Page 18

Chapter Eighteen

W ithout giving it any more thought, I hit the button while Antonio swerves again. The motorcycle jerks to the side with us.

“Kim, what the hell!” he shouts above the thumping wind entering the car. “You’re going to get me killed.”

As they dip closer again, I take a deep, steadying breath. My heart beats so fiercely, I swear each pulse twitches my fingers. I fire a round into the leg of the driver. The motorcycle veers and rights itself. The shooter on the back readjusts and takes aim. Before they can fire, I shoot the rider in the arm. In the darkness, the gun clatters to the ground, and the bike falls back again before roaring up beside us once more.

“Aim for their Goddamned heads!”

“I’m trying!” I’m not. Killing people means a lot of paperwork with the bureau. These things are supposed to be preapproved.

The driver fires a rapid set of bullets at the car, but they go wide. This guy can’t steer, aim, and shoot. The passenger is slumped over, clutching his arm.

“Ram them!”

Antonio swerves again, and the bike pitches to the left before crashing to the ground and spinning out of control.

He slams on the brakes, reverses with a squeal of the tires, throws the car into park, then flings open his door.

“What are you doing?”

“Finishing them off.”

“Jail? Really? That’s what you want?”

“They gotta find me first.”

“My bullets in them. We’re in a residential area. Someone’s called the cops. Let’s go. Get back to the house. Secure an alibi.”

He stares in the direction of the crashed bike, and his face flashes with indecision. He slips the safety off his gun and disappears behind us. There are two consecutive pop s, then he climbs into the car, holstering his gun.

We cruise at a leisurely pace down the four-lane road. Drawing more attention to us or our vehicle is a bad idea. But the pace makes my heart pound. Sirens wail in the distance.

“You scared the shit outta me back there.” Antonio glances at me. “But you did good. You shoulda hit ’em both in the head. We’re not dead or in jail. So I’ll call it a win.”

My gun is tucked away, and I push my hands under my thighs. “Careful, Antonio. You might give me a big head.” Earning his respect will make turning him against Finn and Lorcan easier. It’s as much luck as skill. I could have gotten him killed.

“You don’t seem like the big-head type. Maybe the bullshit type.”

I laugh, but it sounds like tin. Gazing out the window, I wonder if those two people had families, if people will mourn them forever like I do my brother. “We’ve all got a bit of bullshit in us, don’t we?”

“True dat.”

When I glance at him, he’s smiling.

After I go to the bathroom and photograph the contract, I head for Lorcan instead of Finn. I’m almost at Lorcan’s office when I realize Finn is coming toward me from my wing of the house.

“What are you doing?” He cocks his head. “Why didn’t you come see me?”

“I wanted to talk to Lorcan.” Because I think you’re trying to kill me.

Holding out his hand, he stops in front of me. “How’d the meeting go?”

“Great.” I pass him the unsealed envelope.

He chuckles as he fingers the seal. “This woulda pissed him right off.”

“No doubt why he sent a crew to teach me and Antonio a lesson.”

A smile plays at the edge of Finn’s lips before he looks up under his lashes. “Oh, he did?”

The urge to punch him is almost too strong to control. He knew. He freaking knew what Shen would do.

“You’re an asshole.” I try to step around him. He steps with me.

“What are you going to tell Lorcan?”

“Nothing.”

Finn frowns. “Why not?”

I roll my eyes and let out an exasperated breath. “Maybe because I’m tired of playing this stupid game. I’m not some pinball you two can fire back and forth.” I lean toward him, crossing my arms. “You want to send a message to your brother, fine. Leave me out of it.”

“Come on, Kimmy. You said you were game.”

“Yeah, to talk to the Zhangs. Not to get shot at.”

He gives an almost imperceptible shrug. “Part of the business.”

“Yeah? When was the last time someone shot at you?”

His smile starts at the corner of his mouth and spreads. “It’s been a while.”

I sigh and rock back on my heels, arms still crossed. “You want me to tell Lorcan I was shot at today?”

Finn’s nod is curt.

“Why?”

“He needs someone to hate. He cares about you. We’ll be united in our vengeance.” He smirks at me.

My first instinct is to deny Lorcan cares about me. I’ve only been working here a couple months, but when Lorcan hired me, he warned me we’d have to pretend to be something more at some point. I guess we’re there already. I press my lips together to keep a denial from sneaking out.

Telling him might bring Finn and Lorcan closer. It might also start a mob war. “How powerful are the Zhangs?”

“We’ll crush them, Kimmy.” His light-blue eyes sparkle at the crack in my armor.

A child-and-sex-trafficking monster being crushed seems pretty good. But Malik’s undercover there. How do I greenlight that knowing he might get caught in the crossfire? Admitting I don’t want Shen to be put down is suspicious. He almost killed me today. “I’ll think about telling Lorcan.”

“He’ll find out one way or another.” Finn’s shoulder brushes mine. In my ear, he whispers, “Antonio couldn’t stop talking about how badass you were. I think you have a new fan.”

Heat starts in my chest and spreads along my neck, up into my face. It’s not embarrassment. It’s the soothing sensation of my pride being stroked. Finn and I are mere inches apart. My focus flicks from his eyes to his lips and back again. “Who would that be?”

One side of Finn’s lips quirk up. “Antonio.” Our gazes connect. “But you’re growing on me.”

He taps the contract on my hip as he passes me, whistling the tune I still can’t place.

Shaking my head, I start toward Lorcan’s office door again. I’m almost there when the doorbell peals through the house.

Carys .

Turning, I jog to the front entrance, hoping I’ll make it there before Finn. After what Carys told me, I’m surprised she can even look at him. Her voice echoes through the front entranceway followed by Antonio’s. I’m not sure that’s any better.

His voice is jovial as he says, “She rolled down the window real casual and took ’em both out like it was no big deal.”

I wince and close my eyes. Taking the corner at a run, I skid into the hallway. “Carys!”

When she sees me, her face is pinched with annoyance. “I leave you with them, and you’re already under literal gunfire. Are you ready to quit yet?”

Antonio chuckles behind her. “She’s too badass to quit over that.”

“If you can’t take the heat.” I wink at her and grin. It’s good to see her. I’ve forgotten how nice it is to be in the company of another woman.

She shakes her head. “Get out of the arms race.”

Or the FBI.

My grin widens. She circles her arm around my waist and draws me close to her side, her bag clutched in her other hand. “Somewhere we can chat?”

“I’ll take you to my wing of the house.”

“Ooh.” Carys laughs. “Your very own wing. You’re the gangster princess, are you?”

“Mafia,” I correct her, raising a finger. “We’re so much better than a simple gang.”

Her laughter rings through the high-ceilinged entrance, and when I look away, Finn is at the crossroads to the two sides of the house, his hands in the pockets of his jeans. “You off for a gossip?”

Carys cocks her head. “Catching up on how Kim was almost killed today.”

“An exaggeration, I’m sure.”

“Oh.” She fakes puzzlement. “You were there, were you?”

His lips twist into a partial smile. “Not quite. Antonio is prone to exaggeration.”

Annoyance flickers in me. I have no interest in playing up what happened in front of Carys, but at least stick to the facts. We could have died because Finn wants Lorcan back on his side.

“We’ll see you at dinner.” I drag her around the corner to go through Lorcan’s wing of the house to mine.

We’re at the end of his hallway when his bedroom door swings open.

“Kim!” he calls. “Carys, so nice to see you.” He strides down the hall, and something about his approach warms my insides. He gathers her into a hug.

When they separate, he scans me for a beat longer than normal. “You look happy.”

There’s a softness to his face I like seeing, as though my presence matters. Even though I know it’s false, I can’t help being sucked in by it.

“It’s been a long day so far. But, yeah.” I glance at Carys. “I’m happy now.”

His face turns serious. “Anything I should know about? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine now. Everything is okay.”

“I’ll see you at dinner, yeah? The caterers arrive in about an hour.”

“You’re not cooking?” I smirk, knowing he rarely goes into the kitchen without a take-out bag.

He chuckles. “I fear she might have a higher standard than I’m capable of achieving.”

“That’s right,” Carys says. “I keep a cook employed at mine.” She takes in my figure. “Please tell me you’re eating.”

I laugh. “I’m fine. No need to play the mother hen.” When I glance at Lorcan, his eyebrows are raised in assessment, but he doesn’t mention my meltdown at the O’Malleys.

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He gives us an apologetic smile as he takes it out and checks the caller ID. “I gotta take this. Dinner, ladies. We have a few other people joining us. No yoga outfits, Kim.”

I frown as he answers the call and wanders down the hall. My frown deepens when I realize he’s speaking Irish to whomever called.

“Is that annoying?” She gestures toward him.

“What?” I lead her to my set of rooms.

“The Irish all the time.”

I wrinkle my nose. “They don’t do it a lot. Not that much, actually.” It makes me doubly curious about who called.

She gives me a thoughtful look. “As kids, they used to use it to exclude people from their private conversations. I worried they were talking about me.”

“Well.” I cock my head. “The number of conversations I’ve seen Lorcan and Finn have has been limited.”

“Must be a tad frustrating.”

I make a noncommittal noise.

“You like to be in the thick of things.”

“When they’re using me like a Ping-Pong ball to bat between them, I feel plenty involved.”

She drops her bag into a spare bedroom, and then we go into the sitting room which I use from time to time to read or watch TV. Running around for one of the men or working out consumes most of my time here. She eases onto a couch, and I take a plush chair.

“After Lorcan’s mum died, Finn and Lorcan became more competitive than brotherly. I don’t know if that makes sense, but there was a distinct shift.”

That’s what happens when one brother suggests the other’s mother should have been sacrificed in favor of his own. How do you come back from that?

“I’m sure they had their reasons.” I pick at the material on the armrest of the chair.

“How are you finding it? Lorcan seems to care quite a bit about you.”

“He’s a decent guy.” Understatement. “Finn’s a puzzle.”

“Mmm…” Carys pushes a stray strand of hair into her braid. “Puzzle. That’s a good word.”

“One minute he seems kinda okay, and the next, I’m wondering why he has to be such a jackass.”

She laughs. “He hasn’t changed much.” She gives me a wistful smile. “That was a lethal combination for me when I was younger. I could never quite get a beat on him. Did he like me? Did he only like sleeping with me?” She takes her lipstick out of her purse to apply another thin layer. “Then I almost died, and I realized figuring him out wasn’t worth the pain.”

“Should I trust Finn?” This question has been spinning in my head since I got home and realized what he did. Of course, I don’t trust him, but I’m not sure whether I should be pretending otherwise or if suspicion is the right way to play him.

Her lips twist. “How so?”

“He set me up today.”

Worry filler her amber eyes. “To be shot at?”

“He asked me to piss off Zhang. Then we got shot at when we left.”

“Why?”

“Supposedly, he thinks it’ll unite him and Lorcan against a common enemy.” I can’t tell her about Malik, but him being trapped between the two organizations is a consideration.

“Because he went after you.” A frown creases her brow. “He thinks that’ll set Lorcan off.”

“I don’t think it will, though. Lorcan’s affection for me is partially staged.” I’m so comfortable with her the words slip out before I moderate them.

“Partially staged?” Her eyebrows shoot up. “What the hell have you gotten yourself into?”

If she knew the layers on top of layers, her head would pop off. FBI; dead brother; dead Mafia don; dead mother; and Malik.

“I’m not sure. Lorcan has an agenda. I thought he told you, and that’s why you agreed to let me leave?” It never occurred to me he might have given her a different version.

“He told me he didn’t know who to trust since he thought his father’s death was an inside job. He needed fresh eyes to help him catch a killer; protect him.” Carys gives me a sly smile. “How could I resist?”

I laugh. “A man in distress.”

“I know. I’ve got a soft spot there.” Her eyes dance with laughter. “He looked so handsome when he asked, and you like that kind of crime-solving thing. You were keen to root out moles in my organization.”

Only to deflect attention from me. Perhaps that worked too well. “You take on anyone new?”

“You’re hard to replace. I’ve had a few moments when I considered calling and telling you to come back.”

“No luck?”

“I didn’t like the woman I hired. She was too nosy. Too into my business. I had to fire her.”

“Oh.” That must have been Yssamae. She hadn’t been my first choice, but with my sudden exit, the bureau thought she’d be a good fit. “Do you want me to suggest someone else?”

“Do you know someone else?”

“I’ll think about it.” I wonder if I have the heart to set her up knowing how much I like her.

“Who else do you think is coming to dinner?” Carys tucks another strand of her hair into her intricate braid.

“No idea,” I say. “It’ll be a surprise for both of us.”

She frowns. “I rarely appreciate surprises.”

Me neither.