Page 7 of The Warrior's Salvation

Looking up at the office door, I wonder if this is over my head, if Lochlan would be the better person to handle these emails. My job is supposed to be simple—responding to member complaints, assigning tasks to new staff, making sure shipments are on time. I just wish I knew if this was going to blow over or if Lochlan would overthink things.

Instead of letting this get outside the family, I choose to call Jasper. I know he and Da are busy, but they did say to call if I had any questions, and rather than worrying our father, I know Jasper will be able to reassure me or help me out.

But his phone rings through several times before going to voicemail. He may have left it in his car, or maybe he's in the middle of something. So I leave a fast voicemail for him to call me when he gets the message and lock my phone, but before I even put it back in my desk drawer, it chimes with an incoming text.

Unknown 10:37 AM: Don't do that…

I pause, scanning the room to see if someone is watching me, but everyone is busy working. No one has even looked up from their computer. Then my phone chimes again.

Unknown 10:38 AM: I'm here, and if you don't do what I ask, I'll make sure everyone knows Draco O'Leary is a criminal. Now, meet me in the parking lot. You have two minutes.

My throat constricts. I blink a few times as I read the message again, but I'm not sure what to do. Whoever this is must've seen me calling Jasper. That was the warning to "not do that”. But why? And where are they?

For a second, I think about not doing what they say. What will happen if I just sit here and pretend I haven't gotten a message at all? What would happen if I tell Lochlan, and he goes out to the parking lot to meet this freak? But what if it has to do with him? What if this is something to do with Lochlan O'Rourke being here at my father's offices running the show? Is that why they're targeting us now? They think Da is dirty because he's friends with an O'Rourke, but my father isn't a criminal.

And I'm not a pushover. I'm going to march my ass right down there and tell them to get lost. My father is a good man, and he's not crooked, and neither is anything about this labor union. If they think they can push me around, they're wrong. I'm not going to be intimidated at all.

I stand, putting my phone on my desk, and walk out the door. I take the first elevator down to the lobby and strut past the workstations to the warehouse. It's dark, and I don't bother turning the light on. I pass through it and into the open air outside the back door, where a man with dark wavy hair, dark sunglasses, and a tailored black suit stands waiting with his hands crossed in front of himself, clutching one wrist.

"Who are you?" I demand, conjuring all my boldness and attitude. It's how I should've behaved on Friday night when Lochlan yanked me off the dance floor. Instead, I draped myself over him and almost threw myself at him. But it feels good to puff my chest out, square my shoulders, and speak to this asshole like he's the annoying gnat of a human that he is.

He chuckles a warm, buttery tone, and I stiffen at the sound. It's almost not human the sound that vibrates up out of him, almost mimicking a predator's growl.

"Well, you're a bit feistier than I thought you'd be." The man peels off his sunglasses and glances up at the camera over the door, broken and dangling from the wire. It hasn’t worked in months, but maybe he already knows it. It's why he asked me to come down here. "I figured Draco's kid would have a nasty attitude like him."

"What are you talking about?" I cross my arms under my tits and take a hesitant step backward. "And why are you here? What do you want from us?" I try not to take this too personally, remembering I am new to this job. Maybe Jasper is right and this shit happens all the time, but it doesn't happen to me all the time. It never happens to me. I'm not going to stand back and let someone annoy or threaten me.

"Oh, honey, it's you I want." He folds the sunglasses casually, slides one earpiece down the front of his white button-down shirt that hangs open in front a bit. Chest hair peeks up out of the gap, and I wonder how old he is. He can't be that much older than Jasper, maybe not even Lochlan's age, but he has a thick mop of hair, dark stubble shading his jawline. "You see, while your father is out trying to keep the peace, I'm here to stir up some trouble. You understand…" His fingers reach out and curl around my cheek, touching me lightly. "Cat's away, mice play… that sort of thing."

I slap his hand away and glare at him, keeping one foot ready to dart back through the open door into the warehouse. He makes my blood boil, but he also scares me. I feel stupid for coming down here alone. Maybe Lochlan is right and I take risks. This was stupid.

"What do you want?" I try to make my voice sound bold, but I'm trembling. He has to see that.

"I want you to give me information. Whatever it is I request of you. And I want it in a timely manner. Do you understand?" I want to back away, but he snatches a handful of hair and locks his fist around it. As I take a step, my head cranes backward, neck arching at a stiff angle that makes me gag.

"Let go of me!" I gasp, turning hard to smack him, but he yanks my head backward harder and brings his hand up.

I think he's going to strike me with his other hand, but he doesn't. Instead he holds his phone up, screen lit up, and on it I see a banking statement. It's got Da's union letterhead, the company account number and several transactions circled, though I can't make them out with my eyes going cross eyed in this position.

"See this, sweetheart? Your Da is a money launderer. I bet ye didn’t know that, did ye?" When he gets hostile, his voice starts to crack, his accent coming out thicker. "And he's been doin’ it a while. And I think you don't want this to get out. Poor Da will end up in the slammer if it does. Wouldn't want that, would we? Who'll take care of Mum?"

I blink hard against the pain and reach up to where he's grabbing my hair and pry his fingers off. "Feck you!" I hiss, trying to straighten my hair a bit, but he smacks me hard and it makes me stumble backward into the wall.

"Now listen to me, Evie-bug…" My blood runs cold. No one uses that name for me except Da, and only inside our home. How would this man know that? "I have more than enough proof to give to the public prosecutor and see that your father never comes home again."

I hold my cheek, squinting into the sunlight, trying not to let the tears burning my eyes fall. "You're a liar. None of that's true." I'm trembling, wondering if I’ve been so naive to have missed something. Da is friends with O'Rourkes, but that doesn't mean he's crooked, does it? This man couldn’t possibly be telling the truth.

"Look into it, sweetheart. You'll see I’m not lying. And when I contact you again, if you even think of calling Jasper, I'll end you on the spot, and I'll pin it on your father. Now do as I say and take this." He thrusts a phone into my hand from his pocket. "It's how I'll contact you. And when I do, don't be a second late. You won't like me when I get angry."

The man turns to go and I shout at him, "Arsehole!"

"That's Darren, honey. Darren Connelly is what you can call me. But don't call me. Until I call you."

Darren walks calmly to a car and slides into the back seat as I scramble back inside the building. My hands are shaking, hair still fucked up. I'm about to piss myself in fear because no matter what Jasper says, this is most definitely not normal for anyone. And when the lights in the warehouse come on and I see Lochlan looming in the doorway on the opposite side of the building, I feel relief flood my system.

Part of me wants to run to his arms and tell him everything, but the threat that man made makes me freeze. If he threatened to kill me and pin it on my father just for telling Jasper, what will he do if I tell Lochlan?

Holy fuck, what is going on?

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