Chapter 36

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

Fred

I didn't remember leaving the warehouse, and I vaguely recalled being washed, dressed, and put into bed. Through the night a constant warmth surrounded me. The scent was familiar and comforting. I drifted on and off, plagued with nightmares of Aine's body being torn apart by bullets, of my uncle Sean's eyes.

I jolted awake to the sound of gunshots only to realize it was a dream.

"You're okay."

I turned and faced Vincenzo. He was noticeably exhausted.

"Did you sleep?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Why not?"

"I wasn't leaving you."

How ridiculous was this man? "I was sleeping; you were here. How is that leaving me?"

"Anytime you woke I wanted you to know I was here, no matter what."

Jesus . "Oh, Vin," I whispered and pressed my lips to his.

He ran his fingers through my hair and tenderly, as if I were fragile, returned my kiss. We lay like that for a while. I had so much I needed to deal with, but wrapped in his arms under the softest blankets in the world, I could easily forget.

When we broke apart, I could read his expression and it was all the same emotions I had swirling around my head and heart.

"Where is he?" I didn't have to say who…I didn't even want to say his name.

"We're searching."

I closed my eyes for a moment. "I knew, in my gut, and I didn't listen to it. My uncle would be so disappointed."

He gripped my chin and lifted my head. "No, he'd be so damn proud of you. I bet he already is. And sad, because of what you'll have to do." He kissed my forehead. "I know you feel alone, but you're not. I won't leave you, Fred, and I'll stand beside you through all of it, and after if you'll have me."

My eyes widened. "What?"

"However this ends, wherever you end up, I'd like to be with you…do life with you."

I snorted. "Do life with me. I'm not marrying you."

"No." A flustered Vin might be my favorite Vin. "I mean, this, what we have, whatever it is, I want to explore it so wherever you hang your hat, I want to hang mine right next to it."

"You motherfucking charmer." I devoured his mouth—there was no other way to put it—and we'd have gone further if there hadn't been a knock on the door.

"Stay put." He pulled the sheets back, and I pouted as he pulled on a pair of pants before answering the door.

"Zion." Vincenzo looked over his shoulder at me, and I waved him in. "Come in."

"Sorry to disturb." He smirked. "A couple of things. Albert came through with the DMV video. I have it and yeah, pretty sure it's Aiden." He had more to say, so I motioned for him to go on. "The cell phone records were a dead end. He was careful not to do anything nefarious on there, so likely he used several burner phones which are long gone."

A tender thud beat against my chest upon hearing his name. "Can I see the video?" At this point, the phone records didn't matter to me.

"Of course but the other thing—Finn contacted your phone. I've had it on me since the warehouse." It was nice of Zion to not mention when I fell apart like a little baby.

"And?" Vincenzo asked.

"I answered it, explaining that Fred was busy, and he said he needed to speak with Fred urgently."

"How long ago was this?" I was glad I had boxers on, because I'd whipped the sheets off myself without thinking.

"A few hours ago; he said to contact him as soon as you could."

"I need my phone." Zion tossed it to me and without hesitation, I called Finn.

"Oh, thank God." Finn sounded relieved.

"What's going on, Finn?"

"Oscar figured it out, the money."

I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "Let me guess, Aiden was the one taking the money."

"Yeah, you figured it out?"

"I'm smart like that, Finn." I rolled my eyes. "Was there anything else? While I can understand the urgency to that, I feel like there's more."

"There is, but not from the three of us."

"Who?"

"Lorcan and Conor."

I had the phone on Speaker so Vincenzo and Zion could hear. "What about them?" They were shot-callers and ran certain boroughs in Westford. Lorcan ran Kent, and Conor ran Arbor Flats.

"I don't want to do this over the phone. Can we meet?"

Vincenzo nodded and slid Zion's tablet over. "Yeah, okay, do you know Bethany's Bakery in Norport on Bayside Avenue?"

"Of course."

"Okay, meet me there in an hour."

"See you then."

An hour later we were walking into the bakery, and it was empty. Lights on, a little old lady at the counter, but no customers.

"Hi, Erma." Zion smiled and walked over to the old lady, kissing her cheek.

"Hey there, boys."

"Thanks for letting us have a quick meeting here." Zion beamed and Erma returned it.

"Anything for you. I'll be in my office in the back."

She sauntered off and we all moved toward a table. A minute later Finn, Lorcan, and Conor entered.

All three men approached, each kissing my cheeks and taking a seat. "So here we are, Finn, what do you got?"

"Lorcan?" Finn motioned for Lorcan to speak.

"The morning Sean and Aine were killed, a strange request came in from Aiden. He said it was on your behalf. He wanted my soldiers to go into Norport, said the night club Hugh and Rory wanted was getting some vagrants. Hugh had half his guys on a job, so it was quiet in my sector and we went."

"Conor?" Finn asked.

"Yeah, same call came into me, but it was to go to Danford for Rory, same reason. Since the club dances the line, I asked about Hugh's guys and he said they were busy and Rory's guys were dealing with something for you. I didn't question him, didn't think to."

"And the restaurant where Sean and Aine were killed was in Arbor Flats but only a couple of miles from Kent," I surmised. "He wanted to make sure I had zero backup and none of the family would see the shooting." I turned to Vin. "That's why I didn't see anyone, because if they all knew I'd be there with Sean and Aine, Conor would have made sure I had people, and Lorcan being so close could have stumbled across the SUV flying down the street, and the setup to frame the Bleeding Angels would have gone up in smoke."

"Damn, Aiden's been busy, that two timing son of a bitch rat bastard," Conor growled, but my eyes were on Finn.

"What aren't you telling me, Finn?"

He sighed. "I didn't think nothin' of it until Oscar figured out where the money went."

I motioned for him to go on.

"About six months ago, during one of our weekly poker games, Aiden was asking me and Rowan a bunch of questions. Like what would happen if something happened to you, who'd take over. Rowan explained that everyone would likely side with Sean in that instance."

"Which you all should have done to begin with, but go on." I rolled my eyes.

"And then he went on about line of succession and asked who'd stand a chance up against Sean, and I said no one."

"But a few months ago Aiden got a little drunk at one of the games and said how your pops told him how good he'd be at running things. Oscar said…" Finn exhaled loudly.

"Oscar said what?" I narrowed my gaze, not loving where this was going.

"Oscar said the only way he'd get backing is if he was the last in the bloodline."

Lorcan followed that up with, "Which if you died, Aiden would be who we'd all expect to take over."

I tried to calm my temper. It wasn't Oscar's fault for answering questions. Who would think Aiden of all people would go on a rampage just for power?

"Why Aine?"

Finn shook his head. "I can't answer that."

I nodded. "Then it looks like I'm going to have to go hunting and get the answer for myself."