Page 193 of Brutal Collateral

“Please, Griffin,” I beg him to finish me off.

He licks me to a fever until I’m sobbing with pleasure.

“I love it when you come in my mouth.” Griffin climbs on top of me and enters me smoothly, but soon pistons his hips in a rhythm that makes me lose my mind again.

“Fuck, this is so good. I love you,” he breathes against my neck.

“I love you back, brat.” I use my favorite nickname for him.

“Now you’re in trouble,” he groans and picks up speed, a pace that finishes us both.

Panting and sweaty, he rolls over but pulls me on top of him. I’m on birth control so we can plan our family going forward. I love my sons and want a few years with just them until we expand our brood. Which I know we will.

Griffin was meant for this even if he didn’t know it and never saw himself getting married. Although he confessed that he lived with the idea of being alone easily for years because he never could get me out of his mind.

Griffin is secure on his throne and contractors break ground in a few months on the new UN building. A COO manages much of the business end in the office with Kai Powers while Griffin makes surprise CEO appearances. He prefers to spend his nights on the streets with Connor and the enforcer team.

Our arranged marriage created a solid peace between the Irish and Greeks, but an Albanian cell has slithered in and has been causing trouble. Just another day in the mafia world.

“How about that bath?” Griffin asks, kissing my nose.

“Yes, please.” Despite my body feeling like it weighs a ton, Griffin lifts me easily.

We’re steps from the bathroom when his phone rings which it usually does right around now. The life of a busy emperor controlling his empire.

I think he won’t answer it, given this is our special time, but with a nose wrinkle, he swipes the screen. “Connor, what’s up? I’m in family mode with Ava.”

Connor’s voice comes through the phone, and when Griffin’s face falls, I lean in to listen.

“I have Garrett Donnelly in my tunnel. You should get down here,” Connor says and mutters a summary of what Garrett did that landed him in the Quinlan torture tunnel. “His father already found out and is on the way.”

“Are you sure Garrett sold those guns he said the Feds seized to the Albanians?” Griffin asks, his voice tight.

“My team followed him,” Connor replies. “Shane is going through his phone. Aw fuck, Old Man Donnelly is here already.”

“Put Richard on the phone,” Griffin says.

“Griffin, son, there’s been some kind of mistake.” An older man with a gruff Irish accent cuts into the conversation. “My boy—”

“Yourboywas caught red-handed.” Griffin puts the call on speaker so I can listen. “He told me to my face that ATF seized an entire truckload of guns that cost tens of thousands of dollars when he really sold it to the Albanian cell. He’s not a boy. He’s a fucking man. And a thief. You know better than anyone what people like us do to thieves,Mr.Donnelly.”

“Our family goes way back, Quinlan,” Richard Donnelly gets snippy.

Griffin mutes the phone to update me. “Richard worked for the O’Rourkes, too, when Kieran’s father ran the family. They’ve been a thorn in our side forever. We act like friendly rivals on the outside, but Ewan loathes Richard Donnelly.”

“I will pay back whatever you lost,” Richard quickly offers when Griffin unmutes the line. “Let me discipline my son on this one.”

“Not good enough,” Griffin bites out.

Richard stays quiet for a moment and after an audible throat clearing, says, “Then I will offer you something else to prove we’re loyal to you, Quinlan. Can I meet you in your office tomorrow?”

“No. Talk to me now. What do you propose?” Griffin shakes his head like he can’t believe he’s entertaining an alternative to what would be a very harsh and painful punishment for Garrett.

“My daughter Neve,” he says, low and controlled. “She just turned eighteen. She’ll make a fine wife.”

Griffin mutes the phone again. “What the fuck?”

I’m not shocked. History repeats itself. I understand mafia dynamics. Even though I hate the idea of a young girl being forced into marriage. But the Quinlan men are fine human beings.

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