Page 4 of Darkest Game
“What?”
“I’m Jack Finnigan.”
Holy shit. He’s the top of the top of the Irish mob. I’ve only ever heard of him but have never seen him before in my life. He’s in a pinstripe suit for fuck’s sake. I’m surprised he doesn’t have a fucking fedora on too.
I nudge Amanda off my lap. “What are you doing here?”
“I’ve come to talk.” He gives Amanda a dismissive look and I wave her away. If Jack Finnigan is here then it must be serious.
“Have a seat.”
He remains standing. “I’ve been told that you bring the Irish mob a lot of money. That you’re a loyal follower. And yet, you didn’t hesitate to take over the second Cillian Kennedy died.”
“Well… yeah. I was next in line for the job after him. Who else was going to take over?”
“I had a man in mind but you seized the job for yourself.” He grips the back of the seat across from the desk. His nails dig into the leather.
“You don’t sound happy that I took the job. But I do a good job. I make more money than Cillian ever did.”
“You do. But I’m still jilted. You rushed into it without consulting me.”
“I wasn’t aware that I had to.” I know snapping back at the head of the Irish mob is never a good idea but fuck, I’ve worked hard to get here and I’m not going to let Jack Finnigan talk down to me like this.
“You’re a boy.”
“I’m thirty,” I say flatly. “I wouldn’t call myself a boy. I have facial hair and everything.”
His lips remain in a thin, flat line. “You think you’re charming.”
“I’ve been told that by others.”
“By who? The women you pay to fuck you?”
I chuckle as I light up a cigarette. “I don’t pay women to fuck me. That women who was just in here? She comes of her own accord. And trust me, I’m good at making her cum.”
“I have a mind to put you in your place.”
“With what? I do a good job. I make good money. Why are you so upset with me?”
He slams his hands onto the table. “Because this job was supposed to go to a man of my choosing. Not of Cillian’s choosing.”
I lean forward in my seat and set my cigarette out right next to his hand. “Then you should have moved faster. That’s not my fault.”
“I will concede that you have the job now and that you’ve been doing a good job of it. But I still need to put you in your place. You need to know that you work for me. So I’m going to have you do a job for me.”
“What’s that?”
“I want you to steal the wives of Mikhail Novikoff and Nico Bernardi.”
I wait a second for him to say more and when he doesn’t, I huff. “Seriously? Natalya and Sasha? I already kidnapped them around a year ago.”
He makes a show of looking around the office. “And where are they now?”
“They escaped,” I say flatly. “That Sasha girl is a fighter. She shot two of my men like it was nothing. I have no desire to go after her again, I can tell you that much. Now that Mikhail and Nico are working together, I’d rather stay far away from them.”
“Scared?”
A flicker of anger runs through my core. “Practical. I hate Nico for shooting Cillian point blank. And I hate Mikhail because he’s a pompous asshole. I would love to see them dead. But I’m not going to risk my life taking them down.”
