Chapter Fourteen
Aiden hunted down Cillian the first chance he got. He found his brother in the library, reading to Hadley. The picture they painted, their heads bowed as his brother read a nonsense children’s book, was almost enough to make Aiden turn around and walk out, leaving the discussion for a later time.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.
Still, he waited until Cillian had finished the book to say, “We need to talk.”
“I know.” Cillian set Hadley on her feet. “Take this book to your mama. You know it’s her favorite.”
Hadley grinned and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before leaving the room, pausing only to give Aiden a brief wave. “She’s a good kid.”
“Yes, she is. She’s also not why you’re here.” Cillian stood and stretched. “This is about our parents.”
“You called them.”
Cillian laughed in his face. “Oh, for fuck’s sake. Why the hell would I pull a stunt like that? Did I want to talk to you about whatever plan you’ve cooked up? Hell yes. Would I endanger all of us because I’m pissed that you aren’t letting me in? No. If you think otherwise, you’re a goddamn fool.”
When his brother put it like that, it was hard to argue with him.
Aiden dropped into the other chair and ran a hand over his face.
He’d had such a clear sequence of events when his whole plan had been put into motion, but it seemed like every time he turned around, more threads were getting tangled.
“Romanov is a threat that needed to be addressed, but if we come at him from the front, he’ll annihilate us. ”
“I’m not arguing against that. What I am arguing against is using Keira as bait—because that’s what you’re doing, isn’t it?”
He didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse that Cillian was so goddamn smart. “Romanov came to me for help.”
That got his brother’s attention. “What?”
“Two weeks ago. He’s having problems with the Eldridges, and he needed someone to help him with a bait and switch to keep them occupied while he gets things in place to remove them entirely.”
Cillian whistled. “That’s quite the coup—and it would leave Romanov in control of most of New York.”
“Yes.” Something that would keep anyone with half a brain up at night. “But it’s happening whether we like it or not. I agreed to work with him because it means I’ll have some say in the fallout—and there will be fallout.”
Cillian hesitated. “I despise Dmitri. I don’t like his history with Olivia, and a year of not being a total shithead doesn’t make up for twenty-four years of leaving her to the wolves.”
“He’s a known factor, and he has a history of keeping his word once he gives it.
” And therein lay the problem. He wanted Romanov out of the picture—permanently.
But he was reasonable enough to acknowledge that killing the man outright wasn’t going to do them any favors.
He’d spent so long planning in silence, the only person who knew the full story was Liam.
Maybe it was time to change that.
“The Eldridges are just a distraction.”
Cillian’s eyes went wide. “That’s one hell of a distraction.”
“Yeah.” Alethea took the term sadistic to unparalleled lengths, and her heir was even worse.
He couldn’t fault Romanov for wanting to remove them from the equation as quickly as possible—that was exactly how he’d felt about Brendan Halloran before the man was murdered.
“I’m not convinced Romanov couldn’t remove the threat without our help, but the fact remains that he asked for help. ”
“What did you get in return?”
“Keira gets a choice.” It was hard to say it aloud.
He felt fucking weak for even allowing it on the bargaining table to begin with.
Aiden very carefully didn’t look at his little brother.
“I don’t think for a second that he’ll honor that—he’s put too much time and too many resources into securing her.
She’s his last-ditch effort to save face and prove that crossing him is a mistake. ”
“So what’s the endgame?” Cillian’s tone gave nothing away.
“He breaks his word, which will be enough to prove to both Sheridans and Hallorans that he’s a mad dog who needs to be put down. Between the three of us, the war will be quick and brutal, and over before anyone realizes it’s started. It’s a risk, but a calculated one.”
And if he could aim John Finch at the bastard, he could potentially get the FBI agent away from Boston and off Teague’s back. If he was lucky, maybe Finch would get caught in the crossfire.
Except that thought didn’t bring the same satisfaction it once had.
Finch was Charlie’s father, which meant his death would hurt her, and Aiden didn’t relish that.
“That sounds great in theory.”
He shifted to face Cillian. He could tell his brother knew what he was thinking. “Our father is going to get in the way.”
“Without a doubt. He’s already started trying to undermine you.”
Aiden knew that. But there was only so much Seamus could do.
As soon as Aiden realized that his father might be back—and that he didn’t necessarily want him back—he’d taken steps to ensure the men’s loyalty.
It wasn’t foolproof by any means, but it would make it harder for his father to win them over.
That didn’t mean Seamus would play along. If he had his way, Keira would actually marry Romanov. The thought of his sister, already so lost, trapped in a marriage with that monster…
“I’ll take care of it.” He wouldn’t make the same mistake with Keira that he had with Carrigan. He would protect her, even if it meant defying his father and putting both himself and Charlie in danger in the process. He pushed to his feet. “I’ve got to go.”
“What are you going to do?”
“What’s necessary.” He let calm settle onto his face—a mask was better than nothing. “I’ll protect the family—even if that means protecting the family from Seamus.”
* * *
Charlie hadn’t had a chance to talk to Aiden about Keira taking Krav Maga.
She hadn’t actually talked to him at all, despite sitting six inches from him for the last five hours as they traveled from Boston to New York.
The silence had been uncomfortable at first, but when she realized Aiden was thinking hard about what the night would bring and probably strategizing the best way to go about it, she left him alone.
The driver slowed and pulled the car to a stop. They’d arrived.
She leaned over Aiden and peered out the window.
“It’s a warehouse.” And a seedy one at that.
When she was still a cop, she’d spent time in some of NYC’s worst neighborhoods, and the location of this place was the worst of the worst. Cops barely patrolled this area unless they had a specific reason to be there, because the badge put a target right between their eyes, and the neighborhood mostly took care of its own.
They didn’t want or need the law interfering. “This is such a bad idea.”
If she’d known Aiden would take them to murder central, she wouldn’t have chosen a short strapless dress that hugged every curve and left little to the imagination.
It was also a red bright enough to stop traffic, and she’d felt pretty damn great about the choice.
Until now. “You said we were meeting the Eldridges.”
“We are.”
She pointed at the building. “We’re going to walk in there and get killed.”
“It would be bad business for Alethea to murder us, in a warehouse or otherwise.” Aiden climbed out of the car and held out a hand to help her from the backseat.
If she didn’t already know that things were tense, she would have now, by the fact that he didn’t comment on her dress or do more than brush a quick kiss over her mouth before they left.
He was preoccupied, which was all well and good…
if they weren’t about to meet two of the scariest women Charlie had ever come across.
“Aiden.” She stopped him with a hand on his arm, catching her breath when he turned to face her.
He looked downright lickable in his black suit, the sheer lack of color in his clothing somehow bringing out the green of his eyes, even in this light.
Charlie wanted to tell him that it would be okay, that whatever it was that was bothering him—father or enemies or otherwise—she’d be at his side to face it.
But if she said any of that, he’d laugh in her face, and rightly so.
She wasn’t his girlfriend, and there might be a ring on her finger but she wasn’t walking down the aisle to him. This wasn’t real.
So she didn’t say any of it. She just adjusted his already perfectly buttoned-up shirt. “I’ll tell you a secret.”
“Oh?”
Conscious of Liam and the other man just a few feet away and the possibility of cameras and audio equipment monitoring their every move, she inched closer.
Her heels—just as red as her dress—put her at almost the same height as Aiden, so it was child’s play to lean in and whisper in his ear.
“I’m not wearing anything under this dress. ” That would distract him.
Sure enough, his hands came to rest on her ass, palming her as he confirmed what she’d just said. Aiden growled a little. “When I said make a statement, that wasn’t what I meant.”
“Wasn’t it?” Even though her adrenaline was pumping in anticipation of walking through that warehouse door, she smiled. “Doesn’t it make you feel just an eensie bit better knowing that you’ll be having me in the backseat of that town car after this hellhole of a meeting is over?”
His hands spasmed on her ass. “Christ, bright eyes, you really know how to change a man’s outlook.”
Apparently, she didn’t need sweet and comforting words to get his head in the game and chase that hopeless look off his face. She just needed to remind him of what they did best. “Let’s go get them.”
He took a step back, claiming her hand as he did, and they turned to face the warehouse. “Try not to bait Mae this time.”