To our dad,Sullivan Investmentswas so much more than a business. It was a symbol. A promise that the Sullivans weren’t just a bunch of bloodthirsty gangsters. We were providers and protectors.
My father bled for that promise, and now Sean O’Keefe wants to shatter it.
Well, over my dead body.
Chapter Eleven
RILEY
“I need your help.”I know that Lucy is going to hate my idea.
She’s got that suspicious tilt to her head as she stares at me through the screen, as if she’s waiting for me to confess to something terrible.
Which, technically, I am.
“What kind of help?” she asks slowly.
I take a breath and adjust my phone, which I’ve propped up against my pillow.
I’m lying on my front on top of the comforter with my ankles crossed behind me so I have a clear view of the bedroom door because the last thing I need is Kieran walking in and overhearing what I’m about to say.
“I need you to cover for me.”
“Okay… What are we talking, here? First-degree murder, or did you eat Kieran’s last Twinkie?”
I swallow a laugh. “First of all, I don’t think Kieran is really a twinkie kind of guy.”
“Really? I always saw him as a secret Twinkie eater.”
I sigh. “We’ve gone off track, Luce.”
“Right, sorry! So, first-degree murder it is.”
If Kieran ever finds out I’m planning on secretly meeting up with my brother, then it will surely end in first-degree murder.
“Not exactly… I told Oscar I would meet with him.”
Lucy’s eyes almost bug out of her head. “Excuse me?”
“Shh! Keep your voice down.” I glance at the door.
Kieran didn’t come to bed again last night; he was locked away with Ronan and Brennan in Ronan’s office, and for all I know, they’re still in there. But that doesn’t mean he won’t come and pay me a visit at any moment, and I can’t risk him overhearing my conversation.
“I will when you agree to get a frontal lobotomy, because you’ve clearly lost your mind.”
“Oh, come on. Don’t be so dramatic.”
“I’m allowed to be dramatic when my best friend is planning on meeting up with the very guy who wanted to marry her off to an ancient psycho killer. Or have you forgotten that part?”
“No, I haven’t, but…”
“But nothing, Riles. There is nothing your brother could say that can make up for the role he played in all of this.”
“You could argue that if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be with Kieran right now.”
“Who are you trying to convince, me or you? Because it seems like you’re going to the ends of the earth to justify to yourself that Oscar isn’t the villain in your story.”
I sigh. “I just want to hear him out.”
