Page 98 of The Apprentice
I laughed and hooked my hand around the back of his neck, dragging him over the middle console for a hard kiss. “Nearly all the way, but it’s a start. The 495 is no joke, and you did really good, boy. When you’re confident, we’ll navigate the city.”
He chuckled as I unbuckled his seat belt.
We both slid out of the SUV, and he met me on my side, dragging me into a hot messy kiss that had my toes curling with the desire to take him to his bedroom and have my way with him, but that wasn’t why we’d come here.
Instead, I dragged him inside the house, ignoring Mr. Hopper as he grunted a greeting to us in his gruff, no-nonsense tone.
“Where is Lor, Mr. Hopper?” I asked.
The older man raised his chin as he closed the door behind us. “He’s in the guest apartment with Dr. Mifflin, sir.”
I inclined my head in thanks, but before I could head up the stairs, Fionn grasped my elbow. I glanced at him, and he winced.
“I don’t think now is the time to talk to him.”
“Fionn—”
“I know what you’re going to say, Daddy.” He shot Mr. Hopper a look when the older man cleared his throat. “And I understand that I need to put aside my differences with Lor, but I’m not ready yet. I swear, I’ll treat him with more respect, but I can’t talk to him right now.”
I cradled his face between my palms, and he stared up at me in a way that made my heart sting. A vulnerability shone through, begging me to let this go, and I couldn’t force him to do something when he didn’t want to. I smiled and laid a gentle kiss on his perfect mouth. “Promise me to think about it, okay?”
“I promise.” He hugged me, and I drew him in as close as I could get him, relishing his warmth.
Footsteps echoed around the foyer before they stopped. “Am I interrupting?”
We pulled apart and glanced toward Sloan, who stood beside the staircase. He had his arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.
“I—” Fionn’s phone buzzed and he tugged it out of his pocket. “I have the footage.” He grinned at me, then Sloan. “It’s fuzzy, so I’ll need to send it to someone to get it cleaned up, but I have it.”
“What are you talking about?” Sloan walked closer to us, coming to a stop at Fionn’s side.
“I decoded Diaz’s notebook. The phone number of the rat was a burner phone no longer in play, but she also included a date, time, and location for the meetup.” Fionn straightened, smiling proudly. “They met at a car garage in the city—right across from Real Time Financial.”
“Ciro Armetta’s bank,” Sloan said.
Fionn laughed. “Yep, and Ciro’s notoriously paranoid, so Daire and I went there today and asked for the recordings. Hejust sent them over.” He waved his phone at Sloan. “And I know the perfect person to up the resolution. There’s a couple of hours of footage in here, but if Zak can clean up the visuals, we can look to see if I recognize anyone.”
Sloan’s mouth curled into a smirk. “Good job, nephew.”
Fionn froze and swallowed. He squared his shoulders and returned the grin. “Thank you, Uncle Sloan.”
“Well, then, I’ll let you get to work.” He winked and turned to walk back the way he’d come, probably to head to his office.
Fionn licked his lips and moved toward me, and I opened up my arms to bring him into a hug, laying a kiss on his forehead.
“You’ve done amazing, boy. Now let’s finish this, all right?”
“Yes, Daddy Daire.”
19
FIONN
A day after sending the video footage to Zak, Daire and I received an urgent message to meet Sloan in the dining room. Luckily, we were already at the house. When we arrived, Sloan was pacing, while Conall watched him with concern, his finger tracing the deep red collar around his neck while he did.
“What’s wrong?”
Conall winced. “Cillian, Aspen, and Jamie didn’t get Joaquin Herrera like they thought. Instead, they killed Joaquin’s cousin, Noa Garcia.”
