Page 52 of Redemption

We shed our clothes, and any thoughts of talking turn to finding a few last moments of pleasure in each other. When I climb on top of him, and he grips my hips, our gazes connect. The combination of love and lust in his icy-blue depths squeezes my heart. To be loved by this man is tied for the greatest gift of my life. Not before him, and not after him, has anyone consumed me so fully.

My breasts brush against his chest as I rise and fall over him in the slowest, sweetest rhythm. Being without him again so soon catches my breath, and I kiss him deeply and cling to him. His hand slips between us, brushing against my clit, and I gasp into his mouth as I grind on him, seeking my release.

He tugs me a fraction of an inch closer, and I come apart, gripping his shoulders with the ecstasy, and he follows behind, crying out my name.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Finn

Whenwearriveatthe farmhouse in the rolling hills of west of Cork, we’re greeted by two cattle dogs and a six-foot-tall bear of a man with a shotgun.

“You Francois?” I put my hands up.

Lorcan, beside me, also has his hands raised. We’ve both got a gun at the small of our back. “Pierre-Jacques sent us,” he offers.

The man lowers his gun and whistles for the dogs. “Damned PLA,” the man grumbles as he motions for us to follow him. We keep our distance as he leads us to one of the barns behind the house. Fan-fucking-tastic. The PLA lives in a barn. My hopes for something better than a seventies mansion are fading fast.

When we get to the door, I eye my brother. We haven’t discussed a strategy for the first meeting, but since we don’t know who is in the barn other than Francois, sending Lorcan in blind is idiotic. Northern Ireland is generally safe from recognition. We didn’t spend much time there in our youth. But the south? We ran around here like a playground while we went to school.

“You stay here. Watch my back.”

Lorcan nods and leans against the side of the barn.

“He’s not going in?” the bear of a man asks in a thick accent.

“Just me.” I motion to the door. “Do you need to tell him I’m coming or anything?”

“Doubt it,” the man says. “Just Francois in there, hiding out. My brother is a useless tit who thinks you all can give him more than an honest day’s work.”

A smile plays at the edges of my lips. He tells it like it is. I’ve got no problems with that. “He’s your brother, and he’s named Francois?” I arch my brows.

“Changed his name. The twat. That woman of Pierre-Jacques’s gifted him the new poncey moniker.”

“It’s just him in there?” The realization I’m not walking into a substantial crew hits me between the eyes. Lorcan’s plan depended on more than the three of us.

“Aye.” He snaps his fingers for the dogs and heads toward the farmhouse.

“It’s still too risky for you,” I say to Lorcan.

“You don’t know everyone I used to know.” He scratches the back of his head. “You could call me in there, and I’ll recognize him, anyway. Least if I go in, we’ll realize straight away what we’re dealing with.”

I scuff my feet in the gravel outside the entrance and squint into the fading light. Can’t disagree with his logic, even when I don’t like it. I unlatch the door and step into the barn.

“Francois?” I call out, surprised at how clean and modern the place is. From the outside, it looks like a wooden barn, but inside it’s renovated in neutral tones with wood-and-steel accents. Much nicer than the mansion up north.

“Up here,” he responds from the loft space. “Be there in a tic. You Finn?”

We’re going to need to talk about security. While his bear of a brother might be menacing, he gave up Francois without mounting any defense or question. “Yeah,” I respond. “The one and only.”

He lilts down the stairs, tucking a wallet into his front pocket. “Right, we have ta be at the pub in the next ten minutes.”

“The pub?” I scan him as he rushes from the bottom toward us. Has to be in his twenties. Too young to have been friendly with either me or my brother.

“Right, yeah. That’s where the crew is. Dish out the assignments. We’ve got a week, yeah?” He eyes me. “You’re older than I expected, mate.”

“You don’t have Google?” I give him a mild look and tip my head at Lorcan. “This is Lachlan.”

He shakes Lorcan’s hand and then leads the way to our PLA car. “I don’t know what you’ve been told, but we’ve got about twenty lads lined up.”

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