Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
He stopped at the top of the stairs, most of him wanting to follow Olivia into the bedroom, but the pull of family digging deep. “Start your shower, sweetheart. I have a quick call to make.”
She nodded. “I’m sorry I brought all this trouble to your door.”
“You didn’t. It was here already. You just helped shine the light on the extent of it.” He pressed a quick kiss to her lips and retreated back downstairs to the study. After closing the door, he locked it for good measure. It was late, but someone would be up at the house back in Boston. They always were.
Sure enough, when he called, his father picked up. “I’m not pleased, Cillian.”
The last thing he wanted to do was have a go-round with Seamus O’Malley when he was worked up. As tempting as it was to mouth off like he normally did, he kept his tone perfectly polite and professional. “I know you’re not happy with how I’ve handled certain things—”
“‘Not happy’ is a vast understatement. I was under the impression that you’d left your wayward habits behind, and then I’m informed that you picked a piece of ass over your family. You’ve used O’Malley resources and put our people in danger, and for what? Throw the woman back to Romanov and good riddance. She’s not our problem.”
He gritted his teeth, fighting for calm. “She’s an innocent.”
“She’s half-Romanov—she’s no more innocent than you are. She knew the risks when she ran, and she dragged trouble straight to our door. Hell, that’s the best-case scenario. She could very well be leading you around by your dick, and you wouldn’t know until it was too late.”
Jesus Christ. “Enough.”
“I know you’re impulsive, Cillian, but this is taking things too far.”
“Enough.” He took a deep breath, but his calm had gone up like a puff of smoke. What was the point of doing every single thing his father ever asked of him if the second he veered off the chosen track, he was being accused of thinking with his cock? “I’m not calling about Olivia. I’m calling about the missing money.”
A pause. “Taking that tone with me is a mistake, boy.”
“Unless you’re planning on declaring me dead to the family like you did Carrigan, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. I’m doing what I think is best—for both the family and Olivia—and that’s all I can do. Give me some fucking credit, shut up, and listen to what I have to say.”
There was a rustling, and then Aiden’s voice came over the line, speaking low and fast. “Whatever the hell you just said to him, you need to make it right. He looks like he’s about to drive out there and throttle you with his bare hands.”
Considering he’d never talked to their father like that, his response wasn’t surprising. Hopefully Aiden would be more rational. “I know who’s been skimming off of us.”
That got his brother’s attention. “You should have led with that.”
It was kind of impossible to do that when their father started in on him the second he answered the phone, but Cillian didn’t say that. It was an excuse, and a stupid one at that. “I’m not one hundred percent, but I’m pretty damn sure it’s Dmitri Romanov. Or at least one of his people.”
Aiden cursed long and hard. “That bastard keeps popping up like a goddamn weed.”
“Yeah, well, you have a chance to bring it up tomorrow when you meet with him. The money was routed through half a dozen shell accounts, but it links back to a bank in New York—a branch in Manhattan. It’s not exactly a smoking gun, but unless we have another person in that area aiming for us, then it’s him.”
“You’re sure it’s that bank.”
“As sure as I can be.” Devlin would have been able to pinpoint it. Cillian just didn’t have the skills to take it further. Frankly, he was fucking surprised he’d managed to get this far. “Whatever this is about, it goes beyond money.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Aiden cursed again. “Okay. Send me what you have and we’ll deal with it.”
Cillian tightened his grip on the phone. Part of him wanted to be there, but it wouldn’t make a difference. He wasn’t one of the decision makers in the family. There was nothing he could add to that meeting that he hadn’t already done. Plus, Olivia needed him here. Going back to Boston would be just a selfish way to pat himself on the back for being clever. He was beyond that shit now. He had to be. “Will do.”
“And Cillian?”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t think for a second that the conversation about this woman is over. The only reason we aren’t handing her back to Dmitri gift-wrapped is because I hate that bastard. She’s still a threat, and she still needs to be dealt with one way or another.”