19. Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Nineteen
Finn
T he war room isn’t as good as the one Lorcan and I had in Boston. The space has been ripped out of the pages of a 1970’s design catalogue. Whoever tried to remodel the castle had zero sense of taste. In the center, the table is large and wooden, but people have carved their names into it like it belongs in a playground instead of as a symbol of power. Still, the map of Ireland spread out across it makes my pulse race. Is this when I find out what’s going on?
Noel is on the other side, as is Pierre-Jacques, and another man whose name I haven’t bothered to learn is at the head of the table. He’s pale white, like me, but he’s got red hair, and his brown eyes are at half-mast as though he smoked one joint too many.
“Daniel will take us through our strategy.” Pierre-Jacques signals the redhead to start.
For the next ten minutes, Daniel points to places at random and makes grand proclamations about overtaking munitions sites, raiding money laundering ventures, and oddly, infiltrating a prostitution ring.
My brother nudges me with his shoulder, but we don’t look at each other. He has to be thinking the same thing as me. Jay’s frown is so deep I’m pretty sure I could plant a garden in it, but he’s not asking questions either.
“What the fuck is this?” I burst out when I’ve had enough of Dopey Daniel.
“Daniel’s strategy for taking down the McCaffrey family,” Pierre-Jacques says, his tone mild, but his gaze twinkles with amusement. “He’s our best strategic person.”
Lorcan, who had been leaning over the map, stands up straight and crosses his arms. He’s still not offering questions or ideas. Is part of his cover to be dumb? ’Cause there have to be thoughts circling in his head. Planning shit like this is his specialty.
“What’s your problem with the McCaffrey family?” I mirror Lorcan’s posture. Tactics aren’t my area of expertise, but I’m smart enough to realize nothing Daniel suggested will work.
Pierre-Jacques draws the dagger out of its place on his hip and taps the tip against his finger. “They’re not nice people.”
I chuckle and gesture around the room. “None of us are nice people.” Maybe Jay, but that’s a weakness here, not a strength.
Pierre-Jacques slides into the chair and stabs his knife into the wooden surface. “I have a big project planned. We need a lot of men. Men who are slaves to money and power. If I have both, they become my slaves.”
Can’t disagree with his logic, but I’m not convinced the desire for those things resembles a plan. “You’re going to snap your fingers, and all of it will come to you like magic?” I point at Daniel. “That’s basically the nonsense he was spewing.”
Daniel’s face scrunches up as though he’s going to argue then he shrugs. “We need what they have.”
I rub my forehead and hope Lorcan speaks up. Then, I forge ahead. “You can get it, but what you presented was a wish list, not a plan. What’s your timeline?” I fold up the map. “I’ll need this.”
“One week,” Pierre-Jacques says.
“You want to put a plan in motion within a week?”
He shakes his head. “I want to own it next week. Not start. Be done. We’re on a schedule.”
“Screw your timeline,” I say. Even at my most unreasonable, I understood when something couldn’t be done. “We’re not geographically close to these places in the south you want to raid. Have you got another crew down there? Otherwise, it’s not gonna happen in a week.” Zahir warned me the PLA has its base in Northern Ireland, but divisions lurked unnoticed in many cities.
Pierre-Jacques steeples his fingers and seems to consider my outburst. “I thought I hired someone capable of getting this done.” He stares at me. “No?”
My lips twist with suppressed anger. “Hired? You kidnapped me.”
A ghost of a smile flickers across his face. “So I did. But Carys came here willingly, no? Would be a shame if she was not free to leave here to see her baby boy.”
Ice shoots through my veins. I’ve been in enough of these confrontations to keep my features schooled to neutral, but they have to have ears in our bedroom. If Zahir didn’t have a leash on me, I’d be across the table at his throat. Three against three, and I have more confidence in my men than in his. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking you hold the cards. I killed my brother. Okayed the murder of my father. Consequences be damned, I do what I want.”
Pierre-Jacques nods. “Ah, yes. Including murdering that baby’s father.”
Jay tenses on the other side of me. Pierre-Jacques has to be fishing because no one knows I put a bullet in Eric’s head. Didn’t use my gun. No witnesses. “I do what I need to.” Gives me more street cred to sidestep the question.
“Good. What you need to do now is find me a way to get what I want. We all win when I am happy. Otherwise,” he says with a smile and a shrug, “people start losing.” He rises and tugs his knife out of the table. “Cape Verde can be explosive this time of year. I wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt.”
Jay lunges at him across the wooden surface, and Lorcan wrestles him back.
“You go anywhere near my family, and your men will be scraping your brains off the floor.” Jay struggles against Lorcan’s tight hold.
I’m not holding him back. My gaze is focused on Pierre-Jacques throat, on the pulse point at the base, at how easy it would be to snap his neck like a twig.
He grins. “My brain splattered anywhere sets off a reign of chaos and destruction. You think I brought someone so volatile to live with me without a strategy? Of course, the children could not come. Rosa, Luciana, Lucas… there is nowhere in the world they are safe from me and the tentacles of my organization. You do your job, and you go home. Everyone is happy. Unharmed. You try to fuck with me, and you pay the price.”
His claws are out, and at this point, they’re longer and sharper than mine. What does he value? Not his own life. Jade? Maybe. If not her, then I need to understand who or what we dangle in exchange for the people we love. Everyone has a weakness. Sometimes it’s a person, and sometimes it’s an object. Almost no one travels through life with zero connections. The best of us hide them well, and when we can’t hide them, we insulate the people we love so no one can touch them. I was in jail when I should have been insulating. Carys and Lucas are ripe for the picking. I have to be certain their lives don’t get plucked.
Pierre-Jacques signals for Noel and Daniel to follow him out of the room, leaving a struggling Jay, Lorcan, and me. When the door clicks shut, Lorcan releases Jay with a grunt.
“He threatened my family.” He shoves Lorcan in the chest.
Lorcan’s gaze connects with mine, and I’m grateful for the silent brother communication that still exists between us. We can’t talk here. If they bugged my bedroom, they sure as shit bugged this room in case we drop any information once they’re gone.
“We’ll walk you to your car.” I keep my voice even despite the fire raging in me.
Pierre-Jacques wants a reaction, to be assured he’s picked the right thing to hang over the cliff. Jay gave him one, but I’m not going to give him the satisfaction of making a scene in here.
Jay huffs out a breath but follows us out of the mansion and into the circular gravel drive. At the car, Lorcan stares at both of us.
“I can come up with a plan that’ll get him what he wants within a week. Kim will help. We’ve got enough intel about the other branches scattered around Ireland we can guess at men and logistics. I’ll send the plan to your phone. Memorize it and delete it.”
“Why didn’t you speak up?” I mutter.
“I’m Lachlan Donovan. I’m not a strategist. Might be a tad strange for me to offer a much better plan than you on the spot.” He runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “Gotta earn trust. Walk before you can run.”
“I can get him McCaffrey’s men?” We’ve dismantled rival organizations before, but our timelines were never this tight.
“It’s not impossible. Daniel’s incoherent rambling didn’t help, though.” Lorcan gazes at the mansion. “We should think about moving your families. He’s got reach, but only if he knows where they are.”
Jay breathes out a sigh of relief at the suggestion, his hands braced on the hood of the car.
“You’re not going to like this,” Lorcan says. “But your best bet is to put them with a connected family we trust. Makes it harder for the PLA to swoop in without serious consequences.”
I swallow, my mind already ticking through the very short list. The Byrne Family would be at the top. With them on the PLA radar, they’re not a viable possibility. Volkovs can’t be trusted. The other option isn’t one I can approach, but maybe Carys can. Wherever they go, we have to be positive we’re not dropping them into more danger.
“Leave it with me,” I say.
“Jay can you go get Kim for me?” Lorcan tips his chin at the house.
He pushes off the car, and with bowed shoulders, goes back into the house.
“I reckon he’s not cut out for this.” Lorcan’s gaze follows Jay.
“He’s worked for Carys since he was young. Never had to worry about his family in the line of fire. Got him in his gut. He’ll be all right. He’s got a steady hand.” Jay’s got a lot of faults, but Carys considers him family, so I do too.
A hint of a smile tugs at the corner of Lorcan’s mouth.
“What?” I ask.
He searches my face for a beat. “Not clear whether I should be grateful for the changes in you or terrified. To get out of this alive, I reckon we’re gonna need quite a bit of the old you.”
I raise my eyebrows. “I’m like the Grinch. My heart grew three sizes.”
“You? Quoting Dr. Seuss? Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Blame the kid.”
He eyes me, the hint of a smile dropping off. “You still got it in you?”
“You don’t need to worry about me,” I say. “I understand what’s at stake. Despite what I always told myself, these connections aren’t weakening me. They’re making me more determined than ever to come out on top. He doesn’t get to threaten my family and get away with it. I might have to play the long game here, but I still know how to win.”
Lorcan nods and slides into the car as Kim comes out of the mansion. When she and I pass each other, we don’t make eye contact.
At the top of the wide, curved staircase I turn left toward the suite we were assigned. The first set of rooms, closest to the stairs, are Pierre-Jacques’s. Noel made a note of telling me to stay away from them when he gave us his very brief tour.
When I wander past, the door is cracked, and voices explode with anger. I should keep going, but instead, I pause at the door and catch a glimpse of Pierre-Jacques and Jade arguing. He grabs her forearms, dragging her against his chest, her floral dress whirling around her legs. Her breathing is labored, and she turns her face toward the door. Our gazes connect for an instant before she turns back to Pierre-Jacques, her chin thrust out in defiance.
He eases his hold on her, but she rises on her toes, pushing against him. Their eyes are locked, and silent communication happens. What is she trying to tell him? He drops her forearms and slaps her across the face. The smack of his palm on her cheek echoes in the hallway. She cries out and staggers, falling to the ground. Her gaze slides to me in the cracked door.
I cock my head. The exchange should be shocking, but it’s like I’ve witnessed a performance, a dance. Does she think I’ll interfere? Step in and defend her? Or is there something else at play?
I’m weighing the pros and cons of interfering when Pierre-Jacques looks in my direction. He crosses the room in three quick strides and slams the door in my face.