Chapter 19
Lina
Chapter Nineteen
The past month has been anticlimactic bliss. We’ve all been waiting for someone to make another move, but it’s been silent. I know Sean’s impatient to resolve this, but as far as I know, he and his family don’t know more than they did when we flew here from Boston. It’s been bliss because nothing’s taken Sean away. He spent the first week as a good patient.
Our sex life exists, but it was tame for the week after the first evening. The second week, we started getting rougher. A lot rougher. Sean still has limits to his endurance, but if this is him recuperating, I don’t know that I’ll survive him at full strength. He’s insatiable. But then again, so am I.
When he’s working on things that are safe for me to see, I often sit on his lap. I warm his cock, and I love knowing he’s not paying attention to me when all I want is to get off. At least, he pretends not to pay attention to me. When I shift to stay comfortable enough to remain on him, he groans. It makes him twitch inside me. I’ve given him blow jobs while he works at his desk or on the sofa.
Yesterday comes to mind, and I can’t help but sigh.
Cailín, I have some inventory lists to go through for the clubs. It shouldn’t take me long.
I glance up as I finish putting away the butter and jam from the toast I had at breakfast. I nod, considering what I might do to fill the time since I have no work of my own. I know what I want to do.
When Sean reaches out his hand, I grin. I know what he wants, and it’s exactly what I want. We walk together to his office, and he pulls back his chair. I slip beneath it and rest on my knees and shins. He takes his seat and is careful as he rolls forward. He unfastens his pants and pulls down his boxer briefs. I eye it like a kid does one of those giant pinwheel lollipops. I scoot forward and lick him as I hear him shuffling papers on his desk. Then I see him pull his cell phone from his pocket. I love this part. I love when he’s on the phone, trying to concentrate on his call while I lick, suck, and fondle him.
I don’t know who he’s calling, and I couldn’t give a shit. I wait until I hear the first sound of him saying hello, then I pounce. I slide my mouth down the entire length of his cock and suck hard. He clears his throat. I focus to keep from laughing. He senses my amusement and fists my hair. I look up to find his warning glare. I shrug as I slide my mouth up and down him.
“Shane can meet the distributor at 4Play to go over the display for the promotion.”
I can’t hear what the other person says. But it’s not long before Sean speaks again.
“I’m feeling much better, but Shane can handle all of that. I’ll check on the mini mall project. Finn’s going to that doctor’s appointment with Ally. I can check the inventory and report the numbers to him. I can count screws as well as he can.”
There’s a pause.
“Yes, I will make sure I don’t miss any. I know how he is about his numbers being precise. Remember, I’m the one who had to account for even a single missing Lego. Hell, half the time he was the one who accidentally pushed them under his bed. Goodbye, Dillan.”
I hear the playful exasperation in his voice as he cups my jaw and strokes his thumb over my cheek. It’s affectionate and erotic.
“Come here, little one.”
He slides his chair back and makes room for me to stand. He pulls a bowtie from his top desk drawer where he now keeps it. He binds my wrists behind me and slides on the sleep mask I wear when he wants me near him, but it’s not safe for me to see what he’s working on.
I’m naked, so there’s nothing in the way as I slide down his cock, facing away from him. I sense he moves his laptop to the left, so he can see around me. I remain quiet, doing Kegels every so often. His hands trail over my legs, belly, and tits absentmindedly. I feel him twitch inside me periodically as he lingers somewhere. It’s pure torment when he fondles my tits and plays with my nipples. I can do little with my hands behind my back, but I can feel his abs through his shirt. It’s the only concession I get to my unspent lust.
I nearly ran from the room screaming the first time he had a conference call on his computer. He slid the mask up, so I could see his camera was off. Now I don’t panic when I know a meeting’s starting. It’s boring since it’s about employee retirement options. He pulls my right leg wider over his thigh. He plays with my clit, rubbing slow circles until I fist my hands between us. I shift restlessly, and he pulls away. I swallow my moan. His camera is off, but his mic isn’t. When I still, he presses his thumb against my asshole. I clutch his shirt. He strokes my pussy with his other hand while kissing my shoulder. But the moment I get close, he pulls away again.
The way he moves, I can tell he’s reaching around me to type something. I warm his cock as though it’s only my pussy that’s here. He hasn’t forgotten me, but he ignores me. He knows what it does to me. I love that he wants to be inside me. That he gets pleasure from him denying me. That his denial is my own sort of pleasure. When the meeting ends, he grips my hips and moves me until he comes. He taps my ass as I get up and leave his office.
It's not all give and no take. He reciprocates and…holy hell. The man can do things with his tongue I didn’t know were possible. He’s a glossal contortionist. Not to be confused with him being a colossus. He doesn’t have poor posture by any stretch. But there have been two times when we’ve left his place, and we’ve run into people he wished we hadn’t. When he stands with his shoulders pushed back, you realize just how big he is. He’s not as thick as Cormac and Seamus, but they could swap clothes, and no one would think they weren’t his.
Both times were last week. The first person was Pablo Diaz. I cringed because the Colombian Cartel member got involved with my dad, then Ewan. I cancelled my meeting with him to be with Sean that first afternoon. I was waiting for him to say something because he spotted me first. Finn was with us, and I thought Pablo was going to die on sight. The rage that rolled off Finn reminded me of what I felt when I caught Colt not only cheating on me but insulting me.
The second person was a Cosa Nostra member, Marco Mancinelli. He was with his wife, Elizabeth. They’ve only been married a few months. Their wedding was right before Finn and Ally’s. Here’s something I learned: they go to each other’s wedding receptions. Not the ceremonies, but apparently, the hoity-toity of NYC get together for these mafia—sorry, syndicate—soirées.
Sean was adamant I know the Mancinellis insist they are the only Mafia in NYC. Mafia with a capital M. He said the Cosa Nostra—“our thing”—are whiny bitches if they get confused for anyone they believe is inferior. So pretty much everyone else. They don’t want riff-raff associated with them either. According to Sean, his family falls into that category since they’re only the mob—with a lowercase m.
Between Pablo and Marco, it threatened to turn the weekend sour, but Sean didn’t let it. He took me to brunch on Saturday at La Petite Fleur, the restaurant Finn owns. We went for a walk through Central Park, and we pointed out places we like to run and bike. I hadn’t been there since college. I showed him around the Barnard campus. My old dorms, some of my classroom buildings, the bars where I drank underage. We went to McGinty’s that night for a live Irish band. Finn owns it too.
Last Sunday, we slept in. And by sleep, I mean woke up before dawn and didn’t stop touching until nine. It was such a typical couple’s day at home. We cleaned—I learned his parents’ generation forbade his generation from hiring housekeepers—and did laundry. I pressed on the maid thing because I was curious. His parents and aunts and uncles remind their children they’ll never be too good or too rich to scrub a toilet. And if they can make a mess, they can clean the mess. I love it.
We’re headed into another weekend, and we have plans to go on a triple date with Dillan and Mair, and Finn and Ally. I met the women at three Sunday dinners I attended. Those were experiences of their own. Boisterous. Hilarious. Delicious. So fucking normal. According to Mair and Ally, it completely threw them to see the O’Rourkes in their natural habitat. I felt a little less rude for staring.
Mair—short for Márgrég—her Irish version of Margaret—and Ally—short for Althea—have invited me to hang out, but it didn’t insult them when I hesitated. Between not wanting to be away from Sean and the unexplained shooting, it made me uncomfortable to go somewhere without him. I didn’t feel right inviting them to Sean’s, even though I know I could have.
“Lina?”
“Yeah. I’m almost ready.” I step out of our bedroom as Sean comes out of his office.
I’m carrying my shoes since I discovered he and I are alike and prefer shoes remain at the door. Since I haven’t unpacked all my things from the boxes Seamus sent a crew to get, I still have some of mine tucked away. He slips his arm around my waist, and I happily accept a hug. We’ve been apart for a whole fifteen minutes. I nuzzle his neck as his hand cups my ass.
“We can still have dinner with the others, but I have to go out tonight.”
I freeze. We haven’t done this before. He hasn’t left me behind. I don’t know if it means he’s really going “out,” and there’s a chance he’ll get shot again. Or if “out” means wherever their place is. All syndicates have an abandoned place local law enforcement isn’t dumb enough to raid, and the feds can’t get permits to search something that doesn’t exist in city, county, or state records.
These warehouses and garages and whatever else they pick are where the families take people who pretty much breathed their last the moment they looked sideways at a syndicate member. I don’t know the specifics because I’ve never asked and never want to know, but they control the place. They can take their time, which means being away a few days at a time in some cases.
“Okay.” I kiss his cheek and pull away.
Sean shakes his head. “It’s not what you think. I can tell you know what that usually means. I have to go somewhere I don’t want to, but it’s unavoidable. I’m sorry.”
That makes me stare at him, my stomach sinking. What the fuck does that mean?
“I have a meeting at one of our strip clubs. The people who’ll be there do not want the finer parts of society seeing them with my family. They want the dim lighting and the distracted clientele for anonymity that doesn’t exist.”
“One of your strip clubs?”
“Yes. Among my brothers, cousins, and me, we own ten. We have nightclubs and casinos too. Finn and Cormac both own some restaurants. You’ve seen Fleur and McGinty’s. They’re totally reputable.”
“Do you spend a lot of nights at them?”
“No. None of us like going to them. It hasn’t been our thing since we were in college. It got old fast. Short of holding this meeting under a bridge somewhere a drone or telephoto lens could catch us, there aren’t too many more obscure places to go than a club. I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing? Are you planning to do something you already feel guilty about?”
“No. But it wouldn’t thrill me to have you surrounded by swinging dicks.”
I stifle a giggle. “Daddy, you looked like you were going to cry or puke when we discussed threesomes. I’m not worried about you being around other naked women. I don’t love it, but I’m not scared of it. As for swinging dicks, there’s only one I’d want to see in a banana hammock.” I cup his dick.
“I still don’t like putting you in this position.”
“Do the women come on to you? Do you have pasts with many of them?”
“No. I’ve known some of them since we were kids. I’ve been with a few of them, but that was in high school and college. Nothing recently. It just feels dirty to go to a place with tits and arses hanging out all over the place when I’m in a monogamous relationship.”
“Work is work.” I shrug because what else can I do? Then something hits me. My gaze hardens as I watch my boyfriend—we defined the relationship the third day we were here.
“This is what I’m worried you’ll think. I’ve told you there’re no limits to what I’ll do to protect you. You know the man I am, so you know there aren’t many limits period. But I will never have sex or the suggestion of sex to get what I want. I will not cheat on you, Lina. Never. If it’s that or go without what I need from that person, I’ll find another way. I don’t want you to think I see an out or a loophole.”
“Sean, I told you. You looked sick when we talked about bringing other people into our sex life. You were willing to make concessions for me, but you made it clear with your body language how opposed you are to being with another woman. I know you won’t cheat. Besides, if I didn’t castrate you, you have a massive family who probably own every type of pliers ever made. Someone would do it for me. Come on. We’ll be late.”
I didn’t lie. I know he won’t cheat. He just wouldn’t. Regardless of his feelings for me, he wouldn’t disgrace himself that way. But I don’t love naked women fawning over him, offering lap dances and delivering drinks with their tits in his face. I’ve accepted how I’m built, and Sean obviously likes it. I have love bites all over my boobs, ass, inner thighs, and belly. He touches me every chance he has. But it doesn’t feel great knowing beautiful women will surround him.
“Lina, wait.”
“Sean, you’re making a bigger deal out of this than you need to. I’m okay with it. I swear.”
“I’m still sorry that it means cutting our night short with the others. And it means I probably won’t be home until two or three.”
“I already figured that. Come on, Daddy. All that worrying is giving you wrinkles.”
I lace my fingers through his and tug. We head out, and in twenty minutes, we’re sitting down to dinner with the two other couples. It’s fun watching Sean’s brother and cousin with their wives. They’re so much like Sean. They pull out their wives’ chairs. They stand whenever one of us gets up. They don’t take the first bite until the three women have. It’s little chivalrous things probably drilled into them since the womb. But at the end of the night, the other couples are going to their respective homes together. Shane meets us outside the restaurant and takes me back to Sean’s place.
“I’ll be in the guest bedroom if you need anything, Nikki. Goodnight.”
“Night.”
It didn’t surprise me when Sean explained Shane would stay over until he gets home. Sean has security outside his building and in the lobby. No one who isn’t a resident gets past the building’s front door without showing ID and being checked. All packages that arrive for him get x-rayed and opened. I didn’t love learning that, but I feel safer knowing it.
I climb into bed as my phone buzzes.
Sean
I’m here. I wish I weren’t. I’ll be home as soon as I can.
Me
I’m just getting into bed. I’ll be here when you get home, honey.
I send him the smooches emoji and a crying laughing one.
Sean
Ok sweetheart. Nite cailín.
He sends me three snoring emojis.
Me
Nite Daddy.
“Nikki! Nikki!” Bang, bang, bang. “Nikki!”
“Shane?”
I wake to the sound of pounding on the bedroom door. I glance at the clock on Sean’s side of the bed. It’s already four a.m. Sean definitely hasn’t been here. There isn’t a wrinkle on his side of the sheets. And since we started sharing a bed, I haven’t woken yet to him not touching some part of me.
“Can I come in?”
“Yeah.”
It’s also the first night I’ve worn pajamas. Sean threatened to throw them away just like he already has three pairs of panties I dared wear. Shane eases the door open, and I sit up. I reach for the bedside lamp and flick it on.
“What happened to Sean?”
“We don’t know. He texted me to say he was leaving the club and on the way home. That was an hour-and-a-half ago. When he didn’t show up within forty-five minutes, I tried calling and texting him. He didn’t answer. He didn’t set off his alert, but I can’t pull him up on our app.”
“His alert?”
“Do you not wear one? Our watches are trackers. The larger dial sets off a distress signal if it’s pressed. The alert goes to all of us and our dads. No one’s heard from him.”
I throw back the covers and get out of bed. “Who was the last person to see him?”
He hesitates.
“Shane, who was it?”
“Lucy. She’s one of the dancers. She said they were in the office for a while, then he left.”
I refuse to assume the worst about this part. “And you trust her?”
“Yeah. They used to?—”
“Were involved?”
He looks toward the window before meeting my gaze. “She was his sub until six months ago.”
He said he hadn’t been involved with any of them recently. That it hadn’t been since high school and college. He lied to me. I expect him to lie about people he’ll see, places he’ll go, and things he’ll do. I get that. I learned that when I was a kid. But he swore up and down, left and right that he wouldn’t cheat.
“Did you speak to her? Did they leave together?”
“Dillan did. It surprised him that she called. She doesn’t work at that club often. I didn’t know she was on the schedule for tonight, and I’m the one who made it. She traded with someone.”
“To work there tonight? Or someone asked her to cover for them?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, there’s a fuck ton difference between the two considering she was the last person to see my boyfriend, and they were tucked away in an office together.” I inhale. “Shane, I trust Sean. But I don’t know this woman, and they had one of the most intimate kinds of relationship. I don’t know how things ended. I don’t trust her. Is she affiliated?”
In other words, is her family mob?
“They are. It’s why their arrangement worked for so long.”
“Long?”
He looks like he’d like to swallow his tongue.
“Shane, how long were they together?”
“They weren’t ‘together’ like you are with Sean. They had an arrangement for about fourteen months.”
And I’ve barely had one for four weeks.
“You said you trust her. You’re telling me he isn’t cheating. Fine. I’ll believe you about trusting her, even if I don’t. But I know he isn’t with her or any other woman. Something else is very wrong. What’re Dillan and the others doing?”
Shane looks at me blankly. I march over to him and get in his face. I’m not as tall as him, but I’m tall for a woman. I look him straight in the eyes.
“Unless they are doing something that could put them on death row, tell me, Shane.”
“I can’t.”
“You won’t.”
“Same difference.”
“Hardly, and you know it. You woke me, pounding on my door to tell me he’s missing. If you didn’t want me asking questions about what’s happening, why’d you even bother waking me?”
“Because we need to leave.”
“And go where?”
“Dillan’s.”
I glance at the closet and nod. He backs out of the room and shuts the door. I dash to my cell phone and unlock it. I pull up the app that has Ewan’s, Justin’s, and Colt’s phones entered. I go through each. Their phones say they’re all in Boston. I look toward the door. My laptop is in Sean’s office. We were both in there earlier. He was working, and I was doing some online shopping for more toys. We agreed to get a swing because it’s something we both like.
I pull clothes from the closet and get dressed before snapping open the gun case that’s on the floor behind my empty roll aboard. Sean knows I have a gun and a Massachusetts permit. I’m certain he’s seen the box, but he hasn’t asked me about it. It’s got a biometric lock, and I haven’t added him as someone with access.
Shane knocks again.
“Give me one more minute. I’m almost done.”
I lift the gun out of the case, checking that it’s loaded. I know it is, but my grandfather drilled it into me to never touch a gun without checking to see if it’s loaded with the safety on. I stand and stretch onto my toes for a storage tub of purses, belts, and my thigh holster. I’m wearing a long, loose dress that won’t easily show the gun’s outline. There isn’t a chance in fuck I’m leaving without it. I’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Once I’ve cinched the holster around my thigh, and the gun’s safely stowed in it, I head out to the living room.
I grab my purse and coat from near the front door and follow Shane out in silence. We ride down to the underground parking garage and step out to find a massive SUV waiting outside the elevators. The thing’s a fucking tank.
Seamus, Cormac, and Finn are standing outside it. Finn’s by the driver’s door, and Cormac’s at the front passenger’s. Seamus is next to the trunk. I glance up at Shane. He’s looking at Cormac. As we walk over, Cormac opens the rear passenger door. Seamus is going around to the other side. I’m soon sandwiched between Seamus and Shane.
Seamus, Shane, Sean. Sounds like the beginning of a tongue twister or nursery rhyme. I say nothing as I put my belt on. The engine revs as Finn puts it in gear and accelerates. I look out the window beside Seamus. The glass is thicker than normal. I also noticed it sits higher than most, even with the hydraulic step.
This is a tank. The glass is bullet proof. The raised chassis probably means there are metal plates covering it to protect it against IEDs—improvised explosive devices—and spike strips. My guess is the tires are the kind that will still roll even if punctured. Short of shredded, they’ll still work. The doors and frame are probably impact resistant, and the bumpers are battering rams.
“If I ever need to find an O’Rourke SUV in a mix, what do I look for?”
Finn glances back at me in the rearview mirror. Seamus peers down at me, and I can tell Cormac and Shane don’t want to answer.
“I haven’t been at a shootout, but I have been at events where things have gotten uncomfortable fast. The SUVs all look the same. There has to be something you customize that tells them apart. Otherwise, you’d all be getting into each other’s vehicles unless you memorize the license plates. Those aren’t always easy to see. Is it the front grill? That’s what the families do in Montreal.”
“Hub caps. I’ll point them out.” Shane sounds less than thrilled, but whatever.
“I may have grown up in Montreal, but the mob there isn’t that different from here. Just because we’re Canadian and polite doesn’t mean we’re weak. Don’t underestimate what I grew up with and what I’ve seen. I’m not ignorant of what goes on, so there’s no dark to keep me in. Tell me the stuff I need to know to stay alive if I get separated from you. If this could happen—if Sean is—then it could be any of us. I deserve to be prepared.”
They’re silent. I look at all of them. They—Fucking A. For fuck’s sake.
I open my purse and dump out the meager contents. I unlock my real phone and hand it to Shane. I unlock the two burners and hand one to Cormac and one to Seamus.
“Keep them.”
I snap at them because they don’t trust me. They think I might call my brother or someone in Boston. Or that I’ll squeal to my grandfather. I close my eyes and sit back against my seat, squashed between the giants. I’ve never felt smaller despite my height. I wish I were small enough to disappear. I know we’re all tense because we don’t know where Sean is. The unknown only amplifies it for me. Not knowing or trusting me amplifies it for the guys. I keep reminding myself we all want the same thing. Sean’s safe return.
We ride in silence until we reach Dillan and Mair’s home. It isn’t far from the neighborhood where all the other married syndicate couples live. I don’t just mean the O’Rourkes. I mean all the syndicates. The Four Families is what they’re called now. I guess one of the Mancinelli wives coined it. Whichever woman it was is right.
The O’Rourkes are the Irish, the mob. The Diazes are the Colombians, the Cartel. The Kutsenkos are the Russians, the bratva. The Mancinellis are the Italians, the Mafia.
Sean’s generation and his parents’ basically commandeered two neighboring communities and have taken over in the past thirty years. Really, within the last five because that’s when Sean’s generation started moving in. Five bratva couples, six Mafia couples, and now two mob couples. I thought we might be the third. That makes my heart ache as I wonder where Sean is and what’s happening to him.
We drove past several of these homes the night Dillan and Mair hosted Sunday dinner, and we’re doing it again. I can tell the guys are even more vigilant than Sean and Shane were when we rode together that night. Cormac and Seamus’s parents hosted the second Sunday dinner, and the twins weren’t any more at ease while driving through the other neighborhood. If they hadn’t taken me this way before, their hyper awareness would only add to my anxiety. Knowing they’re scanning every inch of our surroundings makes me feel mildly safer.
We pull into one of the five garages at Dillan and Mair’s mansion. I know the rules, so I don’t even unfasten my seatbelt until the garage door closes and Finn turns off the engine. I slide out on Seamus’s side and follow the men inside. Sean’s parents, Breda and Rowan, rush to me. They engulf me in a hug that threatens to break me—physically and emotionally. They nearly suffocate me, but the comfort I feel—that I need—is reassuring me. Breda reminds me of my mom, and the familiarity is welcome. But it’s Rowan’s hug that I want to turn into. Irony is a bitch. He has the same name as my father, but he couldn’t possibly be more different. Be more of a dad.
I may call Sean Daddy as a term of endearment, but he’s not even remotely a father figure to me. I don’t see him that way. But Rowan is the dad I wish I had. I saw how he was with his three sons and three nephews. I know he treated me kindly and spent time getting to know me at the family meals. My dad never did that. Hugs from him were to be endured and blessedly brief. He never took an interest in me unless I could do something for him. And my dad was incapable of being kind to anyone other than my stepmom.
I don’t want to be inappropriate or make anyone uncomfortable, so I pull away. Breda and Rowan keep their arms around me as they guide me to the living room. Everyone is there. But it’s so quiet while we look at each other. The men drift toward Dillan’s office, and that leaves me with Breda and her sisters Saoirse and Siobhan. Mair and Ally are beside me on the sofa with Ally in the middle.
Saoirse, Siobhan, Mair, and Ally chat, but Breda and I stare off into space. I can’t imagine what she’s going through. A month ago, her son got shot in a town a hundred-and-fifty miles away. Now, he’s disappeared. She appears calm, but I know how I feel about Sean being gone. I want to climb out of my skin because I think I’m in love. But if it were my child—my youngest child—I wouldn’t have my shit together. It would be splattered all over the walls. If Sean and I make it—not because he lives, but because we’re compatible—I’ll have to become a mom like her. Am I strong enough for that?
A phone ringing interrupts the low murmur of voices. I look at the purse by my feet. The guys gave me the phones back. Turning them over unlocked placated them. They didn’t want them, so they handed them to me as we pulled into the garage. It’s a burner. I recognize the number. Do I answer here, so they can report everything to the guys? Or do I take it in private in case it has nothing to do with Sean?
“Excuse me.” I stand and walk to the foyer. Everyone can still see me from the living room. I inhale and tap the screen. “Hello.”
“Nikki, where are you?”
“Safe. Is Ewan dead?”
Justin hesitates before he answers. “No. The doctors plan to release him tomorrow. It was touch-and-go the first few days. He’s been improving. He’s been asking for you, Nik.”
“That’s nice.”
“Nikki!”
“What? It’s nice that he’s improving and that he’s well enough to ask for anyone.”
“He’s only been asking for you.” I know what he isn’t saying. My brother hasn’t even asked for Ellie.
“Justin, I don’t want to talk to him. I can’t right now. I have other stuff going on.”
“You mean Sean being missing?”
I freeze. Only my eyes move, and that’s to dart a glance at the women in the living room.
“What do you mean?”
“Nikki, we know someone took Sean.”
“Because Ewan ordered it.”
“No.”
“Colt?”
“It wasn’t us.”
“Sure.” Maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t. I won’t believe anything Justin tells me until one of the O’Rourkes confirms it.
“When are you going to understand you’re in more danger with them than you’ve ever been?”
“Funny how that is. I date an O’Rourke while my brother and his men are deeper in the shit than they’ve ever been with the O’Rourkes. Now I’m suddenly a target when I haven’t been one before, despite my connections to two other mob families.”
“It’s the O’Rourkes. They are the reason you’re in danger. It isn’t us. Ewan’s a lot of things, but he isn’t into sororicide.”
“Of course not. He didn’t have to commit patricide because the O’Rourkes took care of that for him. He doesn’t shoot well enough to have come close to the mark when Sean was hit. But Colt does. He could have ordered Colt to do it. He’s biting the hand that feeds him.”
I ease down the hall toward men’s voices. I hit mute as I knock.
Finn opens the door, and he’s pissed to see me. I hold out the screen, so he can see the call’s muted. He can hear Justin’s voice, but it’s hard to tell what he’s saying. I put my finger over my lips.
“It’s Justin.”
I unmute the call and put it on speaker.
“…You end up dead if you stay there.”
“If Ewan isn’t doing this to Sean, and Sean isn’t doing this to Ewan, then whoever this is will keep me caught in the middle. I’m safer with the O’Rourkes than anyone else.”
“You didn’t use to think that. You used to trust me. You even trusted Ewan to keep you safe.”
“He shouldn’t have sent me into the lion’s den to meet with Nishida and Pablo.”
I hadn’t a clue about Sean and Pablo’s history until Sean told me. I hadn’t met Pablo before Sean and I ran into him. I wouldn’t have known who he was at the meeting that never happened unless Sean introduced him. I only knew of him. When I think back to the meeting I canceled to spend time with Sean instead, I realize how lucky I was. I at least knew Nishida in passing. I had an idea of what to expect. Sean would never put me in that position.
“You were fine with them. You’re in the shit now. Come back to Boston or let me come and get you. I’ll take you back to Montreal.”
“That isn’t happening. I’m going nowhere with you or anyone else connected to the O’Malleys.”
“I’ll tell your grandfather.”
“By all means, run to him like a little bitch. He already thinks you are one.”
“I’m trying to be nice, Nik. Don’t be like this.”
“Don’t get my grandfather involved. This is messy enough.”
I watch the guys as they watch me. I need to get this conversation moving or end it.
“If you won’t come to us, then you should go home. That’s where you’ll be the safest.”
“Why? Because it’s Canada? Or do you know something?”
“You mean, is this your grandfather? I don’t know. If it is, then going to him will keep you away from all this.”
“Or it’ll clear your consciences, so you can go after the O’Rourkes without me being a casualty of war.”
“For fuck’s sake, Nikki! We aren’t doing anything!”
I laugh. “You are not that high up to know what my brother is or isn’t doing.”
“I am for you. Nikki, please. All I’ve ever done is try to protect you. I tried to warn you about Colt. I warned you about Sean. I’m not clairvoyant. I have fucking common sense.”
“You’ve been a good friend, but I’m not changing my mind. In the end, you will always be loyal to Ewan. That means you are inherently untrustworthy now.”
“Loyal to Ewan? Because I love you. That’s the only reason I can tolerate him. He’s going to get you killed if Sean doesn’t first.”
I stare at the phone.
“Nik, did you hear me? Did you hear what I just said? You have to know.”
“I did not.”
“How could you not? I’ve been in love with you since we were teenagers. Your dad never assigned me as your guard. Ewan never did. They didn’t have to. I volunteered. I get you don’t want me. I’ve learned to live with that. But I have put you ahead of Ewan over and over since we were kids. I will do it again now. I will take you wherever you want as long as it’s away from the O’Rourkes. It doesn’t have to be here or Montreal. Just somewhere where Sean can’t get you killed.”
“This might have nothing to do with the O’Rourkes. It could just be Ewan and me. Maybe the sniper missed. Maybe they aimed at me, but Sean saw them in time.”
“Then who took him?”
“How do you know about that?” I cock an eyebrow. This is what I want to know. What I wanted to get out of him.
“Lucy Leonard has been reporting to Ewan for two years. Do you know who she is?”
“Yes. I know Sean’s past with her.”
“She’s been telling Ewan everything from the type of underwear Sean wears to his schedule seeing her. She recorded their conversations.”
“You want me to believe Sean was into pillow talk with his sub? Bullshit. Sub or not, Sean isn’t sharing state secrets with anyone who isn’t a man in his family.”
“She works at his strip clubs. She sees who he meets. She’s been telling Ewan that, too. It’s how your dad knew about?—”
He stops himself.
“Knew what?”
“Knew about the deal he butted into that pissed off the O’Rourkes enough to kill him.”
I don’t know what he’s talking about, but the guys seem to.
“Where is Lucy now? She was the last person to see Sean. Did she arrange this?”
“What do you mean? She wasn’t the last person to see him. She left the club an hour before closing. She said he was still there.”
“Then how do you know from her he’s missing?”
“Because she arranged for him to be taken. I just don’t know by who.”
“Where is she, Justin?”
He hesitates.
“Justin, tell me. You’ve been a good friend to me, and apparently, I’ve been a shit one to you because I never realized your feelings. But I choose Sean. I have, and I’m going to keep choosing him. You know me better than most people. I’m telling you right now, tell me where she is.”
“Nikki, don’t get involved.”
I snort. “I’m already involved. That’s why we’re having this conversation. I’m serious, Justin. You know me. You know what that means. Tell me the truth. If you don’t, you know I’ll put a bullet between your eyes from five hundred yards. You’ve been hunting with me, and you’ve been to the range with me.”
“You wouldn’t?—”
“Come down here and try to take me from Sean. I already told his cousins to kill you if you try. I’ll do it my own fucking self. Where the fuck is Lucy?”