Page 12

12

FINN

R onan and I flip through the images I took of Siobhan's court files when she was sleeping. I can't say I feel guilty for snooping in her briefcase while she slept the other night because I don't. This is war and my friend is on trial for a murder case that could put him away for life. I need to know what the prosecution has against him, and looking through her things was the only way. She was never going to give it up freely.

"It looks like they have a witness set to testify that she saw Mick kill Aiden in cold blood," Ronan says, eyes squinting at the small print on the computer screen. I did the best I could with the limited time, but based on what I make of the blurry image, I think he's right.

"Sarah Duncan…" I say the name absently and scrub both hands over my face. I trust Mick implicitly when he says he did not kill Aiden. As a member of our family both by word and by blood now—bound in marriage by his daughter to my brother—Mick would never double-cross us. Aiden was Ronan's right-hand man.

"Yes, well we need to find Ms. Duncan and find out who paid her off, because there's no way Mick actually did this." Ronan shuts the laptop and leans back on the leather sofa behind him. His wife, Maeve, brings in a tray of teacups, a kettle, some sugar cubes and a scone each on two plates, and sets it down on the table.

"Thank you, dear," he says, and she smiles politely.

"Any updates?" Maeve isn't here to snoop. She genuinely cares. We got news earlier that Mick's daughter is at the doctor surgery. Her labor has started, and the whole family is eagerly expecting word from my brother Declan.

"Nothing about Isla, no." After the shock in court today, finding out her father was a cheating scoundrel, Isla's spent a lot of time with her mother. It's no wonder the stress of this put her into labor. I sigh and nod at the plate. "Thank you for the tea, though."

"Let me know if you hear anything." Maeve backs out of the room, and I turn back to the tea Ronan is doctoring, but my gut isn't going to settle enough to have tea and scones. Our man is fighting for his life, and now Siobhan has just proven that he wasn't where we all said he was that night. We paid that whore good money to keep her mouth shut, but someone got to her. They had to have. Likely, the same people who got to this Duncan lady.

"Find her and find out who is pushing her to talk." Ronan's steely gaze focuses on me, and I nod at him as my phone chimes. It's a text message, so I pull it out to read who it's from.

"Feck," I grunt as I read Siobhan's message preview on my phone screen.

Siobhan 4:12 PM: I was shot at.

Anger surges through me and I press my eyes closed, furious with myself for not going to court today. I should have, but retrieving these images stored on our server for safekeeping and going over them with Ronan was more important than whatever the defense had to pluck out of Mick's testimony. The damage was done by Siobhan's questioning today, anyway.

"What is it?" Ronan sips his tea, and I open my phone and type in a few key words, bringing up some instant news.

"Drive by shooting at the courthouse today after trial. No one is injured, but they suspect Mick's men. Damn fools." This time, I don't put it past them to have done it. I stand up, pocketing my phone as Ronan opens his and begins to search. If it was Mick's men, he'll have words for them. We can't afford fuckups right now, and that's what this is. "I gotta go."

"Back to the pretty prosecutor?" he asks, and I get the feeling he realizes there's something more going on there.

"Duty calls, Boss." I wink at him and head out. Moments like this can make or break a scheme, but they also make or break a relationship. Siobhan was just shot at and I wasn't there. Probably a good thing, honestly, because I'd have seen for sure if it was Mick's men, and we'd have a war within our family.

As it is, I'm worried about her backing out of this case. I know I can put the pressure on her and get her to drop some of those charges for me. What I can't do is start over with a new prosecutor, especially not her boss, the beast of a man who almost put me away before.

When I get to Siobhan's penthouse, all I can think about is that witness who says they saw Mick kill Aiden. I have to find them and put an end to that before she calls them as a witness. I notice a cop car parked out front, so I don't go in instantly. I park outside and wait a while. A man with sleek blond hair and a trim mustache walks out and climbs in, then drives off, and I know the coast is clear.

Siobhan opens the door and hiccups. She's slightly drunk and looking like a mess. Her hair is mussed, mascara lining her cheeks. She throws her arms around me before I'm even fully inside and clings to me.

I scoop her up in my arms and carry her to the couch where I sit, placing her on my lap. I want to ask her about the cop, but judging by how she's acting, so happy to see me, nothing is going on between them. He probably brought her home out of an abundance of caution, which I'm thankful for. I told her I'd be the security she needs, but I failed.

"My God, it was awful," she slurs, and the way she drapes herself over my chest, I know she's had more to drink than is healthy.

"I've been there… Tell me about it." I want to know how much she's seen, but I also want to make sure she's doing okay. She's alive, so my biggest concern is moot.

"I was just waiting for a cab and this big sedan came out of nowhere blasting everyone. Liam put me in his car and drove me home, but I had to give a sworn statement. They think it was O'Connor. Why would he do this?" She's still shaking despite the wine in her system. I see the bottle on the table next to empty stemware.

"How much have you had to drink?" I press a hand to her forehead and she pushes it away.

"I'm a grown adult, Finn. I don't need a father." Siobhan reaches for the bottle and I snatch it away from her.

"Slow down. You are safe now. I'm here." I set the bottle out of her reach and pin her to my lap with strong arms around her waist. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

I wish I could calm her, but I'm not here just to help her be grounded. I have to remember my greater purpose. We have to stop Mick from being imprisoned for something he didn't do, and we need to find Aiden's real killer.

Siobhan seems annoyed by my comment and leans down to kiss me. The kiss is sloppy, drunk—she's throwing herself at me. I'm not a man to discourage sexual advances from a beautiful woman like her, but there are more important things than just fucking. I have to ask her about this witness she plans to call this week. I have to know how she found out about them.

Still, I humor her for a while, kissing, grabbing her tit a few times. She has her hand in my pants, gripping my dick, when I pull away. She's obviously had a lot to drink, and if I fuck her first, she'll start sobering up. Maybe asking her about this while she's drunk is the best way to go about it.

"Sib," I say, protesting her strokes. I wrap my hand around her wrist and pull her hand out of my pants. "Sib, I need to ask you about your star witness."

"What? No," she pants, claiming my mouth again. Her hand weaves through my hair, and my dick throbs for attention, but Ro would kill me for not taking advantage of this situation.

I sink further into the couch as she turns and straddles me, peeling open the front of her shirt to reveal her perfect, round tits. I want to dive in. My cock screams to slide through her cleavage, but she keeps kissing and I have to push her away.

"Sib, please. I need to know how you found the star witness. Sarah Duncan… Where did you meet her?"

Siobhan's chest heaves, tits pushing out into my face with each breath, and she glares at me groggily. She's way too drunk to fuck, anyway. She'll pass out before this is even started. I need answers, so I grab her chin and force her to look into my eyes.

"Tell me, please. I have to save my friend." I only hope she understands I only mean the best. I want the truth as much as she does, even if it was Mick. Ro will kill him if it was, but I don't think it was.

"You fecking bastard," she snarls, jerking away from me.

"You came here to push me for information? I was just shot at!" Siobhan jerks to her feet, swaying, and walks over to the door with her shirt still open. "Get out," she slurs before I'm even all the way standing. My dick is still throbbing, and now I feel like a fool.

"Siobhan, please. We both want the truth." I walk over to her and try to stand close, but she backs against the wall. "The other night, you said we could do this, just to keep it quiet. That no one could find out about us."

"Get out," she repeats, but this time even more slurred. I don't know if she even knows what she's doing.

"Fine, but I'm sending someone to watch your apartment." I brush a bit of moisture off her lip from our kissing and she blinks her eyes slowly. She can't even stand straight. Her tits are so perfect, I don't want to leave her exposed like this, so I step into the hallway, taking my lumps, and shoot a message to my right-hand man, Noah, to sit on the building as I walk toward the elevator.

I have to go find Sarah Duncan now, because she may be the only way to stop Siobhan from sentencing Mick to exile. I very well may have just ended any hope I had with Siobhan.