Chapter 27

Declan~

K eavy was gone, and I had no one to blame but myself. While I'd been telling Noah that I didn't care about her sketchy past, or how she killed without consequence, or how I didn't have a thing for Kasen Sartori, Keavy had been sneaking out of my house, proving how wrong and right I'd been about her. Luckily, Noah had been gracious enough not to rub my nose in my mistakes, but the facts didn't change anything. I was keeping Keavy, and her little disappearing act didn't factor into a decision that I'd made way before she had even agreed to kill Donaldson for us.

The only problem was that I couldn't find her on my own, and I knew it. As Noah and Kevin were doing their best to find out more about her, I was developing a new kind of respect for Aurelio Provenza. Now that I was faced with having to ask the enemy for help, I knew exactly how Aurelio had felt last year when he'd had to ask my permission to go after his lassie. While men like us dined on pride, pride was nothing when a man was actually in love with a woman and not just addicted to her pussy.

So, with karma laughing at me from the corner of my mind, I dialed Nero Sartori, and while this was a bad idea for lots of reasons, I had no other choice. The O'Briens and Sartoris weren't friends, but it'd be so easy to argue that fact if Avgust Kotov knew just how friendly we were these days.

Luckily for me, Nero answered on the third ring. "O'Brien," he greeted frostily, and the man really needed to get it into his head that I wasn't after his wife.

"Trust me when I tell you that this pains me more than it pains you," I drawled out.

"Well, then this should be interesting."

"I need a background check, and it needs to be a deep background check," I told him, hating every second of this conversation.

To his credit, he didn't draw out the torture. "On who?"

"Her name is Keavy Collins," I answered. "I have where she works, where she lives, and that she owns her car, but that's all there is to the background check that we'd done on her so far. Her father is listed on her birth certificate as Cian O'Connell, but there's nothing on her mother."

"They don't share the same last name?"

"No, they don't."

Nero was silent for a few seconds before finally asking, "And why do you need a deep dive on her?"

Killing two birds with one stone, I said, "I'm in love with her, but she doesn't seem to feel the same way. She took off in the middle of the night, and I need to find her."

Silence.

"Sartori?"

"I wish that I could say that I don't know how you feel, but since I've been there, I get it," he replied cordially enough to make me wary.

"Look, I don't have anyone on my payroll that can find her without setting off alarms, and she's too important to pay an outsider," I told him. "I have no idea what's in her background, and so I don't need a freelancer making shit more complicated if I end up finding out that she's an assassin or some shit."

"Is that a possibility?" he asked, knowing better than to underestimate a woman, considering who his wife was.

"She killed three of my men," I confessed, giving him whatever I needed to in order for him to give me what I wanted.

"Jesus fuck, O'Brien," he huffed. "What the fuck are you Irish getting yourselves into over there?"

"Can I borrow Morocco or not?" I asked, irritated that I'd already told him too much.

"If it'll put an end to your friendship with my wife, then you can borrow Morocco for as long as you fucking want," he retorted.

"Christ on The Cross, how many fucking times do I have to tell you people that I don't have a thing for your wife?"

"Tell you what," he said. "Find your girl and marry her, then I'll never bring it up again."

"Not a problem since it was never true to begin with," I shot back.

Ignoring that, Nero asked, "Can you send us what you have electronically?"

"I can ask my brother, but I'd rather just hand you the file," I answered honestly. "The less traceable shit going back and forth between us, the better."

"Kotov knows better than to start shit, O'Brien," he remarked unconcerned.

"Except for the fact that the Kotovs are crazy, I'd agree," I drawled out. "After all, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to think that we might be plotting something after these past two years."

"I gave that man a piece of the Schultz," he pointed out. "If I'd wanted to start a war to push you guys out, then I would have done it then."

"Well, like you're fond of reminding me, we're not friends, Sartori," I replied. "No one needs to start thinking otherwise."

"You're lucky that my wife respects you," he said seriously, and now that I was in love myself, I knew exactly where he was coming from.

"So, where do you want my brother to drop off the file?" I finally asked.

"Since you're concerned with Kotov, we'll pick up the file from you," he said. "Since it's no secret that Savina used to live in your territory, if Aurelio is seen in the area, then it could be assumed that it might have something to do with Savina and the Olivers. Even though it's been a year, Stewart Oliver just barely got his comeuppance, so it's not farfetched to assume that Aurelio might be tying off some loose ends. If any of you are seen in Sartori territory, that might come with unexpected questions."

He made a good point, though I loathed to admit it. "I can have Noah and Kevin meet with-"

"Just Noah," he said, interrupting me. "Your brother wasn't around when all that shit with Savina went down, so bringing him around now might raise some suspicions. Again, I don't give a fuck, O'Brien. However, I understand how keeping the peace might matter more to you when considering the math."

"Just so we're clear, I'm not a fan of yours," I said, making sure that Nero understood what this was and why.

"Likewise," he replied smoothly. "However, don't forget that we still have a common nuisance among us."

"Klive Simpson," I remarked.

"Klive Simpson," he echoed. "Even if he is small time, I don't like that he's elusive or the fact that he's trying to encroach on territory that's already taken. He's in Port Townsend for a reason, and I don't like not knowing why."

"I agree," I replied because I did. "Maybe we should have another meeting to see what other rumors are out there."

"I'm not opposed to that," he said like a jackass.

"Fine," I said. "However, in the meantime, have Aurelio message Noah on when and where to meet."

"Not a problem," he replied before hanging up, and I really did wonder what Kasen saw in the insufferable sonofabitch.

However, with no time to waste, I quickly called Noah, then told him that Provenza would be messaging him soon and why. I also wasn't worried about whether or not Noah would do this for me. No matter what role he played in the organization, we were family first, and unlike the Italians, Noah would never turn his back on me for the sake of the greater good. While the Italians were extremely family-oriented, they'd also kill each other at the first sign of betrayal, blood or not, and we weren't quite that cold when it came to blood. Yeah, anyone else, we didn't give a fuck. However, family was different, so that's why I knew that I could trust Noah with this, even over his objections.

Now, the problem with having small numbers was that I didn't always have extra men to spare. Just like most crime families, we dealt in guns, drugs, prostitution, and gambling, so my men were always running around, making sure that everything was running smoothly. So, all the men that I could trust with something as important as Keavy were busy, and I'd be damned if I'd just put anyone on her apartment or place of work.

Of course, that was assuming that Keavy would be careless enough to show up at either place, but without knowing anything else about her, I had no idea where else to look. A part of me also wondered if I was sending Morocco Carrisi on a fool's errand. There'd been nothing in her file, and I wasn't even sure if her father's name was really legit.

I shook my head as I realized that I was in love with a woman that I knew nothing about. Noah hadn't been lying when he'd said that I was risking everything that we'd built on a woman that was as dangerous as she was reckless.

Still, I didn't care.

I didn't care, and Noah knew it.

I didn't care about anything other than finding Keavy, and God help her when I finally did.