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Floorboards creak above us, and we all look at the terrified man pointing a gun at us at the top of the old wooden staircase. Ronan’s quick on the trigger, raising his handgun and shooting him square between the eyes. Dead before his body even hits the top step, we watch as his lifeless form tumbles down the stairs.
Without missing a beat, Mac orders, “File in behind me. Dante, you take the rear.” He looks right at Ronan and I. “Let’s end this. For us. For our girl.” With light and quick footwork, Mac steps over the lifeless body and moves up the stairs with the stealth of a trained killer, each of us following his every move.
Once we reach the top of the stairs, Mac clears the bathroom to our immediate left while Luca and I do the same to the small room on the right. Dante and Ronan make quick work of the following two bedrooms and come up empty, leaving the room at the end of the hall. Eyeing Mac, I can’t help but state the obvious because if they’re not there, Sebastian must have missed something. “That’s the only room left.”
Swallowing hard, Mac slowly moves down the narrow hallway, the rest of us behind him. Turning the knob, Mac slowly pushes the door open to find Declan Whelan standing across the empty room in front of a set of glass double doors leading out to a patio, staring out into the night. Our eyes scan the room as Patrick and eight of his men step out of the shadows. Each of them pointing weapons at the five of us.
“You didn’t think this plan would actually work, did you?” Declan asks, not bothering to face us.
“What plan is that exactly?” Ronan asks, lowering his weapon and stepping around Mac and me.
“You thought stealing my money and putting it into Patrick’s account would force my hand? You didn’t think I’d know that you were behind this? He and I may not see eye to eye, but I still have something that he wants. Power.” All of our eyes snap to Patrick’s. “I know Patrick wants to take over, and I’m willing to give that to him. In exchange for a few things, of course.”
“And what exactly is that?” Ronan asks as he takes a few steps forward.
Patrick aims his gun right at Ronan’s forehead.“You stay right there, boy-o.”
“I’m able to use him, his men, his money, and resources for anything that I need done,” Declan clarifies.
“And?” I prompt.
At the sound of my voice he turns and looks right at me. “Well, hello, Finn. My, my, my, you look just like your father. I bet the face you make when you take your last breath will be just like his, too.” Against every instinct in my body, I fight the urge to freeze. This is when it matters most, and I won’t let them down. I won’t let Harper down.
“What else is Patrick offering you, Whelan?” Ronan bites.
“To help me kill every last one of you. Why the hell do you think I flew him and his men all the way here? I’ll start with all of you and finish with my bitch of a granddaughter.” Ronan jerks forward, but I reach out and grab his arm, silently begging him not to do anything rash, as much as we all want to. “I knew you’d be keeping tabs on Patrick. He arrived not more than two hours ago, and low and behold, here you all are.”
Mac speaks next, “You expect us to believe that you’re more than willing to hand everything over to Patrick? Everything you’ve built and have been fighting so hard to get back, you’re willing to give away just to have us killed.”
Declan unbuttons his suit jacket and expels a heavy breath. “Yeah, you’re right. He’s just as dead as the rest of you.” In a split second, two of Patrick’s men move their guns from us and train them on Patrick. “Sorry about this, Patrick. But when you called, telling me all of my money had been moved from my account to yours, I knew I had the perfect opportunity.” He looks back at Ronan, Mac, and I. “Your father’s efforts were less than impressive. Logan was one of my greatest disappointments, and I know I’ll never get Harper to do as I ask, she’ll only continue to get in my way.” He looks at Patrick. “And you, you thought you could just stay tucked in the shadows and watch as everyone turned their backs on me until you could take over.”
“Boss, that’s not what I—”
“Shut the fuck up, Patrick. I couldn’t put an end to you in Ireland; not a single one of my men would respect me if they knew I had you killed. But now”— he sweeps his hand out, gesturing to the situation in front of him—“it will just look like you died helping put an end to this horrendous fucking family.”
“You’ll never get to Harper.” My voice is strong and sure. There isn’t a chance in hell he’s getting into that penthouse, but we’re not stupid enough to know he isn’t going to try.
Declan laughs, “You know, it was surprisingly easy to figure out the food delivery schedule for your building. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were one of their trucks full of my men by the loading dock as we speak, just waiting for my signal.”
There it is.
Right on cue, Mac lowers his gun, pulls his phone out of his pocket, and brings it to his ear. “Ralph. Catering truck at the loading dock. Move on it. Now.” The moment he hangs up the phone, every single gun in the room is aimed at Declan. The man’s arrogance made him believe he was still five steps ahead.
“Jokes on you motherfucker.” Ronan backsteps until he’s standing between me and Mac.
“What are you all doing?” Declan shouts to the men he thought were so loyal to him. “Shoot them!”
“Nah, Boss. I don’t think they will.”
“I don’t think so either,” Ronan adds. “You see, Patrick is a new friend of ours. As a matter of fact, he helped us deal with a little issue by the name of Liam McDermott.”
“Sure did.”
“And when you sent your little lackey, Logan, to take our girl, he’s the one who helped us put all the pieces together. What was the matter, Declan? Couldn’t handle the fact that your pet project liked sleeping with men?”
“You don’t know what the hell yo—”
Ronan holds out his hand. “It was a rhetorical question. I could give less of a fuck why you did what you did. But the fact of the matter remains—you did it. And now you’re going to die for it.”
