As if all that wasn’t enough, they now had Russians on their asses, looking to expand territory, and Cian had somehow gotten tangled up in the management of Rogue when Xavier made an untimely exit from this world. Well, it hadn’t actually somehow happened—his brother had a hard-on for Rogue’s genius second-in-command, Lila Rodriguez.
Yeah, any calls from his brothers these days probably meant some new nightmare.
“Let’s get a move on,” he directed his men as he crossed his arms and kept his gaze scanning the tarmac behind the warehouse they were using. “I need to get back to the office.”
His guys picked up the pace, and a few minutes later, everything was unloaded and ready to be repackaged. Liam left instructions for the guards who would stay with the product until his brother Finn’s crew got there and readied everything for pickup by the USPS. Keeping the product on the move was a hassle but had served them well—most of the time.
As he rode in the Cadillac Escalade driven by his second, Jimmy Flanigan, he texted Finn.
Shipment’s ready.
Finn replied in a hot second. Great. Sending crew over now. You on the way to Banshee?
Yeah. Know what’s up?
Nope, but I got the call too.
Great, Liam thought. It was something bad. Fuck.
When they pulled into the back parking lot at Banshee, Liam told Jimmy he was free to grab a drink at the bar while the MacFarlane brothers met. Cian’s guard, Danny, was standing outside Cian’s office door as Liam entered the building, the big metal door to the parking lot closing behind him with a clang. He paused for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dusky light in the small hallway.
“Hey, boss,” Danny said casually.
“How’s everything going today?” Liam asked. As the family’s enforcer, he oversaw all security. So while each of his brothers had personal guards, those men were ultimately Liam’s responsibility, and it was one he took seriously.
“We had a little run-in, but everyone’s fine. I’m sure that’s what you’re here to talk about,” Danny answered, twisting the doorknob and sweeping his arm out for Liam to enter.
Liam stalked into the office to find Cian leaning his ass against the edge of the desk while he talked on the phone.
“I’m glad she’s not too sick. I’m sending another guy over so one can stay at her room and the other can be with you at all times… I know, it’s not forever,” Cian said softly, his gaze on Liam. “Liam’s here. Can we agree to it for now, and I’ll be over as soon as possible?”
Liam’s skin felt slightly itchy like it did whenever he heard that tone in his brother’s voice. He was talking to Lila, and Liam hadn’t decided if Lila was okay for Cian yet. It was obvious Cian had a real thing for the pretty hacker, but Liam couldn’t see anything good coming out of the deal. He loved all his brothers, but it was Cian he owed his very existence to, and he’d made it his life’s work to repay that debt.
That meant saving Cian from his own misguided inclinations if necessary. So far, Liam thought Lila was exactly that, a misguided inclination.
Cian murmured something else to Lila that Liam decided not to hear, then hung up.
“You see Finn coming?” Cian asked, moving around the desk to sit in the big pleather desk chair.
“No, but he texted. Should be here any minute.”
Cian nodded and leaned back, running a hand through his stylish, perfect hair. Two years older but an inch shorter than Liam, and lean, Cian was all male model while Liam was more heavyweight fighter—muscles that bulged, tattoos that crept out of sleeves and collars. And while Cian had the cover-boy hair, Liam’s was buzz cut—simple, easy to maintain, and part of the package he’d honed carefully over the years since he was sixteen.
Liam was what Finn had once termed “a quintessential badass,” and for anyone who questioned why he’d chosen that, he’d tell them how well it served him when he’d been incarcerated for three months at the age of twenty-nine. They’d put his father in a separate facility when the two of them were arrested while taking possession of a shipment of heroin. Fucking FBI thought if they split them up, they’d make one of them flip.
But even without his father’s influence to protect him, Liam had made it through his incarceration intact—in every sense of the word. And that was because he was over six feet of hard, honed, no-nonsense warrior. His only regret about being inside was he’d had to leave Cian alone, but he’d kept tabs from prison and done everything he could to ensure his older brother was safe.
The door opened, and Finn slid in like a kid trying to beat the tardy bell into class.
“What’s up?” he asked as he looked from Cian to Liam and back again.
“Sit,” Cian commanded. Both younger brothers dropped into chairs like obedient puppies. “Lila—or I should say Xavier—was contacted by the Russians this morning.”
The late head of Rogue, Xavier had been secretly working with the Russians to destroy the MacFarlanes, and when Lila had discovered it and confronted him, he’d attacked her. She’d killed him in self-defense.
“So they haven’t figured out he’s dead yet?”
“They obviously suspect something. It was time for his monthly payoff, and he hasn’t been communicating with them, so they were getting pissy.”
“What did you tell her to do about it?” Finn asked, his floppy brown hair hanging over one emerald-green eye.
Cian leaned forward, putting his forearms on the desktop, his Henley sleeves shoved up to his elbows.
Cian said, “She answered them, gave them some information I fed her, and the money showed up in Xavier’s off-shore account like it has every other month.”
Liam watched Cian closely. “But that’s not the whole story, is it?”
Cian gave him a wry grin. “Busted.”
“What the fuck did you do?” Liam asked, his blood pressure spiking because he could tell his brother had taken an unnecessary risk.
“The info we fed them involved me being unprotected at the gym.”
All the MacFarlane brothers worked out at O’Neil’s boxing gym, and the owner, Sean O’Neil, was an old friend of the family and the father of Connor’s girlfriend, Jess.
Liam clenched his fists. “Please tell me you didn’t use yourself as bait for the Russians.”
“Okay,” Cian said, shrugging lightly, his expression guilty.
“Jesus Christ,” Liam spat. “What the hell is the matter with you? And Danny let you do that shit? He’s fucking fired.”
Finn smirked, and Liam resisted the urge to slug him in the arm the way he would have when they were children.
“He has to do what I tell him. You know that as well as I do,” Cian answered calmly. How the hell he could be so calm when he’d risked his damn life a few hours ago, Liam didn’t know.
Liam took a deep breath and slowly let it out through his nose. “What happened?”
“They showed,” Cian answered. “Of course, I wasn’t actually alone, so everybody’s in one piece, but I don’t think Sergei and I are ever going to be besties.”
“You met them, then?” Finn asked.
“That’s one way of putting it,” Cian answered, his eyes narrowing. “And now that we have a name, Lila’s finding out everything she can about him. It appears he’s one of their top earners. He’s been the number two guy in Brooklyn for the last few years, and Chicago’s all his if he can get us out of the way.”
“Like to see him try,” Liam snarled.
“We need a strategy for dealing with this,” Cian said bluntly, looking at Finn.
Finn was the family fixer—he fixed crime scenes as well as issues that required diplomacy. Liam appreciated Finn’s skills, but he didn’t always agree they were the best approach.
“Let me handle them,” he growled, itching to bash some heads. “We’ll find out where they’re holing up and come up with a plan. Hit them hard once, it’ll be over in a few hours.”
Cian looked like he was considering it, bu
t then shook his head slightly. “It’s tempting, but then we bring the New York organization down on us. I honestly don’t think we have the manpower to go to war with them.”
Liam sighed and leaned back in his seat, trying to control the adrenaline spike he always got when there was a chance of war. He never told Cian how much he needed it—the violence. He knew it wasn’t healthy, but he got a certain kind of satisfaction when he could control an outcome with nothing more than his body and a piece of metal in his hand. He’d felt completely out of control only once in his life—when he was a sixteen-year old boy with a gun pointed at his head—and he’d vowed right then and there, he’d never feel like that again.
“From what I know about the Russians, trying to negotiate is pointless,” Finn said. “They’re not like anything we’re used to. They don’t care about family, so you can’t get leverage on them that way. They don’t give a damn if you slaughter half their soldiers either, as long as they win in the end.”
Cian shoved at a file folder on his desk, sending the papers inside spilling out across the scarred wood. “Well, that’s just dandy. What the hell are we supposed to do, then?”
“Attack a different way,” Finn said calmly.
“And that would mean?” Liam asked.
“We look for a way to feed them to the cops. If we can get the Russians investigated, it’ll distract them from our turf.”
“So like, phone in anonymous tips or something?” Liam asked, trying to picture how something like that would play out.
“Mm.” Finn pursed his lips in thought. “I’m thinking maybe we send one of us to turn informant.”
“Hell no!” Liam leaped to his feet. “Are you crazy?”
His gaze shot to Cian, who looked suddenly pale, and with good reason. Playing with the feds was an invitation to put all of them in prison.
“Just hear me out,” Finn said. Cian nodded and gave Liam a look that had “sit down” written all over it. Liam couldn’t, but he did lean against the adjacent wall, arms crossed over his thick chest.
“We have Lila work her magic on the Russians—their offshore accounts, their personnel, their various activities—then we make contact with the law, tell them we have info for them, and the trade is they’ll get the Russians off our backs.”
Cian scowled. “Too dangerous,” he said. “Our snitch says one wrong thing and they could bring the feds down on all of us in a flash. There’s a reason we don’t play with the law.”
“We can coach them, keep a mic on them so we can hear what they say, even have them wear an earpiece,” Finn argued.
“Look, we have a great bunch of soldiers, but I’m not willing to risk putting one of them into a situation where the feds might try to take advantage. They’ll use the opportunity to pressure our guy, and while I don’t doubt their loyalty, normally, I’m not willing to chance them flipping on us if they’re faced with that kind of pressure.”
“Liam’s right,” Cian said. “There’s no one we could trust to that extent.”
“There’s me,” Finn said defiantly.
Liam cursed softly, glaring at Finn. The blood rushed in his ears for a moment as his heart rate soared as if he’d just boxed a round.
Cian stared at Finn, speechless for once.
“Hear me out,” Finn said. “Lila does our research for us, I take it to the CPD, not the Feds. We’ll look at options for who to contact before we make a move—choose a detective in the CPD who has the right demographics. Someone who’s new, doesn’t know all the ins and outs of having a CI, someone who’s not known for being a hard-ass but wants a chance to make a name, get a promotion.”
“And what if someone finds out you’re talking to the cops?” Liam asked. “You could end up dead, because while everyone in this room knows you’d never betray us, there are plenty of people who don’t.”
“Pop being one,” Cian muttered.
“Oh hell,” Liam agreed. “He could never find out.” He gave Cian a long, hard look. They both knew something Finn and their youngest brother Connor had been spared, and it meant one thing—get in Robbie MacFarlane’s way and you could very well end up dead, even if you were his own flesh and blood.
“He wouldn’t find out,” Finn said assuredly. “I’d only meet with the cop a couple of times. Dump the info, then disappear. I lay low for a few weeks, they get busy screwing with the Russians, life goes back to normal.”
Cian sighed as he stood. “I don’t like it.”
Liam concurred. “I hate it.”
“Think about it, at least,” Finn said. Cian reluctantly said he’d think on it, and they all moved to exit the office.
As he walked back down the hall to the parking lot, all Liam could think was there was no way he was going to let his younger brother get tangled with the law. He’d survived prison. Finn wouldn’t. It was time to take things into his own hands. Even if it meant disobeying the man he’d sworn to serve for the rest of his life.
Chapter 3
“I’ll be right back, Mom,” Lila said softly to the frail woman in the hospital bed.
“Mm,” her mother murmured without even opening her eyes. The surgery had gone well, but her mother’s body was wrecked by weeks of chemotherapy, and Lila still had a nauseous ache in her gut when she looked at the only family member she had left.
She stuffed her phone in the back pocket of her jeans and quietly slipped out the door of the room.
In the hallway were two mobsters, one glued to the door of her mother’s room, the other leaning against the wall opposite, his eyes sharp as he watched her walk toward him.
“Cian just texted. He’s waiting for me in the lounge at the end of the hall.”
Louis nodded. “Yep, I’ll walk you down there and wait outside while you talk.”
Lila gave him a weak smile before they started down the hall. The hum of the hospital had become so familiar in the last six weeks, Lila didn’t notice it much at this point.
When they reached the lounge, she said hello to Cian’s personal guard, Danny, then took a deep breath before opening the door. Cian was looking at his phone, his back to the door, the fading light from the window in front of him creating a halo around his form, throwing Lila’s heart into a stuttering rhythm she hated.
Six weeks ago, she’d spent her first night in the man’s arms, fully expecting to be on a private jet to an island somewhere the next day—but instead, she’d gotten the news her mother had brain cancer. An only child, Lila had done what responsible daughters do and put her escape plans on ice to take care of her mother while also running Rogue.
And ever since, she and Cian had been dancing around one another—sleeping together sporadically, pretending to be only work colleagues the remainder of the time. And she never knew which way it would be.
Cian turned as the door closed behind her, and her damn heart stuttered again.
He was a stunning man, with the face of an angel, blue eyes, black hair, sharp cheekbones. And unfortunately, she knew that beneath the black jeans and perfectly fitted blue Henley, the rest of him was just as spectacular.
“Hey,” he said softly when he saw her.
“Hi.” She swallowed uncomfortably.
“How’s she doing?” He took a step toward her.
She shrugged. “As well as can be expected, I guess.”
He stopped, his brow furrowing. She knew she was being cold, but then she needed to be if she was ever going to get out of this mess.
Cian cleared his throat. “I’m sorry you’re having to deal with the Russians in the middle of all this.”
“S’okay,” she answered, sounding somewhat defeated.
He reached out and put a finger under her chin, bringing her gaze to his. “What’s going on?” he asked gently.
She stared at him, and she couldn’t answer. She…just…
“Hey.” He pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her as he held her against his warm chest. His mouth brushed along the hair near her ear. “Te
ll me what you need. Anything. More help for your mom? More staff at Rogue?”
What did it say when the first thing that popped into her head was: You. I need you? Being held by him was the first time in days she’d felt safe or whole or like she wasn’t on the verge of losing everything.
But he wasn’t an option, and spending time near him was always dangerous. Hence all the big men waiting in the hallway.
“Lila?” he asked again.
She tried not to linger, breathing in his scent—pine, heat, and man. “I’m sorry.” She pulled away. “You’re doing plenty already. I’m just worn out. Once I have a good night’s sleep, I’ll be fine.”
As she walked toward the windows, looking out at the small courtyard that lay between the two wings of the hospital, she sensed his presence behind her. She heard his exhale and felt his heat. Then his hands were on her shoulders, and he was turning her toward him.
“You know I didn’t think you’d still be here six weeks later,” he said, his voice a low rumble.
“I know,” she answered sadly. She hadn’t expected it either. If she had, she would never have climbed in his bed in the first place. Because she’d known the first time he’d touched her, she’d never be able to say no if he were near. The only way to expunge Cian MacFarlane from her life was to be on the other side of the world from him.
His hands moved from her shoulders to her neck, his fingers wrapping around her nape and pulling her closer, inch by painfully erotic inch.
As his lips descended until they were only inches from hers, her heart nearly beat out of her chest.
“I haven’t been able to forget a single second with you,” he whispered. “Even though I know we shouldn’t do this anymore, I can’t stop thinking about it.”
She blinked, then sighed softly, her resistance waning, just as it had several other times in the last few weeks. But by now, she knew the dance—he’d press, she’d relent, they’d fall into the nearest bed, then both realize they never should have mixed sex with business and go back to being colleagues, back to the unrequited longing.
Brush of Despair (Dublin Devils Book 2) Page 3
