Chapter 20
20
FIONN
I took a steadying breath, urging myself to stay calm. We were nearly at Donal’s house, and I was prepared to do the worst thing I’d ever done in my life, and I still didn’t know how I felt about it. My mind was a chaotic mess. I knew it was bad when Conall kept glancing at me from the front passenger seat of the car. For the first time in I didn’t know when, Sloan decided to drive one of the BMWs, and Daire and I were in the back seat.
“You don’t have to do this,” Daire whispered to me again, his hand gripping mine tightly. “I’ll do it for you.”
“No.” I gave him a wobbly smile. “Sloan’s right. If I want to be boss, I have to be prepared to kill anyone, even friends. Donal betrayed us and that’s unforgivable, no matter how angry he was about Carolina’s death. He needs to die now.”
“More than that,” Sloan said from the driver’s seat, glancing in the rearview mirror. “You will torture him, make it hurt.”
“Sloan.” Conall touched his elbow, eyebrows furrowed. “You’re asking too much of him.”
“Am I, Fionn?” Sloan stared at me pointedly. “Am I asking too much of you?”
I raised my chin. “No. I will do whatever the Company needs from me. This is my legacy and I won’t let you down.”
Sloan nodded, short and sharp, before he focused on the road ahead of him again.
I closed my eyes and settled farther into Daire’s warmth. He was my strength, and with him at my side, I felt like I could take on the world—or torture a man I’d admired.
“How long have you really been together?” Sloan asked, keeping his eyes on the road this time.
Conall glanced at us over his shoulder, eyebrows raised in question. Were we going to tell Sloan the truth? The tension between Daire and Sloan was already at an all-time high and I didn’t want to make it worse, but I didn’t have time to come up with a suitable answer before Daire spoke.
“About eight years.” Daire’s jaw twitched and he cleared his throat. “We were sleeping together before we were together together .”
We’d talked about this before. Why was Sloan asking questions again?
“You were fucking for how long before you entered a relationship?” The curse word out of Sloan’s mouth and the sharpness in his tone had me wincing. Damn it.
Conall gave us a sympathetic smile because we all knew this would put Sloan in an even worse mood. I wasn’t stupid. Sloan could be cold and emotionless, but I was his family.
“We only started dating this year.” Daire exhaled and drew me closer. “I’m not going to lie to you, Sloan, I led Fionn on for too long.”
“Daire—” I started, but he shook his head.
“I want this out in the open, boy. Your uncle deserves to know.” Daire rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. “I was an idiot. I’ve been sleeping with Fionn since his eighteenth birthday party. He wanted more, I didn’t, and I didn’t treat him the best.”
“I knew you only wanted sex, and I accepted it,” I whispered.
He chuckled sardonically. “I should’ve stopped the sex completely if I wasn’t going to give you more. Instead, I couldn’t let you go, either, and I hurt you in the process.”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Sloan’s grip on the steering wheel tighten, and I winced, aware of the small gestures that gave his anger away.
“So, let me get this right....” Sloan’s voice dripped with venom, a deep-seated fury that sent a tremble straight up my spine. “You used my nephew, the future of the Company, as a cum sock?”
“Cum sock?” Conall snorted. “That’s imaginative.”
Sloan shot him a glare, and Conall hid a laugh behind his hand, looking out the window. “Sorry, Boss.”
“I wish I could tell you that it was more than that, but it wasn’t.” Daire cringed and gave me a sad smile. “I used Fionn, and I deeply regret it. But I’ve also loved him for a long time.”
“How long have you loved him, then?” Sloan snapped.
The car swerved a little, and I wasn’t sure if Sloan wasn’t paying attention or if he was avoiding something, but my stomach swayed with the movement, churning relentlessly.
“I don’t know what to tell you.” Daire dragged me even closer and pressed a kiss to my forehead. We’d finally jumped over our hurdles, and we were here— happy . I didn’t want my uncle’s reaction to ruin us. “I can’t pinpoint the exact moment it happened, but Fionn’s always been important to me.”
“You were okay with them before,” Conall pointed out to Sloan with a grin. “What changed?”
“The fact that I found out my best friend used my nephew for his body and hurt his feelings.” Sloan yanked the wheel, and I groaned when we pulled into Donal’s driveway. “This isn’t over.”
“It is . I will let you give me lessons when it comes to business, but this is my private life. Daire is my Daddy.”
Sloan hit the brakes, and I went flying forward, only saved by Daire’s firm hold and the seat belt that jammed at the sudden movement. He spun around to stare at me. “Your what?”
“Daddy. Daddy Daire.” I raised my chin, defending what I had with Daire. I’d do anything for Sloan and the Killough Company, but this wasn’t something he could take away from me. I refused to let him. “He’s my Daddy, and I’m his boy. You have Conall, the pet who you fuck in public. That’s your thing, this is mine.”
The iciness in his gaze didn’t diminish, but his posture relaxed slightly. His jaw twitched and his nostrils flared as he slid his attention to Daire. “If you hurt him again, I’ll string you up by your balls and remove body parts, one limb at a time, friend or not. Am I clear?”
Daire gave a sharp nod. “Yes, Boss.”
Sloan grunted, an uncharacteristic sound from him, but it was soothing. This anger showed that he actually cared about me. The calm persona had finally snapped and it was because a man had broken my heart.
Conall cleared his throat before grinning. “Is this family moment over or should we sit in the car a little longer and talk about how much we love each other?”
“Do you love my uncle?” I pressed my lips together to stop from smiling, more than ready to watch Conall squirm.
His eyes widened and he rushed to open his door. “Look at the time. We’re very busy men. Time to pay Donal a visit.” The door shut firmly behind him.
The night lights of the house glimmered across the car and over Conall, making him glow.
Rolling my eyes, I cocked my head toward Sloan. “When are you going to do the I love you s, Uncle? It’s been about eight years. Most couples are married by now.”
“Are you telling me to propose?” Sloan drawled, traces of amusement lingering in his tone.
“What? No. I do not want him as my uncle.” The corner of my mouth upturned before I could stop it. Okay, maybe I liked Conall a little bit. More than a little, but that was for me to know and everyone else to assume.
Sloan shot me a smile over his shoulder. “Don’t you worry about us. I’ll tell him I love him when I’m ready.”
“So, you do love him, then?” I gaped.
He rolled his eyes. “What do you think?” With that, he winked and opened his door before exiting the car.
“Did you just hear what I heard?” I spun around to Daire, and he laughed.
“If anyone asks, I didn’t hear a thing.” He nudged me with his shoulder, a tender smile on his face. “But yeah, boy, I did. Are you surprised?”
I thought about it for a moment before I shook my head. “No. I’d be more shocked if he wasn’t.”
A sharp tap of knuckles on my window made me startle, and I shot Conall a glare through the glass.
He stuck out his tongue.
Rolling my eyes, I exited the car while Daire did the same on his side.
“Have you always been this impatient?” I straightened my suit jacket.
“ Always , but you never stuck around me long enough to find out.” Conall patted me on the shoulder while Sloan snorted.
“You’ve also never seen him in the bedroom. He’s always eager for my cock.” Sloan smirked when Conall’s cheeks flushed a deep red.
“Shut up, Boss.”
Daire chuckled, but one sharp glance from Sloan and he stopped. The tension between them thickened. Sloan’s strong irritation at Daire leading me on was apparently still lingering on his mind. With a glare, Sloan spun on his heel and stalked toward Donal’s house. All I could do was send Daire an apologetic smile before I followed.
Daire and Conall were right behind us as Sloan knocked on a solid brown door. Donal’s house wasn’t anything to sing about. It was a simple two-story home with gray bricks and a brown roof. He usually had a full green lawn out front, but the winter had killed most of it.
Donal opened the door, and the smile he wore on his face dwindled slightly when he saw us. He tightened his robe around his body and his eyes burned, shining with something I couldn’t quite put my finger on as he shifted aside to let us in. “Boss, a personal visit?”
“I hope you don’t mind, Donal,” Sloan said as he entered the house. I followed, and behind me was Conall and Daire.
Donal led us toward the living room, straight to the left, and we followed. “Not at all. You’re always welcome here, sir.”
He fell into his armchair and gave us a strained smile. I’d been around Donal enough to know that he felt something wasn’t right, and now that we were here in his house, my stomach churned. This man sitting in front of me wore his night clothes and slippers and was ready for bed, and now I had to end his life. I’d told Sloan I’d handle the rat, and I would, but that didn’t mean I had to be happy about it being Donal. I still couldn’t wrap my head around his betrayal, whether he was angry about Carolina or not.
Daire and I took a seat on a couch to the right, while Sloan and Conall sat on the three-seater to the left. Donal always had a lot of furniture because he’d always expected to have a big family, but most of his kids—minus Carolina—had moved away.
“How are you, Fionn?” Donal asked, the tautness in his shoulders disappearing. I wished he wouldn’t relax around me, especially because of what I was about to do to him. “Good?” His attention narrowed on Daire’s hand as he slipped it into mine, our fingers threading together.
I swallowed around the nausea that rose in my throat. This was my future, my job. Sloan trusted me with this, and I wasn’t going to ruin or squander the chance. He’d told me he was proud of me tonight, and I’d ridden a high. Daire’s hold was reassuring, a reminder that he was my backup no matter what, and it kept me centered.
I pressed my lips together. “Why did you do it?”
Donal’s eyes dimmed and I could tell he knew what we were talking about. His chin dipped forward and he sighed. “I was stupid.”
“You’re a traitor,” Sloan said sharply, the slice of his words nothing more than daggers. Right now, he was the cold mob boss, the one who had decided that Donal was no longer useful. He’d made a choice like we’d discussed when we were choosing what to do with Aodhan. “You told Diaz our secrets.”
He fell back into his navy armchair, worn from use. “Not all of them. Some, yes. She wanted more, but I didn’t give them to her. I only told her about certain drug distributions.”
“Enough to affect our profits and make our lives harder.” Sloan leaned forward, elbows on his knees as his dark eyebrows furrowed. “But you didn’t just feed that information to Diaz, you sold us out to Toscani, too. The rogue Italians.”
Donal glanced down at his hands, where he was picking at the skin of his thumb, the only sign that he was nervous. Otherwise, he didn’t have the reaction of a man who knew he was about to die. “I’d hoped it would be a hit to our drug business.” He sighed. “Boss, we could’ve lived on our brothels and other ventures. We don’t need the drugs.”
“No,” I said, drawing everyone’s attention to me. “We oversee all illegal avenues of enrichment on the East Coast. It’s about dominance, Donal. The Killough Company owns this side of the US, and that includes drugs. That isn’t going to change.”
Donal smiled sadly. “You are a good boy, but you don’t understand the loss of a child. What it does to you. I don’t regret what I did.”
“We don’t force anyone to buy our product. That’s their choice.” It was supply and demand, and while I knew what drugs did to people, I couldn’t let myself see it that way. “Carolina chose to abuse drugs.”
He laughed, the sound miserable and solemn. “Addiction is an illness, and we feed them their poison.”
“What did you expect from a mob?” Sloan tilted his head. “That’s what we are, and your daughter’s death, as sad as it was, doesn’t change what the Company is. Sex, drugs, protection, it’s always been the same. You don’t get to decide when it changes, even if you are an old friend of my father’s.”
Donal shook his head. “You’re not a father.”
Sloan’s gaze slid to me. “I am.”
I sucked in a breath between my teeth, my heart clattering against my ribs.
Sloan’s attention turned back to Donal. He stood, tall and foreboding. “Your grief doesn’t change what you did. Where’s your wife?”
“Gone.” Donal crossed his arms. “I thought it’d come eventually, the closer Fionn got to the truth. I sent her away a few months ago, and you’ll never find her. She doesn’t know anything about the Company.” He paused, swallowing. Shit. He’d told us she was spending time with her sister. We thought they were having marital issues. “She won’t say anything. She’s already lost enough. Don’t go after her. Please. Do me this one favor as your father’s friend.”
Sloan stared at him, and I stared at Sloan. I waited, squeezing Daire’s hand.
“Very well. She’ll be safe as long as she doesn’t open her mouth.” Sloan stepped toward me and unbuttoned his suit jacket. He pulled out a Glock and passed it to me, and I raised my gaze to him. “Get this done.”
“No torture?” I whispered, hoping. There was always time to flay someone’s skin in the future, but this was Donal.
“No. One bullet to the head.” Sloan turned back toward Donal. “Despite your betrayal, you were once a good friend. You guided me when I needed it, and thank you for that, but this is how your life ends.”
I released Daire’s hand and stood. The Glock was heavy in my palm, but not as heavy as the duty Sloan had given me. I wasn’t putting a random man to rest, rather a general, a man who’d worked in the Company longer than even Sloan.
Daire was at my side, saying nothing but using his presence as support as I walked toward Donal.
Donal gave me a small smile as he stood, his kind eyes forgiving. He held out his hand to me, and I glanced at Sloan, who nodded, so I shook it. “You’re going to be a good boss, Fionn. Stand strong and fight. Always fight.”
“It’s been a pleasure, Donal.” I let go of his hand and raised the Glock to his forehead.
He straightened and closed his eyes. He began to murmur a prayer, and I took a steadying breath before I pulled the trigger. Donal’s head flew backward, and his body collapsed on the armchair. Blood splattered across the wall, painting the white with sprays of red.
It was done.
I swallowed, ignoring the ache in my chest as I stared at Donal’s body. Buzzing filled my ears as every sense narrowed in on the old man in his chair. Dead . I did that.
Behind me, Sloan’s voice filtered through the white noise flooding my brain. “Daire, call Caden to clean up this mess. I don’t want this tied to us. Tell him to make sure no one finds the body.”
Hands touched my shoulders, and I breathed through the panic that sliced through my chest. I focused on the strong hold, on the scent of Daire’s cologne tickling my nose as he cupped my cheeks.
“Boy, you’re fine. Look at me.”
I opened my eyes again, and he was there. A guarantee. An inevitability. My Daddy.
“You did good.”
I smiled. “I know.”
Daire grinned.