“I can’t believe this is happening when Jake just peed on me.”
I burst out laughing. “He didn’t!”
“He did.”
“I thought he’d grown out of that.”
“Me too,” she drawled. “But I’ll take it. Holy shit, babe. Holy shit. I can’t believe We Cream talked about my brownies.”
“I can. And guess what? Other bloggers are going to as well.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do,” I countered. “Have you seen the comments? She’s already got two hundred.”
“How did you even know she’d posted?”
“I have alerts set up.”
“Alerts?” A laugh escaped her. “Why am I not surprised?”
I just smiled. “I don’t know why you would be either.”
She cackled. “I walked into that.”
“You totally did.” I pursed my lips, mind racing. “You need to speak with the bakery. Make sure they’re set up for what’s about to hit them.”
I heard her suck in a breath. “You really think so?”
“I fucking know so.”
It had rattled my cage that she didn’t want me to get involved with the bakery, but I got it.
She wanted her achievements to be her own. And now that she’d done it, even though it had taken fucking ages, I got it even more.
This wasn’t tainted by the Five Points.
This was well-earned and well-deserved.
“Jeez,” she breathed, making my smile widen.
“You’re a baking rockstar, Aoife. It’s time the world knew that.”
“You’re making me blush.”
“I’ll make other parts bright red later on,” I promised with a laugh, “but you call the team together to prepare for what’s heading your way.”
“I already had three openings—”
Smirking, I murmured, “I know.”
She was silent a second, then she laughed. “Finn!”
“What?!”
“You know what I mean. I needed to hire three people before this… do you think I’ll need to hire more staff?”
“Definitely.”
“Wow,” she whispered.
“Wow,” I murmured back, grinning like a fool for her. “You going to go, sweetheart?”
“Yeah. I just… I’m basking.”
“Well, bask away, babe. You deserve this. I’m so fucking proud of you.”
“Oh, Finn, thank you.”
“I didn’t do dick. You did it all. You. Well done, sweetheart. Well fucking done.”
When she sniffled, I knew what was happening, and though I wanted to hug her and kiss her, I knew—even if she didn’t—that she’d have to work fast. The world was instant now. Once news spread…
I checked the blogger’s Instagram. “Baby, you need to get talking to the bakery. Trust me. She shared it on IG too. I just checked. It’s a video and she’s already had three hundred thousand views.”
Aoife squeaked then squawked, “Holy shit! Okay, love you, bye, love you, speak later, love you.”
She said all that in a blur and I laughed as I barely managed to return the words before she cut the line.
I let her joy filter through me, let her success wash over me, and I reveled in it for a while.
It felt good.
So good.
That was what I wanted for Jake. Success—but earnestly achieved.
I cast a glance at the warehouse that was Declan’s home away from home and a lead balloon settled in the pit of my stomach.
Knowing that I couldn’t hang around here all day, I climbed out of my car, feeling oddly punch drunk, enough that I didn’t even mutter any orders to Sam before I slammed the door closed.
I felt the flicker of attention from the assigned guards as they took note of my passage across the forecourt, and one opened the door for me as I approached the entryway.
A couple minutes later and I was stalking into the warehouse that was Declan’s piece of poisoned paradise.
I was one of the lucky ones. My slice of hell was in a skyscraper, behind a desk as I steered the legitimate front of the Five Points, Acuig Corp., into a billion-dollar business.
Declan and Brennan weren’t so fortunate.
Brennan’s second home was in the Hole, a place aptly named because some parts of the city in that area weren’t even served with water, never mind being a part of a police beat.
Declan’s was in a warehouse where we stored a lot of our guns, ammo, and some of our drug stock.
I hated coming here.
I knew what I was, never forgot where I came from, but this was just a reminder. I couldn’t imagine being Declan and having to come here every fucking day, and it was one of the reasons I was determined my children would never have to do what I did for a living. My brothers’ kids, either.
With Aoife’s earnest joy still filling my heart, it was strange to stand here, in this grim place, where evil shit went down, and say, “Eoghan told me you’ve been calling him.”
Though I knew he’d seen me coming, my second-youngest brother peered up at me from his laptop and dismissed me, “I called Eoghan, not you.”
“I told him I’d deal with whatever problem you’ve got on your hands, seeing as he’s on his honeymoon.”
Declan arched a brow. “You don’t like getting your hands dirty.”
I scowled at him. “Do you like it? It’s not exactly something to like, is it?”
“True. Not unless you’re Da.” He squinted at me, took in my Gucci suit and coat with a twitch of his lips. “You’re not dressed for it.”
“You got a problem with Gucci?” I mocked, tugging on my lapels as I straightened up.
“No, but Gucci might have a problem with you getting blood all over that.” He wafted a hand up and down and asked, “How much did that cost anyway?”
“Like you don’t have expensive suits,” was my wry reply.
“I don’t wear them in this warehouse,” he retorted, getting to his booted feet and approaching me.
“I can see why.” I peered around. “What did you want from Eoghan, Dec?”
“I don’t think you really want to know, Finn.”
“If you were talking about torture, then you’d have called Aidan or Brennan in, not Eoghan. Stop with the petty BS. I might sit behind a desk, but I started at the exact same place you did.”
He folded his arms across his chest. “Do you speak fucking Russian?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Of course, he says,” Dec rumbled, rolling his eyes.
“Eoghan speaks it?”
“You know what he’s like. Reads the dictionary fucking once and knows what it all means.”
“Knowing what it means and understanding it are two different things entirely,” I retorted.
“Well, hoorah for me you can speak the fucking lingo.” He grunted like he was annoyed.
“Is this about Sullivan or Walsh?” I asked warily, naming the Five Pointers who’d been Sparrow informants.
“No. They came forward on Armistice Day. Why would they be here?”
I shrugged. “Maybe Senior told you something he didn’t tell me. Maybe he went back on his word.”