2. Chapter 2
Connor
“Where were you last night?” Mickey looked more impatient than normal while Luca buzzed next to him like he was excited to hear a story.
The brothers couldn’t be more opposite—and when it came down to it, I almost always preferred to deal with Luca.
He didn’t have Mickey’s temper, even if he was kind of a loose cannon, but Mickey was the boss, which meant, more times than not, I had to put up with it.
“Yeah, Connor. Where were you?” Luca repeated, earning an eye roll from his older brother. Just like a younger brother to want to push his buttons.
I shrugged, leaning back in my seat. “The same place you were.” I thought about the out-of-place brunette I had escorted out of the building and the taste of her lips that lingered all night after I left her at her apartment door.
“No, you weren’t.” Mickey sat forward in his chair, his hands flat on his desk until his fingers started to drum impatiently. Five taps and a small pause repeated until the pattern started to work its way into my thoughts. “I looked everywhere. You snuck out early. Where did you go, huh?”
“I had to take care of some things.” I took a deep breath when the amusement on Luca’s face deepened.
“Oh, some things. Are those things the woman who managed to get past security and snuck through the back door with you?” The rhythm of his fingers stopped, but the five beats and a pause continued to repeat in my mind.
I smirked, feeling Grace trembling beneath my fingertips again.
“It’s not a big deal, so don’t make it one.
” She hadn’t really done anything wrong.
Honestly, it was a miracle she had made it in the door at all.
The Cassidys were strict with their security.
I imagined the bouncer who let her in had already been fired for it—probably before the party even ended.
“You listen to me,” Mickey said, curling his hands into fists that silenced the amusement in the room. “If you’re going to get your dick wet with girls like that, that’s your thing, but when it starts to fuck with my business, it’s going to be all our fucking problem. Do you understand me?”
“I didn’t get my dick wet with any sort of girl,” I snapped.
Though, had I tried, part of me thought I could’ve gotten Grace somewhere a bit more private.
A woman doesn’t moan like that when she kisses you if she isn’t going to at least consider the offer.
She had hesitated against the wall for long enough, I had considered it too.
“Like I said, you’re making a big deal out of nothing. ”
Mickey narrowed his eyes, glaring at me like he was considering if I was worth the argument.
He had given me the look before, and it was about a fifty-fifty chance.
“Don’t fuck with me, Murphy. You have this job because I trust you.
That means you’re like family around here.
The last thing you want me to do is regret treating you like it. ”
“Mickey, I know. You know me better than that.” I put my hands up in mixed mock-surrender before things escalated further. “You don’t have anything to worry about.”