When he finally lets me up for air he stares into my eyes. 揑 love you,?he whispers.
I blink away a tear. 揑 love you, too,?I breathe.
揑抣l see you tonight.?Then he kisses my nose and pushes himself off the bed and I watch his fine ass as he heads for the door and walks out without looking back again.
Chapter 16
Shane
I walk through the parking lot of The Peacock Club and look around at the cars parked up outside. From the shiny BMWs to the Audis, it seems like most of Sean O扖onnor抯 men have turned up for this meeting today, as well as the arrogant prick himself. My brothers and I have just bought a chain of these clubs. They are a little different to what we usually deal in, but when I heard they were for sale, my interest was piqued. They cater to a very particular clientele. Sex clubs, I think most people would call them, but from my research I have discovered they are so much more than that. And now my brothers and I own six of them across the world. I can抰 deny that Jessie influenced my decision, not that she knows about them yet, but I can抰 wait to take her to one of them some day.
The club is closed during the day, so it抯 the perfect spot to do a little business while I抦 here. The manager opened up for me half an hour ago and has now left to allow me the run of the place undisturbed.
I open the double doors and walk down the hallway. I don抰 know what I抎 expected the place to look like, but it wasn抰 this. It is tasteful and elegant, with muted colors and chrome and glass. I suppose I抎 been expecting leather and red paint. There are huge mirrored doors at the end of the hallway which I assume lead into the main club area. Someone leans against the wall just in front of them. I haven抰 seen him for twenty-five years and he has a long beard now, but I would still recognize him anywhere. He grins at me as I approach and I smile back. 揥hat the fuck are you doing here??
He holds out his arms. 揑t抯 good to see you, kid.?
I walk into his embrace. 揑t抯 good to see you too, Pol.?
We hug for a few seconds and I realize how much I抳e missed him. After my mom, my Uncle Paul was my favorite grown up when I was a kid. He taught me how to shoot and how to skin a rabbit. The former skill I have been grateful of, and have perfected over the years. The latter, not so much. 揌ow the fuck did you know I抎 be here??I ask as I step back from him.
揥hat??he arches an eyebrow at me. 揙扖onnor has been telling every fucker who will listen he抯 meeting you here today.?
揌e never could keep his mouth shut.?
Paul arches an eyebrow at me. 揑 hear he抯 got a busted face and a broken arm.?
揧eah? Well, he touched what didn抰 belong to him.?
揂 girl??Paul chuckles softly.
揗y girl.?
Paul nods his head. 揝he something special, is she??
揕ike you wouldn抰 believe.?
揙h, I can believe it,?he says with a nod and a faraway look in his eyes that makes me wonder who he抯 thinking of.
揥here the fuck have you been Pol? I thought you were dead??
揌ere. There. Everywhere.?He shakes his head as though he抯 annoyed with himself about something.
揧ou married? Got any kids??
揘o and no.?
揃ut there is someone, right??I ask, thinking of his reaction a few seconds earlier.
揌mm. There was.?
揥as??
揑s,?he snaps and I wonder what the story is there because I have definitely pushed some kind of button. 揕ook, we gonna stand here reminiscing or are we gonna get in there and fuck up Sean O扖onnor抯 day??
揂nd what makes you think I抦 going to do that??I frown at him.
揥ell, you抮e not handing operations over to him, are you??he asks, a little more of his Irish accent creeping into his voice the more he talks to me.
揘ot a chance in hell.?
揂fter you then, kid,?he says as he indicates the door.
I pull it open and walk inside the room with my uncle close behind me. There are a dozen men in the room. Sean O扖onnor sits in the middle of them, the ringmaster of this particular circus. His face is a mess and his arm is in a sling and I can抰 help but smile as I approach him.
揧ou抮e late,?he snarls.
揥hat can I say? My girl wouldn抰 let me get out of bed.?
揑 bet,?he snarls. 揝he looked like a slut.?
I don抰 have to act because Paul does it for me, walking straight over to O扖onnor and grabbing him by the throat. 揂pologize!?he snarls as O扖onnor抯 men look on. Although, I suppose they are no longer O扖onnor抯 men. They are mine.
O扖onnor抯 face is turning blue. He fumbles at his jacket but Paul only squeezes tighter and Sean looks like he抯 about to pass out. 揝orry!?he eventually wheezes and Paul releases him.
揟hank you for coming here this morning, gentlemen,?I say as I shove my hands in my pockets and finger the brass knuckles I have in there. I抣l be happily using them on Sean O扖onnor抯 face if he utters one more word about Jessie. 揑 won抰 keep you long, but I wanted to tell you how things are going to be now that my father is dead.?
Sean snorts and shakes his head.
揧ou got something to say first??I snarl.
揧es.?He pulls a gun out of his jacket and points it at me. 揥e are going to tell you how things are going to work around here. Now that your father is dead, the reign of the Ryan family is officially over.?
I narrow my eyes at him. 揧ou think so??
揑 know so,?he spits.
I look beside him at his second-in-command, Cormac Macaulay, who rolls his eyes.
揅an someone kindly escort this piece of shit out of here??I ask as I look around the room for a willing volunteer. Five men stand up.
揑 can, Boss,?one of them says.
Sean stares at them with an open mouth and waves his gun at me again. Cormac stands up and no doubt thinking his right-hand man is leaping to his defense, Sean stands with him.
揑 think it抯 only right that I do it,?Cormac says.
揥hat the fuck??Sean snarls but Cormac has disarmed him and has his arm up his back before he can even finish the sentence.
揇idn抰 you know Cormac and I are old friends, Sean??I frown at him. 揑 would have thought a man of your intelligence would have figured that out by now.?
揝nake!?Sean spits. 揗acaulay, you ungrateful cunt!?
揧eah, okay,?Cormac chuckles. 揧our time is up, Sean, but I抦 willing to at least let you walk out of here with a little dignity.?
Sean shrugs Cormac off him and straightens his coat. 揅heeky fucking cunts! Every one of you!?He points at the men seated around the room. 揧ou will all fucking regret this!?he hisses and then he storms out of the room.
Once he is gone, I turn back to the assembled men. 揂s I was saying, here is how things are going to work from now on. I抦 going back to New York as soon as my father抯 funeral is over. I don抰 have time to be back and forth to Ireland every five minutes to check on what you are up to. I trust Cormac, so as far as you抮e concerned, he speaks for me. I trust that all of you will just keep doing what you抮e doing. There is no need for anyone to be negatively affected by my father抯 death. Things will continue as they were, but with Cormac at the helm. Understood??
揧es,?they all nod their heads and voice their agreement.
揋ood. Now clear off,?I say and they all stand to leave. 揘ot you,?I say to Cormac and he nods his head and takes a seat again.
揘icely done,?Paul says when there are only the three of us left in the room. 揘ow how about you fix all of us a nice whiskey from that well stocked bar there??He nods his head toward it.
揥hat am I? Your fucking bartender??I frown at him.
He laughs and shakes his head. 揑 don抰 see my nephew for twenty-five years and this is how he treats me.?He slides off his suit jacket and hangs it over the back of his chair. 揝hall I fetch us a drink then??He coughs and rubs his chest.