Page 99 of The Apprentice
“Garcia? As in Santiago Garcia’s sister?” I had a whole set of notes about him, too. Technically, the Norse Lords MC over in Pleasant Beach, California, weren’t our allies. They were impartial when it came to mob wars, but I liked to know about everyone we had dealings with, regardless of their commitment to us or lack thereof. Santiago—also known as Fenrir—was also Ardan Murphy’s ex-lover.
Sloan blew out air through his nose and stopped behind the chair at the head of the table. He crossed his arms over the top ofit and leaned his forehead onto his wrists. “Exactly. This entire assignment has gone backward. I thought I could trust them.”
Conall rose and laid a hand on the middle of his back, rubbing comforting circles. “They are the best. If this happened to them, imagine what would’ve happened with someone else. They made a choice, and it was the wrong one.”
“They blew the bomb in the salon up without confirming they saw Herrera.”
“It was raining hard,” Conall argued lightly, snuggling up to Sloan. “All they could see were umbrellas, and according to their sources, it should’ve been Joaquin walking into that salon, not Noa. Anyone else would’ve made the same mistake, even you, Boss.”
“So, what now?” I licked my dry lips, eyeing Sloan carefully. He appeared more ragged than usual, the dark circles under his eyes a tad more prominent. The brown roots of his hair were outgrowing the bleached blond, a sign he needed to call the hairdresser in to redo it. This was my uncle stressed in every way, and my heart ached with the urge to help him however I could.
“I called a meeting. They’ll all be here soon.” He waved his hand at the seat to his left. “Sit down. It’s going to be a long night.”
“Yes, Uncle.” I took the first seat, while Daire stole the chair beside mine. Under the table, he laid his hand on my thigh and squeezed, and I gave him a small smile in response.
It didn’t take long for the cavalry to show up, and the dining room was full of our men. On our side of the table sat Cillian, Corbin, and Ardan, while Aspen, Conall, Jamie, and Rowen took the other. As soon as Sloan explained the situation, the chaos began. Questions were thrown at Ardan, who had an informant tell him that it was Joaquin who was killed, and accusations of their failure were thrown at Cillian, Aspen, and Jamie. I watchedwithout a word as Sloan ordered them to return to Miami to finish the job, and they didn’t hesitate, shooting to their feet and leaving immediately.
Then, came the conversation about Fenrir and if he was going to retaliate.
“This isn’t good for us or our relationship with the Lords. If Fenrir decides he wants revenge, the president of the club will no doubt support him,” Sloan said with a sigh. “The only positive we have from this is that he will be angry at Thiago.”
One could only hope he’d be pissed at Thiago fucking Reyes.
Ardan threaded his fingers together on the table. “Santi never wanted his sister to be part of the Cartel. He begged her not to help their cousin. He will put half the blame on Reyes as well.”
That was something. We wouldn’t take the full blame.
Daire hummed beside me, and I gave him my attention. “Whether he’ll go after us or Thiago for revenge remains to be seen.”
My stomach turned nervously. I’d never met Fenrir, but I’d heard a lot about him. He was great at his job as a hit man, and I didn’t want any of my family in his crosshairs.
Ardan laughed, but there was an edge to it that I didn’t like. He was usually the calm one, the reserved person who showed little emotion. “He’ll come for us. When, we won’t know. Santi’s more calculating than Thiago. He waits for the opportune moment. He’s a hit man and good at it, too.”
My gaze slid to Sloan, and the expression on his face hardened, a subtle change that I noticed immediately because of how long I’d lived with him. “Right now, we need to focus on Thiago and his plans. He’s more likely to react out of anger.” His jaw ticked in irritation. “Which is why I propose we send the ones we love away for a while.”
I winced, aware of the outburst that was going to explode from Conall, and I wasn’t wrong.
“Bullshit.” He jumped to his feet and smashed his fist onto the table. He pointed a finger at Sloan. “No,” he snarled. “I know what you’re doing, and you can kiss my pale arse because I’m not fucking going anywhere. You hear me?”
I reached for Daire’s hand under the table, and he laced his fingers through mine, the pressure a welcome comfort. His warmth seeped through me because of how close he was, and I needed all the stability he offered. He was my pillar, my wall of strength.
Conall and Sloan argued, and I vaguely listened to them because it was all the same—Conall telling Sloan that he refused to hide while Sloan was in danger and claiming his spot was at Sloan’s side. The thing I’d come to respect about Conall was that he didn’t back down, and he knew the truth—that Sloan needed him. After they argued came the passionate kissing, and while others thought it was hot, the fact that Sloan was my uncle made it objectively not so for me, so I kept my eyes on the other men.
It wasn’t until they were done and Sloan mentioned my name that I returned my attention to him.
“A lot of things are happening, and we need to keep on top of all of them. Ardan, Fionn is close to finally catching the rat.”
Ardan turned amused eyes on me, his eyebrows raised in surprise, and I made a point not to be insulted by the expression. Not many people trusted me to get the job done, and I was going to prove them all wrong.
I sat up straighter. “We have a video of Diaz and the rat meeting together. It wasn’t easy to get. This was five years or more ago and not many people keep security footage for that long, but they were stupid and met across from an investment bank with a manager who’s notorious for keeping up to ten years of recordings.” Actually, he never deleted any, but it wasinformation they didn’t need. I didn’t want to come across as a know-it-all and if I gave them a detailed overview of everything, I’d look like one. “Now we’ve got an IT guy cleaning up the visuals so we can see who it is. We should have a name within an hour or two.”
Zak had found Diaz on the footage, but now he was clearing the photos of the men and women who came out right before or after her to see if we could recognize anyone.
“And when he does, I want you to be ready, Ardan.” Sloan pointed at him.
Panic hammered away at my chest, and I lost my breath for a moment. I straightened. “Uncle, I deserve to finish the job.”
“Do you?” His gaze drilled a hole in me as he leaned an elbow on the table. I stared back, not willing to concede defeat. If he wanted me to run this company, I needed to take charge and that meant finalizing this rat issue.
