Breath of Deceit_Dublin Devils 1

by Selena Laurence

  Well, normal if you didn’t count that kiss. Which she was trying really hard not to.

  “I’m sorry I have to sit here and stare at you. I know you’re perfectly capable of handling whatever on your own. In fact—” He got distracted briefly by something on his phone. “Since I’m not a computer guy like Finn, I couldn’t help you even if you needed it.”

  “So why are you here?” she asked, giving him a small smile. He was like a younger, less haggard version of Cian, and she couldn’t help but find that appealing.

  “Let’s just say I did something really dumb, and my punishment is spending a lot of time here at the office doing not much.”

  Well, that was fantastic. “So sitting here with me is considered punishment with you guys?”

  He flushed slightly. “No, I didn’t mean it that way at all…I…”

  She laughed softly. “Relax. I’m kidding. I understand what you meant. You’re keeping a low profile.”

  “Yeah. That.”

  She looked back at her screen, trying not to think about what kind of punishment Cian might consider giving her. She found her imagination moving away from torture of the deadly kind to torture of the orgasmic kind. She rolled her eyes internally. Stupid girl.

  “Well, we have about eighty orders now, and it looks like the payments have been processed just fine. The system seems to be running smooth as glass,” she told Connor.

  “Really? Eighty orders in half an hour? Where did they all come from?”

  She clicked a few keys. “All over—some in California, a few in the South, a bunch from Nevada and Ohio.”

  “I know I’ve been listening to all the info about this project since Finn thought it up, but I don’t think I ever considered how anyone would know the stuff is for sale on Rogue in the first place. It’s not like we can advertise or anything.”

  Lila clicked a few more keys, shutting down the screen running the data for her. Then she closed the lid on the laptop.

  “We give it exposure on the Rogue site, and then word of mouth, dark web searches, that kind of thing. There are people trolling the internet looking for pretty much everything. If you offer it, they’ll find you.”

  Connor nodded. “You’re all done, then?”

  “Yep. We’ll download the orders at the end of each day and send them to your guys in packaging.”

  “I hope we can keep up with them,” Connor mused. “If not, I’ll have to work on tweaking the system and maybe setting up two locations to do packaging.”

  Lila had always been amazed by how serious the MacFarlane men were about their work. She didn’t doubt that Connor would be able to handle whatever the new market they’d created threw at him. He was young but smart and, like all the MacFarlane brothers, serious about his obligations.

  Lila looked at Connor again and wondered what Cian had been like at his age. Did he smile easier? Was he more carefree? Since the kiss he’d given her before leaving her house a week ago, she’d tried her best to put him out of her mind, but with his younger double sitting across a desk from her, it was tough.

  “So, who is it that grounded you? Does your dad decide that stuff or Cian?” she asked.

  She really shouldn’t be fishing for any stories she could hear about Cian, but since when had Lila ever let what she should do interfere with what she did do? It was a terrible trait she’d picked up from her father. The same place she’d picked up all her terrible traits.

  Connor sighed. “Cian handles the day-to-day. So, yeah, it was him. It’s usually him.”

  Her eyebrow rose. “Do you get in trouble a lot?”

  He chuckled. “It makes it sound like I’m a four-year-old, doesn’t it? But to answer your question, no. I really screwed up this time, though. I deserve whatever he throws at me.”

  She watched him, seeing a deep pain in his eyes, even though his smile was still peeking through.

  “Is he tough on you? Cian, I mean.” Stop, Lila, a voice in her head said, but it apparently had no connection to her actual voice.

  His gaze shot to hers, and she felt her face flush. She needed to temper her interest in the mob boss. Connor was more likely to think she was informing on them than the truth—she had a burgeoning crush on his tortured criminal of a brother.

  Connor’s expression grew deadly serious. “Cian has been more of a father to me in my life than my actual dad. He’s the best man I know, so if he says I fucked up, then I did. And if he says I need to sit with my ass in this chair and answer the phone and watch you work for the next ten years, then that’s what I’ll do.”

  He shook his head slowly. “Honestly, I don’t deserve him. He’d do anything to protect me.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I only hope I can be the kind of man he is someday.”

  Lila’s heart pumped a little harder, flutters tickling her stomach. The tone in Connor’s voice was so loyal, so sure, she felt something inside her shift. No one who was truly bad could inspire that kind of affection. He might be a criminal, but could it be Cian was actually a good man? She cleared her throat, trying to push thoughts of Cian away.

  “Well, if it’s okay with you, I think I’m all done here, so I’ll go.”

  Connor stood and stretched at the same time. “Great. Thanks for coming to let me see it launch.”

  “Of course. And you know if you have any questions, you can just call me, right? I mean, or Cian can…or Finn. Whoever.”

  Wow. That hadn’t lasted long.

  Connor looked at her appraisingly, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Dammit, she’d overplayed her hand, he could totally tell she was thinking dirty things about his brother. “Sounds good.” He smirked.

  She rushed out the door and could hear him chuckling as it shut behind her.

  God. She really needed to get over this thing—whatever it was. A man gave her a two-second kiss and she lost all sense. Maybe she needed to date more. Obviously, she was feeling desperate, because Cian MacFarlane was about the worst possible love interest a woman could conjure.

  She reached the parking lot behind the club and opened the door to her car, climbing in and locking it tight before she even put on her seat belt.

  Her phone buzzed, and she saw Xavier’s name flash on the screen. She stared at it for a moment. Hackers didn’t call; they messaged, texted, emailed, whatever written form of communication was convenient. They didn’t like talking to actual people, or they wouldn’t be hackers. In fact, the only reason Xavier’s number was even in her phone was because he’d called her to offer her the job years ago. He’d never called her since, and she sure as hell hadn’t called him.

  “Hello?” she answered finally, brow furrowed as she looked out the windshield at the cracked pavement of the parking lot.

  “Where are you?” he asked without identifying himself.

  “I’ve just left the launch meeting with our newest clients,” she said. She might not talk on the phone much, but she knew enough not to say names. You never knew who could be listening.

  “Good. Everything start up fine?”

  “Yes, orders rolling in and the system working smoothly.”

  “The oldest one—he likes you,” Xavier said abruptly.

  Her chest did more of that little tickling thing that was entirely unacceptable. “We’ve worked together fine, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Mm, there’s something more there. The way he looks at you.”

  She leaned back against the car seat. Xavier was like a gossipy college girl. Lila hadn’t been that girl even when she’d briefly tried college.

  “What’s your point?” she asked, completely losing patience.

  “I want you to keep your eyes and ears open for me. Make an effort to spend as much time with him as you can without arousing his suspicions. Since he likes you, it shouldn’t be that hard. Listen to what he says, watch what he does. That’s all.”

  Lila’s eyes narrowed. Why did it feel like every man in her life wanted her to do something for them? An
d always something dangerous and wrong. She snorted. Gamblers, hackers, mobsters. No matter what they looked like or how much they paid, they were all really the same man—her father.

  “You do realize who he is? I’m not real interested in winding up in the lake.”

  She heard Xavier clacking on his keyboard and wondered if he’d forgotten she was there.

  “Hello?”

  His reply was distracted, as was his custom. “Just watch, listen, and report,” he said.

  Then he hung up.

  Lila stared at the phone for a moment before tossing it on the seat next to her in frustration. What the hell was Xavier’s deal? He’d been progressively weirder and ruder the longer they’d worked with the MacFarlanes. Even for him, he was acting bizarre. Was he in some sort of trouble with the family? Maybe he’d borrowed money and owed them? Was that why he’d struck this deal?

  Something told Lila she really needed to know more than she did, and nothing was more inspiring to a hacker than the need to solve a puzzle. She started up the car and headed for home. Xavier was a hacker too, one of the best in the world. Finding out his secrets wasn’t going to be easy, but if anyone was up to the task, it was Lila.

  Cian leaned on the edge of the boxing ring and watched Liam and Connor sparring. Liam was bigger, of course, but Connor was fast, dodging and weaving with skill.

  “That move drives Liam nuts,” Finn said as he walked up and stood next to him.

  “Yep. I think he referred to Connor as an annoying gnat last week.”

  “Why aren’t you out there?” Finn asked.

  Cian hadn’t even bothered to put on gym clothes. He just didn’t have it in him to punch anyone today. He had enough frustration built up, but the energy required to take the swing might just kill him.

  “Not up to it today,” he said. “You going to get in a workout?”

  Finn wasn’t much interested in boxing, but he was an expert in martial arts, and Liam knew enough to spar with him and give Finn a workout.

  “I have a session with my sensei later,” he answered. He tipped his chin toward the ring. “How’s Connor doing?”

  Cian shrugged lightly. “He’s being remarkably cooperative.” He glanced at Finn. “I think he might have finally pushed the recklessness far enough he’s going to grow up.”

  Finn nodded sadly. “Had to happen sooner or later. I’m sorry for him, but if it keeps him from getting killed in the long run, it was worth it.”

  “Thank God we were able to fix it,” Cian added, shaking his head in disbelief. “I really thought I wasn’t going to be able to save him from this one.”

  “You know,” Finn said quietly, “if any of us could make it out of this whole life, it would be him.”

  Cian’s gaze snapped to Finn. “What? What do you mean make it out?”

  Finn shrugged. “Don’t you ever think about it? If we hadn’t been Robbie’s sons, what would we have done? What would life be like if we weren’t MacFarlanes? I think if anyone could do something else, it would be Connor.”

  Cian swallowed, his throat suddenly thick. “Because he’s the youngest?”

  “Because even after what happened the other day he has the most of that thing the rest of us haven’t had since we were teenagers—hope.”

  Cian was definitely out of hope for himself, but he’d never given up hope for his brothers, and now with Connor’s future nearly secured by a witness protection deal, his efforts needed to turn to Liam and Finn.

  “So,” he said as casually as possible. “What would you do if you had hope? Or if you hadn’t been born a MacFarlane?”

  Finn was silent for a few moments, then a smile crawled across his face. “I’d be a private detective,” he said. “I love surveillance, figuring out the clues about why people behave like they do, and the forensics could be pretty kick-ass.”

  Cian chuckled. “Sort of the other end of being a fixer.”

  “Exactly,” Finn said, his eyes aglow with excitement. “I’d like to try to outsmart other guys like me.”

  Cian turned to him and gazed at him seriously. “You know if I could make that happen for you, I would, right?”

  Finn gave him an odd expression. “Make something happen for me that would take me away from the rest of you?”

  “If it’s what made you happy, then yes.”

  “Yeah, I know. But I’m happy where I’m at too. You can’t take on the world, Cian. You didn’t get to choose this any more than the rest of us. It’s not your fault.”

  Cian turned back to the ring. “Sometimes it doesn’t matter whose fault something was. It only matters that someone can fix it.”

  Movement to the right of the ring caught his attention, and he saw Jess leaning against the doorframe of the office watching Connor and Liam spar.

  “Too bad you can’t fix that,” Finn murmured.

  “Yeah,” Cian answered quietly as Jess noticed them and quickly went back to the office. “Too bad.”

  Chapter 16

  Nodding to the guy standing guard outside his parents’ house, Cian quietly let himself in. It was four o’clock on a Wednesday, which meant his mother had taken his father to mass at St. Pat’s. The hour and a half of an empty house was exactly what he needed.

  His father had caught him off guard the morning after he’d negotiated the deal with Consuelos. But Robbie didn’t realize that while he might be the more brutal of the two of them, Cian was every bit as wily, and he wasn’t about to let his brute of a father outmaneuver him.

  He quietly walked through the house, heading to the back hallway where Robbie’s office was.

  He opened the door to the dark paneled room, his eyes resting for a moment on the leaded glass that decorated the top half of the windows in the elegant room.

  He went to the desk first, even though he knew Robbie would have moved everything. After he shimmied the lock on the desk drawers and confirmed what he already knew, he moved to the safe in a hollowed-out section of wall behind the credenza. The combination that Robbie had used since Cian was a child had been changed, but it didn’t take long for Cian to crack the new one. The old man had only so many numbers he could use for something like that.

  The safe held guns, cash, and some documents that Cian had no doubt were more of Robbie’s famous insurance against certain people. But it didn’t have anything pertaining to his brothers. He closed it back up and replaced the heavy piece of furniture in front.

  He stood, arms crossed for a moment, thinking about where else his father would keep a safe box. Then it came to him. The place least likely would be the most likely.

  He made his way to the second floor of the old house, walking by the bedrooms that had housed him and his brothers growing up, all four of them still decorated as if the boys had moved out the day before. He’d once caught his mother sitting on the bed in Finn’s room, quietly weeping. When he’d asked her what was wrong, she’d said that she missed them. “But we see you every week, Mom,” he’d told her, putting an arm around her.

  “No,” she’d corrected, “I miss ten-year-old you.”

  He reached the last room before his parents’ suite and opened the door into the dark, cool space. Flipping on the light since the blinds were closed, he was greeted with another blast from his past. How many hours had he spent sitting in this room, doing homework or playing with toys when he was small? His mom loved to quilt, knit, and cross-stitch. This room had been her refuge, the place she went when his father had business associates over, or her four rambunctious boys had driven her to distraction. It was also the place she made the boys sit with her—one at a time—when she wanted to be able to supervise them closely.

  To the best of his knowledge, Robbie had never set foot in the sewing room while Cian was growing up, but he was willing to bet he had in the last week.

  Cian started by looking along all four walls, under the sewing table and along the window seat. Next, he tackled the built-in cubbies that held scraps of fabric, felt, yarn, and ba
tting.

  When that didn’t yield results, he moved to the walk-in closet where there were stacks of quilts, some partially finished, some waiting to go to the church auction and the Catholic charities home.

  As it was, he almost missed it, but just before he turned to leave the closet, he noticed the imperfection in the back corner. He flipped on the flashlight on his phone and shone it on the spot. It was clear where the carpet had been sliced open, a square that had then been put back into place.

  Cian’s pulse ratcheted up as he knelt and took out a pocket knife to lift a corner of the sliced carpet. It lifted easily, and a moment later, he’d removed the square entirely. There was a manila envelope underneath. He lifted it out, tearing it open along the top with his knife.

  Inside were a series of incriminating photos of his brothers along with a USB drive. Cian took a moment to shuffle through the photos. They’d all been taken by someone there in the moment. Obviously, his father had one of the men recording their activities. It was a problem Cian couldn’t fix. Technically, they worked for the family, and officially, Robbie was still the patriarch of that family. Firing anyone would only leave a disgruntled enemy at large. And he certainly couldn’t have the whole staff killed.

  No, Cian might have found this round of insurance, but he was willing to bet Robbie had more in reserve, and Cian had a problem. He couldn’t afford to leave his brothers vulnerable. So he’d have to double down. Just like he always had with Robbie. Only this time, he’d be doubling down with outside help, and that was going to make all the difference.

  The motorcycle idled smoothly as Connor sat under the big oak tree kitty corner from Jess’s house. The streetlight overhead was dim and cast shadows that helped him be discreet. But it was still a risk. He knew a peace had been brokered. Consuelos had more than enough to do asserting his newly acquired authority. He wasn’t going to be coming after Connor or Jess anytime soon.