“Fuck.” I threw my stubbie against the wall of my office, making the glass shatter across the hardwood floor. Mercy stared at the mess from behind me, his stubbie clutched in his palm tightly, like he expected me to grab it and throw it as well. “Motherfucking wanker.”
Mercy grunted and took a sip of his beer. “Could have told you that.”
I snorted and burned a hole in the wall with my eyes, focusing on the wet patch that the beer had left. Mum would lecture me about my outburst, then bitch how it wasn’t the cleaner’s job to fix this kind of chaos, but it was worth it because it made me feel better.
“Pretty sure I already told you Killough was a snobby cunt.” He shrugged and took an even deeper chug of his beer. “Does he want Finn back?”
“He said he wanted all the men back.” I gritted my teeth. “So yeah, he bloody wants Finn back, too.”
Mercy made a disgruntled sound. “Tell him to fuck off. You’ve done it before. He didn’t like it, but what’s he going to do? Spank you for being naughty? He’s a fuckhead, Ledge.”
“Fuckhead or not, he’s still Finn’s boss, and Finn will listen to him.” I crossed my arms and rocked on my feet. “We need a way to convince him to let Finn stay without risking Finn’s family. The McCorkells belong to Killough, and Finn would never mess with his family’s safety.”
“Eh. Move them here.” He shook his bottle and stared at the emptiness in irritation. “Give ’em work. Problem solved.”
“Yeah, nah. This needs to be done properly, Freckles. I want him to be safe and happy.” I palmed the side of my face and sighed. “I need to negotiate with Killough.”
He snorted in mean amusement. “Good fucking luck with that.”
I shook my head. I’d always hated negotiating with other men who had similar power positions. Blokes like that—likeme—had big egos, and when it came to agreeing on something, they used everything in their arsenal to get the best bargain. Killough knew how much I wanted Finn, and I had a weakness he would use to his advantage.Fuck.
“You can have a chinwag with Shaughnessy,” Mercy suggested.
I shook my head immediately. “He’s loyal to his boss. I’m surprised he’s not the one fucking him.” I rolled my eyes. “Nah. I need another way.”
“Let’s start shit with the Italians.” He smirked. “We’ve been waiting too long for them to do something now that Ario’s out of the picture.” Mercy would enjoy that a lot. If nothing happened, Mercy got bored and went to find something to stir the pot. It’d always amused me, but this time... it had merit. Finn would stay at my side without me having to get on my knees to Killough, which would never fucking happen. I didn’t submit to other men like that, even allies. He could kissmy arse.
“Hm.” I rubbed the back of my head as I stared at the soaked wall again. What a waste of beer. I shouldn’t have let my anger get the best of me. I looked at my desk where a stack of files on the Italians sat. Mercy had gone out of his way to find every bit of dirt he could on every Italian criminal we had in this city who’d arrived from down south. I’d scoured the information for days now like it would be on a test. “That could work.”
A furious knock on the door had me letting out an exasperated sigh. “What?” I snapped.
The door opened so fast and hard that it swung around to hit the wall, making the wood groan at the force of the bang. Hero and Finn stood in the doorway, and their expressions had my spine turning to steel. Finn’s eyes were wide and his jaw tight, while Hero looked ready to smash skulls.
“It’s the Italians,” Hero barked immediately, not waiting for me to ask what had happened. “The bastards shot up Cyclone’s house.”
“What?” I stalked forward, Mercy at my heels. “Is she—”
“She’s fine,” Finn answered before I could finish the sentence. He wore a light pink dress today with a square neckline, a large bow on the front, and a white floral pattern sewn across the expanse of the delicate material. The dress frilled at the bottom and around his arms, and it suited him perfectly. Even though this was an adrenaline-inducing moment, I couldn’t help but stop to appreciate the way the neckline accentuated his collarbones. His slip-on shoes matched the dress in color and had the same floral pattern across the strip that arched over the top of his feet. “And so is Stormy. Cyclone managed to get them out. She saw the cars pull up and knew what was about to happen. She got herself and Stormy to safety through the back. They snuck through the yard of the neighbor behind them.”
Rage unlike anything I’d ever felt clawed in my chest, and any objections I had to making a scene disappeared. If the Italians wanted to go after my family, if they wanted to find outwhyI was the mob boss and this was my territory, then I’d show them—personally.
“Come with me. Now.” I stalked toward the door, pausing to press a kiss on Finn’s forehead before I left the office, then headed down the hallway. All three of them followed me, and when I got out the front door, a familiar car pulled to a stop. The deep green Jeep Wrangler—Grimm’s vehicle—sparkled in the setting sun, and the back door swung open, revealing Cyclone and Stormy.
I ran toward them, and Cyclone met me halfway, throwing herself into my embrace. She buried her head against my shoulder, her entire body trembling.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
I hugged her as tightly as I could. “Why are you sorry?” I growled, mad at the Italians. I was going to wreak havoc on their world, uncaring about the coppers or anyone getting in my way.
Stormy crashed against my side, and I dragged her closer. “Uncle Leggy.”
“Shh. It’s okay.” I let go of Cyclone so I could crouch in front of Stormy, and I wiped the tears that sprung in her eyes. Her curly hair was a mess and she had dirt on her knees, as though she’d fallen over when they were running away.
Finn was behind me, cuddling Cyclone while I focused on Stormy.
“Uncle Legend’s going to fix this, okay?” I smoothed my hand over her head, but there was no use in trying to wrangle the curls there. “I’m going to make it all better.”
She nodded, sniffling, and offered me a small smile. “I know, Uncle Leggy. You’re the strongest.”
