by AJ Sherwood
“Caro, I look forward to it.” Brannigan pressed in and kissed him, mouth lingering and tasting his.
Kyou melted under the kiss, tilting his head up to get a more perfect angle. Someone should have warned him that kissing Brannigan could effectively turn his brain off. Two hands went down to his ass and gave a loving squeeze, and whatever remained of Kyou’s brain went offline completely.
Pulling back an inch, Brannigan pleaded, “Don’t respond so sweetly like that; we don’t have time for me to drag you off somewhere and do sexy things to you.”
“Excuse you,” Kyou panted, body tingling from head to toe. “You’re the one who started this.”
“Was I really?” Brannigan didn’t look remotely apologetic. And his hands hadn’t moved.
What was he supposed to do with this man? Seriously. “After this is over, you and me. Bed. Two days at least.”
Brannigan nodded fervently. “Sold. You don’t even need to twist my arm. Let’s take out bad guys and make that happen.”
Normally, Kyou’s motivations for taking out bad guys was either for money or obligation. Sex had to be a new one for the books. But damn, if it wasn’t effective. Kyou pressed in for one more quick, chaste kiss before pulling free. He had to slap himself lightly on the cheek to kick his brain back online. Damn libido was whining at the idea of getting back into that computer chair.
Sexy boyfriends apparently did have their cons.
Brannigan thankfully didn’t follow him to the computer, heading upstairs instead. Likely to make many, many phone calls. Kyou settled into his chair and pulled on headphones, as he needed some heavy rock music to filter everything out and get his brain in the right headspace. Before he could turn on his music, however, he saw Aiden coming back down the stairs, fully dressed and far more awake. In his hands were keys that jingled with each step.
“Aiden. Going somewhere?”
Aiden paused and half turned to answer. “Going to pick up Remi. I think we’d better get her here sooner rather than later. Safer, for one.”
That was a sound decision. Kyou should have considered it before. “Yeah. And really, I’ll need her help.”
“I figured. Anything else you want me to grab while I’m out?”
Kyou cast his mind about but nothing came to him immediately. “If I think of something, I’ll text you.”
“Okay.” Aiden’s expression turned curious. “You and Brannigan okay?”
Uncertain, Kyou responded slowly. “Is there a reason to think we aren’t?”
“Not that I’ve seen, but I’ve only watched you interact for maybe an hour.” Aiden waved a hand down, dismissing the concern. “Remember, Ivan and I got together when things were crazy hectic and bullets were flying. I know all too well how difficult it is to start dating while looking over your shoulder for bad guys. It’s a balancing act that any circus performer would envy. I’m just asking, you two doing okay with it?”
Oh. That’s what he meant. In retrospect, that must have been interesting for them. Kyou hadn’t really considered what Ivan and Aiden were going through at the time. He’d been too busy trying to keep everyone alive and finding a stamp at the same time. “So far, it seems to be fine. We’re both focused on getting this done and out of the way, but we’re finding moments for each other, too.”
Satisfied, Aiden gave him a nod. “Good. As weird as it sounds, sometimes all you need is five minutes with them. Those five minutes can make all the difference.”
“You’d know. Although I can’t imagine Ivan being satisfied with five minutes.”
Aiden’s mouth twisted in a wry smile. “Neither was I. Still, you work with what you get. Alright, let me go snag the princess.”
Kyou watched him go, still feeling a little odd about that whole conversation. He’d never imagined that he would one day discuss his love life with Aiden. But it was strangely nice, to know that he could talk about things with Aiden. That the gentle doctor was a willing listener if he did want advice. It was one of those blessings life randomly threw in without any warning, having someone he could confide in. Kyou had started out life utterly alone and with no ties to another living soul. He now had four brothers, a niece, and a very affectionate lover.
The thought brought a smile to his face that lingered as he went back to work.
14
Brannigan
Brannigan literally sat on the edge of his seat. His palms were sweating, he had this jittery sensation in his stomach that refused to settle, and he was honestly considering raiding a pharmacy for some anxiety meds. This was beyond nerve-wracking. And he wasn’t actively doing anything. Actually, that might’ve been why he found this nerve-wracking. He’d feel better if he was in control of what was about to happen. Instead, he sat on the sidelines, in a chair between Kyou and Remi, watching all of the monitors avidly.
Kyou had his legs crossed in the chair, hands reaching out to keyboard and mouse, tweaking things here and there. Still, he spared his lover a glance. “You alright?”
“This is just like watching an action movie without knowing how it ends,” Brannigan answered, absolutely glued to the video feeds. “I’m nervous as hell but totally fascinated at the same time.”
“You get used to it,” Remi assured him. She, too, was tweaking video feeds, flipping through some of them as her two monitors could only handle eight feeds altogether.
Brannigan turned his head to regard her thoughtfully. Kyou had mentioned he’d trained her for nearly two years, now. That she was one of the most brilliant minds he’d ever encountered, and he fully expected her to outstrip him in time. Brannigan had entertained the idea that perhaps they were the words of a doting uncle. He’d carried that thought right up until Remi had literally done the work of a hacker. After that, Brannigan had revised his opinion sharply. Still, seeing her work was eye-opening. He could envision her as an adult, doing this very thing.
It was both thrilling and alarming.
Brannigan’s attention went back to the feeds. They were sneaking into the house now, Ivan taking the lead. Ari and Carter were nearby; he could see glimpses of them through the security cameras. Actually, that was worrying. “If we can see them through the cameras, doesn’t that mean one of the O’Conners can as well?”
Kyou waved this concern away. “No. I’m completely in control of their system right now. I’ve looped the feed. They’re looking at empty hallways or poker night, nothing alarming.”
He’d said he was going to hack in and take over their security earlier this afternoon. Brannigan hadn’t doubted him, but it did raise an interesting question. “How tight was their cyber security?”
“Not as tight as it should have been.” Kyou’s expression turned wolfish. “My back-up plan was to send in Ivan and have him help me hijack their system on site, but it turned out to be wholly unnecessary. They haven’t updated it since it was installed three years ago. They haven’t even downloaded any patches. It only took me two hours to worm my way in and that’s really pathetic.”
“You’d think they’d be more alert on this sort of thing.”
“Oh, their banking system is tighter. More up to date. That’s why I had to set it up in advance; I had a feeling that would be the case. Most people focus on protecting the money first. But these guys, they have a compound full of really mean people who are armed. Why worry about their physical security? They have more than enough muscle on hand even if someone tries to get in.”
“That arrogance will be their downfall,” Carter noted idly. “Babe, hand me that fuse wire, would you?”
Brannigan felt like he should be taking notes for some reason. “So if you have control of the cameras, why is Iv—uh, Eidolon avoiding them so much?”
“More fun that way,” Ivan answered in a low breath. He sounded perilously close to laughing manically.
Kyou snorted and said as an aside, “You see Ivan when Ivan wants you to see him. And not one second before. We call him Eidolon for a reason. He’s now broken in there twi
ce, so he’s very aware of all the cameras. He’s avoiding them to drive me crazy as he knows that I like to track them when they go into dangerous situations like this.”
Ivan cackled and didn’t deny it.
“Damn idiot,” Kyou said affectionately, sighing in resignation. “I see why Aiden chose to sleep this one off.”
The young doctor had said point blank his nerves couldn’t handle watching this play out. And he had to sleep, anyway; he was on shift early in the morning. He’d kissed Ivan, wished everyone luck, then took a sleeping pill and went straight to bed. All things considered, probably for the best.
Ivan swore abruptly. “That cheating bastard.”
Brannigan was alarmed for a full second before three different voices chimed with vary degrees of exasperation: “Eidolon!”
“What?” Ivan responded, the soul of innocence. “I had to pass by poker room anyway, no harm in taking look. And this idiot, he’s got ace up his sleeve. He’s cheating, and he’s bad at it.”
“He’ll be a dead idiot soon, remember?” Kyou reminded him with strained patience. “Can we go back to planting bombs now?”
Remi tugged at Brannigan’s sleeve, and he turned his attention back to her. “Yes?”
She pointed to the screen on the far right. “I don’t think that’s a friend.”
Brannigan peered hard at where she pointed. It took a second for him to see what she meant, as the shadowy figure blended in so well with the dark sidewalk that his eyes almost skipped right over it. Then he blinked, and the shape took a more sinister form. “Shit. Yeah, I think you’re right. Guys, someone is watching my apartment.”
Leaning over him, Kyou took his own look. There was a very unhappy set to his jaw as he glared at the screen. “Ghostshot has made his appearance. He’s clearly trying to figure out where Bran is. Guys, let’s wrap this up.”
“Down to last three,” Ivan promised him gleefully.
“We’ve got two,” Ari reported. He spoke barely above a whisper, and Brannigan had a hard time discerning the words through Kyou’s speakers.
They sat still and quiet, waiting on the men to finish planting the bombs. Brannigan kept his ears trained on the speakers while his eyes remained on the cameras watching his own apartment. The shadowy figure had already disappeared and didn’t seem inclined to make another appearance anytime soon.
“We won’t assume it’s automatically safe tomorrow,” Kyou murmured to him. “I’ll try to contact Ghostshot directly to make sure he understands the contract is defunct. I’ll also post to the site that the O’Conner family is dead. Then we’ll wait for confirmation before we’ll relax our guard.”
Brannigan turned and kissed him on the forehead. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet. We’re not done.” Still, Kyou smiled, a quick and fleeting expression.
There was a metallic sound of a door opening and shutting before Ari announced in a normal tone, “Done. We’re waiting on Eidolon. Everything on our end is linked up to the same frequency, too. We’re ready to blow this joint. Eidolon, ETA?”
No answer.
Brannigan turned his head to look at Kyou’s monitors. That silence wasn’t promising. Ivan had been relatively chatty the entire time he was sneaking around. He glanced at Kyou’s face, and he looked a little worried too, brows drawn together.
Carter apparently shared the worry, as he reiterated, “Eidolon, can you come out?”
A beat, two, then Ivan’s cheerful voice. “Sure. I’m bisexual.”
Brannigan snorted a laugh. Kyou just rolled his eyes.
Ari, deadpan, tried again. “Can you come out to the car?”
“Car, I’m bisexual.”
Kyou threw his hands into the air. “I give up on this idiot. And I still don’t see him on camera. Do either of you have eyes on him?”
“Not yet,” Carter said.
“No, wait, there he is. He’s walking to us. We’ll be ready to leave and blow the place in thirty seconds. All okay on your end?”
“Yes, ready to go. In fact, I’ll start the transfer now.” Kyou closed out a screen and opened another, fingers flying over the keyboard. Brannigan didn’t know what his typing speed was, but he was willing to bet it was court-reporting speed.
A percussive blast of noise rolled through the speakers, loud enough it rattled the desk a little. Brannigan jumped, despite expecting the explosion. All but one camera feed on Kyou’s monitors winked out of existence in one fell swoop. Brannigan stared at the screens, feeling his heart beat a hard rhythm against his rib cage. Holy mother, that was loud, even through the guys’ ear wicks. He couldn’t imagine being there live and in person.
“Explosion confirmed,” Carter announced calmly. Well, he likely meant it to sound calm. He actually came across as ferally satisfied. “We did good work. Only minor surface damage to the surrounding buildings, it looks like. Not much is standing of the O’Conners’ building.”
“Good.” Kyou had a matching smile on his face. “Come on back. I’m going to reach out to Ghostshot.”
This was the one part of the plan Brannigan wasn’t sure would work out smoothly. He’d trusted the guys when they confidently stated they could level the O’Conner compound. But trying to sweet talk a hardened assassin into giving up may or may not work. From what Brannigan had picked up over the years, part of the reason why criminals got job offers was their reputation. If they failed to reach a target, they were less likely to be offered a second chance with another target. Telling an assassin that his employer was dead, walk away, sounded logical. But gut instinct said Ghostshot might not be so easily dissuaded.
Kyou had taken the burner phone number on Ghostshot’s profile from the dark website, calling him up on his own burner. It rang three times before a gruff, whiskey voice answered.
“Who is this?”
“K,” Kyou answered calmly.
There was an audible pause. “What can I do for you, K?”
“I want you to drop the contract on Brannigan Genovese. You have every reason to do so as your employers are dead as of…about ten seconds ago. They’re also bankrupt, as I drained their accounts.”
A ghost of a laugh filtered through the phone’s speaker. “When I took this job, I did a little research. Dug up the interesting gem that K himself was guarding Genovese. No one could tell me why. But you’re now telling me that you killed the O’Conners and bankrupted their Boston office just to protect him? K, you are something.”
K frowned a little. He shared a speaking look with Brannigan. Brannigan matched his frown, as nothing in Ghostshot’s words or tone indicated the man was willing to let this go. This was not going well.
“I’m not sure if I believe you, K. I know very well you’re protecting Genovese, and I think you’re trying to throw me off. You saying that you killed the O’Conners doesn’t scare me. You’re a hacker. I don’t know what Genovese is paying you, but I doubt it’s worth your life. I doubt anyone you can hire will be able to touch me.”
Right. Negotiations needed to shift hands. Brannigan took the phone from K’s hand and brought it closer to his mouth. “Ghostshot, this is Brannigan Genovese.”
Another audible pause, this one with a sharp inhale. “You’re fucking kidding me. You’re sitting right next to the man?”
“I am. Little known fact: K and I are lovers.” Brannigan gave that a beat, let it sink in. Ghostshot groaned like a man who was damned and knew it. “Another little known fact: K is not by himself. He has Carter Harrison, Malvagio, and Eidolon in his family. I think he does, in fact, have the ability to send people after you who are your equal in skillset.”
“Fucking shit,” Ghostshot growled, then sighed heavily.
“Ghostshot, I think this just became far too expensive for you to pursue. But I do understand the irritation you must feel regarding being so far out of pocket on this job. Let me sweeten the pot, so to speak. Why don’t I pay you a breach of contract fee on the O’Conners’ behalf?”
Ghost
shot sounded ruminative. “You’d do that?”
“I don’t see the harm. I fully plan to use the money acquired this evening to repair the damage done by the O’Conners. Part of it can go to you. They sent you on a suicide mission, after all.”
“They sure did.” Ghostshot made a growling noise in the back of his throat. He was clearly not happy about any of this. “Damn, it doesn’t sit well with me not finishing a job. But you know what? Fuck it. I’m not tangling with K, Eidolon, Malvagio, and Harrison. You’re right, that is suicide. And if you’re not lying about the O’Conners, there’s no one to pay me even if I complete the job. You’re too much trouble, Genovese. How does a quarter million as a breach of contract sound to you?”
Brannigan really didn’t care as it wasn’t his money he was spending. Well, technically it was now. But blood money was best gotten rid of quickly. “Acceptable.”
“K still listening?”
K leaned over to say, “I am.”
“I’ll text you my account number on this phone in a second. Transfer it there. And the next time that I take a contract on someone you’re guarding, will you just text me? I’d rather not do this whole circus again.”
K grinned from ear to ear. “I can do that. Good night, Ghostshot. You’ll have your money in less than five minutes.”
“Yeah, thanks.”
Brannigan hung up the phone and set it aside. Then he offered a hand to the people on either side of him, getting high-fives in return. “You two are the absolute best. I love you.”
Remi closed in for a hug, which he readily returned. He really liked her and hoped he’d get to spend more time with her. Remi was a firecracker. Turning, he caught Kyou watching him, and he let go so that he could kiss his lover sweetly. Against his mouth, Brannigan whispered, “I think we should celebrate properly.”
“Later,” Kyou murmured back with a naughty smile. “I have to pay off an assassin first, and we should wait for the rest of the guys to get in.”
