Page 92 of The Apprentice
My phone rang, and Fionn groaned.
“Don’t answer it,” he said.
I shook my head. “It’s Conall.” I’d specially chosen that ringtone for him, so I knew who it was. I reached across the mattress and grabbed my phone off the nightstand, then swiped the screen to accept the call. “Sir?”
“Daire, there’s been an explosion at the new salon,” Conall said.
I stiffened.
We’d learned that Thiago Reyes was starting a line of salons down in Miami, using them as points of contact for selling drugs, which had him in the Company’s territory. To mess with Reyes, Sloan was going to open his own slew of salons, starting in New York City and venturing into Miami. All of this was to fuck with Reyes’s head before we took him down.
Today, Sloan had plans to show four of our men—Cillian and Rowen Shaughnessy, Aspen Kavanagh, and Fallon Maher—the new shop and inform them of our future business endeavors. Sloan had also taken Conall with him.
I sat up and dragged Fionn into my arms. My hard-on flagged at the news. “Is everyone all right, sir?” I put the phone on speaker so Fionn could hear it, too.
“I was hurt. I think I have a broken arm, but I’m at the Midtown apartment now and Rory’s here. I wanted to let you know what was going on. It was a shit show.”
“Who do you think set the bomb?” I asked when Fionn frowned.
Conall cleared his throat. “I don’t know. Sloan dropped me here and took the guys and left. I think he’s going to find out. Remember Sidorov?”
Sidorov was a Russian, and while usually Sloan hated dealing with them, Sidorov had a loathing for our Russian enemies as much as we did, which made having an alliance with him beneficial. He had the women to work the salons, and we had the money and power to support them.
“I bet Sloan’s headed out to see him.” Conall huffed, irritation slicing through his tone.
“Fuck.” I brushed a hand over my face. “We’re coming to you now.”
“You don’t need to,” Conall protested.
“We are,” Fionn chimed in, already moving to slide off the bed. He grabbed his pants and shoved them on, hiding his sexy brief-covered ass. “We’re already at Daire’s penthouse, and it’s near Midtown.”
“Yeah, okay. That . . . uh, sounds good.”
Fionn hesitated before rushing through getting dressed. He was worried about Conall, and so was I. There was a vulnerability in his tone that I didn’t think I’d heard from him. Clearly, the shock was wearing off. We needed to get to the Midtown apartment fast.
“Hang tight, sir. We’ll be there very soon.” I ended the call and dressed.
We went straight down to the garage to my SUV, and I drove us to Sloan’s Midtown apartment, parking in one of the designated visitor spots. Fionn was out of the vehicle before Iturned off the ignition, and I had to nearly run to catch up to him on the elevator. His foot tapped impatiently, and his eyebrows furrowed. There was nothing I could say that would calm his nerves because I felt the same way.
Bomb.
We were usually the ones who set them, not the target. The fact that Conall had been hurt in the blast meant Sloan would be out for blood, and I pitied anyone on the other end of that anger.
We made it to the apartment and knocked on the door, and as soon as it opened, Fionn shoved his way past the guards inside. I followed, nodding at the guards as I slipped by.
Conall was sitting on the couch in the middle of the living room, his arm in a sling but not in a cast. His long dark hair was wet and skin shiny as if he’d showered before he was patched up.
Dr. Rory Higgins sat beside Conall, and they were talking in low voices, but when Fionn burst through the door, Conall gave us his full attention and smiled.
“Hi.”
Fionn rushed over to Conall and sat on the opposite side of Rory. “Are you okay? What happened? Tell me everything.”
Conall sighed and ran his uninjured hand through his hair. “I can’t tell you much because Sloan dropped me off here and took off with the guys. You know what he’s like.” He shrugged, then winced in pain. “We stopped at the site for the salon to check it out. Sloan was telling the guys about his plans, and I walked ahead of them. I was about halfway across the street when I was thrown off my feet and landed awkwardly on my arm. There was debris and dust everywhere. My ears were ringing. I was dizzy. Next thing I knew, Cillian was at my side and helping me stand, and Sloan was calling my name. Cillian led me to Sloan, and then we were in a car on our way here. It was sudden.”
Fionn ran a hand down his face. “Fuck.”
Conall’s mouth pulled upward at the corner. “At least they didn’t get my face. A few scratches, nothing permanent. You’re stuck with me for a while longer.”
