Chapter 5
CHAPTER
FIVE
Saoirse walks into the conference room like she owns every inch of it, and my cock hardens watching her command the space. Twenty hardened criminals shift in their seats as she passes, but all I see is the way her black dress molds to curves I've memorized during sleepless nights.
Fuck. I need to focus on keeping her alive, not fantasizing about bending her over this table.
"Gentlemen." Her voice cuts through cigar smoke and testosterone. "Recent events require restructuring."
Tommy Byrne leans back in his chair. "With respect, Miss Kavanagh, your father still runs things. Maybe we wait?—"
"Wait for what?" Ice coats every word. "For the Morettis to steal our harbor routes while you sit here with your thumb up your ass?"
Christ. That sharp tongue does things to me it shouldn't.
Mickey Flanagan snorts. "The princess knows about harbor routes?"
My gun's in my hand before I think. "Say that again."
"Easy, Conall." Mickey raises his hands, but sweat beads his forehead. "Just talking."
"You were disrespecting her." I keep the gun out. "Do it again and I'll paint these walls with your brains."
The room goes dead silent. Twenty years of killing for Tiernan earned me that reaction.
Saoirse doesn't even blink. "The Moretti family increased dock presence thirty percent this quarter. They're offering union contacts fifteen percent over our rates. They've approached three major shipping clients promising faster customs clearance."
Every man stares. They expected a spoiled brat, not someone who knows their business inside out.
"Your profit margins dropped eighteen percent last month, Mickey." She slides papers across mahogany. "Care to explain why?"
Mickey's face reddens. "Business fluctuates."
"Business fails when you're too stubborn to adapt."
She walks behind his chair and my pulse spikes. The predatory grace reminds me of her father in his prime—dangerous, calculating, absolute. Heat pools in my groin watching her work.
"The Benedetti family used our exact playbook in Philadelphia." She places another document down. "Because they hired away three former associates who knew our methods."
Jimmy Crowley examines the papers. "Shit. They are using our strategies."
"While you fought yesterday's wars, tomorrow's enemies positioned for attack." Saoirse stops at the window, silhouetted against harbor lights. "I may have been gone, but I wasn't sleeping."
The authority in her stance makes my blood sing. This is Tiernan's daughter—bred for power, born to rule.
"Look, sweetheart—" Mickey starts.
"Finish that sentence and die." I'm ready to pull the trigger.
"Miss Kavanagh," he corrects quickly. "This is... unexpected."
"Change happens whether you like it or not." She turns back to face them. "Adapt or get buried with the dinosaurs."
For the next hour, she outlines plans that would impress Wall Street executives. Cryptocurrency integration. Digital security protocols. International partnerships beyond traditional Irish connections.
Each proposal shows genius-level understanding of modern criminal enterprise. My pride swells alongside dangerous hunger.
When the last lieutenant files out, we're alone. She stands at the window again, shoulders tense.
"You didn't need to threaten Mickey."
"Yes, I did."
"Why?" She faces me, fury blazing in those sea-green depths. "Do you protect me because you believe in me, or because daddy gave orders?"
The question punches my gut. She's close enough to touch, close enough that her perfume floods my senses. Close enough to kiss.
"Both."
Pain flickers across her features. "Both."
"Which matters more?" Another step brings her within arm's reach. "Your faith in me or your duty to him?"
Heat radiates between us. I want to slam her against that window and show her exactly what she means to me. Want to claim that smart mouth and prove my loyalty has nothing to do with orders.
"You handled those bastards perfectly." I keep my voice level despite the fire in my veins.
"Answer the question."
She moves closer. Her breasts nearly brush my chest. The space crackles with sexual tension neither of us acknowledges.
"You want truth?" Control fractures. "I've watched you grow from a stubborn girl into a brilliant woman. I've waited years for you to come home and take your rightful place."
"And?"
"Every instinct screams at me to protect you. Not because Tiernan commanded it." My voice roughens. "Because you belong to me."
Her breath hitches. "Belong to you?"
"Mine to guard. Mine to keep safe." The admission scrapes my throat raw. "Mine."
Desire darkens her gaze. "Conall?—"
Cillian bursts through the door. "How did it go?"
The spell shatters. Saoirse steps back, professional mask sliding into place.
"Fine," she says coolly.
"Good. Father wants both of you. Now."
Walking behind her down the corridor, I watch her hips sway and imagine my hands gripping them while I take her from behind. She commanded a room full of killers tonight. Proved herself worthy of respect.
But the hurt in her expression when I said 'both' cuts deeper than any blade.
She thinks I protect her from duty.
Soon I'll show her the truth. Soon she'll understand that what I feel has nothing to do with loyalty to Tiernan and everything to do with the hunger she ignites in me.
When that moment comes, there won't be any confusion about who I serve.
Only her.