"You were young," I tell him, while I agree he should have stepped in, he shouldn’t have had to. It’s down to his parents, they fucked up. "You had your own position to establish."
"That's an excuse."
I can’t argue with that assessment. "Tell me about the leaks you’ve had," I ask.
He crosses the room and sits down and sighs. "What do you know?"
"Tell me when you noticed it first."
"About a year ago," he tells me. "We've been losing business we earmarked for purchases. The drug routes we'd just secured were getting undercut within days. Contracts disappearing to competitors who shouldn't have known existed." He looks at me. "It was specific timelines, specific internal information that had a very short window between being decided and being leaked."
"Someone with real-time access has been selling you out.”
"Or something close to it." He runs a hand through his hair. "I started watching the overlap. I was watching the meetings where certain information was discussed. I detailed who was in those meetings and who had access to that level of detail." He stops again. "And I kept coming back to the same problem."
"Tony," I say and watch the shock seep into his eyes. "Tony has been part of this organization for over thirty years," I say. "He has access to everything. He's trusted with everything. Nobody questions him because his loyalty has been proven since before you and I were old enough to sit at those tables."
Daithí's jaw is very tight. "I know."
"The diary made me doubt his loyalty," I say. "Orla saw Tony and Daire when she was underage. If that got out, he’d stand to lose everything." I hold his gaze. "Someone was feeding information out of your organization and mine simultaneously. To do that you need a source in each place. Tony is your source. I think Bruno is mine."
Daithí is very still.
"Bruno has been with my father since I was born," I say. "He has the same access Tony has. The only proof I have is seeing him and Daire looking cozy at an event. It’s not concrete evidence. I doubt it even counts as evidence, but I have a friend looking into it."
"Daire," Daithí says slowly, like he’s working it out as he speaks. "Would have known how to use both of them. She had leveraged Tony because of what she and he were doing. We need to figure out what she has on Bruno." He shakes his head. "Fuck. We have two sources within two organizations. That accounts for the cross-family pattern."
"It also accounts for the Morozov losses," I say. "She’s close to Rurik. They’re set to marry soon, although it's the third time the date’s been pushed back with no word of why. Either way, she's inside that organization now, too."
"She's been building something," Daithí says. "The question is what and with who?”
"Someone is helping her," I say. "The offshore account, the shell companies, the acquisitions, they’ve been using her stolen intelligence to position her and them financially."
Daithí stands and starts pacing. "My sister is a fucking liability," he says, his voice lethally quiet.
"If Ronan doesn't get control of this," I say, needing him to understand and get on board. "It becomes a Syndicate matter, and when that happens, nobody will stand beside Ronan. Not me, not the Kings, and Morozov knows better than to go against us." I hold his gaze, letting the information sink in. "He will be isolated, and there’s no coming back from that for the Delaney organization."
Daithí turns to face me, his jaw set and his eyes wild. "I know. If he can't fix this, I will." He starts to pace again. "I've been ready for it for a long time, I've been waiting for him to give me a reason."
I look at him and see the wicked smile play on his face. "Daire has given him every reason," Daithí says. "If he doesn't act on it, then whatever happens to this family is on him. And I'll build something from what's left."
"Find her," I say. "Before she does something that takes all of this past the point where it can be managed."
"I think you misunderstood me, Lorenzo. I said Daire has given me every reason to take my father’s business, but also she has made it so that I only have one sister, Quinn. What happens to Daire is not my concern. Not anymore.”
I grin at him. I like the way he’s thinking. “I’ll speak to you soon, Daithi,” I tell him and exit the Delaney house.
I know this shit’s not over, it’s far fucking from it, but at least I know that if shit hits the fan, Daithi is poised to take over and Ronan will be dead in the bottom of a gutter when it all comes tumbling down around him.
I arrive home and head to the place where I know I’ll find my wife. The library.
I open the door and walk in. It’s quiet, which means that Val isn’t here. My sister can’t stay quiet for too long, whereas Quinn can and enjoys the peace. She's in her chair. She has her book open but she's not reading, she's looking at the fire.
She looks up when I get close. I take a seat in the chair across from her and I look at her for a moment. She’s in her pajama shorts and tank top, no make up on, with her hair tied into a knot on the top of her head, but she’s gorgeous. Utterly fucking beautiful.
"Daire is gone," I tell her.
Her entire body freezes at my words and her eyes grow wide with fear. "Gone where?"
