I go to him, wrap my arms around his waist, and rest my head against his collarbone.
“I’m fine,” I tell him, and in truth, I am. I know Rory won’t kill those fuckers quickly. I know she’ll get all the information I need.
Eian hugs me back, even rests his cheek against my head, and for a moment we just stand there, hugging. Saying this is a position I never thought I’d be in would be the understatement of the century.
Eian Dempsey is hugging me,comforting me, and I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more cared for in my entire life.
It sucks that I can’t just keep focusing on that, that we have the biggest challenge ahead of us, and clearly, Eian’s thinking about that too.
“Go inside while we finish up here. Maybe call Bran so you can see Maggie, yeah?”
“That’s a good idea,” I mumble, and when I look up, I can’t make myself step back from him.
His hand trails up my back until he’s holding the back of my neck in a firm grip. It’s support, and my eyes close with how good it feels. Once I’ve soaked up enough strength from him, I open my eyes again and answer the silent question with a slow nod.
“Thank you,” I whisper, then tilt my head up and kiss him. “Get back in there. We need all the information we can get.”
As I watch him open the trapdoor, it hits me.
That simple kiss isn’t something new lovers do. It’s a new type of intimacy, a comfortable knowledge of each other. It’s something that should’ve taken a lot longer to develop between us.
I shake my head at my thoughts.
That’s overanalyzing and I need to nip it in the bud right now. There’s a lot more work to be done.
So I walk to the house, and get ready for a video call with my angel.
“Findout where the mayor lives and get us the building plans,” Eian tells Seamus even as we’re walking down the stairs to his... lair?
It’s time to get a plan in place, and so the usual suspects are present as we all cram in together into Seamus’s office.
The number of screens seems a little extreme to me, but there’s what looks like important shit on every single one of them.
Rory and Eian had both showered and changed their clothes when they joined Duffy, Mac, and me in the dining room for a quick lunch, and I’m grateful.
I can honestly say that the memories their interrogation gave me are enough for a lifetime. I held my guts in, I said my peace, and now I think I’ll never want to be witness to that ever again.
“Cecilia texted me,” Eian says. “Apparently Aslanov and Chen took care of every single man working for Lucian last night, and they also found the new place where they’re holding the victims.”
“Where?” I ask. We need to go there and make sure they’re safe, we need to?—
“Upstate, some ranch. Rossi and Di Leo are dealing with sending them all back to their homes now.”
I breathe out in relief.
“I’m checking whether he or his wife have any payments to security companies,” Seamus says. My eyebrows rise immediately.
“You can do that?”
“Yes,” he says simply. “It’s easier than hunting down international bank accounts,” he mutters as if he’s still frustrated by that. “The plans are here.”
He points to a screen on the left and we all move in at the same time while he keeps working on the other shit.
“This is where Lucian said the door to the basement is,” Rory says while pointing at the alley next to the brownstone. A pretty typical brownstone too, in Manhattan.
“Find out if he has any events or galas this weekend, please,” I murmur as I keep inspecting the plans of the house.
“Will do. And they do have an alarm system, but I think we can get around that if you guys cut off the power.”
