Lorcan

Chapter One

The phone was buzzing on my nightstand, and I knew, somehow, I just knew this was going to be bad. I grabbed it and looked down at the screen lighting my entire room.

Shit.

The instinct of seeing my right hand man’s name lit up on my screen told me I was right. I flicked the slide bar over on the screen and held the device to my ear.

“What?”

Finn didn’t miss a beat. “The Cherry Bomb’s gone.”

“What?”

“Someone’s burnt it to the fucking ground, Lor. You need to get here, now.”

Fuck.

I disconnected the line and threw the phone against the wall. Who the fuck would have the balls to burn my studio to the ground?

This had to do with Ronan and his fucking desire for vengeance. It had to be connected to him. No one else would have the fucking guts to go after my business.

I got up and put on my jeans and my shirt and I headed down the stairs to the garage. Grabbing the closest keys, I clicked the unlock button to see which car lit up. Racing down the long garage, I got in and drove like Conor to get to the lot I had set my porn studio up in. When my uncle Tadgh had asked my dad if he could start a porn business, we never knew it would turn profits so quickly. My dad only said yes to get Tadgh off his back about being a part of the business. He was the screw up, the one you could never count on and the one you always cleaned up after.

But… turns out we had a lot of perverts in Ireland that needed their fix. It was what kept our finances in the red. Conor and Killian both spent big for their businesses, and I had to keep them level or else we’d have to turn our operations over and there was no way in hell that would ever happen.

I pulled up outside of the club with firefighters fending off the inferno with their hoses. Finn was talking with Edward, the police chief, and an old friend of my father’s. I got out of the car and headed over to them.

“Lorcan.”

“Eddie, what the fuck?”

“Do you think maybe this has something to do with Ronan?” Edward asked me.

“Of course it does,” I growled. “No one else would fucking dare.”

“You do know there happens to be a MC set up on the outskirts of town,” Edward said. “They’re not from here. Maybe they think they’ll take over.”

I did know about the MC, but they were keeping to themselves. They rarely came into town and stayed hidden away in the middle of the woods. I doubted they would have waited this long to make their play.

Even still.

It wouldn’t hurt to go out and see them and clear the air, just to keep our minds set on the task at hand.

Getting rid of Ronan and his cronies.

“Doubt it,” I said. “They”ve kept to themselves since arriving.”

“Don’t get complacent, Lorcan. I’ve got some paperwork to fake. This is getting serious now, take care of business once and for all.”

“He isn’t wrong,” Finn said. He’d never liked that I allowed the MC to stay in our town. My dad had run the last chapter out of Galway when we were just kids. I’d never understood it until I took over the empire.

When they’d shown up, the president came to speak to me, to let me know they weren’t encroaching on our turf, they just wanted a new place to set up shop. They ran a mechanic’s shop here in town and kept their heads low.

I didn’t want this to connect back to them, mainly because I didn’t need any more heat until Ronan was taken care of.

“We’ll go and talk to Ace, but we’re not interrogating them, Finn. I just want to talk to them.”

Finn didn’t agree. I could see it in his eyes but he nodded and headed over to his car. I looked once more on the crumbling building before me, just knowing this was going to ignite a giant stick up both my brothers’ asses.

But fuck it. If they had done their job right, we’d have gotten Ronan before this shit got worse. It was time for me to mop up the mess, per usual, and set Ireland back on track.

Finn hated being here. I could tell. He and I had been friends for years, he’d always had my back, but he was a stubborn bastard. We made our way through the woods on foot, our car wouldn’t make it through these narrow tracks. It made it perfect for them though, it was just wide enough for their bikes.

As we came up to the clearing where they had built their clubhouse, I could hear music pumping and loud shouting. It was funny how the woods hid the noise and the raucous behaviour from everyone else.

A few of the men outside quickly got up and headed inside when they saw us, obviously to alert the president. The women they were talking to remained outside, but kept a wary eye on us. I held my hand out to stop Finn from moving any further. I wanted to remain amicable with these guys for as long as possible. They could come to us.

Finn was already edgy. This could either be amicable for all parties, or he’d lose his shit and start an all out war which we didn’t need right fucking now.

“Relax,” I said, under my breath. “I need you to be fucking level right now.”

His shoulders relaxed a little bit and he waited. I turned back to see the president, Ace, and his VP, Dog, coming our way. I didn’t like Dog one bit, there was just something angry and unjust about him but I knew Ace to be a good man.

He was the reason I hadn’t run them out yet.

“Lorcan,” Ace greeted me as he got to us. “You are welcome to come inside.”

“I’d rather we met without prying ears,” I put forth. Instantly, I saw Dog’s shoulder tense and his upper lip curl in defensiveness. “Had an incident earlier today and wanted to run it by you, in case you heard anything.”

“Sure,” he offered. “We don’t hear much, Lorcan, we stick to our club and that’s it as you know.”

“One of my businesses was torched early this morning,” I said. “A brazen attack, for sure, and I know we have our enemies but I have to ask.”

“You think because we’re an MC, we would want to burn your damn studio down?” Ace asked me.

Instantly, I felt a shift between us all. I’d never said it was my studio. Finn caught onto it as well. Ace turned to his VP and told him to shift off. One angry exchange of looks later and he was trudging back to the clubhouse.

“He’s a hot head but he means well,” Ace said. “I’m sorry, we hadn’t heard anything but if we do, you’ll be the first to know about it.”

“How did he know it was the studio?” Finn asked.

“He was working overnight, he probably saw it,” Ace said, but I could see he didn’t believe it himself. I didn’t want to believe it could be him, but neither could Ace. he would close ranks.

I knew how these things went. Just like we would. “Like I said, anything we hear, we’ll come calling.”

I shook Ace’s hand and moved off, having an awful feeling I was about to get shot in the back but I kept going.

This was just one minor thing I had to deal with. Ronan was the first and foremost on my agenda. My phone dinged with a message as soon as I got in the car. I looked down at my business manager’s name. Keeva was a constant friend and someone I trusted implicitly.

KEEVACan you come to mine? I need to talk to you.

She wouldn’t ask me if it wasn’t important and I knew that but fuck me it was bad timing. Finn tore out of the spot we’d parked in as I put my car into gear.

LORCANSure. I’ll be there in five.

Putting my phone in the center console, I took off toward Keeva’s penthouse suite at the new luxury apartments that had gone up in the last year. I had to be paying her too much if she could afford that, but I was happy for her. She’d once been a porn star working for my uncle’s business. From the stories I’d heard, he’d not exactly been accommodating toward his star’s, more like he took a little double dipping that went a little far. Keeva didn’t have anything to say about him but that just made me wary of what could have happened to her. I know when I took over, a lot of the star’s were pleased.

I rolled up at the apartment block and got out, heading through the security gate with a slight wave to the guard on duty who buzzed me in. I got in the elevator and hit the button for her floor. A little flap opened on the side with a keypad. She’d given me the code before but I could never remember it. I grabbed my phone and called her.

“It’s 7026,” she answered immediately and hung up.

Bloody wench knows me too well. I keyed it in and the doors closed, whooshing me up to the top floor. I hated elevators, more than anything. My fear would be to get caught in one and then go flying down to the ground and burning up in an inferno.

Finally, I could breathe again when the doors opened to a small foyer area with a door. I rapped my knuckles against it. Keeva opened the door within seconds and smiled up at me.

“Thank you for coming.”

She stood to the side of the door and let me in. Her apartment was pure red and white. Comic pop artwork covered her walls adding that pop of colour in her apartment to take away from the newness of it all.

“You’ve done a lot with it.”

“Yeah, you know me, have to have me some colour,” she chuckled. “Listen, I know you’re a busy man so I don’t want to waste your time.”

“It’s fine, Kee. Why’d you need me here?”

I hated to be so abrupt with her, she was an absolute godsend. I never had to deal with anything with her. In fact, I didn’t even know if she knew about the studio burning up.

“I suppose by now you’ve seen the studio,” she said, almost taking the thought from my head.

“How did you know?”

“So, I have to admit something to you, Lor.”

“If you burned that fucking place down-”

“Do you think I’d ever do that to you?” she asked, horrified I would even think of it. Personally, I couldn’t believe I’d thought about it either.

“Tell me quick,” I said to her. “I’ve had a day no one would ask for and my patience is already on thin ice.”

“When is it ever on thick ice?” Keeva chuckled. She’d never been wary of my moods like everyone else was.

“Look, I was doing someone a favour and now I need to head to Belfast for a couple of days.”

“Spit it the fuck out, Kee.”

“One of my employees was staying at the studio. Obviously, she escaped the inferno but all of her things were destroyed, including her cards and money. She needs somewhere to stay and honestly, this place isn’t going to be it. You know who comes by every now and then.”

This place was used for some of the kinkiest of sex parties I’d ever heard about, and I knew Keeva was into some serious shit.

“We have a sex club for that, Kee.”

“I don’t really have time to quibble over this, Lor. Please, you have enough rooms in that big ol’ manor of yours to house one woman.”

“She one of the stars? Why was she staying at the studio?”

“No, she works for us answering phones and filing,” Keeva said. “Look, the kid’s had it rough. She obviously ran away from whatever her situation is and she’s hiding out in Galway. I took pity on her.”

That wasn’t like Keeva. She was as hard as they come. There must be something about this kid.

“Fine, I’ll take her to the estate and she can stay for a couple of days. Walter will see to it that she gets everything she needs.”

“Great,” Keeva said with a beaming smile. “I’ll go get her.”

When Keeva returned, I couldn’t take my eyes off the woman with her. She was no kid, she was a grown ass woman and from what I could tell, a fucking gorgeous one.

“Lorcan, this is Ava,” she said. “Ava, Lor will take good care of you. Once I’m back, we’ll find you somewhere a little more permanent, yeah?”

“Thanks, Keeva.”

She smiled up at me and I felt something shift in my chest. I could see her sweet smile was genuine but there was something in her eyes, something dark. She’d seen some serious shit and it hurt me to think of this sweet thing being hurt by anyone and needing to run away.

To live in a porn studio.

“Come on,” I said. She moved past me and headed for the elevator as I hung back to talk to Keeva. “I thought you said she was a kid.”

“I never said that, it’s just what I call her…you know since she’s so young.”

“How young?”

“Lorcan, keep it in your pants for a couple of days. It shouldn’t be hard, but I know how it is with you boys.”

“With us boys?” I repeated, surprised she’d say something so childish.

“Yes, you O’Farrell boys, there’s something about your bloodline that makes hardened women go weak in the knees. You keep whatever mojo is going on inside of that body of yours to yourself for a couple of days. She doesn’t need you messing with her shit.”

“If you’re so worried, why did you call me here?” I asked her.

“Honestly, your estate is the safest in Galway but also I know and trust you, Lorcan. You’re a sweetheart really, under that grumpy exterior.”

“Call me when you sort your shit.”

I headed to the waiting elevator where Ava stood waiting for me, her bag in her hand. I pressed the button for the ground floor. We were silent as the lift moved down. The feeling that my stomach was still up at the penthouse made me uneasy. I hated elevators.

When the doors opened, I felt like I could actually breathe again. I led Ava out, toward where I’d parked my car. I looked back to see she was walking slower than I was, and of course she was, she was about a foot shorter than I was.

“Here,” I offered. “I’ll take that.”

She smiled up at me and handed me the bag. It was heavier than I first thought.

“Where are you parked?” she asked me. I noted a hint of a Corkonian accent, but it was buried. Only on the word parked did I hear it.

“Just down past the security guard,” I told her.

Once we were in the car, I turned the music down and made sure she was okay. “Are you okay? Did you get burned?”

“No, I heard someone and I went to see who it was, thinking it was Keeva but it was a man.”

“Did you see his face? Do you know him?”

“No, I haven’t been here all that long and I keep to myself usually. I wish I could tell you who it was.”

“Are you hurt? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

“No, Keeva already made me go, they cleared me not long before you came.”

I nodded. “Good. You’ll be safe at the estate, and we have staff who will look after you.”

“I’m pretty easy going, Lorcan,” she said with a smile. “I’ll be all good, just need to sleep it off.”

I started the car, trying to push how it sounded when she said my name out of my mind. Goddamn it. It was just a fucking name, dickhead.

My phone dinged as I pulled out and I looked down to see it was from Finn.

FINNThey’re here. Ace and his fucking dog.

Great. Just fucking great.

LORCANI’ll be there in five. Keep them happy and shut your mouth.

I sped my way back to the estate. I knew Finn had a hard time keeping his trap shut when he wasn’t happy.

As I turned into the long driveway, I saw their bikes by the side and Finn had them outside. Fucker. Why couldn’t he just invite them in?

“Just head inside, Ava, okay?”

She nodded.

“I’ll get your bag later.”

We both got out of the car. I could sense her behind me. When I got to where Ace and Dog were standing, I saw the way Dog turned to look at Ava. Something in me became protective and I turned to block her from view.

Dog was reaching for his gun just as Ava tugged on my shirt.

“That’s him, Lorcan. That’s the guy who burned the Cherry down.”

I looked over at Ace who was quickly trying to stop Dog but not before I grabbed Ava and turned her away so she didn’t get shot. The gun went off and I heard a scuffle as the bullet hit the side of my car and rebounded into a tree close by.

“Ava, get inside, now.”

She didn’t hesitate, and she ran for the doors. Walter opened them to allow her entry before locking them again. I grabbed my gun from my waistband and took aim at Dog.

“Lorcan, let him explain himself,” Ace begged me, his own gun in his hands, but lowered. Dog was backing away, realising how badly he’d just fucked up.

“Fuck that,” I said, taking aim and shooting Dog between the eyes. I turned my gun on Ace, ready for him to start shooting since his VP was dead. Instead he put his gun away. I lowered mine, but the anger was still there.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked him.

“Dog and I came to apologise for earlier. He told me what he’d done but I knew we couldn’t let it hang like that. I wanted to offer him up to look out for you to make up for it, to buy a new studio or whatever.”

“He just shot at a witness,” I said. “He didn’t want to apologise, Ace, he wanted to do some serious shit. Why’d he do it?”

“Apparently one of the pornstars turned him down.”

“That’s not a fucking reason.”

“I agree, he’s gone now. I’ll cover it with the club and we’ll call it square.”

“Ace, we are so fucking not square it’s ridiculous. You pack your fucking clubhouse up and you move out before I make you.”

“You can’t threaten me, Lorcan. I have bigger numbers than you do.”

Finn stood between us, his gun at the ready. “You don’t disrespect an O’Farrell like that, dick. Get your man before I burn him to ash and get gone.”

“We aren’t someone you want to make an enemy of, Lorcan. We can help you with your little problem.”

“What little problem would that be?” I replied.

“Your Ronan O’Brien problem,” he said.

“I thought you kept to yourself out there in the woods.”

“I think it’s time we had a deeper chat, Lorcan, about why we really came to Galway.”

I knew it. It was just too fucking convenient that they showed up when our shit started to get complicated.

“Finn, get to the docks and help Conor.”

“But-”

“Now,” I ordered. He didn’t want to and I knew we were going to have a serious conversation later but right now, me and Ace had to get down to the nitty gritty. Finn tore off out of the driveway.

“Call someone to take care of your boy.”

He nodded and I made my way up to the front door. Whatever it was that he was about to tell me, I knew it wasn’t going to be good.

You’ve well and truly done it now, haven’t you?

Hiding out from my family in Cork had been relatively easy once I’d gotten to Galway. They were afraid of the O’Farrell’s, so they’d never dare come up this way. For five months, I’d hidden away under the guise of my pseudonym Ava Starling, and no one batted an eyelid. Now, because of one dumbass biker I was stuck in the O’Farrell’s huge mansion away from everyone else.

It would only be a few days. That’s what Keeva told me. If I kept my head low, I could get away from them without them knowing who I truly was or who I was running from.

I looked around the room the old man had put me in. He’d said his name was Walter, and he’d been super kind. It was a gorgeous room, and for this to be a guest room, I could only imagine how big the other rooms were.

Look on the bright side, Bri, you’ve got luxury accommodation, round the clock security and a bed that looks to die for. This was much better than the back office at the studio.

I headed down the stairs to look around more and almost ran smack bang into Lorcan.

“I’m sorry,” I said, with a chuckle. “I was looking for something to eat.”

“Oh, right,” he said, as if his mind was elsewhere. “Come with me. I’ll show you to the kitchen.”

I followed him, marveling at how fast he could get from place to place. He was a tall man, towering over me with a whopping six foot something stature. His shoulders were wide too, and the only thing I could think was he was built like a boxer. After heading through a corridor, Lorcan opened a swing door and inside was the biggest kitchen I’d ever seen.

I twirled around, taking in all the black marble and state of the art appliances. “You guys must be mega rich for this. This kitchen is bigger than the entire office I was staying in.”

He didn’t react, in fact, his eyes were stormy and dark. I couldn’t read him like I could with everyone else and honestly, it was refreshing.

“You can have anything you want. If you need something cooked, just hit that button on the wall, either Walter or someone else will come and help you.”

“I just need a bag of crisps or something to tide me over,” I said. “I don’t want to cause a fuss.”

“Nonsense, you’re naught but a wisp,” he replied. Lorcan made his way into the kitchen and opened the door to a walk-in pantry. I gasped when I saw how well stocked and huge it was. He pulled out a loaf of bread and put it down on the bench, next he grabbed the butter from the fridge along with the cold cuts and relish. In the space of a few minutes, he’d crafted one of the most delicious sandwiches for me. To watch this hardened criminal make me a sandwich, something came over me that I couldn’t quite shake.

Was this not Lorcan, the head of the O’Farrell crime family and the most feared man in Ireland?

“Here,” he shoved the plate in front of me. “Eat.”

Lorcan went about putting everything away as I bit into the sandwich. The explosion of flavour from the relish surprised me.

“Good?”

I nodded up at him, his eyes no longer as stormy as they once were.

“I’m sorry you had to go through that,” he said. “You will be safe here, despite what happened outside.”

I swallowed the bite I’d taken and held my hand to my mouth. “I’m good, thanks.”

I could tell from the way he looked at me that he was curious about me. He wanted to know who the fuck I was, and I didn’t blame him, but it only proved that I’d been here too long. I needed to get gone. I needed to disappear before my family caught up to me.

Walter cleared his throat as a silence descended over us and I felt hot under his intense gaze. Lorcan’s eyes finally lifted and I felt as if I could breathe again.

“Your guest is becoming impatient, Lor,” Walter told me, breaking me from my spell.

“I’ll be right there,” he said, his tough exterior coating him like chainmail once more. “Let Walter know if you need anything.”

He left the kitchen and I felt my breath rush out of my mouth, as if I’d been holding it for too long. What the hell?

One thing was for sure, I needed to get as far from Lorcan O’Farrell as I could…and yet just the thought made my chest feel a little funny.