I held in a sigh. I’d wanted to relax with my boys, but I couldn’t say no, even if I wanted to. This was why we got paid the big bucks. “Aye, Boss. If that’s what ye need.”
“Good. We need to start patrolling the streets again and show Reyes we mean business.” He narrowed his eyes in thought. “We’ll start recruiting more soldiers. Promote some midlevel dealers and killers who are doing a good job, then hire more men to take over the positions they leave behind.”
“I know a few blokes who’ll be good soldiers.” Hell, I had a list. We worked alongside lots of guys who weren’t official Company men who I thought could do the job. It was an honor to get a promotion up the ranks and wear a suit.
“Good. Talk to themtonightand see if they’re interested. Make sure they know I’ll expect the best from them, and I will not tolerate half-arsed jobs. Go make the rounds. If we’re asking these men to protectours....” He paused to stare lovingly at Conall, who gave the boss a sweet smile. “Then I’ll be watching their work personally. Let them know if they join now, when we’re in need, they’ll be taken care of in the future.”
“Aye, Boss.” I stood and gave him a short bow. “I’ll grab Fallon and be on me way to the city, once he’s changed into a suit.”
“Thank you for your hard work, Rowen.” Sloan’s dismissal was the only permission I needed to leave.
I exited the dining room and headed across the entrance hall—which was blinding white from all the marble—then went right down an art-lined hallway. Finally, the door to the gym came into view. I knew my boys would be hard at work in there, and I opened the door, expecting to see them in the center of the mats, training. Instead, I was met with an empty room. I frowned, walking in farther.
“Fallon?” No response. “Vail?”
The gym was large and wide, but they weren’t on any of the exercise equipment or hiding in the nooks and crannies to mess with me. My anxiety hit hard and fast, and my breath caught as my imagination went wild. Did Aspen and Cillian stop here before they left? Did Vail and Fallon follow the others home?
“Feck.” My gun wasn’t on me, but I wished more than anything it was right now.
The door opened behind me, and I shot around to look, irritated to see Mr. Hopper, Sloan’s butler, and not my boys. The older man permanently appeared unimpressed, but tonight his expression was a tad gentler, which was both weird and amusing to see. I didn’t know that he could look anything but annoyed. His gray hair was brushed back off his forehead and he stood tall and proper like always.
“Mr. Shaughnessy, your boyfriends are upstairs in the suite they normally occupy. I was asked to come tell you their whereabouts after the meeting had finished.” He pressed his mouth together in a thin line.
Relief washed through me and my shoulders sagged. They were going to kill me with stress. “Thank ye, Mr. Hopper. Did Cillian and Aspen manage a wee goodbye to them?”
“Yes, sir.” Mr. Hopper didn’t wait around for me to ask more questions. He left.
I sighed and exited the gym. The suite that we’d accidentally claimed as our own over the last eight months was upstairs and I could find it with both eyes closed. When I got there, I didn’t knock because it felt a lot like a second home. As soon as I entered, the chaos of Fallon’s, Vail’s, and Lor’s limbs made me pause. They were lounging on the couch, sharing a bowl of popcorn while watching a movie on the big-screen TV. Their legs were tangled as they all used the coffee table in front of the couch as a footrest.
The sight they made was adorable, and I couldn’t help but stop and appreciate them for a moment. While Lor wasn’tone of ours, he was a best friend to Vail, so he was family. I pulled out my phone from my trousers pocket and clicked a photo. The sound of the shutter made Fallon finally glance at me and a smile spread across his pretty pink mouth. He opened his arm to me, and I laughed, striding over to the couch and falling against Fallon. Vail leaned over from the middle of the puppy pile and kissed me hard on the mouth, but there was a sadness in his gaze.
“They’re gone,” he whispered. “Again.”
I pulled gently at a piece of the blond hair that fell around his eyes. “I know, angel. I’m sorry. It’s a difficult situation.”
“They’ll come back to us, won’t they?” He pouted.
“Of course they will.” Fallon popped a kiss on Vail’s cheek. “They’re Cillian and Aspen. If anyone can survive Miami, they can. They’re the two deadliest dudes on the planet.”
I chuckled. “He’s right.”
Lor leaned forward so I could see him. He deepened his voice and said “they’ll be back” in a decent impression of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character inThe Terminator.
I shook my head. “And I thought I was dating the nerds.”
Lor’s cheeks flushed a bright red and he laughed in embarrassment. He pointed at the TV, and I turned to look at the screen, realizing they were watchingTerminator 2: Judgement Day. Old, but a classic.
“Can we stay here tonight?” Vail asked sweetly. “I like spending time with Lor.”
I sighed. “I got bad news, angel. Fallon and I need to go to work.”
Vail’s eyes widened and he straightened. “But why?”
Fallon frowned, and Lor’s eyebrows bunched together. I hated to be the bearer of bad news like this, but that was part of being in a mob. We needed to always be available when Sloan wanted us.
“We’ve got a really important job to do.” I reached over to caress his cheek. “I’m sorry. It’ll be a long night for all of us, and Fallon and I will need to stay in the city.”
He groaned. “First I lose Aspen and Cillian again, and now you two.”
