Page 30 of Twisted Secrets (The O’Malleys #3)

Any of his other siblings would have demanded an explanation before offering—even Sloan.

Maybe especially Sloan. Not Teague, though.

He offered help without any strings attached.

It’s a damn good thing that Callie has a ruthless streak, or they’d be in all sorts of trouble .

He hurried up the stairs and through the door into his room.

“Do you still have keys to the Connecticut house?” Cillian had lost them sometime over the years, and he’d never needed to replace them since he never went out there alone.

“Of course.”

“I’m going to swing by in a little bit and pick them up.

” After he’d figured out how the hell he was going to swing protection without anyone noticing that half the muscle were gone.

He almost asked Teague, but that wasn’t his brother’s problem.

Besides, having Sheridan men out there would be yet one more thing guaranteed to make his father blow a gasket.

Better to waylay Liam and figure it out from there.

“Okay.” The background sound muted, as if Teague had closed a door. “What kind of trouble are you in?”

“It’s not me, for once. It’s a…friend.”

“You know you’re going to catch hell for bringing this friend of yours out there.”

“I know.” She was worth it. She was more than worth it. “It’s only a temporary arrangement.”

“I’ll have the keys ready.”

Yeah, his brother’s white knight complex had definitely rubbed off on Cillian. He grabbed a bag from his closet and started tossing clothes into it. “Thanks. I really appreciate it. And if someone asks…”

“I know nothing.” He could almost hear Teague grinning. “Though if you change your mind about needing anything else, I’m only a phone call away. If you’re in trouble—”

Everyone was so damn eager to assume he was the one with the sky falling down around him. Yeah, he’d been there more than a few times over the years, but fuck. “I’ve got it covered. Thanks, man.”

“Understood.”

“By the way, congrats on the pending member of your family.”

“Thanks. We’re pretty excited.” The sheer joy in his brother’s voice staggered him. Was that what came from being a father? He’d never associated happiness with kids, because their father never had taken much interest in them until they hit high school and became creatures he could reason with.

It was something to think about.

“I’ll be there in a few.” He hung up and immediately made a second call. This one had to be handled more delicately, because Liam might be the most sympathetic of his father’s men, but he was still his father’s man. As expected, Liam answered after the first ring. “Neale.”

Here they went. “Liam, it’s Cillian. I’m heading out to the country house for a while and I need protection duty. Discreet protection duty.”

A pause. “Am I to assume your father doesn’t know about this?”

Well, hell, he cut right to the chase. “Ideally, I’d like him in the dark for as long as possible.”

“Fuck.” Liam sighed. “You kids don’t make my life easy, you know that?”

Considering Liam was Aiden’s age and hardly an old man, Cillian only had so much pity. “At least life is never boring.”

“That’s the damn truth. How much heat am I likely to take over this?”

“I’ll handle it. My idea, my order. You were just being a good employee.”

Liam muttered something too low to hear, but it didn’t sound complimentary. “I can spare five men.”

Five men to cover twenty acres. Cillian bit back a curse.

He couldn’t have it both ways. He couldn’t keep this under the radar and still take a small army with him.

He went back to his closet and reached up to grab the .

45 he kept there. He didn’t normally carry it with him—too many things could go sideways in a conflict when someone pulled out a gun—but his father had made sure he knew how to use it.

“That’ll have to work. Can you have them ready in twenty? ”

“Jesus. Yeah, I’ll light a fire under their asses.” He paused. “Do I want to know what this is about?”

“The less you know the better. Have them meet me in the garage.”

“Will do.” Then he was gone, off to coordinate.

Cillian checked the clip in the pistol, and then dug through the dresser to find the holster Aiden had bought him years ago when he’d bitched about the gun ruining the line of his suits.

Shoving one into the waistband of his slacks might look cool in the movies, but it wasn’t comfortable, and it was hardly safe.

Cillian was rather fond of his ass—he didn’t like the idea of shooting off part of it. Not to mention the chafing was a bitch.

He shrugged into the holster, fastened it, and then slipped the gun into place.

A few practice draws were all it took to have muscle memory kicking in.

As long as he kept his jacket unbuttoned, he’d have a clear line.

He wasn’t as good as the men they had on protection duty, but he wasn’t a slouch, either.

One last walk-through of his room, and he had everything packed that he needed. There wasn’t much need for three-piece suits in the country, so he’d unearthed a few pairs of jeans and T-shirts that he tended to forget he owned. He checked his watch. Right on time.

Down in the garage he found the five men Liam had promised him. Mark, Jacob, Grant, Rodger, and Finn. They were all solid guys, though he’d had the most experience with Mark. The man in question stepped forward. “Do you need an escort or do you want us to go straight there and get set up?”

The mantle of leadership wasn’t one that Cillian craved, but there was a first time for everything.

He thought quickly. He didn’t know what danger there might be in the immediate future, but if Olivia wasn’t panicked enough to be running without a plan in place, then there was no reason to think that he wouldn’t be able to get her out of state on his own.

“Go straight there. I’m leaving the city inside of an hour. ”

Mark nodded. “Got it. We’ll watch for you.

” He and the other four men slid into one of the Hummers they kept for special occasions.

The trio of vehicles were outfitted as small tanks—the kind of thing a person only took if they were expecting the worst kind of trouble.

Since Cillian didn’t know exactly what kind of trouble to expect, he appreciated Mark’s choice.

For himself, he chose a Beemer. It was fast when the situation called for it, but it was nondescript enough that it didn’t call attention to itself.

Add in the customizations of bulletproof glass and a reinforced body and it was the best option.

Cillian threw his bag into the backseat and headed out.

Technically, he was going by Teague’s for the key, but the truth was he wanted a few minutes to talk to his brother and get a backup plan in place.

Olivia might not like the idea of disappearing, but if she was scared enough to consider it, he wanted her to have that option.

Maybe she wouldn’t take money from him, but legitimate papers could go a long way.

If Cillian was out of town, he wouldn’t be able to get that ball rolling… but his brother could.

He just had to get him to agree to it first.