Chapter 20

CHAPTER TWENTY

Sean

I t's four in the afternoon, and I'm losing patience with the fucking world. Tag has had us patrolling up and down the river, watching the warehouses all day, and not one damned thing has happened.

Whether Mattie took a day off to honor his family—which I highly doubt—or he's fucking with us, today was nothing but wasted hours and wasted gas.

"Am I keeping you from something, brother?" I glance to the head of the meeting table and meet Tag's scrutinizing gaze. "You've checked your phone ten times in the last ten minutes. Is there something I should know about?"

I can't very well tell him I've lost all focus because I'm waiting for a text from Piper. She's still the enemy in Tag's eyes and I'm supposed to understand that and put the family first.

Besides, she probably got caught up after the funeral and is just meeting up with those girlfriends who share a flat up in Cabra. The fact that I haven't heard from her doesn't mean she's in trouble.

I might have a serious protector complex developing. Piper is a smart girl just beginning to assert her independence. She doesn't need me hovering.

"No. Nothing. The day is just wearing on me."

Tag leans back in his chair and pinches the bridge of his nose. "Aye, I'm well acquainted with that feeling, but I need you to focus. My call with Anton Volkov is in three hours and I still don't have a workable plan about how to unseat Mattie in this gun deal."

"Ask and ye shall receive, brother." Finn has a spring in his step as he bursts into the meeting room, laptop in hand, followed by Laine.

The moment Tag sees his fiancé, he launches to his feet. "What's wrong? Why did Finn bring you here?"

Laine waves away his concern and points to where Finn is setting himself up on the table. "We have an idea—a good idea about how to handle the Russians."

I stride over to the door and shout down the hall. "Brendan and Bryan, family meeting."

Finally, maybe we can end this.

Brendan and Bryan hustle in a moment later and I point to the door. "Close that."

Bryan gets the door, and then we all move to stand behind our baby brother.

"All right, Finny, what have you got?"

He meets my question with a smile. "The biggest problem we've been having trying to overtake the McGuire gun deal is the volume, right?"

Tag crosses his arms. "Aye, we could accept their first shipment, but we have no use for that number of weapons on a regular basis."

"Not to mention it would pull funding from our legitimate businesses," Laine adds.

When did everything Quinn become ‘our businesses' ? It irks me a bit that Tag has opened us up to the woman so quickly, but she's smart and he's happy, so I let it go.

"Well, worry no more, brothers, because we have the answer." Finn grins and opens the files Laine gave us from the Tessiano Outfit.

She smuggled a thumb drive out of the states, hidden in the urn of her mother's ashes. It contained a dozen folders filled with detailed operational information from the Chicago crime family.

"The Tessianos want guns. The Russians want us to buy their guns. Why don't we act as middlemen and either connect the two or take a cut of the transaction fees to handle shipping?"

I pat Finn's shoulder. "The idea has bite to it."

Tag doesn't look so sure. "But if we approach the Tessianos, knowing what we know, there's a good chance they'll realize Laine is alive and living here with us."

Laine flashes him a sweet smile. "Which might happen anyway at some point. Better we address the situation and clarify that I'm not a risk. The Tessianos are businessmen first and foremost. I have no interest in causing them trouble or in hiding for the rest of my life. If you explain that we're together and make them see the benefit of an alliance, it might solve two problems."

Tag doesn't seem convinced, but by the looks Brendan and Bryan are flashing me, the rest of us are loving this idea. Which is why they're all looking at me.

I'm Tag's voice of reason.

"It's a solid plan, T. It would also ally us with two strong powers elsewhere in the world."

"Never hurts to have more friends in low places," Brendan adds.

Bryan tips his glass back and sets the empty on the table. "And it would shut down Mattie in a big way."

"That in itself is reason enough to do it." I meet Tag's gaze and make sure he's really paying attention. "The truce is over, brother. Despite wanting to keep Da's legacy of peace alive, the McGuires have other plans. If we don't start fighting back, the violence will escalate."

He frowns, but I read the resignation in his eyes. He knows I'm right. "Fine. Let's brainstorm the different scenarios of how it could work."

My brothers and I take a seat around the table and Tag pulls Laine into his lap. Two weeks ago, I thought it was crazy that he always needs to touch her.

Now…I would give anything to have Piper holding my hand or sitting in my lap while we work out how to take down her father.

Am I as far gone as Tag? Am I in love with Piper?

Even as I ask myself the question, I know the answer. I began falling in love with her from the moment I picked her up from that sidewalk. It didn't matter that she was beaten and bloody—she stole my breath as quickly as she stole my heart.

A half an hour later, we've decided how to proceed. If the Tessiano Outfit agrees to leave Laine in peace, Tag will get them the guns they need to secure their interests in Chicago and the surrounding areas.

It'll take some finesse to get the guns inland to them, but Finn has some ideas about how we can eliminate Tag's transportation concerns.

"You nailed it, Finny." Tag pats Laine's thigh and kisses her cheek, urging her to get up. "You both did. Now, give me a few minutes to jot down my ideas of how the conversation should go. My call with Volkov is in two hours and I want to be home and in my office for that."

"I guess that's our cue to clear out." Finn closes the laptop, and we all stand.

My phone buzzes in my hand and I draw a deep breath as I answer it. "Kieran. What can I do for you?"

"I've got bad news, boss."

I step backward and sit on the edge of the table. "Tell me."

"Piper got grabbed by the Russians after the cemetery. They were in one of the limos and drove off with her."

"Drove off where, Kieran? Where the fuck did they take her?"

"To a house down by the bay. My guy stayed on them until she was unloaded and taken into a house south of the city."

"Does he have eyes on her?"

"No. Not her, but he says she hasn't left. In fact, he said there have been trucks in and out over the past hour delivering food, flowers, and chairs. He says it looks like they're getting ready for a party."

"A party? They fucking kidnapped her from a funeral and they're throwing a fucking gala? What is wrong with these people? Didn't anyone try to stop them?"

My guy said the only ones who tried were the two youngest McGuire boys. They were held back while Mad Mattie laughed and waved goodbye.

All the blood drains from my head and I can't tell if I'm going to pass out or go ballistic. "Mattie laughed? He fucking laughed as his daughter was taken by the same fucking animals that beat her and tried to rape her?"

"Sorry, boss. I'm just reporting the news."

It's not his fault I need to kill someone. "Text me the address. Where are you?"

"In my paint shop."

"If you're in the building, why the fuck aren't you telling me this in person?"

"Because I'd like to keep my face pretty and my insides right where they are, fuck you very much."

I roll my eyes and rein in my urge to kill. "Fine. Pull one of the trucks into the front and start loading it up. We're going across the river."

I hang up my cell and fight the urge to throw the piece of shit technology against the wall. I would…except Piper might need to call me.

"You can't move on the Russians." Tag's voice is stern and when I whip around to meet his gaze, his expression is uncompromising. "We've spent the past hour planning an alliance with Volkov. You can't storm into McGuire territory and kill his cousin."

"The fuck I can't!" I move to storm out of the room, but Brendan and Bryan block my exit. They're standing in front of the door with their arms crossed like fucking bouncers at a club.

I turn back to Tag, feeling more like a trapped wolf than a man. "Those animals have Piper and after what they did to her the last time, how long do you think it'll be before they have her pinned to a mattress or bleeding because she won't stop fighting?"

Even as I say the words, my stomach tightens.

Tag's gaze softens. "I know you got attached to her when she was in your care, but she's a McGuire, Sean. She's not our problem."

"Not our problem?" I close the distance and have my hand around Tag's throat before I register I've moved. "I'm more than attached to her. I fucking love her. She's mine and I let her go because you'd never let me keep her. She's in danger because I couldn't give her what she needed—a home and a new name."

The surprise in Tag's gaze would be funny if anything about this was funny—but it's not. It's heartbreaking that Piper was betrayed once again and that now she's alone and scared.

"Ease up on the breath play, Sean." Brendan's hand is over mine as he tilts his head into my field of vision. "Choking out Tag won't get your girl home any faster."

"Did you have sex with her?"

Laine's question cuts through the testosterone-infused fury filling the air and I release Tag and turn on her. "Excuse me? That's none of your fucking business."

She's not the least bit intimidated by my attention. "I'm not being nosy. I'm looking for a way to help you. Mattie McGuire guaranteed that his daughter was untouched. It was a stipulation of the agreement. If the two of you were intimate, that changes things."

I don't know what to do with the violence wreaking on my sanity, but I try to focus. "Yes, we had sex."

Tag curses behind me. "She's a fucking child and was in your care."

"She's an adult, and it was her idea. She wanted to retake control of her life. It started out as a way to flip off her father but became more."

"The two of you spent a week together. That's hardly enough time to throw around the word love."

Laine scoffs. "And how long was it before you said you loved me, Tag? You kidnapped me and claimed me as yours to protect an hour after we met and moved me into your home an hour after that."

Tag grunts. "That was different."

Laine shakes her head. "If her last name wasn't McGuire, we wouldn't be standing here. If Sean told you he fell for a girl from the south side who was kidnapped and at risk of being raped or killed, you'd be loading the trucks and planning a full-on rescue."

Tag glares at his girl. "But she is a McGuire, and the people who kidnapped her could be allies or enemies, depending how we handle this. We have to think about our family."

"Piper is my family," I snap, running my hand through my hair. "At least, she could be. I ignored that and tried to play by the rules, but I love her, Tag. I can't just leave her at the mercy of the men who beat the shit out of her when she wouldn't allow them to rape her!"

I see that he's warring with his emotions, but I don't have time for him to figure things out. "I've got to go."

Tag curses. "Okay, here's what we're going to do…"