Chapter 6
Last night was like a roller coaster ride for me.
First, Cor and I went out to see if we could settle the restlessness inside of us.
I thought it was due to the extended celibate period for me.
I told him that when we ended up at the club.
We were both looking for companionship to break our dry spell.
Cormac had agreed, but he seemed reluctant.
I crushed the voice that said the woman I wanted was Brenda and no other would do.
I refused to go back to that shop to plead with her to go out with me.
No one knew that I’d been waiting all week for her to call me.
When she didn’t, that pushed me to go back to the club.
I never expected to find her at the club in the arms of another man on the dance floor. It took all the restraint I had not to tear him apart and carry her off. I’d take her to my dark lair and sate us both until I was the only man she desired. However, Fate had other plans.
Duane arrived to tell us the news about the guns. Having to depart before I could separate them and gain her agreement to a first date built my urge to hit and destroy something or someone.
Cormac, Ranald, and I had been the ones who took care of it. Once we were done, we had obtained every iota of intel on who they worked for, their organizational details, and their plans for the stuff they stole. We were left with unanswered questions.
The men were not underlings for one of the other Irish families or the other Mafia out there. They were a group that had designs on taking over the gun trade in this part of the country. We’d investigate to see if we could find anything that would help eliminate them.
One guy broke and gave us the address for what he called their meeting spot. We guessed they refused to let anyone other than those higher up know where the key personnel were. By the time we were done, Cor and I had worked off some of our hostility.
But back at our apartment afterward, I tossed and turned. I kept reliving the club scene, not the barn. I had no idea how late it was when I finally fell asleep.
The time wasn’t enough, given how I felt.
I’d been awake for two hours. I made coffee, then dragged Cormac’s ass out of bed and to a third bedroom in our apartment.
We converted it into a small workout room after moving in.
We couldn’t go to an ordinary gym. We tried and were constantly gawked at, approached for a variety of reasons, or had women offering themselves to us.
The last one wasn’t welcome in the middle of an intense workout.
Dripping with sweat, we crashed out on the floor, sucking down our water. We hadn’t talked while we exercised. We remained in our heads.
“What are we going to do, Sean? You saw those guys last night. They had their hands all over them. Cyndi and Brenda seemed to like them. Did you see how they stepped between those guys and us to protect them? What if those were their boyfriends? Maybe that’s why they refused our numbers and didn’t call us,” Cormac said out of nowhere. His questions opened a floodgate in me.
“I wanted to break that fucker’s hands for touching Brenda. Though I’ve got to say, I loved how protective the ladies were. Even with someone bigger than themselves, they didn’t back down.”
“True, I liked that too. But what about those men?” he repeated.
“Those guys can be dealt with after we know what their relationship is to the women. We’ve got to get their numbers.
You asked what if they were their boyfriends?
My answer is this—if they’re anything less than a husband, then they can be replaced.
Hell, if they’re a shitty husband, then they can be exchanged for a better one. ”
Cor’s grin made me grin back. Then his smile dimmed. “How are we going to get their phone numbers?”
“Easy. We go back to their work. If the ladies are working, we’ll ask for their numbers and invite them to dinner.
If they’re off, we ask that shithead, Carlos, for them.
As their manager, he’ll have access to them.
If he thinks it’ll save his ass to tell us, he will.
And if all of them aren’t there, we’ll ask the coworkers.
Charm or veiled threats will get them to tell us,” I told him.
“Then what are our asses doing on the floor? Get up, take a shower, and throw on some clothes. We have two beauties to see,” my brother said, grinning as he came to his feet. Not to be outdone by him, I got my ass off the floor. It was a good thing we both had our own bathroom.
???
Two and a half hours later, we were pulling up outside an apartment complex.
Our trip to the jewelry and perfume store was a bust, as we failed to find Brenda or Cyndi.
It was their weekend off, we were told. And Carlos was nowhere to be found.
It left us with a couple of their coworkers.
Both women were in their late thirties or early forties.
They were married, but as we chatted with them, it soon became apparent that they were romantics.
My brother and I turned on the charm and told them we’d fallen for their coworkers.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have their numbers and had come there today hoping to see them.
We lamented that we’d have to wait until Monday.
We had a fantastic restaurant in mind to take them to, and we had hoped they would be available tonight.
After a half hour of discussing various topics, with the two of us peppering the conversation with comments and questions about the women in our family, we made some progress.
We discovered that Cyndi and Brenda had been best friends since childhood and shared an apartment.
Those were positives in my mind. There would be no dividing and conquering until after we saw them and worked on them to say yes to a date.
Palm trees surrounded the apartment complex, and even in December, flowerbeds with living plants were everywhere, a typical feature of Florida.
People were milling around the buildings, the parking lot, and the play area within the complex.
Admittedly, the complex needed some TLC.
The apartments’ exterior needed a fresh coat of paint and some repairs.
I wondered what the inside was like. If all went well, we’d soon know.
We’d been in a hurry to get here, but knowing we needed to bring our bodyguards, we’d opted for two vehicles again.
We brought the most inconspicuous cars we had, but they still drew attention, and that grew when Kevin got out and opened my door.
Eoin did the same for Cormac at the other car.
We’d left behind the drivers, too, but we were still the focus of attention.
As we traversed the lot, the ground between the lot and the first building, a thought came to mind, stopping me in my tracks.
“Son of a bitch,” I spat out.
“What is it?” Kevin asked.
His gaze canvased the area thoroughly. Eoin was doing the same. They took our protection seriously. Neither would want to face Daid or Patrick if something happened to us.
“What if they’re not home? It’s Saturday. They could be out shopping or…” I swallowed the next word.
“Or on a date?” Kevin asked.
“That’s it, your ass is fired,” I threatened. Kevin grinned and waited.
“Damn it, Sean is right. They could be,” Cormac grumbled.
“Yeah, they might be with those two guys from last night,” Eoin added.
“Your ass can be fired, too,” my brother growled.
“Are you going to stand here all day, drawing even more attention, or are you ready to find out if they’re home?” Eoin asked.
He was right. More people were eyeing us. We weren’t exactly in the slums, but I wondered if the cars would still be intact when we returned.
“Come on,” I told them, resuming my walk.
Five four-story buildings surrounded a central common area that had walkways, a fountain, and a large flowerbed.
The ladies were in building E in apartment 15.
Assuming the buildings went from left to right as you stood in the parking lot, I headed right.
Once on the inner part of the buildings, the lettering became apparent.
I was correct, the one on our right was E.
A quick look at the first floor revealed four apartments per floor, which placed them on the fourth floor. I looked for an elevator, but there wasn’t one. How the hell did they lug groceries up those stairs? Or move furniture? I wondered.
The stairs were tackled efficiently, and in no time, we were on the last floor. Before going to the last door on the right, I paused at the head of the stairs.
“I want you two to stand here and keep watch. We don’t need you hanging over us as we talk to them,” I told Kevin, but I was directing it at both guards.
“What if those guys are in there? Or the ladies have guns and try to shoot you?” Eoin threw out.
“If those men are in there, they’d better worry about us, not the other way around. As for the ladies, we’re not without our own skills. We’ll be fine,” Cormac told his guard.
Knowing they were beaten, the two bodyguards took up residence at the top of the stairs, one on each side of it. They wore scowls meant to scare people away.
At their door, I paused to quiet my racing heart.
After a glance at Cormac, which resulted in him nodding to me, I raised my hand and rapped my knuckles on the door.
Three raps then a long pause as we listened for any indication they were in here.
No dog barked, no voices called out. Heart sinking, I tried again.
“Goddamn, what do we do now? Should we wait around to see if they come back soon? Go home and try again tomorrow? Or go to the shop on Monday when we know they’ll be there?” Cormac asked.
Not liking any of those ideas, but knowing we had to do one, I answered him. “I think —”
I stopped because the door handle rattled, then opened. Cyndi was in the lead, but her head was turned toward Brenda.