Page 30 of Dublin Charmer (Emerald Isle Mafia #5)
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Finn
T he ancient stone walls of the keep feel different to me now—less like a relic and more like a shield. I’ve spent my whole life growing up in this compound, but never appreciated how much blood and history went into making it a fortress.
“I need to get back up there.” I stride over to the weapons cache, exchange my pea coat for a tactical vest, and stuff the pockets with extra magazines. “Sean called in the entire MC, but with the way the roads are out there, it’ll take time for them to get here.”
Nyx steps forward, her blue hair vibrant under these lights. “I’m coming with you.”
“No, luv. I need you to stay here.”
Her eyes flash and I see the argument coming even before her mouth opens. “Like hell I will. Gravely’s mine as much as he’s yours. More, even. That bastard had my brother chained up and tortured like a dog. I have as much right to put a bullet in him as anyone.”
I glance at Gio, who’s barely conscious on the bunk, then at Laine, who’s fighting through another contraction.
“No argument, babe,” I say, surprising her. “You deserve your shot at him, the same as we do. But your brother just got you back. And these women need someone who can think clearly and fight if things get complicated.”
She steps closer, her voice dropping. “I’m not your babysitter, Finn.”
“No, you’re Emilia-fucking-Farina, survivor of a mafia takeover, lone wolf against the dangers darkening our door. If something happens to us up there, you’re their best chance. If they need to evacuate, it’ll take one person to help Laine and the other to help Gio. Who’s going to cover them?”
I hold her gaze while she sifts through that logic.
“I’m not asking you to stay because you’re a woman. I’m asking because you’re the only one I trust to protect them if we fail.”
The conflict in her eyes is painful to watch. She wants blood—deserves it—but she also understands the calculus of survival.
“Fine,” she finally says. “But you better not die up there.”
“I’m not planning on it.” I try to smile, but it feels tight on my face.
Harper hands me a comms unit. “Bryan left this and I can’t listen to it anymore. Maybe it’ll help you find them or let them know where you are.”
I slip the molded earpiece in place and hear the chaos immediately: shouted commands, gunfire, my brothers’ voices cutting through the static.
Laine lets off a baleful groan and my heart goes out to her. This was not part of her birthing plan. I rush over to lean in and kiss her forehead. “Give my baby niece a snuggle from Uncle Finn when she gets here. Good luck, counsellor.”
“Tell your brother to kill the bad guys and get his perfect ass down here. He’s not supposed to miss his baby’s arrival.”
“Aye, I’ll tell him.”
I straighten and head for the door. Nyx grabs my arm and pulls me into a hug. “Be careful. And maybe when this is all over, we can go out for dinner somewhere and there won’t be anyone drugged or getting shot at.”
“Can’t even imagine what that would look like.” I squeeze her hand, memorizing the feel of it, “but it’s a date.”
At the tunnel entrance I press my hand on the security scanner and unseal my exit. With one last look of longing, I leave the woman I love with the best chance of survival I could offer her.
When the keep is once again secured, I turn and race down the long tunnel under the length of our grounds, back to the main house.
The stone passage feels cool but not cold, the air stale and damp. It takes almost five minutes before I’m at the bottom of the ancient steps worn smooth by centuries of desperate escapes and midnight raids.
This tunnel was built to survive invasions.
Let’s hope it does its job.
The noise grows louder as I climb, the air carrying the metallic scent of gunpowder from above. For years, I’ve been the Quinn behind the screen, the one who never got his hands dirty. The smart one. The careful one.
But today, I killed men.
I rescued hostages.
I fell in love with a woman who’s as dangerous as she is brilliant.
Maybe I’ve been a real Quinn all along.
When I reach the upper section of the tunnel, I pause at the final security door, check my weapon, and take a deep breath. On the other side is the war room—and beyond that, my family fighting for their lives.
I press my palm against the scanner and enter the code.
The door slides open, revealing the war room in disarray. Chairs lay overturned, shelves tipped and spilling across the stone floors, monitors shattered. Through the open door to the hallway, I can hear the battle raging upstairs.
I tap my earpiece to speak. “I’m inside. Coming up from the war room.”
“Finny boy,” Tag’s voice crackles through. “About fucking time. We’ve got the majority of them pinned between the east wing and the billiards room, but Gravely’s on the loose somewhere.”
“Got it. On my way.”
I move through the familiar halls of our home, now transformed into a war zone. Bullet holes pepper the walls where family photos once hung. The Christmas tree in the great room lies toppled, heirloom ornaments shattered across the stone floor.
This is what Gravely thinks is a show of strength; the destruction of everything beautiful and meaningful.
Not anymore.
I reach the main staircase and spot Kieran crouched behind an overturned harvest table, exchanging fire with someone down the hall.
“And we meet again,” I say, taking up a defensive position beside him.
“Glad to see you, kid.” He flashes me a genuine smile. “There are two pinned down in the library.”
“Tag said he’s got a bunch pinned down between the billiards room and the east wing.”
Kieran nods. “And Sean and Bryan are upstairs.”
I lean my head out a little to peek around the corner and see where these two are in the library. “Okay, I’ll double back through the dining room, and flank from the other side.”
Kieran glances down the hall the way I indicated, working out the layout I know by heart. “All right. I’ll draw fire when you’re in position.”
“I don’t think you’ll need to. If my plan works, they’ll abandon their hiding spot and come running out into the hall.”
“Why would they do that?”
I grin. “Wait and see.”
I rush back the way I came, dash across the hall to the servers’ pantry, then through the dining room and out the other door. That puts me right down the hall from the library.
From my new position, I have access to the service panel, and with the generator working, I should have system control. I pry the door open and program my commands.
In seconds, I’ve overridden the safety features on the sprinkler system in the library, and instructed it to release the chemical fire suppressant.
“The library is about to get smoky. Nobody panic when the alarm goes off. I’m flushing out the enemy.”
I hit enter and hear the hiss of the system engaging, followed by shouts of confusion from the men inside. The chemical suppressant filling the library is non-toxic but disorienting, reducing visibility to zero.
I raise my gun, ready to drop them if they come out my doorway. They don’t.
I hear the men stumble blindly, coughing and disoriented. At the same time, Kieran fires off two rounds on the opposite side of the library.
“Library clear,” Kieran reports into the comms.
“Upstairs is clear,” Bryan says.
“East wing secure,” adds Tag.
“The fuckers on the roof are neutralized,” Sean confirms.
“What about Cora and Connor?” I ask.
“Piper took Brody and Rory with her to secure the cottage. They are locked down tight and we’re hoping it’s far enough from the house to be overlooked as a primary target.”
Aye, let’s hope so.
The house falls eerily quiet as I let myself breathe again. It’s the kind of silence that follows violence.
I move through the rooms of the only home I’ve ever known, checking for threats, until I find my brothers gathering in the kitchen. They look battered but alive, and something in my chest loosens at the sight of them.
“Where’s Gravely?” I ask.
Tag shakes his head. “No idea. Either he’s hiding like the fucking coward he is, or he bugged out when he realized he’d never take us down on our home turf.”
“Fucking coward,” Bryan spits.
I look around at the destruction of our home, feeling a cold clarity settle over me. “This has to end.”
“Aye, we need to hunt the fucker down and put a bullet through his skull,” Sean says.
“Damn right we do,” Brendan agrees, checking a wound on his arm.
“Leave it to me,” I say, my voice firmer than it’s ever been with my brothers. “I know how to end it. For good.”
They all look at me, and for the first time, I don’t feel like the baby brother in their eyes. They see me, Finlay Quinn, the one who’s been protecting them from the shadows all along.
More importantly, I see me.
I’m done trying to measure up to the men they are.
I am me . Different from them but no less lethal.
“Now that Gio is free, Nyx will give us access to his finances, his properties, his movements. We’ll know where he sleeps, where he keeps his money, and where he hires his mercenaries. We now have every digital footprint he’s ever made.”
Tag nods slowly, a smile spreading across his face. “Then let’s go hunting.”
This is who I am. Not just the Quinn behind the screen, but a Quinn who stands with his brothers. The quiet one, yes. The smart one, always. But never the weak one.
Gravely made his last mistake when he came for my family.
I meet Tag’s gaze and nod. “But first, you need to get your perfect ass down to the keep. Laine’s water broke and you’re going to be in really deep shit if you miss the birth of your baby girl.”
Nyx
“You’re doing amazing.” Nora presses a damp cloth on Laine’s brow as she sags from another contraction.
Her face is flushed, her hair plastered to her forehead with sweat, but there’s a fierce determination in her eyes that I admire.
We stopped timing how far apart the pain was coming once it was clear we wouldn’t have time to get to a hospital even if the storm was over and it was safe.
So, we’re doing this.