hear you! Speak up!”
“You didn’t do anything,” she cried, trying to reach for him but failed when he pulled back. “I just… I got a little lonely and then I met A-Aran…” she spared his lifeless body a glance. “It wasn’t like that. I didn’t care for him or anything, not like how I care for you.”
He shook his head.
“But you’re carrying his baby?”
She nodded.
“I thought it could be yours but then you told me about the vasectomy and and and…”
She couldn’t even speak and he was staring at her like he wanted to comfort her but I knew he wouldn’t.
“You can’t kill her.”
He glanced at me again and I thought he might do it anyway but instead, he tucked his gun and turned away. “I need a minute.”
“I already called to get this cleaned up,” Finn said. “Let me get the chief in this district on the phone before all of fucking NYPD is here.”
“What am I supposed to do now?”
Zi was looking me dead in my eyes, hers filled with tears of… remorse? Or maybe she was just upset about being caught and getting her child’s father killed.
“I can’t answer that,” I told her. “Whatever happens next is between you and Tadhg.”