Chapter Twenty-Four
I n the next four weeks, Finn and I slowly got closer.
He talked to me more, and I had less trouble understanding him.
Aislinn still hovered, never letting us out of her sight as if she worried that I’d eat the kid.
But it was kind of endearing, albeit annoying as fuck.
Our sex life was still in a bit of a slump.
Before Finn lived with us, we’d get it on in the morning and evening.
Now I was lucky if we managed a fuck at night.
I hadn’t told her yet, but I had started looking for a bigger place for us. My apartment had never been meant for three people, and if Aislinn ever felt ready to have a kid of our own, things would be even more cramped.
I was checking over our bookkeeping in my office, when Aislinn called around lunch time. “Lorcan, I’m stuck in traffic. There’s been an accident.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m fine, but I was on the way to pick up Finn from Maeve’s. She was watching him for a couple of hours.”
“Seamus mentioned it. Do you need me to pick him up?”
She hesitated. “Yeah. Maeve has a doctor’s appointment. She has to leave in a bit.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll get him and keep him entertained until you’re back. I’ll have to take him to the docks though. ”
She took another long pause. “Okay, but, Lorcan…” She sighed. “Finn is sensitive.”
“I know, I know. I’ll be on my best behavior and so will be my men. Stop fretting.”
I hung up and got up from my desk chair. I grabbed my keys and headed for my car. Seamus wasn’t around; he was scouting a possible mark—a politician wanted a bothersome ex-affair to disappear. I told Timothy where I was going then I was off.
Maeve didn’t look surprised when she opened the door. Aislinn had probably given her a heads-up. “Hey, Lorcan, it’s so nice of you to pick Finn up.”
Finn hovered behind her, gnawing on his lower lip.
“Hey buddy, how about we hit a McDonalds drive-thru and fuel you with a Happy Meal. I think they have Marvel figures in them right now.”
His eyes lit up and he stepped forward, nodding eagerly.
Maeve touched my arm. “You’re good with him,” she whispered.
I cleared my throat. “Thanks for watching him. What was Aislinn up to?”
Maeve flushed. “Oh, I didn’t ask. Maybe she just wanted some time for herself.”
“Maybe.” Or maybe she was still snooping around after her sister. Stubborn as fuck.
“You ready?” I asked Finn, and he nodded, determination settling on his face, reminding me of the look Aislinn so often displayed. Together, we headed toward my car parked at the curb, and I made sure to slow my steps for Finn.
Opening the door for him, I asked, “Do you need help getting into the child seat?”
He gave a nod, looking to the ground.
“No problem.” I lifted him off the ground, surprised by how light he was, and put him carefully into the child seat.
“I think I need your help now, Finn. I’ve never secured one of these before.”
Finn grinned and nodded. Then he showed me how to close the belts of his seat. “Easy.”
“Easy,” I agreed.
I got behind the steering wheel. “Ready for your Happy Meal? ”
“Yes.”
I headed for the closest McDonald’s, which was still a bit of a detour on our way to the harbor, but I didn’t care. Finn beamed when I handed the Happy Meal to him. I ordered a BigMac for me and we ate everything while I steered us through traffic.
A cab pulled right in front of me, cutting me off. I honked. “Asshole!”
“Oh no,” Finn exclaimed.
Once I’d calmed down and showed the cab driver my middle finger, I turned to Finn. “Sorry about that. Don’t tell Aislinn I cursed.”
Finn looked terrified, his shoulders hunched.
“What’s up? I wasn’t screaming at you, you know that, right?”
Finn nodded then motioned at the floor. “I dropped a few chips.”
“Don’t worry. This car has seen worse. I’ll clean it later.”
Finn looked curious, but I was glad he didn’t ask what I meant. Aislinn would kill me if I told Finn anything about my business.
When we arrived at the docks, Seamus’ car was parked there too. He was talking to Timothy off to the side, where several wooden crates waited to be transported into the warehouse.
I got out and helped Finn out of the car. Seamus headed our way.
“Hello, young man,” he said. Finn stayed close to my side and it felt good that the kid sought my closeness.
“Can you call over a recruit? We had a chips crash and someone needs to clean my car.”
Seamus shoved his fingers into his mouth and whistled. Immediately, Nollaig rushed over.
I motioned at the backseat. “My car needs cleaning.”
Nollaig nodded and immediately went to work. Seamus, Finn, and I walked toward the warehouse. Several of my men glanced toward us, then at Finn, before they continued with their work.
Finn kept looking at the cargo ship anchored to the nearest mooring point. It wasn’t one of the huge ones, but still quite impressive, especially for a small boy. “Are you a captain?”
I stifled laughter. “Kind of. These ships transport stuff I need.”
Finn’s brows puckered but he didn’t ask more questions. His attention remained on the ship. “Do you want to go closer?” I suggested.
He nodded eagerly and we made our way toward the ship. Seamus fell back to give us some privacy. Finn scanned the ship with an open mouth, his head tilted back all the way to grasp the sheer enormity of it.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Nollaig wave at Seamus to come over, who did, and then a discussion ensued. Seamus looked worried, which in turn worried me, especially when I saw their wild gesticulations.
“Finn, we can look at the ship later. I need to talk to Seamus for a second.” Finn and I headed back toward the car, but Seamus met me halfway with a tight expression.
He held out his hand. A small device I recognized at once sat on his palm. My brows furrowed, my pulse quickening. A fucking bug.
“The car?” I silently mouthed, assuming the thing was still transmitting. We needed our tech specialist. Destroying it would only alert the police, so we needed to be clever about this.
Seamus gave a nod. I motioned at a nearby car, put the bug on the backseat then closed the door with a loud bang. That way the police would think I’d closed my car with the bug still in it.
“I’ll chat with Nollaig. I need to know exactly where he found it.” I glanced at Finn. “Finn, Seamus is going to show you our warehouse, all right?”
After a moment of hesitation, he nodded and followed Seamus. I stalked toward my car. Nollaig was cleaning under the front seats.
“Where was it?” I barked, no time for pleasantries.
Nollaig hit his head on the roof of the car when he jerked up.
He flushed then pointed at the spot beneath the front seat.
Someone must have attached it to the seat while sitting in the back.
I doubted Finn had done it. The only people I’d transported in my car were a couple of my men, my brothers when I took them to the airport, and Aislinn.
“Get a few more guys and take the car apart. I want to make sure there aren’t any more,” I gritted out, trying to keep my rage in check. “Send a few men into my office as well. Don’t leave anything unturned.”
Nollaig rushed away and returned soon after with three more guys. “Hide the car in the warehouse. I don’t want everyone to see what we’re doing.”
Nollaig climbed behind the steering wheel and steered my car at a ridiculously slow and cautious pace through the warehouse doors that the other men held open for him.
I followed them then headed into the office, where Seamus showed Finn the model of an old sailboat that he’d built a couple of years back and given to me.
My phone beeped with a message.
I’m at the docks. Where are you?
Aislinn. After what I’d just found out, I wasn’t really keen on seeing her. I didn’t know anything about the bug yet, but Aislinn was a suspect.
“Aislinn is here. Come on. I’ll bring you to her.” Finn followed me to where Aislinn was already pacing around with a look of worry.
“Finn!” she said, her face lighting up. She wrapped him in his arms. Then she turned to me with a grateful smile. “Thank you for taking care of him.”
“We had fun, didn’t we?”
“Yes!” Finn exclaimed.
Aislinn tilted her head, narrowing her eyes in confusion. “Is something the matter? You seem tense.”
I smirked. “The usual stuff. Nothing we should talk about now.”
She glanced at Finn and nodded. It was strange how well Aislinn could read my mood. Few were this adept.
“Can someone take us home?”
“I’ll tell Timothy to take you. He has kids, so maybe Finn will fit into the child seat in his car.”
“What about your car?” She looked around. “I don’t see it anywhere.”
“The engine isn’t running smoothly, so my men are taking a look at it.”
“Oh,” she said and smiled. “How will you get home then?”
“I’ll find a way.”
She came toward me, stepped on her tiptoes, and kissed my cheek. “Thanks again. I’ll be a very good girl tonight to show my appreciation.”
I forced a smirk. I called Timothy over who took them away. Then I returned to the warehouse.
I didn’t want to believe Aislinn was involved.
Seamus watched the boys taking apart my car.
“Anything yet?” I asked. The warehouse was a huge hall with many loud noises, so I doubted a bug would be placed here, and even if it were, it would be impossible to hear anything.
He shook his head.
“When was the last check-up? ”
“About two months ago?” Seamus said with a shrug.
We usually checked all of our cars for bugs every other month.
Seamus stepped closer to me. “I made a list of people I remember being in your car. The list included himself and Timothy, five other of my men that had worked for my family for a long time—my brothers, and Aislinn and Finn.
“Well, it wasn’t you or Timothy.”
Seamus frowned. “I’m honored that you trust me, but you shouldn’t cross people off the list too soon.”
“What do you want? A meeting with Rody? You can withstand torture.”
“It wasn’t me all right.”