Chapter 19
19
FIONN
A day after sending the video footage to Zak, Daire and I received an urgent message to meet Sloan in the dining room. Luckily, we were already at the house. When we arrived, Sloan was pacing, while Conall watched him with concern, his finger tracing the deep red collar around his neck while he did.
“What’s wrong?”
Conall winced. “Cillian, Aspen, and Jamie didn’t get Joaquin Herrera like they thought. Instead, they killed Joaquin’s cousin, Noa Garcia.”
“Garcia? As in Santiago Garcia’s sister?” I had a whole set of notes about him, too. Technically, the Norse Lords MC over in Pleasant Beach, California, weren’t our allies. They were impartial when it came to mob wars, but I liked to know about everyone we had dealings with, regardless of their commitment to us or lack thereof. Santiago—also known as Fenrir—was also Ardan Murphy’s ex-lover.
Sloan blew out air through his nose and stopped behind the chair at the head of the table. He crossed his arms over the top of it and leaned his forehead onto his wrists. “Exactly. This entire assignment has gone backward. I thought I could trust them.”
Conall rose and laid a hand on the middle of his back, rubbing comforting circles. “They are the best. If this happened to them, imagine what would’ve happened with someone else. They made a choice, and it was the wrong one.”
“They blew the bomb in the salon up without confirming they saw Herrera.”
“It was raining hard,” Conall argued lightly, snuggling up to Sloan. “All they could see were umbrellas, and according to their sources, it should’ve been Joaquin walking into that salon, not Noa. Anyone else would’ve made the same mistake, even you, Boss.”
“So, what now?” I licked my dry lips, eyeing Sloan carefully. He appeared more ragged than usual, the dark circles under his eyes a tad more prominent. The brown roots of his hair were outgrowing the bleached blond, a sign he needed to call the hairdresser in to redo it. This was my uncle stressed in every way, and my heart ached with the urge to help him however I could.
“I called a meeting. They’ll all be here soon.” He waved his hand at the seat to his left. “Sit down. It’s going to be a long night.”
“Yes, Uncle.” I took the first seat, while Daire stole the chair beside mine. Under the table, he laid his hand on my thigh and squeezed, and I gave him a small smile in response.
It didn’t take long for the cavalry to show up, and the dining room was full of our men. On our side of the table sat Cillian, Corbin, and Ardan, while Aspen, Conall, Jamie, and Rowen took the other. As soon as Sloan explained the situation, the chaos began. Questions were thrown at Ardan, who had an informant tell him that it was Joaquin who was killed, and accusations of their failure were thrown at Cillian, Aspen, and Jamie. I watched without a word as Sloan ordered them to return to Miami to finish the job, and they didn’t hesitate, shooting to their feet and leaving immediately.
Then, came the conversation about Fenrir and if he was going to retaliate.
“This isn’t good for us or our relationship with the Lords. If Fenrir decides he wants revenge, the president of the club will no doubt support him,” Sloan said with a sigh. “The only positive we have from this is that he will be angry at Thiago.”
One could only hope he’d be pissed at Thiago fucking Reyes.
Ardan threaded his fingers together on the table. “Santi never wanted his sister to be part of the Cartel. He begged her not to help their cousin. He will put half the blame on Reyes as well.”
That was something. We wouldn’t take the full blame.
Daire hummed beside me, and I gave him my attention. “Whether he’ll go after us or Thiago for revenge remains to be seen.”
My stomach turned nervously. I’d never met Fenrir, but I’d heard a lot about him. He was great at his job as a hit man, and I didn’t want any of my family in his crosshairs.
Ardan laughed, but there was an edge to it that I didn’t like. He was usually the calm one, the reserved person who showed little emotion. “He’ll come for us. When, we won’t know. Santi’s more calculating than Thiago. He waits for the opportune moment. He’s a hit man and good at it, too.”
My gaze slid to Sloan, and the expression on his face hardened, a subtle change that I noticed immediately because of how long I’d lived with him. “Right now, we need to focus on Thiago and his plans. He’s more likely to react out of anger.” His jaw ticked in irritation. “Which is why I propose we send the ones we love away for a while.”
I winced, aware of the outburst that was going to explode from Conall, and I wasn’t wrong.
“Bullshit.” He jumped to his feet and smashed his fist onto the table. He pointed a finger at Sloan. “No,” he snarled. “I know what you’re doing, and you can kiss my pale arse because I’m not fucking going anywhere. You hear me?”
I reached for Daire’s hand under the table, and he laced his fingers through mine, the pressure a welcome comfort. His warmth seeped through me because of how close he was, and I needed all the stability he offered. He was my pillar, my wall of strength.
Conall and Sloan argued, and I vaguely listened to them because it was all the same—Conall telling Sloan that he refused to hide while Sloan was in danger and claiming his spot was at Sloan’s side. The thing I’d come to respect about Conall was that he didn’t back down, and he knew the truth—that Sloan needed him. After they argued came the passionate kissing, and while others thought it was hot, the fact that Sloan was my uncle made it objectively not so for me, so I kept my eyes on the other men.
It wasn’t until they were done and Sloan mentioned my name that I returned my attention to him.
“A lot of things are happening, and we need to keep on top of all of them. Ardan, Fionn is close to finally catching the rat.”
Ardan turned amused eyes on me, his eyebrows raised in surprise, and I made a point not to be insulted by the expression. Not many people trusted me to get the job done, and I was going to prove them all wrong.
I sat up straighter. “We have a video of Diaz and the rat meeting together. It wasn’t easy to get. This was five years or more ago and not many people keep security footage for that long, but they were stupid and met across from an investment bank with a manager who’s notorious for keeping up to ten years of recordings.” Actually, he never deleted any, but it was information they didn’t need. I didn’t want to come across as a know-it-all and if I gave them a detailed overview of everything, I’d look like one. “Now we’ve got an IT guy cleaning up the visuals so we can see who it is. We should have a name within an hour or two.”
Zak had found Diaz on the footage, but now he was clearing the photos of the men and women who came out right before or after her to see if we could recognize anyone.
“And when he does, I want you to be ready, Ardan.” Sloan pointed at him.
Panic hammered away at my chest, and I lost my breath for a moment. I straightened. “Uncle, I deserve to finish the job.”
“Do you?” His gaze drilled a hole in me as he leaned an elbow on the table. I stared back, not willing to concede defeat. If he wanted me to run this company, I needed to take charge and that meant finalizing this rat issue.
Daire squeezed my hand, and I’d almost forgotten he was still holding it. I must’ve been nearly strangling his in my alarm.
Rowen cleared his throat. “Boss, do ye need me here? Because if ye don’t?—”
Sloan’s attention fell to him instead, and I sighed, leaning back in my chair. I let them talk some more and sent Daire a small smile in thanks. He leaned against me, and I breathed in his cologne, letting his presence be the steadiness I needed.
I vaguely listened as Sloan gave Rowen the job of promoting more recruits to soldiers, and once Rowen left, Sloan turned back to me.
“Okay, Fionn, you’re in charge of this rat issue. What do we do next?”
Four sets of eyes fell on me, Daire’s included, and I took a deep breath to center myself. This was my chance to make an impression on my uncle, and I wasn’t going to fail.
“I’ll call my IT contact and find out how far along he is with cleaning up the other people that left the garage in that time frame.”
Sloan waved his hand. “Do it, then.”
I jumped to my feet, nearly knocking over my chair in the process—which made Conall chuckle—and escaped from the dining room so I could have privacy. As soon as I was in the hallway near the kitchen, I tugged out my phone and found Zak’s contact information. I tapped on his name too hard on the screen. My hand was shaking as I placed the phone against my ear.
My heart galloped and I touched a hand to my chest as I tried to calm myself. A few rings later, Zak answered.
“Hey, Fionn. The person I wanted to talk to. I just finished cleaning up the images. I’m emailing you now.”
“I could kiss you.” I pumped my fist in the air. “You’re the best, Zak. I’ll send over the second half of the payment now.” I ended the call and quickly opened my inbox, finding the email that Zak had sent me.
“Who are you going to kiss and should I be worried?” Daire’s amused tone had me turning toward the door, where he leaned against the frame, and I grinned at him.
“No time for jealousy, Daddy. Your boy’s about to solve one of the Company’s problems.” I bounced on the tips of my toes, unable to stop the excitement from surging through me until my skin was full of goose bumps and my insides buzzed. I wanted to shout at the top of my lungs and do a dance, but instead I stayed calm like Sloan had always taught me. Emotionless in front of your men , he’d said, and never celebrate too early . Maybe he should’ve exercised that caution when it came to the Miami situation, though Ardan’s man had said that it was Joaquin they’d killed. It was his mistake, not Sloan’s.
I stalked back into the dining room, and Daire was right behind me, his strides long and purposeful.
Sloan glanced up at me when I entered. Ardan had left, and so the only people in the room were Sloan and Conall. I took the seat to Sloan’s left again.
“He sent the images.” I opened the email on my phone as Daire took the chair on my other side. The very first photo attached was of Diaz in her car coming out of the garage, and I showed the screen to Sloan. “Confirmed she was there. So, Zak’s also given me photos of the people who left the garage around the same time as her. We should be able to recognize someone.”
Sloan smirked and stared at me for a long moment, and I waited, prepared to hear whatever he was about to throw my way. I’d seen my uncle in many different moods, but I thought this was a good one. “I’m proud of you. You’ve done good work.”
I froze, his words echoing in my mind until they finally sank in. Proud . Good work . I didn’t think he’d ever said those words to me together, and I wanted to bask in this moment, my chest filled with bubbles of happiness that left me breathless.
Smiling, but not so large that Sloan would think I was acting weird, I forced myself to stare down at my phone again. If I saw Conall rub Sloan’s shoulder with his own sense of pride, I didn’t acknowledge it. I swiped through the pictures until a familiar face hit me square in the chest—I was suddenly gasping for an entirely new reason.
“Who is it?” Conall asked.
Beside him, Sloan leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. He seemed calm, but it wasn’t him I was focused on. Instead, I couldn’t tear my gaze away from the photo and the face I’d known since I’d first moved into Sloan’s home.
Daire’s hand rested on my lower back, the weight of it bringing me down to Earth and the reality of what I was seeing.
I exhaled, my breath stuttering. “Donal.”
Conall’s eyes widened. “McMahon?”
“Yes,” Sloan said, earning my attention almost immediately. “Donal McMahon.”
“You knew,” I murmured, not quite sure if I believed it or not, but it made sense because Sloan wasn’t surprised. He was too relaxed. Donal had once told me that Sloan knew more than he let on, and Daire had said Sloan always did something for a reason, and now I understood more than ever. “How?”
“Donal’s been angry since Carolina’s death. She bought the drugs from one of our men that day she OD’d, and he’s blamed our business ever since.” Sloan glanced toward Conall, whose eyes were wide, and reached over to slide his fingers into Conall’s. “His anger festered until it became toxic.”
“How long have you known?” Daire asked, and I stared in his direction. Sloan never left him out of this sort of information. Didn’t he know? He inclined his head at me, gesturing that he was in the dark about this as well.
The corner of Sloan’s mouth twitched. “After Rourke dealt with Diaz. His reaction to her death gave it away.”
“What?” I gaped at him, slamming my hand down on the table. “Then, why didn’t you tell us? Why send me and Daire on a wild goose chase?”
He leaned forward, back straightening until he sat in his chair like the boss he was. The power he exuded paralyzed men, but I wasn’t just anyone. Sure, he scared me, but I was still his nephew. “I needed you to prove you could handle this situation. It took you a long time, too long, but you did it.”
I shook my head in disbelief. “He’s been in our meetings. We’ve discussed sensitive information with him.”
“After we took Diaz out, he became less of a problem.” He shrugged. “His fire was extinguished. He didn’t know who worked for us in the police department and who didn’t. Diaz was the only detective who was outspoken about our illegal activities. But I was careful, only giving him just enough that he didn’t get suspicious without putting the Company in danger.”
“So you let him get away with it?” I frowned.
“No. I was waiting for you to figure it out. Do you know how many secrets he could’ve shared in the time it took you to work out who the rat was? Too many.”
“You should’ve told him, sir,” Conall said quietly, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
Sloan hummed. “I required proof before I acted on anything, and you needed to learn how to get answers, no matter how long it takes.”
“So, this was another lesson?” I stared at him, not quite sure what all of this meant. Was he actually proud of me or was this a game to him? I’d spent years doing everything I could to find answers. And he’d known. He’d known . I slid my gaze back to Donal’s clear face through the windshield of his car. This man who I trusted—believed in—had betrayed us by telling valuable secrets to a detective gunning for us.
Daire slid his chair closer and laid a kiss on my cheek, and I fell into him.
“Are you two together now?” Conall asked quietly, and I wasn’t sure if he was trying to soothe the tension or whether he was genuinely curious.
“We are.” Daire pressed another chaste kiss to my temple. “And he’s my boy, so forgive me when I tell you, Boss, that this was a shit lesson.”
Sloan raised his eyebrow. “Are you questioning me?”
“Yes,” Daire said.
I touched his arm and shook my head at him. “It’s fine.” I didn’t understand, but Sloan was the boss. I turned back to him. “I trust you. What do we do now?”
“Now we go kill him.” Sloan rose and buttoned up his suit jacket.
I stared at him again, taking in the tall imposing man who’d been nothing but strategic and sneaky my entire life, and I wondered if I’d be like him one day. Would I put my nephews through what he’d done to me? Sloan never had children, but I wanted kids, so it wouldn’t be my nephews who’d take over after me.
Could I put my children through hell?
I slid my gaze to Conall, and he shrugged when he caught me looking.
“You said you wanted to finish this. Now’s your chance,” Sloan said.
I swallowed the lump lodged in my throat at the thought of murdering Donal. I hadn’t expected the rat to be someone I would care about, and now that it was, I wasn’t sure how I felt. Everything was happening so fast. The lump I swallowed caught in my chest, where it became heavier than a boulder.
Daire pressed his forehead to my temple. “You don’t have to do this, boy.”
Sloan narrowed his eyes at Daire and pressed his fists down onto the table, leaning on them. “No, he doesn’t, but Fionn’s not a child anymore, and he’s my heir. As boss, we do things we don’t like. We kill people we thought we could trust. Our friends. It’s part of the job.”
I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. “I’m ready. Let me do it.”
Sloan smiled. “Good.” He stood straight again. “Then, let’s go pay him a visit.”