Page 39 of Dublin Charmer

There’s his heavy-handed ‘invitation’ for her to join him at the New Year’s party last night. Her protest was quickly shut down with a threat of her forgetting who’s in charge.

And then, I scroll back to last week and am struck dumb as I read him call her a stupid bitch.

What a motherfucking moron. Nyx has more intelligence and class than anyone in his entire operation. “Such a fucking asshole.”

I tip my glass back and down the contents in two deep gulps. The whiskey burns all the way down my throat and into my belly. It does very little to edge out my frustration, but I read on anyway.

You stupid bitch. You had one job. Ensure my forces take the Quinns down. What the fuck happened?

I relayed to you exactly what I saw. I got you the building plans, the catering information, and gave you eyes inside. Everything that was available, you had.

Not good enough. Good men died because you didn’t dig deeper. Your incompetence cost me. What will it cost you?

Did you know they had half the MC there? I told you they’d have backup measures I couldn’t see from the outside. There are always unknowns. You know that.

Watch your tone. Have you forgotten what’s at stake?

No, I absolutely haven’t.

Maybe you need a reminder to why you need to take this seriously.

No, please!Please don’t hurt him. I honestly, genuinely, understand the power you hold over me. I’m with you. Gio doesn’t need to suffer for my mistake.

I own you, bitch. Your brother’s survival depends entirely on your dedication to my cause and your cooperation in getting me what I want. The next timeI trust you with the logistics of something important, you will ensure my plans succeed without incident. Do we understand each other?

Yes, sir.

Good. Now clean up any footage of my team. There’s nothing I can do about the downed men on scene, but erase all traces of what happened from the security cameras at the venue.

Consider it done.

My breath catches. There it is—confirmation about her brother.

The messages paint a clear picture: Gravely’s holding her brother, using him to force her compliance.

I scroll through more exchanges, each one revealing the same pattern. Gravely threatens, she responds with barely contained fury.

No warmth, no loyalty—just cold necessity.

The next time you fail me, I’ll start sending pieces of him to you.

Hurt him and every dirty secret you have hits the internet.

Christ. She’s not working with Gravely—she’s his hostage. And she’s fighting back the only way she can, walking a razor’s edge between compliance and defiance.

I reach over to top up my glass and take another gulp. There’s obviously no love lost between them, which should make everything about this situation a fuck ton easier. She’s not the enemy so much as she’s a pawn in Gravely’s game, like so many others.

Tag told me to find out what she wants. I have.

She wants her brother away from Billy Gravely and back home safe. The question now is how do we make that happen?

I close the message thread and post the update of what I’ve found out in the message chat room I share with my brothers. When that’s done, I sit back and open the surveillance camera to the cell downstairs.

Emilia Farina isn’t as alone as she thinks.

I just have to figure out how to prove that to her.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN