“YOUR OFFICE BIG enough?” Strat asked, approaching.
In the central VIP booth of the club, in the middle of the day, she’d spread herself out across the circular table.
“It’s quieter down here.”
His attention tracked around to the office windows above. “A lot of rumors flying around.”
“Oh, yeah?”
Strat slid in at the far end of the booth. “What’s coming next? How’s he doing?”
“Emotionally or tactically?” she asked, and he shrugged, laying both arms along the top of the seat. “I don’t know. He didn’t come to bed last night.”
“Your bed or anyone’s bed?” Her head fell to the side and he laughed. “Okay, Scamp, no yanking your chain, I got it.”
“That’s the kind of question I’d expect from Lachlan.”
“Ire needs an outlet.” Her friend grew serious. “A lot of pressure on him. The mood trickles down from the top. Someone needs to be on top of that.”
On top of Conn? Is that what Strat meant? If the words were judgment, she didn’t appreciate them.
“It’s not like the guys aren’t used to him having a temper. Except this time it’s…”
Gazing toward the office, all she wanted to do was take the weight of responsibility from his shoulders.
“It’s…?”
She exhaled. “He’s angry at himself.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he’s working flat out. Barking orders. I don’t know, it’s in his voice, his stance, it’s… he’s his own harshest critic.”
“Aren’t we all? Though, for the rest of us, getting it wrong doesn’t mean—”
His almost distracted tone halted when clarity hit his expression. Had he forgotten who he was talking to?
“So that’s what the guys are talking about? It’s treason to speculate about the demise of the king.”
“No one wants that, believe me. Biz? Who the fuck wants to work under that fuckturd? But you can’t deny the asshole’s fucking serious if he’s working with the Manzanis and the Byrnes. Says something when a guy’s only way out is to work with his enemy to screw his own people. It’s like the fucking apocalypse. You hear Madison Byrne’s on her way into town?” She’d known that was coming. “He talk to you about her?”
“He doesn’t need to talk to me about her. I’m not his keeper and the family takes priority over everything else, everyone else.”
“Protect the top, that’s good,” Strat said. “I almost believed you.”
Her shoulders dropped and she slid closer as he did the same from his end. “I hate it. Of course I hate it. The man I love is… I can’t ask him not to, we’re talking lives here. The Byrnes want to kill Nicole McDade. Conn has to handle it.”
The buck went all the way to the top, and she had to accept… She didn’t want the visual and couldn’t think about it.
“Biz wants her dead. His wife, his choice,” her friend said. “McDades don’t work for him anymore and Score would never do it. Harsh of Biz, seeing as she’s standing by the fucker. Any other woman would get a divorce and split with the cash.”
“Nicki isn’t capable of looking after herself.”
“Yeah.”
“And women don’t leave McDades. Not those McDades anyway.”
“Not those McDades? That mean you can leave Ire?”
“I’d never want to.” Life with Conn was the only future she could see. Her friend accepted that, better than her brother. “It makes me sick that to save Nicki’s life, he’ll have to…”
Her stomach clenched, desperate to rid itself of the nausea.
“Nicole is only family on paper. Why does Ire care if she’s dead?”
“I’ll tell you who doesn’t care. Whisper,” she said. “I think she’d do it for free, if it didn’t mean giving the Byrnes a win.”
“Does Nicki think there’s a chance Biz will get out and they can be together again?”
“He wouldn’t have her.”
“Putting a price on her head is a damn clear message. What the fuck does he have to be pissed about? She never testified. Did she help the feds or something?”
Her eyes flicked away, lips parted, her teeth still together beneath. This was Strat. She trusted him with her life.
“On the QT,” she said, leaning in. “Like most classified QT, our throats will be slit in our sleep for sharing this kind of QT…” His head went back in a quick nod of understanding. “She was fucking Burl.” The prolonged blink from her friend was more than surprise. “Trying to get pregnant, though Burl had her on birth control she didn’t know about.”
“Fuck.” Sinking back, he ran a hand through his hair. “It’s a Greek tragedy.”
“Irish, but yes. It’s fucked up. Not all crimes were broadcast at the trial.”
“That’s a fucking mess any guy would want to keep a lid on. No wonder he wants her dead; I’m surprised he hasn’t put conditions on collecting.”
“Conditions?”
“Like making it hurt.”
Torture. Pain. Biz wouldn’t think twice about what his wife endured. He’d only see the humiliation.
“Haven’t heard anything about Burl being punished for it.”
“No, ‘cause he wouldn’t,” Strat said. “It’s fucked up, but even Biz wouldn’t…” Wouldn’t he? Brother had turned on brother before, would son turn on father? “He might. The problem is Burl’s better at it.”
“It? The game?”
“And doing what needs to be done.” Strat splayed his fingers on the table. “If Burl heard Biz put a price on his head, he’d have his son slaughtered before sundown.”
“If he has the reach.”
“Heard Raze hit the road. Running for his life?”
Not a chance with that guy. He was a weapon all on his own.
“Backing up Whisper,” she said. “She’s going to the prison.”
“For father or son?”
“Son,” she said. “Conn and Raze met about it late last night. I went in to say goodnight and they clammed up.”
“You wanted to hear the details?”
“He would’ve told me if we’d been alone.” Or she’d asked. “With Whisper not there either it…”
“Was guy time. They’re McDades. Blood. Score should be pulling his weight. Kinda got everyone into this mess.”
“Biz started it,” she said, oddly defensive. “What was he trying to accomplish setting Score up for murder?”
“Exactly what he wants to achieve now. Biz wants to be head of the family, even from inside prison walls. Not impossible, it’s been done before. Anyone mention Clancy?”
Burl’s brother. The cousins’ uncle.
“Conn sent Score that way. Clancy has a network, but the guy’s not… Losing his daughter took his appetite for power.” From the way Conn told it anyway. “Doesn’t mean he’d turn his back on his family.”
“Smart move. Score’s traveling with a wife, a kid, and his brother’s best friend. And a lawyer. He can’t keep them all safe alone. Though it’s not like the McDades are safe on the west coast.”
“Shit, Strat…” Her elbow landed on the table at the same time she scooped a hand around her forehead. “This is coming at him from all angles. I’m overwhelmed and I don’t have to do a damn thing.”
“Yes, you do.” Trust her friend to be so stoic in his support. “You have to keep him sane. No one else is gonna look after the guy. No one else would dare try right now with the mood he’s in. From what I hear, he’s earning his name and a helluva lot more.”
“He has Niall. This is the first time we’ve—there’s always trouble, but this is huge and… I don’t want to overstep my bounds.”
“Oh,” he said, pushing down the seat slightly. “Then, man, did I get your relationship wrong. Go upstairs and pack a bag—better actually, do you have stuff at the loft?”
“Stuff?”
“Clothes, passport, money, enough to get you through a few days. If Whisper and Raze aren’t there, we can be in and out of the loft without anyone knowing. Gives us a head start.”
“Why would I need—” Horror blocked her throat for a few seconds. “You want me to run?”
“Fuck, yeah,” he said without shame. “Your family aren’t laying out the red carpet for you these days. If this Ire guy’s a lay, why the fuck should you deal with the bullshit in his life? You’re not in it for the long haul—”
“I didn’t say that.”
“I’ll get you somewhere safe. We’ve hit this bump before, Ire did his thing, whatever, the past’s the past. You can’t stick around waiting for Vex to bail you out. We have to get you outta the city.”
Vex. Seemed there was always a balance somewhere. As she revealed one secret to Conn, there was another to be hidden from Strat or Lachlan.
“No. I’m not leaving. I would never leave Conn. Why would you…” His slight smile killed her words. He didn’t expect her to leave, he was making a point. “My job is to support him.”
“Yes, it is. Babe, if you’re scared of him, what chance do the rest of us have?”
“I’m not scared of him. Right now, he doesn’t need to be worrying about his relationship on top of everything else. We’re fine. And when he needs me, I’ll be waiting for him.”
“Okay,” he said, unconvinced. “Don’t forget who your friends are, Scamp.”
“You’ll be my first call if I need to run for my life.”
“And if he splits…”
“He wouldn’t,” she said, shaking her head. “It’s about pride.”
“That’s usually what gets men like him dead.”
They’d get through this test. Conn’s ability far outweighed that of his cousin Biz. No, she hadn’t met the guy, but she didn’t need to. She’d always have faith in her man.
“On another subject…” Quick pivot. “What’d you do with the flash drive?”
“Flash drive?” His fingers paused mid scruff scrub. “From the alley?”
She nodded. “You found it, right?”
“I…”
The hesitation shivered through her spine. “Strat?”
“Yeah, you told me to get it, to hide it, that’s what I did.”
“Okay,” she said, relieved. “That’s what I figured.”
“Why?”
“You don’t want to know.” Trepidation crept in. “You didn’t look at what was on it… did you?”
“No, but now you’ve got me curious.”
She smiled. “You and the rest of the city. If someone gets their way, everyone will lay eyes on it eventually.”
“Lay eyes on what?”
“Conn and me,” she said, figuring it was smart to prep the guy, just in case he thought to satisfy his curiosity.
“Conn and you, what—” The way his attention leaped to hers wrung a laugh from her throat. “Shit, babe. Someone’s got it? Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why would you…? Was it voluntary?”
“Let’s just say our beginnings weren’t as pure as you might think.”
He scoffed. “Never put Ire McDade and pure in the same sentence.” And her friend didn’t need long to put the pieces together. “That’s how he got you. Taped it, threatened to leak it.”
“Didn’t play out the way it should’ve, from either of our points of view.”
“You’re sitting there chill. You’re okay with—”
“Do I want the whole world seeing me and Conn like that? No. But, seriously, look around, McDades have bigger fish to fry.”
“Doesn’t have the same clout when you’re public, and your dad’s not high on his righteous high horse anymore.”
“There was a time I’d have stood up for the McLeod name. I did stand up for it.”
“Or lay down for it,” he said, not polite enough to disguise or restrain his snicker. “Come on, if you can’t laugh…” Her hand dropped to the table and his expression hardened. “Tell it different if he forced himself on you.”
Her friend would laugh if, in retrospect, there hadn’t been a hardship to the intimacy. If there had, if Conn had touched her without consent, Strat wouldn’t think twice about putting a bullet in the man himself, consequences be damned.
“It was never like that. I always wanted him, to be with him. Our first time was spontaneous.” Her tongue tasted the corner of her mouth. “Hormones and hellfire, for me anyway.”
“When did it change… for him?”
“Conn figured it out before I did. He’s smarter than me.”
“He made a smart choice. You make him look smarter than he is.”
Spoken like a true friend.
“Bluebell!”
The easygoing call came from the tunnel, where Biggs and Daly emerged.
“Your brother’s here,” Daly said. “Want him in?”
“Yes, I want him in.”
She’d be pissed about the request for confirmation if she hadn’t already thrown a member of her family out that week.
Daly gestured and Lachlan appeared from the shadows of the tunnel behind them. At least he hadn’t been left on the street.
“Need drinks?” Biggs asked.
“No, we’re good,” she said and smiled at her brother. “Lach doesn’t like drinking our stock when the club’s closed.”
“Our license is good,” Biggs said, but carried on past the bar.
Daly caught up with his friend. “Maybe he thinks it’s stealing if he doesn’t pay.”
“If he wants to give me money, I’ll take it.”
The two laughed; even Strat smirked.