Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
She is grumbling, but it is kind of cute. Her little nose is scrunched up, making her look like a kitten. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of her when she first walked into the room.
Bailey holds her coffee tightly in both hands, clutching the warmth to her chest. It isn’t freezing in the basement of the bar, but it isn’t exactly Hawaii either.
Her raven hair is bundled at the top of her head in a messy bun, errant strays framing her heart-shaped face, blue eyes piercing me through her obvious irritation.
It isn’t a secret that Kiernan and I have been through many women. Owning our first club at twenty-one, plus our devilish good looks, gave us no shortage of available cunts, but Bailey is different.
Special.
And completely forbidden.
Maybe that is part of the appeal.
Our father hasn’t pushed us when it comes to our plans for the blue-eyed vixen, but there is no mistaking the frustration behind his features whenever she is mentioned. Even at breakfast this morning, the air was thick with his restrained tension as he watched her smile and talk with Nan.
We are short on time.
If we keep Bailey for much longer, we will miss our chance to use her as a spy. The gala is less than a week away. Time is limited, and Bailey’s family will soon begin to get suspicious about her absence.
But letting her go is a risk.
She is our biggest weapon against Crowe, and even though she appears to be on board with our plan on the surface, Bailey is holding back. There is still a part of her that doesn’t believe that her father is capable of the things we’ve accused him of.
Even with the proof provided to her.
“Nice vision board you’ve got,” Bailey teases.
She is standing in front of the large movable whiteboard, staring up at the plan we have put together so far regarding the gala.
Having Bailey with us changes some of the aspects of it, but it isn’t anything we can’t handle.
The biggest problem is ensuring she stays on target.
“It’s a war board,” I grumble. “Not a vision board.”
Bailey smirks. Brat. “If you say so.”
“I do.” Strolling toward her, I add a small blue pin to the board where Kiernan has attached his bid token, signifying that his item has been accepted.
The pin represents Bailey. “Now, the purpose of the gala is for Ava to help identify Elias’s top players.
Her identifying the men Elias allowed into his home on business should narrow down the potential list of people who were supporting him prior to his death.
This will also be where we can exchange the information on your father without being suspicious. ”
“And you believe that person is helping support her brother now?” she asks hesitantly.
I nod. “That’s our theory,” I confirm. “Whoever was bankrolling Elias no doubt became fed up with his incompetence when it came to Dashkov. Especially after he took down the port.”
“I thought Elias had Ava locked away?” Her face scrunches in confusion as she continues to study the board. “How would she know who Elias met with?”
Bailey only has bits and pieces of Ava’s story from the time Ava ran away initially.
She has no insight into the life my sister led before she was caught and brought back to Seattle.
It makes sense that she is puzzled about how someone who had essentially been a prisoner in her own home would have insider knowledge.
Might as well start at the beginning.
“I’m going to give you the abridged version.
Otherwise, we could be here for years.” I pull out a chair and motion for her to sit.
Like a good girl, she does. “Okay, Ava’s mother and our father were childhood sweethearts who grew up in Boston.
Katherine, her mother, was the daughter of Seamus McDonough, billionaire shipping tycoon and head of the Irish mob.
When my grandfather expanded to Seattle, they followed him, deciding to attend college at the University of Washington.
“They were in love. Yada. Yada. One weekend, while my father was away on business, Katherine went missing. My father searched everywhere for her. Never gave up. A few months later, she showed up on his doorstep without an explanation, and then two weeks later, she was gone.”
“Kidnapped again?” Bailey asks, a horrified expression pasted across her pale face. I shrug my shoulders.
“Who knows,” I admit. “Ava says she was caught by Elias and dragged back to him. Father says she left a note stating she couldn’t be with him. That she no longer loved him. So he drowned his sorrow in my mother.”
Bailey smiles. “And that’s how you were born.”
I chuckle. “Exactly.” My expression sobers as I think about everything Ava told me about her mother.
“According to Ava, Katherine found out she was pregnant and managed to escape again with some inside help. No one knows who. When Ava was eleven, someone broke into their house to rob them and ended up killing her mother. And the rest you kind of know. Somehow, Elias managed to bribe the police and social welfare and had Ava declared as his daughter. Except he never told anyone about her.”
“So what does that have to do with how much information she knows?”
Right, I kind of forgot to mention that.
I pause, thinking over how to explain the situation without dragging on forever.
“My sister says that someone paid Elias to kidnap and sell Katherine at an auction,” I begin.
“Except, somewhere between kidnapping and selling her, Elias became obsessed with her. Now, this was before he took over the flesh trade from the Polish. He ended up buying her. So when he took Ava after her mother died, he used to parade her around his associates. Ava is very good at going unnoticed. Over the years, she heard enough to level him. Learned enough to set his world on fire. We just had to put it all into action.”
Bailey sets her coffee mug down on the wooden table and stands facing the whiteboard as she takes in everything I just slammed her with.
“You think that my father is in league with men like Elias?” I don’t miss the sneer in her voice at her accusation.
Sighing, I lean forward, knees on my elbows, and look her directly in the eyes.
“You’ve seen the proof, Bailey,” I whisper. “You’re the one who is refusing to accept the truth of it.”
“If you’re right,” I can see how much pain saying those words causes her, “then he will be at the auction that takes place a few days after the gala.”
Slowly, I nod.
“Then why do you need me to spy?”
“Because a man with his secrets would never keep them somewhere other people have easy access to. He would keep them safe and close to home and somewhere that not even a raid would find. Your father worked right alongside Elias, up till his death, which means he could know who is supporting him.”
“And what if he doesn’t know?” she asks. “What if he is innocent?”
“Baby girl.” I bring my hand up to cup her cheek. Her blue eyes dim, sadness filling them. “He isn’t.”
Her eyes close, and she nuzzles her cheek into my hand, relishing in its warmth like a kitten.
“There is a removable wall in his safe,” she whispers so low that I barely hear her confession. “It is so solidly built that no one knows it’s false. He keeps a laptop there, I believe.”
Brow furrowed, I stare down at her. “How do you know about it?”
She smiles coyly at me. “Your sister isn’t the only one who often goes unnoticed.
I don’t believe that my father is capable of the things you say he is,” she admits.
“But I am aware that he isn’t a saint. I know he’s blackmailed his opponents and has under-the-table dealings, but he would never do the things you’re accusing him of. ”
“Bailey,” I sigh.
She holds up her hand to silence me. “No. I’ll help you get the laptop, but only to show you that you’re wrong about him.”
Letting out a deep breath, I nod my head, unwilling to push her any further. Bailey will come to the realization herself about the kind of man her father is. If we keep shoving everything at her, it will likely blind her to the truth even more.
“Only problem with the laptop would be that it is most likely encrypted,” I point out, running a hand down my face and groaning. “Bridgett would need to create a decryption key, and with the gala less than a week away…”
“We don’t need a decryption key.” Bailey turns her full attention to me. “I have one.”
“You have one?” I ask, dumbfounded. That is surprising.
She shrugs nonchalantly. “Yeah. It’s in my purse. Looks like a tube of lipstick, except it’s empty. Inside is a small USB drive. I’ve had it for a few years now. Lina had this hacker kid she used from time to time make me one in case I ever ran into a jam.”
Now that is surprising.
“And what are you using this little device for, A stóre?” I tease her.
“My porn collection,” she deadpans. I nearly choke at her response. Her blue eyes twinkle and then the minx winks at me before laughing. Jesus, her laugh is like listening to an angel. Pure and innocent. I want to hear her laugh more.
I want to be the reason she laughs.
The reason she is happy.
I want to be there when she cries.
Hold her when she is sad.
If only we can keep her.
But I can’t begin to fathom how a relationship like ours would work.
Our father has named my brother and me both as heirs.
We will rule the next generation of our family together, something that has never been done before.
In taking this position, it means we will have to give up not only a marriage that revolves around love, but also our proclivities for sharing.
That has never been an issue before.
Even though we share, we have never fallen for the same woman.
Until Bailey.
There is something about our blue-eyed captive that sets our souls on fire. Our blood boils in our veins whenever she touches us. I mean, Jesus, the woman has me harder than a rock with just a simple glance. It is something neither of us has experienced before.
And it can’t last.
We are the heirs to one of the most powerful families in the Pacific Northwest, and nothing we deem to be good can last.