Page 26 of Duncan (Irish Mob of Boston #1)

Duncan

I woke to the ringing of my phone. It was nearly five in the morning when we got back to the hotel. I had called Rian and told him to stay watching over Freyja while I got a couple hours of sleep.

“What?”

“She’s leaving, boss.”

“Who’s leaving?” I asked, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“Miss Malpas. She has her bags packed and is waiting for a car.”

Fuck, I was awake now.

“Stop her.” I hit the button for the speaker and tossed the phone on the bed. I quickly got dressed, forgoing the suit jacket. With my shoes on, I hightailed it out the door.

“How, boss?”

“I don’t care how, Rian. Don’t let her fuckin’ leave until I get there. Send me her location.”

I heard the phone ping and disconnected the call. Running down the hallway of the hotel, I called out, “Hold the elevator!”

The asshole inside grinned as the doors slid closed.

Son of a bitch .

Pushing open the door to the stairs, I ran down quickly. When I got out front, I caught a glimpse of the man from the elevator hailing a cab. I grabbed him by the neck and shoved him to the ground, as the cab stopped in front of me.

“Hey, that’s my cab,” he whined from the ground.

I stalked over and bent down in front of him. Grabbing the front of his shirt, I pulled him up so my face was inches from his. “Don’t be a fuckin’ asshole next time.” My voice lowered before I added, “Be thankful there are cameras everywhere. I suggest you check the fuck out before I get back.”

I dropped him to the ground once more, then climbed in the cab. The cabbie entered in the new destination, and I offered him three times the fare if he got me to Freyja in half the time his GPS allotted.

When the cab pulled up in front of a small cottage, Freyja was gone. I knew the dark-haired woman talking to Rian wasn’t her.

“Where is she?” I asked, my voice showing my anger that he let her leave.

“I’m sorry, boss. I tried, but aside from kidnapping her—”

I grabbed Rian by the lapels of the tuxedo jacket he still wore. “Then you should have fuckin’ kidnapped her. Where the fuck is she?”

“Mr. Murphy.” The woman from the street placed a hand on my arm. “Please let Mr. Rafferty go. It wasn’t his fault.”

I released Rian and dug in my pocket for my hotel key. “Go pack my shit and tell Mac I’ll meet him at the airport.”

“Yes, sir.”

I turned back to the woman. She looked similar to Freyja, but slightly shorter. Freyja’s head fit perfectly against my shoulder. Like that was where she was made to be.

“Who are you?”

“I am Athena Malpas, Freyja’s sister.”

That made sense. I had read about Freyja’s parents and siblings. I knew their names and what they did. But nothing Cian had sent me mentioned Lucille.

“Are you into this voodoo shit, too?”

Athena chuckled. “You could say that.”

“Why did she leave?”

“Go home, Duncan. My sister needs you.” Athena turned and walked back toward the cottage.

“What does that mean?”

Athena looked at me over her shoulder. “It means you had better get to her before he does. Because if he finds her first, my brother will never let you near her.”

“Find her? Is she in trouble?”

“Hurry, Duncan. Time is wasting.”

The cryptic woman disappeared through the doorway, and I stood there stunned.

God damn secrets.

I hailed a cab and headed straight to the airport. I called Sal on the way and let him know I was leaving on the first available flight to New York, and I would fill him in when I found Freyja and got back to Boston.

Athena’s words ran through my head in a loop. Was Freyja in danger? Had the whispered voice I heard been a warning? One I had ignored as my imagination.

If something happened to Freyja, I would never forgive myself.

As I boarded the plane, I heard the voice again.

“Find her. Keep her.”

Sitting in my seat on the airplane, I felt helpless. My knee bounced with anxiety, thinking about the time it would take to reach New York. The only consolation was that Freyja wasn’t far ahead of me, maybe an hour. Two at most.

Almost five hours later, I stood on the front steps of the Malpas estate waiting for someone to answer the door.

When it finally opened, a man about my age, maybe a few years older asked, “Can I help you?”

“I need to see Freyja.”

“And you are?”

“Duncan Murphy, sir.” I held out my hand, and he took it.

“Freyja isn’t home. She’s in Louisiana with her sister.” The man I assumed was Woodlawn Malpas leaned against the door frame and studied me. It wasn’t lost on me that he never invited me in.

“She left this morning, sir.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and made a call. “She isn’t answering. Let me call her sister.”

The phone to his ear, Woodlawn narrowed his eyes at me. His hand dropped between us and he hit the speaker button.

“Duncan. She’s in Boston. You need to hurry. My brother and his club are on the way. You need to get there first.”

“Why didn’t you fuckin’ tell me she was flying to Boston?” I growled.

“Watch your tone, son, talking to my daughter.”

“I told you to go home, Duncan. You didn’t listen.”

Expelling a heavy breath, I asked, “Athena, how do I find her?”

“The Krueger brothers.”

“FUCK!”

I pulled out my own phone and called Sal. “You home?”

“Yea.”

“Get everyone to the building where the Krueger brothers died. Freyja’s there.”

“What the fuck is she doing there?”

“I don’t know, Sal, I’m hours away. Get there and bring her home.”

“On our way.”

I turned to leave, and Freyja’s father stopped me. “If my daughter is hurt in any way.”

“I promise I will keep her safe. But I have to go.”

“JEFFREY!”

“Yes, sir?” An older man in a suit stepped up to the doorway.

“We need to get to Boston. Quickly.”

“Yes, sir.”

Woodlawn and I followed Jeffrey to a car. We climbed in, and Jeffrey roared out of the driveway like he was Mario Andretti. Jeffrey eyed me through the rearview mirror and if looks could kill, I would have a dagger sticking out of my neck.

Woodlawn’s phone rang. “Excuse me,” he said. “Hello?” He was silent as he listened to whoever was on the other end. “Yes, Son. I’m on my way. Yes, I knew. Because it wasn’t your business. If your sister wanted you to know she would have told you.”

A few moments of silence passed as the man on the other end of the line got louder, before Woodlawn argued, “I believe your club is friendly with the Russian Mob. Is this any different?”

FUCK!

I closed my eyes as I listened to Freyja’s father.

“You will do no such thing, Son. We will talk when I get there.”

I stared out the window of the back seat. My phone rang in my hand, and I answered.

“Hello?”

Jeffery and Woodlawn both looked at me.

“Duncan.”

“Freyja, fuck. Are you ok?”

“I’ve been better.”

I closed my eyes, not wanting to think of what could have happened. “I’m so sorry, mo bandia . I should have been there.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Where are you?”

“Your boss brought me to your office.”

“Good. I’m on my way. Stay there. Sal will protect you.” I looked at Woodlawn. “Freyja, I’m with your father.”

“What? Why?”

“Rian called and told me you were leaving, but by the time I got there you were gone. Athena said you needed me, so I flew to New York. She neglected to tell me you were flying to Boston.”

“She called my brother, didn’t she?”

“I believe so.”

“Don’t tell them where I am. You need to get here first.”

“I’m on my way, mo bandia .” I disconnected the call and leaned my head back.

“Are you in love with my daughter?”

Lifting my head, my eyes sought out Woodlawn. “I am.”

“Have you told her?”

“No, sir. Not yet. She left me.”

Woodlawn Malpas nodded his head, a smile forming on his lips as he turned back around.

“Has she told you about Lucille?”

“She has.” He looked at Jeffrey, the driver, who simply shook his head.

“How did you react?”

I took a moment to look out the window. This conversation was awkward, but I knew it had to happen, and we had nothing but time as we drove to Boston.

“Not well, sir.”

“How old are you, Duncan?”

“Fifty-two.”

“Stevie will have a lot to say,” Jefferey added.

“Yes, she will.” Woodlawn laughed and looked back at me. “It will be fun to watch.”

This conversation had taken a strange turn. I knew Stevie was Stephanie Malpas, Freyja’s mother. But the ominous way Woodlawn said it would be fun to watch had me shaking more than pissing off Sal.

Just shy of three hours later, which was impressive given Jeffrey’s age, he and Woodlawn followed me into the building our offices were in.

We stepped off the elevator onto the top floor, and my feet moved faster toward my office.

I stopped inside the door and stared at Freyja.

She was asleep on my couch. A split lip and messed-up hair marred her appearance.

There were red marks around her wrists, and I vowed then and there that whoever had done it would die painfully and slowly.

I sat on the couch and pulled her into my lap as her father and Jeffrey entered the room.

“Wake up, mo bandia .”

Freyja stirred in my arms. Her lashes fluttered and she looked up at me. “Duncan.”

I didn’t care that her father was a few feet away, I dipped my head and took her lips with mine. I kissed her like I almost lost her.

Until a throat cleared.

Freyja turned her head to the two men standing in the room.

“Dad.”

“Are you ok, Freyja?”

She snuggled against my chest. “I am now.”

This woman would be the death of me. Her strength and resolve were unmatched among the other Mob wives. She would be someone they could look up to.

Would she be a Mob wife?

I didn’t know. We still had a lot to talk about. Freyja stood from my lap and walked to her father. I followed behind her, not wanting to be away from her. He wrapped her in his arms and whispered in her ear something I couldn’t hear.

Freyja looked up at him with wide eyes.

“It couldn’t be stopped. Not once your sister called Dimeter.”

“But, Dad, she’ll ask questions. Questions that he shouldn’t have to answer.”

“That will be his decision to make.”

Freyja rolled her eyes at her father and turned to me. “Duncan, sit back down.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked, concern marring my brows.

“My mother was visiting my sister, Phoebe, and, well...” She looked up at her father and my eyes trailed after hers. The smirk on his face, as well as Jeffrey’s, told me all I needed to know. “She’s coming with my brother. She will ask you very intimate questions that you do not have to answer.”

I chuckled without thinking. Freyja acted like I was in for a Spanish inquisition. “I can handle your mother, mo bandia .”

“Famous last words,” Jeffrey mumbled.

I ignored Jeffrey and covered Freyja’s hands with mine. “Tell me what happened. How did you end up in that building?”

Freyja dropped her eyes to our hands. She tightened her fingers around mine and said, “Please don’t be mad.”

“Why I would be mad?”

“Because I went willingly.”

I stood from the couch. “You went willingly? You let someone kidnap you?”

“I had to. I knew you would come. Well, I knew your boss would come.”

“Freyja, please don’t say it,” I begged as I ran my hands over my face. Frustration taking hold of me and burning through my bones.

“Lucille told me.”

“Not fucking Lucille!” a voice groaned.

I turned to the voice, and four bikers crowded the doorway. Dimeter Malpas stood front and center.