Page 93 of The Apprentice

Fionn frowned. “Not funny.” He shook his head and smiled. “I kind of like you, so you’re stuck with us for more than a while.”

Conall placed his hand on his chest. “Aw, Fionn, that’s the nicest thing you’ve ever said.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t get used to it.”

“Want to call me Uncle Conall?”

“No.” Fionn snorted. “Absolutely not.”

Conall pouted. “You’re no fun. Give your Uncle Conall a hug?”

“You’ve spent too much time around Fallon.” Fionn’s phone chose that moment to ring, and he pulled it out of his pocket. He jumped to his feet. “It’s Elio. I’ll be back.” He swept farther into the apartment, and I took his abandoned seat beside Conall.

Dr. Rory cleared his throat and stood, walking deeper into the apartment to give us privacy.

I touched Conall’s elbow. “How are you really feeling? Is there something I can do for you?”

He gave me a sad smile. “Can you bring Sloan home? I know he’s out there trying to figure out who did it, but I want him here. I’m scared he’ll get hurt while I’m not with him.”

I chuckled quietly. “Sloan’s a big boy, sir. He can handle himself, and I pity the person who’s responsible for this.”

Conall frowned. “This is bigger than someone like Sidorov. What he has with us is once in a lifetime. I don’t see him making a stupid mistake like using a bomb to try and kill us.”

“You believe it’s Reyes?”

He made a face. “Yeah, I do. This is a war, and Reyes pulled out the big guns.”

I nudged him gently with my shoulder. “Good thing we have even bigger ones than he does. Trust me, someone will die for this.”

“As long as it’s not Sloan or one of ours.” Conall glanced at me carefully, eyes narrowed. “Are you and Fionn good?”

“We’re great,” I said.

He grinned. “Glad I don’t have to order Sloan to kill you for breaking Fionn’s heart again.”

I smirked at him. “You and Fionn have become close.”

“He’s a good guy, and Sloan loves him, so he matters to me, too.” Conall paused, then leaned in closer. “I like him, he’s funnier than I expected, but don’t tell him I said that.”

I made a zipping motion across my mouth. “My lips are sealed.”

We grinned at each other before Fionn came storming back, eyebrows furrowed in concern. He paused in front of us, staring at his phone for a long moment, then sighed.

“Elio found the book. One of his men took it behind his back.”

“I’m assuming that man is no longer alive,” Conall drawled.

Fionn gave him awhat do you think? look. “He’s getting men to bring us the book now. Apparently, he had a look at it and it’s all in code. He couldn’t work it out.”

I stood and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, dragging him closer and laying a kiss on his cheek. “Well then, good thing we have you on our side, huh? You enjoy a good puzzle.”

His eyes turned bright and determined. “You know me so well, Daddy.”

18

DAIRE

It took Fionn just under nine weeks to work out the code, which was a record, according to every other one of our smartest men trying to work on it. I didn’t expect it to take that long, but I didn’t understand anything to do with what the detective had done. No one could figure out what Diaz was using to hide her informants’ identities. When Fionn tried to explain it to me—it had something to do with numbers and math, which made me drown it out immediately—I brushed him off with a simple kiss and an “I trust you.”