A FOREIGN CALL from behind the curtain got her guy to his feet.
“Come on,” he said, clipping her dress closed, then hooking her waist to help her from the desk.
Holding his hand, she went where he led. “Where are we going?”
She didn’t expect an answer, and he delivered on that assumption. At the top of the stairs to the apartment, usually, they’d flip a U-turn and go to the bedroom. This time, at the opposite end of the space, the round dining table was occupied. Huh, was that the first time she’d seen it used? Now there were butts in seats, Whisper, her husband, Razer, and Play McDade.
Conn funneled her into a seat, pushing it in under her before sitting next to her.
McDades.
A Doherty.
A McLeod.
Talk about unlikely bedfellows.
“Are we gonna vote?” Whisper asked. “Mine’s worth two, I vote for me and Shyla. McDade wives stick together. And PJ’s vote is mine as well. He likes me more than he likes any of you. Score’s vote should be worth a half point, since he didn’t bother to show up.”
“Talk of him showing up did its job,” Raze muttered.
So Score had never been on his way?
“Vex is in the basement,” Play said, ignoring the Doherty. “Madison’s in the cell beside him. Superintendent’s at the end of the hall under lock and key. We’re headed for a full set. Should we grab a Gambatto to balance it out?”
Her father was imprisoned in Stag? Oh, he’d love that so much. How had he ended up there? It must’ve been with Lachlan’s approval. Unless Conn strongarmed her brother, but if that confrontation happened, she’d have heard about it… wouldn’t she?
Raze kept things on track. “What’s next, Ire?”
“We eliminate the pest.”
“Biz hasn’t lost any of his arrogance,” Whisper said. “Should’ve seen his face when I walked in.”
“Didn’t he know you were coming?” she asked.
“Probably didn’t believe I’d show.” Whisper’s smile glowed with mischief. “He was never my biggest fan.”
“Anything from Burl?”
“Sources say there’s been an increase in activity,” Conn said. “Expected. I’m not concerned.”
Play pushed back in his seat. “Miami won’t be safe until we take care of the Manzani problem. Think Vex will help us out there?”
“Vex Manzani is useless, a dickless piece of shit barely worthy of the air he breathes.” Far as she could tell, only Whisper noticed the shiver of arousal that went through her. Conn shouldn’t be allowed to talk like that with others in the room. “Only way Vex leaves this building is in a box, unless Silvio agrees to the terms.”
“Gotta take care of the Byrnes too.”
“Man loves his daughter,” Play said. “She’s the ticket.”
“So we hold her until Rick Byrne severs his connection to Biz?”
“Severing the connection matters less than leaving the man isolated and hated. He cannot be allowed to believe he has any chance of rejoining the family.” Conn’s gaze cut to Whisper. “Dohertys loyal to the McDades get a bump in the ranks and receive a cash bonus for every Byrne head they collect. I want them off the board.”
“‘Bout time they were wiped out.”
“I like that,” Whisper said and bobbed her brows at Sersha. “I get it.” She just smiled while the men stayed all business. Whisper cleared her throat, almost mocking their seriousness. “What are we gonna do with Nicki’s head?”
“Her husband put out the contract, the Byrnes were a conduit. Send her head to Byrne. Tell him to expect Madison’s next if he doesn’t get in line.” No one at the table responded, someone behind them did, in an Irish tongue. Shit, Niall could sneak with the best of them. “Rick Byrne wanted the woman dead, he deals with the fall out.”
“And that won’t get us in shit with…”
“Man wants his money,” Conn said to Whisper. “Delivering Nicole’s head is proof of completion.”
Whisper rose to go to the bar. “Those guys don’t need to do jobs, they could just show up and demand money.” The murderer, he’s who they were talking about. “Everyone would give it to them. They could just sit on their asses and collect until they die.”
“Their power comes in the myth, Peanut. That rep would change fast if they became beach bunnies.”
Play snickered. “Imagine any of those guys in Speedos.”
Everyone else enjoyed that, she didn’t quite follow. “Those guys?”
Whisper put a glass in front of her. “The Huntsmen. That was your first brush with the Reapers.”
“Our people off the street tonight?” Razer asked. “Everyone accounted for?”
Whisper went around the table, pouring whiskey into each glass. “They don’t vanish when they’re not working. They could be in any city, any time.”
“And if we know they’re close, we clear the streets.”
“Why?”
As Whisper sat again, she glanced at each guy. None of them were in a hurry to answer.
“They’re feral,” her friend said.
“Meaning…?”
“They weren’t raised like…” Whisper leaned over the table, lowering her volume. “Word is they didn’t come from any human, hell itself bred—”
“Peanut.” Razer did a lot of warning his woman. “They’re human.”
“I’m not so sure.” Whisper tossed her hair, then the whiskey into her throat. “They’re nocturnal.”
“Yeah, that’s been proved,” Play said. “They are only seen at night.”
“Maybe they’re vampires!”
“Enough,” Conn said, obviously tired of Whisper being… Whisper. “Madison and Vex stay here. I’ll take care of Silvio.”
Razer blinked, his eyes stayed heavy. “His allies in the city?”
“What allies?” Conn asked. “We have the inside now. Harvest will proceed without obstruction. The Manzani threads are stretched. His people leave Miami, and he severs his link to Biz, or his son won’t breathe another day.”
“Vex isn’t his favorite,” Whisper said. “He might be okay with that.”
In Silvio Manzani’s position, she’d be okay with it. No, she didn’t like being in the same building as the sleaze, but she trusted her guy’s chains to hold him.
“How does he prove it? We can’t take his word for—”
“His contacts will vote in favor of the Harvest rezoning.”
“That vote could take a while.”
“With the right pressure, it will happen when we want it to happen.”
“We may not need Silvio’s support,” she said and waited for Conn to meet her eye. “The Carlyle.”
“What about it?”
“I recorded it,” she said, sort of squirming.
“We’ll destroy the footage.”
“No,” she said, grabbing for Conn’s hand. “On purpose. I recorded it on purpose. I didn’t know what I would get until… The johns, the fire, we got the evacuation.”
Slow pride lit his gaze. “Bet some of those guys vote on the council.”
“I bet they do too,” she said, aroused by pleasing him.
“Vex stays where he is.”
Good. The streets would be safer. Saner.
“Silvio won’t like it.”
“I don’t care. Something else is more important,” her guy said, his hand slipping onto her thigh beneath the table. “If Silvio shows his commitment to shunning Biz, we’ll support Hell’s bid for freedom.”
Parole.
Silence.
That wasn’t something she’d expected him to say, and apparently the others were of the same mind.
Incredulity filled their Doherty. “Hell Manzani is dangerous.” Not something that had to be stated, Whisper’s unusual solemnity was a testament to just how risky the move might be. “If you let him out, he could bolster Manzani strength. They could become a serious threat. The man’s been in prison for two decades, I doubt he spent that time knitting booties.”
“Score came out a changed man,” Conn said with a tinge of duplicity. “Isn’t everyone worthy of a second chance?”
“Helios Manzani is no joke,” Whisper said. “That man is—”
“Agreed,” Play said, eyes locked to Conn’s. “It’s time.”
“It is,” Razer backed them up.
Shit, this was about more than anyone’s virtue. Clarity filled her lungs. It was a rescue mission.
Whisper’s head moved as she gaped at one guy, then another, and another. “What the hell is this?” Something Whisper, apparently, didn’t know about. “Since when are McDades in the habit of unleashing powerful enemies?”
Curling her fingers around Conn’s on her leg, she gave her support, if it counted for anything. “I agree too.”
“What the fuck?” Whisper exclaimed.
“We bring McDades home. All McDades.”
Dorsey, Conn’s young cousin, may be a McDade by name, but she’d lived her whole life imprisoned by Manzanis. What was left of her loyalty?
“Do we have the facilities for her?” Play asked. “Is she better here or elsewhere? I’d say we should ask her, but I’m not sure she…”
“Has the capacity to make decisions for herself,” Razer said and nodded her way, though his concentration stayed on Connel. “Use your woman.”
That got her the attention of everyone.
Whisper’s wide eyes would be amusing in any other situation. “Who the fuck are we talking about? Do we have the facilities for who?”
“Helios Manzani went to jail, in part, due to evidence betrayed by a McDade,” she said. “A four-year-old McDade.”
The go-ahead to explain wasn’t necessary. This was Whisper. Her explanation saved Razer from telling the story during their sex time later.
“A four-year old?”
“She’s been in Manzani hands since then,” Play said, sweeping up his glass. “As long as Helios was imprisoned, she was too.”
“Shit,” Whisper said, slapping a hand on the table. “Your father agreed to that?”
“Her father agreed to it,” she said for Conn. “Kept everyone alive.”
It didn’t bear thinking about that the Manzanis would consider killing an innocent child. Despite society’s progression, in the right circumstances, the possibility of murder still existed.
“You’ll meet with Silvio Manzani? Arrange it?”
“Not yet,” Conn said. “Timing is everything. Nicole’s head goes to Byrne, send the rest of her to Manzani.”
“Let’s dirty everyone’s hands, damn right,” Whisper said. “I’ve got to say, for a McDade, you know how to plan an operation.”
“Enough from you,” Razer said. “We have business downstairs. Ladies, want a ride back to the mansion?”
“No, we have business of our own,” Whisper said and leaped to her feet. “High Class is gonna fill me in on all the McDade lore I missed.”
Everyone was leaving the table.
“She can tell you about the Manzanis too,” Play said. “Especially Hell. They exchange love letters.”
“Not love letters, just letters.” She pushed in her chair. “And if you make the margaritas, I’ll tell you whatever you want.”
“Cheap date.” Whisper came over to steal her hand. “I love it! Bye, boys, behave yourselves!”
The guys went downstairs, she didn’t know what floor, but down there somewhere. And she happily took her seat at the bar while Whisper went around to the other side.
“I want to hear about your prison visit with Biz too.”
“Then we better call down for more tequila. This is gonna be a long night.”
The wink was punctuation Whisper always carried. Aggravating or accommodating, Whisper Doherty-McDade made no apologies, which was just the way a McDade wife needed to be.