Ezra grunted. “Fuck you.”
“You’d root anything that had a hole, so I wouldn’t put it past you to want to do me, too, even if I am your cousin.” Koen sounded particularly gleeful while riling up Ezra.
“Hey, I’m not that demented.”
I rolled my eyes. “Enough, you fuckwits.”
They went silent.
I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. A knock on the door had Mercy rising from the seat in front of the desk and heading toward it. “Just keep your eyes peeled, yeah? I got the Americans helping out here now, but if it gets bad down there, I can ask Killough to send over more men.”
“Nah, don’t need any Yanks. Lest they’re good-looking. They good-looking, cuz?” Ezra laughed like a fool. “Because rumors get to us fast here, and last I heard, you’ve got yourself a pretty little Yank arse.”
“Does he?” Koen asked, clearly intrigued now. “Who is it?”
“Well—”
I ended the call before Ezra could gossip like an eighty-year-old woman. If he was so motivated to spread more stories, then he could call Koen in his own time. I stood as Mercy opened the thick wooden door wider. Cillian strode through, eyebrows dipping, with his face scrunched in a furious determination that had me thinking I knew what this conversation was going to be about.
He stopped in front of my desk and bowed his head slightly in respect. While he was a tall man, he had to tilt his head back to stare up at me, which apparently annoyed him, if the small snarl on his lips said anything. I supposed he was handsome, a rugged type. He had a permanent scowl and stubble. I preferred my men more delicate and soft—like Finn.
I fell back onto my chair and waved my hand. “Out with it then. Tell me what you’ve got to say, mate.”
Cillian took a deep breath. “I don’t know what’s going on between ye and Finn, but if he’s done somethin’ wrong—”
“Does it look like he’s done wrong?” I chuckled. “Is that how it works over with Killough? If someone makes a mistake, you tear their clothes off, fuck them, and call them yours?”
Mercy shook his head and his lips twisted into a half smirk.
“With respect, sir—”
“Stop thiswith respectshit.” I waved my hand impatiently at him. I hated blokes who tiptoed around the issue. “Just tell me it straight. I might be a boss, but I don’t need any of this fluffing around bull.”
“Fine.” The lines of Cillian’s face hardened. “While he’s here in Australia, Finn’s under me orders. Not only that, but his uncle is someone with power over in New York. If ye want to keep him, like ye claim, then ye need to pass that through Mr. Killough. There are negotiations that will need to be made. In the meantime, he’s here to do a fecking job.”
“He might work for Sloan, but he’s not Sloan’s property,” I growled out, suddenly irritated. I shoved to my feet and loomed over him. “He’s his own man.”
“Aye, he is, but he still belongs to the Killough Company.” Cillian frowned. “And I’d rather ye didn’t make this harder than it needs to be.”
I smiled, but it wasn’t friendly. Walking around the desk to reach him, I kept myself calm and centered. I came to a pause right in front of him, and he needed to crane his neck to look up at me again. “This is how it’s going to be,Cillian. Finn is mine. I will do with him as I please. I will call Sloan tonight, seeing as he’ll probably be sleeping right about now, but don’t mistake my willingness to listen to you as weakness.” I let my face go as cold as I was feeling inside. “I respect my men’s opinions, but when I want something, I get it. That’s what makes me boss in the southern hemisphere.”
He stepped back and crossed his arms. “Then ye need to discuss that with Mr. Killough. I might be on lend to ye, but I am his, first and foremost,mate.”
I grunted and nodded sharply before pointing to the door. I had no time or patience for any more of this conversation. “Ask Hero to take you and your men to the Northern Empire. It’s a pub in the city where we have our base operations. It’ll also give you the lay of the land around here. We’ve got our own helpful connections, and one of the local biker gangs, the Bloody Oaths, usually hang around there. They hate Padulano as much as we do, and they might have heard stuff we haven’t.”
Cillian didn’t appear as though he wanted this conversation to end, but he didn’t get much of a choice. He tilted his head and left, and Mercy followed him, probably to make sure Cillian was doing what I’d asked. That was the good thing about having Mercy as my best mate and one of my right-hand men. He made things happen.
Irritated, I paced my office for a few minutes to work out the anger. I stopped every so often to stare at my aquarium and my beautiful jellies that floated in the calm, clean water. I imagined throwing Cillian in with them before I brushed aside the thought. I would’ve done the same thing if someone was overstepping.
Pulling at the collar of my shirt, I grabbed my phone off the desk and walked out of my office. I made my way up the stairs to the top floor, where Mum and Finn were sitting at the table. They were chatting, and Finn appeared a bit uncomfortable as he listened to Mum rant.
“And then Janine saysmy daughter’s a lesbianas if it were a bad thing. She was weeping into her handkerchief and everything. It made me crankier than a taipan that’d been stood on. What kind of mum cares? I told her all my children were LGBTQ. I thought she was going to have a heart attack. Pity she didn’t.” Mum made a gleeful sound as she took a sip of her tea from her favorite North Queensland Cowboys mug. “Maybe I should’ve added some drugs in her coffee to help nature along. Let’s just say I didn’t visit those ladies again because, if I did, I might have done just that to every single one of those cows.” She pointed at the food in front of him. “Eat your tucker, honey. You’re too bloody skinny.”
“You’re not gossiping about your old ducks group again, are you?” I came up behind her and leaned over, dropping a kiss on her cheek. Mum swatted me. I walked over to Finn to do the same, and he stiffened for a moment before melting under my touch.
Mum huffed. “Of course I am. Bunch of bitches, the lot of them. I’d like to clobber each one over the head.”
I took the seat next to Finn and settled in, laying my arm around the back of his chair. “That’s why you have four boys, Mum. You tell us who to kill, and we’ll do it for you.”
