31. Killian #2
I roll my eyes. “That’s a bit of a stretch.”
Hayes laughs. “Maeve wasn’t going to die. Hell won’t take her.” Alessio makes an affirmative noise.
Briar glares at Lex. “We might be family, but don’t think I won’t fuck up your businesses with a few clicks on my laptop.”
Alessio’s brows lower, side-eying Hayes. “Who is this kid?”
Tossing a black portable power bank into my chest, I snatch it, glaring at the troublesome kid. Holding it up to the light, I ask, “What’s this?”
Because it’s not a simple power pack. Not with Briar.
“Information.” He gives us all an annoyed look. “Watching you three try to figure this situation out has been painful. God. How do you accomplish anything?” He rolls his eyes. “If this is how you protect my sister, I’ll need to seriously try and set her up with other men.”
“Rude,” Hayes mutters, but I ignore him.
“Information about what?”
Briar gives me a dry look. “You’re not the only one tracking the people in this organization.
It took me a while, but I cross-referenced the Board’s activities and which of our people were out of communication.
It was tedious—small blips on the radar—that all turned into something bigger. That pack is the evidence.”
“Who else did you find?”
“Basically, everyone you killed.” He shrugs. “Don’t worry. Those deaths are staying off the police frequencies.” Briar winks at the capo. “You’re welcome, by the way.”
“Briar.”
“There were like seven of them that turned. Some real fucked-up idiots.” He shrugs. “I’ll keep an eye on the clan and see if anyone else pops. But I think you got everyone.”
The capo crosses his arms. “You don’t seem too involved to warrant such activities. I have men who can look into everything.”
I see the change in Briar’s demeanor the moment Hayes does. His eyes narrow, a coldness seeps into them, and his hips shift. Grabbing his arm, I pull him back before his fist flies out, and Hayes shifts, blocking Alessio.
Fuck, Briar’s temper hasn’t dulled much with his time away. That’s the reason we’re in this mess—hiding him from everyone else.
“You think you can protect my sisters better than me?” He scoffs. “Just wait until I dig into your finances, capo. Air all your dirty laundry. You’ll see how fucking dangerous I can be.”
“Easy, kid,” I murmur. As much as I’d love to see Briar break the arrogant dick, I can’t have the distraction right now. “What else?”
Ripping out of my hold, he tugs on his hoodie and swings his bag higher up. He pointedly flips the capo off before looking to me.
“Ronan.” He cracks his neck. “Once I figured out it was him, I used the cameras in the city to follow him.”
“And you found…?” I drawl.
He rolls his eyes. “Not much. But considering you blew up his entire plan, he’s going to run back to his masters for help. So, follow the rat?—”
“And he’ll lead us to the Board.”
Gesturing to Hayes, I toss him the pack. “Upload it and send me his last location. I’ll track him down while Maeve handles Tag.”
Briar curls his lips. “Let me guess, interviews?”
Patting him on the shoulder, I say, “Not all of us got the fucked genes in the family, kid.”
“Just because I don’t use guns doesn’t mean I’m not fucked up.” Adjusting his bag, he pulls up his hood, hiding in the shadows. “I’m just fucked up in different ways.”
He fist bumps Hayes on his way to the door, ignoring Alessio. With a hand to the edge, he glares back at me, green eyes glowing through the darkness.
“You promised to keep her safe.”
Nodding, I lick my lip. “With my life.”
“I don’t care about your life,” he mutters. “I care about hers. She’s the only one who saved?—”
“I know,” I interrupt. “But if she finds out you’re here?—”
“So, don’t tell.” He tilts his head, looking to the guards. “We’ll keep this our secret.”
The bastard knows I can’t keep a secret to save my life from his sister. He’s asking for trouble by requesting it.
With a final salute, he slinks through the front door and back into the shadows.
The three of us stand still, left to our thoughts. Before I forget, I pull out my knives, tossing one into the left guard’s heart with deadly accuracy. Surging behind the guard on the right, I lift my blade to his throat and cut deeply.
Fresh blood spills, soaking his front and the floor underneath. He drops, neither of them making a noise.
Peering at the two others, I see the color in the capo’s face drain, replaced with something green. Hayes looks on, annoyed.
“Are you shitting me?” he growls. “Do you know how late it is? Getting new guards here at this time is going to be a bitch. Not to mention having the maids clean this up.”
Plucking the knife out of the corpse’s chest, I roll my eyes. “Poor Prince, having to clean up messes.”
“Your messes, Reaper. I’ve been cleaning up your messes.”
“Are we going to gloss over the fact he just killed two of your men?” Alessio interrupts, hands waving around. “In front of you. Killed. For what reason?”
Shrugging, I lick the edge of my blade before putting it back in my pants. “It’s not like I knew them.”
“That doesn’t make it better.”
“He had to,” Hayes offers, clicking away at his phone. “No one can know Briar is in town.”
The capo looks between us, confused. “Why?”
“Because Ferguson put a hit out on Briar’s head when he was fifteen,” I explain. Kind of a dick move, but I’ve already killed him for one—I don’t want to weigh the morality of an old mobster’s parenting choices this late at night. “And it’s still active.”
“And Maeve can’t annul it?”
Grinning, I tap his cheek, a bit too hard to be affectionate. “Aren’t you cute?”
“Maeve’s been trying, but it’s out of her hands,” Hayes supplies, slipping his phone into his pocket. “The money is through a third party, and the hit is on all the active players’ lists. The best she can do is help keep him hidden.”
“That he fucked up by appearing in the city.” The Prince and I share a tired look.
My phone vibrates, the coordinates from Briar’s pack coming through. It’s a digital tracking device, with Ronan the target. Glancing at the screen, I recognize where he is—in the Little Italy area by the tourist areas.
“Fucking O’Briens,” Alessio curses under his breath. I grab my jacket, much to Hayes’ annoyance.
“Hey! You’re going to help clean this up.”
I wave the phone in the air. “Put it on my tab. Help Maeve, I’m going to figure out where the Board is.”
“And if you don’t come back?” he asks, eyes hard.
I hear what he’s saying—why he asked.
Briar coming back and disappearing is one thing. But what if I leave? What if I don’t come back? Maeve barely survived the last time I left without telling her. If I do it again after getting her back, it won’t be a matter of survival. She’ll die.
“I’ll be back,” I promise. “It’s only recon.”
With one more look, I melt into the shadows of the compound.