Page 38 of The Apprentice
My mouth twitched into a grin. I couldn’t help it. “Yes, boy, I’m talking about product.”
“What do they sell around here? Coke?” Intrigue glittered in his eyes as he took a step closer. Sloan hadn’t trusted Fionn to get near our runners, and he’d told me it was because he preferred Fionn to take care of the bigger stuff, but I saw the hesitation for what it was—he didn’t want him to get hurt. I’d questioned Sloan about his motives, and all I’d received in return was a grunt. Sloan couldn’t be afraid for Fionn’s life while simultaneously teaching him to take over. It was a sign that both Killoughs had their weaknesses.
I leaned my shoulder against the wall beside a photo of Times Square. “Coke can get a hefty profit in some areas, but we’re moving stronger products in the business district. The rich enjoy the harder substances to take off the edge. Fentanyl’s the big fish around Manhattan. You can mix it with heroin and morphine.”
His eyebrows dipped. “But why do people do that to themselves?”
“You’re not thinking like a Company man,” I drawled. “We don’t carewhy. We don’t force it down their throat. We’re onlyhere to provide a service and product. They make the choice.” I straightened and stepped closer to him, laying a hand on his shoulder, then squeezing. “Rule number one when you’re going around to the distributors, Fionn. Never humanize our customers. They are nothing to us but cash. Why they come to us to get a hit is none of our business. We’re not shrinks.”
He nodded and took a deep breath. “All right. No humanizing.”
My thumb brushed across the skin on his neck, right above his collar, and the trace of warmth sent my attention straight to where I was touching. Realization of what I was doing hit me and I snapped my hand back.
A hurt expression flickered across his face before it hardened again. “Why didn’t I know you had a brother? And why did Michele say he was banned from New York by Sloan? That’s something I should’ve known.”
I sighed. I expected the question would come up sooner rather than later, but I’d hoped he would completely forget about the incident. Fionn was smart and had a memory that never failed when it came to the important things. It was why he held a grudge for so long. Even though there was no reason for him todislikeConall, he still did because he couldn’t rid himself of the bitterness of Conall’s arrival, even if it had been eight years ago. Or at least, that was what I assumed.
But I didn’t know how to tell Fionn what he wanted to hear while also asking him not to report Aodhan’s arrival back to Sloan. It wouldn’t matter anyway. Now that Aodhan had insisted on going to a club, Sloan would find out soon.
“The Italians know because they used to hire him. Aodhan... is a sore subject. He’s rebellious and doesn’t like to follow authority. When he was a kid, they diagnosed him with Oppositional Defiant Disorder, but I don’t think they were right.” I rubbed the back of my neck. There weren’t many peopleI talked to about my brother. Sloan didn’t want to hear Aodhan’s name, let alone discuss him, and my parents thought he was perfect the way he was, and it was no use trying to converse about him with them, either. “Aodhan enjoys mentally torturing other people. He knows it’s wrong, but he loves every second. He’s a sociopath, if you ask me.”
“Is that why you never told me about him?” Fionn crinkled his nose. “Actually, I don’t knowanythingabout you, Daire. You come to our home nearly every day. You sit in our meetings, and you support Sloan as his second-in-command, and we fuck and it’s nice, but I don’t know shit about you.” He threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know what you like doing in your spare time or your favorite foods. Before tonight, I didn’t even know where you fucking lived.” His eyes narrowed and he closed the space between us until our chests were inches apart and his breath teased my chin. “Why are you hiding from me? Because I bet my balls that Sloan knows all those things.”
“Yes,” I said simply.
“Yes?” The helplessness in his voice made my chest hurt.
“Sloan knows all those things.”But I keep them from you because I need you at a distance. I left the rest unsaid, but I didn’t need to because his gaze told me heknewwhat I hadn’t spoken.
His eyes sparkled with pain as he shifted backward. He swallowed deeply, Adam’s apple bobbing. “Fine. If you want it to stay business, we’ll keep it that way. Hell, we won’t even fuck anymore. You can keep your dick away from me. If I’m not good enough for you to date, then my hole isn’t good enough for you to use.” His teeth clenched and he raised his chin in defiance. “Just remember, this is what you wanted, not me.”
I didn’t know what to say. I already regretted my resolve in not taking this further than we had, and nothing he could say would make it worse. But I’d grown up getting used to beingthe one who had to take one for the team, always putting my own needs second to everything else. What made this time any different? It hurt more, though. I’d never seen him as anything more than Sloan’s nephew and apprentice until that night... when I’d made Fionn my boy.
My boy.He was mine, yet I had to let him go. Ineededto end this.
I squeezed my eyes shut for a brief moment and caught my breath. No. I wasn’t going to think about it right now. Instead, I tilted my head in the direction of the hallway and began to walk toward my bedroom, which was the second door to the left. I opened it and looked at Fionn.
“Aodhan’s in the guest room, so you can take my bed tonight.”
He frowned and glanced around me into the room. “Where will you sleep?”
Inside was designed with a similar dark aesthetic, with the king-size bed draped in an inky blanket and pillows. The floor featured the same carpet as in the hallway and the curtains that covered the floor-to-ceiling windows were also black, but a pattern of circles and swirly lines danced across the thick material. There were other items that separated the duskiness of the room, with brown shaded lamps and a couch. More grayscale photographs broke up the space on the walls.
“The bed looks big enough for both of us.” He gave me a pointed look. “We’ve fucked, and it’s not like we haven’t seen each other naked. I can keep my hands to myself.”
I smiled. “I know, but you’re the boss’s nephew. You don’t share the bed with men beneath you.”
“Seriously, Daddy?”
I shuddered at the name and sucked in a breath between my teeth. He knew exactly what that did to me.
He blinked up at me with those big hazel eyes and pouted a little, his mouth popping adorably. “You’re different. As annoying as you are, you’re important to us, Daire. So yes, I will be sharing a bed with you. Don’t fucking complain.”
“Don’t swear, boy,” I snapped lightly before I could stop myself. I cursed inwardly. This wasn’t helping the situation.
“Yes, Daddy Daire,” he teased quietly.
My cock jerked and pleasure simmered low in my stomach. He was doing this on purpose. Torturing me.
