Chapter 13 Puck
THIRTEEN
PUCK
Brigid straightened her back, making her seem even taller and stronger than before. “Lori has mentioned on several occasions that she has a friend who works for the cartel running their drugs. She claims that her friend has had actual contact with Carlos before.”
Diego shook his head. “That’s impossible. Carlos keeps his cards close to his chest. He wouldn’t fraternize with someone simply running drugs for him.”
Brigid shrugged. “I suppose it’s different when you’re sleeping with someone, though, right?”
Stone’s eyes widened. “Are you telling me that this friend of yours has a friend who’s sleeping with Carlos?”
Brigid clasped her hands in front of her, just like her father. “I’d have to do some digging and confirming, but I know Lori to be a trusted source.”
Diego scoffed. “A woman from a rehab clinic is a trusted source?”
She glared at him. “I know you think you know everything because you were beat up by his goons a few times, but trust me, you know nothing of what I’m speaking about.”
That silenced Diego and I almost wanted to burst out laughing, but I held my own. I enjoyed watching anyone shut him down, but when Brigid did it, it was hot as fuck.
“What’s the name of the facility?” Texas finally asked.
“Pathways,” Brigid said. “Lori actually worked for the cartel for a little while to pay off a debt she couldn’t pay with her own money. She was one of their dealers for just over a year before she checked herself in to get clean.”
“And the cartel just, what? Let her go?” Liam asked.
Brigid stood her ground well, though. “Like I said, I don’t dig unless it’s necessary, so we’ll have to vet this information. But I know that Lori herself can be trusted. I believe her story, even if the story about her friend sounds a bit…”
“False?” Diego asked.
Brigid glared at him, and Diego physically shrank back to Stone’s side. My God, this woman was hell on wheels and my cock grew with need for her. I shuffled myself into the shadows of the living room and quickly rearranged myself, hoping and praying no one saw me in the process.
Then, I slid silently back into my original spot.
“I don't know about this contact,” Texas murmured.
Clancy scoffed. “My daughter has never once been wrong.”
Brigid smiled and turned on the charm. “It’s okay, Daddy.
We can always compromise. I can do some digging on my own, and if they aren’t satisfied with my information, they can always have someone come in to meet Lori as a visitor and do their own evaluation in person.
After all, if we’re going to be working together, then it needs to be a team effort, right? ”
She bit down onto that last word and even Texas—the mountain man of muscle—cracked his neck to relieve the tension she had tossed in his direction. Clancy placed a proud hand on his daughter’s shoulder, and Brigid smiled up at him.
The two of them looked so much alike, it was uncanny.
“A leanbh, someone who knows Carlos and his operation very well will be of great use to us on this journey. When can you go to get more information for us?”
She looked down at her watch. “Well, I’m off tomorrow, so I could put in a last-minute request for volunteer time and see where that gets me.”
Rowan nodded as he clasped his hands behind his back. “And if that doesn’t work, she can always check in as a guest just to visit with this Lori. Right?”
Brigid giggled. “Took the words right out of my mouth, as always.”
Rowan winked at her. “I’ve always got your back, you know that.”
Their family seemed to be close, and it almost made me jealous. Ruby and I fought more than anything else and it wasn’t as if we had other siblings—or even parents—that were proud of us.
But Clancy’s voice ripped me out of my trance. “Puck.”
I turned my gaze in his direction. “Yes, sir?”
“Tomorrow, you’re to go with my daughter and make sure she’s safe. You don’t have to enter the facility with her, but you make sure she gets there okay, isn’t attacked while she’s in the building, and you make sure she gets home okay. Got it?”
I peeked over at Stone, and he nodded his head, so I obliged. “Of course. You have my word.”
Shea, the one who hadn’t spoken yet, stepped toward me. He hovered over me by at least four inches, and the scar across his face boasted of a powerful story that probably ended with the other guy dead at the bottom of the damn river.
His deep voice filled the entire room as he spoke. “You protect her with your life or it’s over. Got it?”
Brigid clicked her tongue. “Don’t frighten the poor man.”
But all I did was grin. “I’ll die before she does; you have my word on that.”
Shea nodded. “Good.”
He went back to stand beside his brothers as I tried my hardest not to let thoughts of Brigid on the back of my bike run away with me.