Alistair Chapter 13

The weekend passed rather quickly. Everyone was on higher alert because of the confirmation with Brynes. The O’Sheerans agreed with my assessment. Something had flipped or broken in him, and he wouldn’t rest until he felt his pride had been avenged. Aisling swore she had no idea why he was taking it so hard. Yes, they’d shared some kisses, which I detested knowing, but she said nothing more. She hadn’t mentioned to him her idea of a marriage of convenience. She claimed that while they would occasionally go out or attend an event together, sometimes, they didn’t speak for months at a time. No late-night calls or texting back and forth.

My personal thought was that he’d been waiting and living his life. He knew that one day, he’d have to marry to carry on the Brynes name and to have heirs for the family. At some point, he must’ve settled on Aisling as the woman who would be ideal as his wife, and who could blame him? Too bad for him. She belonged to me, and I didn’t give up what was mine.

Her family wasn’t keen on going back to Florida without her. They tried to talk us into coming back with them and doing the work remotely. They should’ve known not to waste their breath. She still had several things to do here before she would go home. Admitting defeat, they agreed to go back, but the men they brought would stay and join me, Creed, Reggie, Dario, and the three Aegis employees, when needed, to protect her. She still thought it was overkill, but it was the only way they’d accede to her staying.

We saw them off this morning. She promised them she wouldn’t spend a minute longer than she had to in California. I was anticipating our return home. I had plans, and I didn’t want to delay. It was bothering me that I didn’t have my ring on her finger. There was no need to wait. We’d been waiting for years already. The only reason I hadn’t given it to her yet was I wanted to do it in front of her entire family and make it special. Even though I thought I would never have a chance with her, I found and bought her ring several years back. I saw it, and I knew it was meant for her. I prayed when the time came, she’d agree and love it. If not, I’d get her one she did love.

As soon as we saw them off, it was back to the winery to work. I stuck near her. I was actually enjoying myself even if she kept apologizing about boring me. I was learning so much, and I had no idea what really went into creating a wine until this trip. I thought you grew the grapes and processed them, and that was it. Boy, I was wrong. There was a ton of science to it, and Aisling was well-versed in it. Watching her work was incredible for me. I told her to stop apologizing because I wasn’t bored at all.

The interest and passion on her face as she talked to her viticulturist were beautiful to see. She was in her element. It reminded me of how much I loved my work with the Hounds. Even though I was here with her, I was still working. In fact, when we went back to her office so she could do more, I excused myself to an empty office to have a conference call with Darragh. The others were watching her and the winery grounds.

When the call went through and the video link opened, I saw not only Darragh but several other O’Sheeran men. I tensed. This was supposed to be a regular meeting to discuss the latest requests we’d received. Usually, there were none of the others unless something big was happening or we were in the later stages of planning, and they needed to be brought into the picture.

The door to the office was shut, and I knew no one would be able to hear us. The office was soundproofed like Aisling’s. Sometimes other family members, when visiting, would use it. You could never be too careful who might hear something even if you thought your people were trustworthy.

“I see this is going to be more than a rundown of new requests. Hit me.”

“You’re right. We’ll get to those, but this first part takes precedence. Cody, why don’t you tell Alistair what you have?” Darragh asked. That’s when I saw Cody come into view on their end. Shit, it had to be bad if he was presenting.

“Hey. Alistair, let me say first it’s not anything definitive which you know pisses me off. I’m still trying to track shit down. I’ve been tearing through Brynes’ family, trying to determine if any of the people threatening them might’ve been responsible for what happened to Aisling. At first, they cooperated by giving us names and other information. However, since the showdowns with you out there, that’s been shut down. We’ve been told in no uncertain terms to fuck off by Christopher Brynes. He’s taking his butt hurt to the extreme. Honestly, I hope it is someone after him, and it was a fluke that Aisling was there, and whoever it is, gets his dumb ass,” Cody grumbled.

“But you can’t be sure,” I said with a sigh.

He shook his head. “No, I can’t. There’s chatter out on the dark web and the sites pertaining to things like that. You just need to know where to look, and I do. I monitor them for talk about the family all the time. While there’s always a degree of it no matter what, I haven’t seen it increase for either family, nor is there specific talk about a possible hit on them or us. That doesn’t mean someone isn’t after either party. It’s just that they’re keeping it in-house and close to the vest. They’re not talking or seeking outside help.”

“Son of a bitch, it’s been almost two months. If it was a strike against either of them, why hasn’t whoever tried something not made another attempt? I mean, has Brynes been stepping up his security so much no one can make a play for him? Friday night, he had one extra guard that we saw, and truthfully, he wasn’t impressive. We haven’t seen anyone suspicious around here, nor has anyone tried to strike out at Aisling,” I replied as I thought out loud.

“Exactly. The last thing we want is to relax our vigilance and then have someone make a move against her or any of the family. Right now, it’s the women we’ve stepped security up with, but you know how they can be. They may try to revolt soon,” Cian said with a grimace. All six men with wives were on the call. Even the older men weren’t pleased looking.

“Aisling may try it, but I already told her when it comes to her safety, I won’t be persuaded to let things slide. She can bitch, fight, and anything else she wants, but it won’t work. If it means putting her ass under house arrest or tying her up, then so be it,” I growled.

This made them all laugh. “Please, if you do either of those to her, film it. We’ll play it at your funeral,” Aidan teased.

“Shut up. I know how to soothe her ruffled feathers.”

“La, la, la, I don’t need to hear those details,” Cormac said, covering his ears. He grinned as he said it, and Aidan pretended to gag.

“We all agree. No details, or we’ll have to kill Alistair. Okay, back to what Cody was saying. The reason we have him on this call isn’t only in case you had specific questions for him but we wanted to talk about what we do next,” Darragh interjected.

“I hate to add to your workload, Cody, but I don’t think in good conscience we can stop trying to determine who and what are threats. If you find out that it was always against the Brynes or that jackass Chris personally, then fuck ‘em. It’s his problem, in my opinion. You guys might have other thoughts. If we hear nothing about the family or Aisling and there are no new attempts over the next month, then maybe we should think about easing off, but not all at once.”

They muttered back and forth before it seemed they settled on an answer. It was Cormac who gave me his thoughts.

“ Mac , we agree with everything you said. We’ll pray we can eliminate it as a threat to her or us, but if not, we won’t ease back the security. Do you have any idea how much longer she’ll want to stay out there?”

“Another couple of weeks, ideally. She’s working to get the meetings she wanted to do in person out of the way. The two she had on Friday were big ones, and she has one more this week with Caliari Corporation. Those were her top three, she told me. Her work with her team at the winery is going great. They’re on track, according to her. I gotta say, she’s impressive as hell. She knows this business inside and out.”

“She does love it and puts her all into it. No complaints on the family end. Okay, we’ll keep it as is. You work to help her tie things up as soon as possible. We’ll all feel better even if we don’t know who they were after if she’s here. Anything else before we move onto Hounds’ business?” Dar asked.

They all shook their heads no, the same as I did. At his chin lift, the majority left. Most didn’t attend these types of calls, so it wasn’t a surprise. I saw Cody stayed, which made sense since he led the team that checked into both parties of those we ended up accepting their cases. The other guys left after saying goodbye. It was the three oldest O’Sheeran men who stayed. Hmm, that was interesting. Yes, they still took an interest in the various dealings of the family, even if they were technically retired, but I couldn’t recall the last time all three attended a meeting of the Hounds, not at this stage, anyway.

“You have to be wondering why Daid and my uncaili stayed. It’s because of one of the requests we received. It took us all by surprise,” Darragh began.

“Alright, tell me.”

“It came from someone in the Bragan family,” Patrick stated.

Well, that was unexpected. Why would one of the top Irish mafia families in the States ask for outsiders to help them? And with what? “What did they ask us to do?”

“It seems they have a problem with young women and girls in their territory going missing. They think they might have an idea of who’s responsible. They’re asking for the Hounds’ help in eliminating the offending party or the offenders they think are behind it,” Sean added.

“Kinda odd. I would assume they have the means to go after the culprits themselves, so why ask for outside help? Has there been a change in the family’s strength or dynamics I don’t know about?”

“If there’s been a change, we haven’t heard about it either. The reason I believe they want to go outside is they believe it’ll bring a lot of heat down on them if they do it themselves,” Darragh said. He exchanged a mysterious look with Cody.

“Enough dancing around, just tell me.”

“First, let me say they believe the missing women and girls are being trafficked. If it’s true and they’re not just runaways or women getting free of a life they don’t want, then we should consider how we might be able to help. The tricky part is the ones they believe are behind it. We could be looking at war if it becomes known we had any involvement. Alistair, shit, I’ll just say it. According to the contact, they think it’s the Byrnes family,” Patrick dropped the bomb.

To say I was stunned would be an understatement. In the history of the Hounds, they’d never been asked to go up against any of the Irish families since the O’Sheerans went legit, except for the thing with the Doyles, which was voted on and approved by the five other families. Sure, the Russians or the Italians or others, yes, but not their own. Secondly, this, on the heels of the current problem with Christopher Brynes and the unknown assailants at the wreck, made it more suspect.

“Are we sure they have no clue we’re the ones they’re asking for help? It would be a great way to eliminate two bigger families if they got them to fight and kill each other,” I stated, not that they didn’t know the risks.

“We’re ninety-nine percent sure they don’t have a clue. It goes without saying Cody and his team will do the background checks as usual. The question is, if he discovers the women and girls are really missing, do we take the job if it reveals the Brynes are involved or any of the other Irish mob families? It’s like shitting in your own backyard. As careful as we would be, there’s always a risk we’ll be discovered,” Darragh clarified.

“This could be a time bomb, but regardless of who it is, if those women and girls have been trafficked or something equally awful, we have an obligation to do something about it, even if the Byrnes or others we might know are involved. We know the other families aren’t all legal. In the past, they’ve stayed away from dealing in prostitution. They know to keep their drugs and guns well away from our territories,” I muttered aloud.

“They do. The thing is, the Bragans are looking to go entirely legitimate. That’s not common knowledge. The head of the family came to Darragh and me not long ago to ask for our help with how they can go about it. We kept it quiet until we could determine if they were on the up and up. This request kinda derailed us from staying quiet. We haven’t mentioned it to the whole family, but after this discussion, we will. There’s no love lost between you and Chris, I know. You oversee the Hounds. Your input, if we even bother to go through with the investigation, is what we want,” Patrick clarified.

I sat there and took my time thinking over the potential risks of us saying yes. It was true, if it ended up being the Brynes, I wouldn’t shed a tear, not after how Chris had been acting. I’d never trusted him. He’d always presented himself as too slick and maybe sly. He thought he could charm any woman out of her clothes, and the fact that he wanted to do it to my woman infuriated me, but I tried to be objective.

We’d have to take every precaution not to expose who we were. None of us wanted outright war, and if it ended up in one, we wouldn’t want to risk the Connally and Kilkenny families backing the Brynes. It would make it a tough one to win, not that we had no chance, but casualties on our side would be a given if we went up against them alone. That didn’t consider each family’s allies in other mob families outside the Irish community or even business associates getting involved. We didn’t want to start a widespread mob war.

Finally, I gave them my answer: “I say do the due diligence on both families. If it comes back that the Bragans are legit and right about the disappearances, regardless of whether it’s the Brynes behind it or not, we help. If it is Brynes and his family, so be it.”

I heard sighs all around. “I hate it, but I agree. I pray to God Chris and his family aren’t behind anything heinous like trafficking or forced prostitution,” Sean said.

“Another thing we might consider is it may not be the whole family. What if only a select few have gone rogue, so to speak? For me, if they’re involved, I’m hoping for it to be that kind of situation. The rest of the family may see the elimination of those members as just,” Cormac added with a grimace.

“Me too. Okay, Cody, you know what to do. If you need to bring on more help with the stuff you’ve got going with determining the targeting of us or them, let me know. We can get help from the Horsemen,” Darragh offered.

The Horsemen he was referring to were the Horsemen of Wrath MC. Judge, our go-to tattoo guy, was a part of their club, and they were a bunch of good guys. They were tied to another MC we had a slight connection to in Tennessee through our cousin Donal. It was amazing sometimes how small the world actually could be. You’d think an MC wouldn’t have computer help of the kind we needed, but you’d be wrong. We’d discovered they had some of the best in the world. Plus, they fought against things such as this all the time.

“I don’t think I need it, but if I find I do, you’ll be the first to know. There was another request, right? Do we wanna talk about it too? Or are we just gonna discuss this one today and do the other tomorrow?”

None of us had more to say until we heard what Cody found, so we jumped to the second request. It was more of what we considered a standard one, so it was a go for the background to start. I admit, I zoned a tiny bit as they went over the second one. I couldn’t stop thinking of what it would mean if the Brynes were the bad guys and the Bragans the good guys. We’d have to tread extra carefully.

It wasn’t long before we were done, and the call ended. I sat back in my chair and ran through possible scenarios in my head. I jotted down notes on things we’d have to consider and possible safety points. I was so consumed with what I was doing I lost track of time. A brisk knock on the office door was what broke my concentration and made me glance at the clock. I was startled to see it was five o’clock already. Where the hell had the afternoon gone?

“Come in,” I hollered.

The door opened, and in walked my woman. She had a tentative smile on her face as she came toward me. I rose up and walked around the desk. I met her halfway, and then I took her in my arms and kissed her. It had been hours since the last one. I was overdue for one. I groaned at her taste. She moaned as we lustily kissed each other. By the time she pulled away, I was ready for more than a kiss. My cock was hard, and the surface of my borrowed desk was looking perfect to lay her out on. She laughed.

“Don’t even think about it. The desk is too hard. I hope I’m not disturbing anything important. I wanted to check and see how long you needed to stay behind closed doors. No hurry, I just wanted to know if I should have dinner brought in here or if I can cook at home.”

“I’m ready when you are. Just lost track of time. I can work on this tomorrow. If you’re at a stopping point, let’s head home. I’ll help you make dinner.”

“You can if you want, or you can watch and keep me company. I’d like to have the team join us if you don’t mind. I feel they need home-cooked meals, too, and I like cooking for more than just the two of us.”

“ Leanabh , you can invite whoever you want, as long as they leave later when I want my alone time with you.”

She gave me a sexy smile. “I agree with that. Okay, you tie up whatever you’re doing here and meet me at my office. I’ll tell Carrie we’re heading home. And I’ll let Creed know so he can inform the others.”

“Deal.”

One quick peck, then she was gone. I closed out my Word document after saving it, then closed my laptop and packed it in my briefcase. I took a leisurely stroll through the building, just eyeing it before I ended up at her office. Carrie was taking her purse out of her desk.

“Have a good night, Carrie.”

“I will, Mr. Graeme.”

I gave her a stern look. She smiled. “I mean, I will, Alistair. Make sure Aisling doesn’t work tonight. She’s been going non-stop all day, and I see the gleam in her eyes. She’ll try to work all night if we don’t watch her. It’s your job away from here to take care of her, and mine is to try to do it when she’s here.”

“Roger that. I’ll make sure.”

I saw the grin on Creed’s face. He was standing outside Aisling’s office door.

“I heard that!” Ais shouted from inside.

“We know. We wanted you to. You work too hard,” Carrie called back to her with a grin on her face. “Night boss. See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Carrie, drive safe,” Aisling called back.

“You too,” Carrie called out as she gave us a wave, then left. Reggie and Dario were stationed on either side of the front door. I’d checked on my walkabout to be sure all doors and windows were secure, even though I knew they’d done the same. When Aisling came waltzing out, I took her arm, and we were off. I was looking forward to chilling at the house.

???

The insistent ringing of a phone brought me out of a deep sleep. I bolted upright and reached for mine on the bedside table. As soon as I grabbed it, it registered that the ringing wasn’t coming from my phone. It was Aisling’s. She fumbled to pick hers up.

“Hello,” she said huskily.

Glancing at the clock, I saw it was two in the morning. We’d only gone to sleep a little over an hour ago after a very pleasurable bout of sex, which had worn the both of us out. I scooted closer when she sat up straighter, and I saw fear on her face. I wanted to take the phone away and find out who was calling and what they were saying to put that expression on her face, but I fought it.

“When? How much damage? Do we know how it happened?” she fired off one right after the other.

She flipped off the covers and was on her feet, headed for the closet while she talked. I didn’t delay getting my ass up and over to my clothes. Whatever was going on, she obviously wanted to go somewhere, and she wasn’t leaving without me. I always kept clothes next to the bed. Habit from my military days. I was almost completely dressed by the time I heard her say goodbye. As soon as she hung up, I started to question her.

“Ais, what’s wrong? You mentioned damage.”

She came out of the closet with her clothes in hand. I saw they were shaking. I went to her and pulled her close. She buried her face in my chest.

“That was Carrie. Since she’s here all the time, she’s set up to get alerts if anything happens at the winery. The alarm company called and told her the alarms went off, and police were dispatched. She went to see what was up. She didn’t call me because she thought it was a false alarm. They happen from time to time. It wasn’t. The winery was on fire. I’ve gotta get there and see what the damage is and figure out what to do. God, how did this happen, Stair? Do you think it’s related to the guys in the car who caused the wreck? If it is, why go for the winery and not here?”

“Shh, I know you want answers, and so do I. Let’s get the guys and go. You get dressed, and I’ll text them. I promise, no matter what, we’ll find the one responsible and make this stop.”

She sniffed and nodded, then pulled away to dress. I grabbed my phone and texted the group I created for this trip and the men protecting her. I barely sent the text and slipped on my shoes when my phone began to chime with their responses.

The two of us made a super quick stop in the bathroom, and then we were ready. The guys were all waiting at the front door except Reggie and Vander. Creed saw me scanning their group for them. “Reg and Vander went to get the cars. Anything new?”

“Nothing. We need to get there and see what the hell happened,” I told them.

The honk of a car horn told us the cars were here. Making sure Ais was surrounded, we exited the house. Dario brought up the rear. He activated the alarm and locked it up. I hustled her into the first car. Vander was driving it. Creed, Kendric, and Dario got in with us. The rest got in with Reggie. We took the lead. I could feel her whole body practically vibrating with tension. I rubbed her leg. I knew words wouldn’t help, so I kept my mouth shut.

It didn’t take us long to get there. Before we reached it, we saw smoke in the night air. As we got closer, we saw the police cars and the fire trucks. We were stopped by a cop standing in the middle of the road. He came to the driver’s window. Vander lowered it.

“Folks, you need to turn around. This is private property. There’s nothing to see.”

“I know it’s private. I own it. This is my family’s winery. I’m Aisling O’Sheeran. These two vehicles are my men. I need to speak to your chief and the fire chief. We’re going through,” Ais told him firmly.

“Ma’am, I can’t just let you pass. I need to see some ID and then check out if you’re the actual owner,” he argued.

I wasn’t in the mood for bullshit right then. I leaned toward the window. “Go get Carrie. She’s here and the one they called when the alarms went off. She can verify who we are, but make it quick. We’re not sitting here all damn night. Ms. O’Sheeran needs to know what happened and how much damage there is. I guarantee you don’t want to piss off her family.”

He was young and appeared very unsure and nervous. I’d bet he hadn’t been a cop long, and he had no clue how to handle people like us. Well, it was good training. “I-I can’t leave my post,” he said hesitantly.

“Then get on your radio and call someone over here who can help us,” Kendric snapped.

The guy fumbled with his radio. He called for backup. While we waited, he eyed us with suspicion and his hand on his gun. He had no damn clue we were all armed and far more dangerous than he was. An older gentleman with gray hair came striding up with a frown on his face. He was in a police uniform.

“What’s the damn problem here, Ramsey?” he snapped.

“Sergeant, this woman claims she owns this winery and wants through, and the men in both cars are with her. I told them I couldn’t do it until I verified who they were and got permission. She says her name is Aisling O’Sheeran.”

The patrol officer might not have a clue who Ais was, but by the expression on the sergeant’s face, he did. He peered into the car. Straightening up, he glared at Ramsey. “Let them through! She’s an O’Sheeran, and they own this winery. God, do you live under a rock?”

Turning back to us, he gave her an apology. “I’m sorry, Ms. O’Sheeran, please go ahead. Your manager is in the front parking lot with the fire chief and our chief. If you need anything else, let me know. I’m Sergeant Harris.”

“Thank you, sergeant,” she said with a smile.

After he stepped back, we took off. Glancing back, I saw him chewing Ramsey out by the looks of it. The parking lot was full of people. The firemen were pouring water on the fire, which, from what I could see, was mostly smoke by now. We parked and got out. As a unit, we moved around the lot to try to find Carrie. After about five minutes, we heard a woman shout, and then we saw her. We rushed over to her. She and Ais hugged each other. The men standing with Carrie were giving us the once-over. When they were done, Carrie introduced us to them. Hearing Aisling’s name had them all coming to attention. It was hard to see how much damage there was. I prayed it wasn’t extensive enough to shut down the winery. If it were, it would ruin the plans they had for rolling out the new wines. It would crush her. I waited to hear the news.