Page 32 of Dublin Charmer (Emerald Isle Mafia #5)
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Finn
I can’t stop looking at Nyx. Every time I glance away, my eyes drift back to her like she’s magnetic north and I’m a compass that can’t help but find her. She’s sitting across from me at our massive dining room table, her blue hair a bright spot of color in a room full of exhausted warriors.
“The west wing is fucked,” Bryan says, breaking the heavy silence. “Blood on the walls, bullet holes everywhere.”
“Better the walls than us,” Harper adds, her hand resting on his forearm. The gesture is small but speaks volumes about how this storm has solidified our relationships.
Brendan leans back in his chair, wincing as he adjusts his bandaged leg. “Cora’s gonna lose her mind when she sees what they did to her kitchen.”
“Och, I’m made of sterner stuff than that, m’boy.” Cora joins us, setting down a tray of sandwiches. “And the way I look at it, I’m thinking this would be just the time to speak to Tag about a remodel.”
Connor chuckles. “That’s my girl. Timing is everything.”
Nora passes plates around the table, her movements efficient despite her obvious exhaustion.
Sean finishes with a text and addresses the room. “We’ve swept every room, every closet, every crawl space. The house and the outbuildings are all secure.”
Bryan grunts. “I half expected Gravely to be hiding somewhere like the coward he is.”
I scoff. “No, he doesn’t stick around once he sees he’s losing.”
“The bodies are in the driving shed for now and the cleanup crew will arrive at dawn. It’s cold enough out there that they’ll keep overnight.”
“You didn’t put Andrew and the men we lost from the grounds crew in with those fuckers, did you?” Brendan asks.
Sean shakes his head. “No. They’re in the stables. I’ve notified all their families of their sacrifice and have told their loved ones we will hold a private ceremony here in two days’ time. Then, once they’ve had their chance to say goodbye, all the bodies will be cremated and returned to them.”
I suppose that’s the best we can offer them.
My phone buzzes. I check the message and feel a weight lift from my shoulders. “Tag says Laine and the baby checked out perfect. They’re staying overnight for observation, but everything is good.”
A collective exhale ripples around the table.
“Is the hospital secure?” Harper asks.
Sean wraps his arm protectively around Piper. “I’ve got Devils at every entrance, the labor and delivery floor, and outside their door. If Gravely is stupid enough to try something there, he’ll regret it.”
Piper’s brother, Brody, looks strange and out of place at our table. He shifts and clears his throat. “What’s the play now? Gravely’s lost men, but he’s not finished. Do we go home? Do we try to reclaim our territory?”
Bryan shakes his head. “He’s cornered and desperate. That makes him more dangerous but hopefully, it also makes him reckless. You’ll stay here a few more days while the dust settles. Then we’ll see where we are with Gravely.”
“He’s a dead man walking,” Sean says flatly. “Just hasn’t accepted it yet.”
I watch Nyx push food around her plate, her thoughts clearly elsewhere. Gio’s resting upstairs: exhausted, malnourished, but alive. I can see the relief in her eyes, but also the lingering tension.
I finish my Guinness and swallow. “We’ll need to eliminate his remaining resources.
From what I’ve gathered, he’s lost about ninety percent of his manpower between the two warehouse battles and what happened here.
His supply lines and warehouses are compromised, and with the damage from this ice storm, nothing much will be happening for another week or so. ”
“His assets are literally frozen,” Brendan says, chuckling.
“Not to mention his reputation is smeared dog shit on the sidewalk,” Bryan adds. “Word is spreading about how badly he fucked up.”
I chuckle. “And how is it spreading if we’re being discreet?”
Bryan grins. “Kieran’s funnel of street kids might be leaking a few key points of interest into the world.”
“But he’s still out there,” Piper points out. “And he’s not the type to curl up and disappear. He’ll regroup. Find new muscle. And try again.”
“Not if we find him first,” Brendan growls.
“I can help with that,” Nyx offers. “I know his patterns, his hiding spots. The backdoors I built into his systems are still there. I can track him.”
The room falls silent, everyone looking at her with new respect. She’s not just my girl. She’s become one of us.
“Tomorrow,” I say firmly. “It can wait until tomorrow.”
Nyx raises an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”
“Positive. We’re all running on fumes. Gravely’s licking his wounds. We’ve got guards posted everywhere. One night to rest won’t change the outcome.”
Sean nods slowly. “Finn’s right. We hit harder when we’re not dead on our feet.”
“Plus,” Nora adds with a small smile, “we have a new Quinn to welcome home tomorrow.”
That brings a round of tired smiles. Even in the midst of war, life goes on.
“Any word on a name?” Cora asks.
I shake my head. “Tag’s keeping it quiet until we’re all together.”
Conversation drifts to lighter topics—speculation about the baby’s name, stories of Tag as a child, gentle teasing about who’ll be the favorite uncle. The tension in the room gradually eases, replaced by the quiet comfort of family pulling together after weathering a storm.
Under the table, Nyx runs a hand over my thigh. When I look over, she’s watching me, a small, private smile on her lips.
In that moment, I know we’ve crossed a threshold.
Whatever comes tomorrow, whether it’s hunting Gravely, rebuilding our defenses, figuring out what this thing between us means, we’ll face it together.
But for tonight, we’ve earned a moment of peace.
The quiet after the storm.
Nyx
Morning light filters through the newly replaced windows, casting golden squares across the grand foyer’s polished floor. I lean against the wall, watching the Quinn family arrange themselves with military precision, every face alight with anticipation.
It’s strange being part of this ritual of family, of belonging.
The front door swings open, and Tag steps back to allow Laine and the baby to come in first. She’s carrying an infant car seat, their tiny bundle cradled in its protective shell and buried under a heap of soft cream and peach blankets.
The transformation on Tag’s face is remarkable. The tension of being a hardened crime boss is gone, replaced by a man completely undone by seven pounds of new life.
“Everyone,” Tag announces, his voice gentler than I’ve ever heard it, “meet Baby Quinn.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a folded document, handing it to Brendan, who unfolds it with unusual care.
“Caoimhe Katherine Quinn,” Harper reads over his shoulder, squinting at the spelling. “Cay-o-im-he?”
Bryan bursts out laughing, wrapping an arm around her waist. “Not even close, babe. It’s pronounced Kee-va.”
“It was our mother’s favorite girl name,” Sean says, his voice thick with emotion. “Every time she was expecting, she’d tell Da that if it’s a girl, her name would be Caoimhe.”
“But you all came out boys, and the carbon copy of your father,” Laine says.
“And Katherine was your mother’s name,” Finn adds.
Laine meets Finn’s gaze and smiles. “I think she’d approve, don’t you?”
Finn told me that when Laine first got to Dublin, she’d brought her mother’s ashes to spread in her homeland. He’d helped Laine track down her family in Brittas Bay and lay her mother to rest.
“Well, let’s bring her inside, so we can all get to know her.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Brendan takes the carrier from Laine and heads toward the living room.
The family follows, excitement filling the sunken living room, as they arrange themselves on couches still bearing the scars of yesterday’s battle. The furniture has been righted, the glass swept away, but bullet holes pepper the walls as ugly reminders of violence.
Yet somehow, the baby’s presence makes all that fade to background noise.
Baby Q gets passed from uncle to uncle, each brother transformed in her presence. Even Bryan, with his scarred knuckles and fearsome reputation as a violent beast, cradles her with such tenderness it makes my chest ache.
When Finn holds her, it’s as if he’s transfixed. He smiles down at her, and the tectonic plates of my soul shift once again.
It’s been happening more and more lately and is something I’m not ready to examine quite yet.
Harper told me that the Quinns fall hard and fast and that once you’re in their hearts, they are loyal and devoted evermore.
I’m still trying to wrap my head around that.
After twenty minutes of watching the family celebration, I whisper to Finn that I’m heading upstairs and slip away quietly. I’ve got searches running on Gravely’s system, and the sooner we find him, the sooner everyone can breathe easier.
The castle corridors no longer feel like a maze. I navigate them with growing confidence, trailing my fingers along stone walls that have witnessed centuries of Quinn triumphs and tragedies.
It’s bizarre how quickly this place has become comfortable, familiar in a way that makes me uneasy. I’ve never allowed myself to feel at home anywhere since Papa died. For the past decade, home has meant vulnerability, something to lose.
Home is starting to mean something else to me now.
I climb the grand staircase, turning up the corridor toward Finn’s room. Before I get there, I stop by the spare bedroom where Gio has been recovering. He’s slept on and off for two solid days, and that makes me both grateful and furious.
Gravely will pay for everything he did to us.
“Knock, knock.” I rap my knuckles against the solid wood door as I ease it open. My brother is sitting up in bed, scrolling through a tablet Finn gave him. I’m relieved to see that most of his color has returned to his face and his cheeks are starting to fill out again.
“Hey, stranger.” He looks up as I perch on the edge of his bed, his smile genuine but tired. “Did I hear a baby crying earlier?”
“Tag and Laine are home from the hospital.”
“Born in a bloody siege,” he says, setting the tablet onto the mattress. “It makes me wonder what kind of a legacy that will bring to the kid.”
I shrug. “I prefer to think of it as her starting life with a brave and determined entrance despite the hostility in the world.”
He narrows his gaze. “Who are you and what have you done with my sister?”
I chuckle. “You’re not wrong. I’m not the same woman I was. Part of that is because of what we’ve been through, but a bigger part of that is because of Finn. Being with him has opened my eyes, broadened my understanding of what life could be.”
Gio swallows. “Uh, since we’re talking about what life could be, let’s talk about the future. I’ve been thinking...”
I recognize the tone immediately and my stomach sinks.
He takes my wrists in his hands and squeezes. “I’m grateful to the Quinns—more than I can say—but once Gravely is taken care of and I’m back on my feet, I think we should leave Dublin.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. “Leave? Why would we leave?”
“Why wouldn’t we? Dublin has been nothing but torture and blackmail, pain and suffering. Let’s leave it in the rearview mirror and start somewhere fresh.”
The thought of leaving makes me nauseous. I understand that has been his experience, but Finn changed all that for me. “Where would we go?”
“Maybe back to Milan. Maybe somewhere new.” He shrugs. “I just know I can’t keep living like this. If we don’t break the cycle, we’ll be sucked up in another mafia takeover at some point. We’ve already got two strikes against us. The third strike is going to take one of us out.”
I nod slowly, understanding but conflicted. Since Papa died, it’s always been Gio and me against the world. I never imagined there’d come a time when that would change.
“I need this, Emilia. I can’t live within the framework of organized crime anymore. It’s killing me. We need to go.”
A week ago, I wouldn’t have hesitated.
But now there’s Finn.
There’s this strange, unexpected place I’ve found among people I was supposed to destroy.
Gio’s looking at me, and his expression falters. “You’re with me, aren’t you?”
I swallow. “I’m always with you, Gio. Always.”
He lets out a long sigh. “ Dios mio . For a minute there, I thought you were going to say these people mean more to you than me.”
I meet his gaze, seeing my own uncertainty reflected back to me in his eyes. “That would never happen. We’re blood. You’re my everything. But I’m not going anywhere until we’ve taken down Gravely.”
“And after? Where will we go?”
I don’t want to think about that. Maybe in the days it takes us to bring Gravely to his knees, I can show Gio that we don’t have to leave Dublin.
“I guess we’ll have to wait and see where life takes us.”
He reaches for my hand, squeezing it gently. “Thanks, Emilia. Ti amo .”
“ Ti amo, fratellino .” I leave him happy, my mind already fragmenting into parallel futures: one where I leave with Gio, safe but rootless, another where I stay with Finn, risking everything on something I never planned for.
As I leave the room and head toward my computer, I can’t breathe.