“You know we can’t, and you know why. She’s a detective. We don’t want the entire justice system to come down on our heads. We’re in the middle of an important deal. The Kings are coming up to transport and stash the weapons, but we need her off our back if we want to trade the guns for cash.”
“She’s not DEA. Just a cop with an inflated ego.” Jamie clasped his fingers together, elbows resting on the chair’s arms. “It’d be easy enough to destroy her reputation.”
“She’d be expecting that.” Killough sighed.
Forrest cleared his throat and everyone looked at him, including Rourke. “Maybe Mr. Lee made a good point. Everybody has needs. You could find out what she likes, plant a professional undercover, take photos, and get the cops to arrest the worker on solicitation. He can bring up her name and ta-da.” Forrest wiggled his fingers. “Reputation ruined.”
Conall grunted. “Actually, that’s not a bad idea.”
“She could be expectingthattoo,” Daire said from beside Killough. He leaned forward. “She knows what kind of companies Sloan runs. Anyone she meets, she’ll do a background check on them.”
“So give her the background check she wants to see.” Forrest shrugged. “I mean, I’m not part of this company like you all are, but from what I’ve heard, you have resources and money. Everybody likes money. Either pay a detective to pass a phony background check on whoever you choose, or get a hacker to do it. There’s plenty of nerdy hackers around New York. Hell, I can tell you a spot downtown where you can find twenty.”
By the time Forrest finished, silence filled the room. Even Conall and Rourke looked surprised by his suggestion, and Forrest didn’t know if that reaction was a good or bad thing. He wasn’t dumb, but clearly most of them thought he’d only been talented at giving up his ass.
“Who are you again?” A twisted and amused smile lingered on Daire’s face.
Forrest snorted in laughter. “I’m a high-class call boy, sweetie. Apparently with more brains than peoplethoughtI had.”
“That could actually work.” Daire looked at Killough. “The whore with brains has a good idea.”
Killough smirked. “Yes, he does. Do you think that’s something we can get done, Fionn?” Killough glanced at the man on his left. His nephew, the apprentice. Conall had told Forrest all about this bratty asshole. While Conall and Fionn got along better now, Forrest still didn’t like him, even if it was their first meeting.
Fionn looked like a clone of his uncle, except younger. They shared the same sharp jawline and high cheekbones, but unlike Killough with his bleached blond hair, Fionn’s shone a natural sandy blond. He stared at Forrest calculatingly—a variable Fionn couldn’t account for. According to Conall, the guy was smart with numbers and had a suspicious attitude, so it would make sense he didn’t trust Forrest.
“It could possibly work. We’d have to put our hands in some pockets. If thewhore”— he drew the word out like it was dirty—“is right about a place downtown where we can find a hacker, we could pull it off. First, we’d need to know what Diaz’s type is, and then we’d have to pay a whore handsomely because they will be arrested on solicitation, which will go on their record.”
“We have the brothels,” Lorcan said. “It’d be easy to find someone who’d do something like that for a quick buck.”
“Might I remind you that they are my whorehouses,” Conall snapped, earning Lorcan’s glare. “I manage them, and as such, using one of the whores will need to go through me first.”
“They’re notyourwhorehouses, they belong to the Killough Company,” Lorcan retaliated.
“Yes, but I have given my pet permission to run them.” Killough patted Conall on the thigh and kissed the back of Conall’s neck in a soft gesture. “As such, he is right. All uses of the whores must go through him first.”
“Sir—”
“This is not up for argument, Lorcan.” Killough narrowed icy blue eyes on him.
Lorcan’s jaw tightened and he nodded sharply. “Yes, sir.”
“Rourke, tell us what happened yesterday,” Killough ordered.
Rourke bowed his head. He recounted what Diaz said and did in her visit to the Virtue. He spoke with specifics and remembered details Forrest had forgotten about. The confidence he carried as he spoke made Forrest’s skin prickle. There was something extra sexy about Rourke’s deep voice when he talked so assertively. By the time he’d finished, the generals’ expressions were twisted in annoyance. Jamie looked ready to kill.
“And you, Forrest? Do you have anything to add?” Killough smirked at him, a knowing expression in his eyes. Maybe Forrest stared at Rourke with hearts in his eyes. He’d been told before that he often wore his emotions on his face.
Forrest straightened his back. “Rourke’s said everything that happened, sir.”
“And what about your client?”
“His name is Adrian, sir, and he’s a politician’s son. He overheard Diaz talking to his father. He’s a New York senator by the name of George Honor.”
The men around the circle either snorted or scoffed.
“You know his name then?” Forrest asked.
“He’s known to us. Obviously.” Daire rolled his shoulders and sat back against his seat. “He’s very vocal about organized crime in New York City. He won his seat under the guise that he’ll bring it to an end and make New York safer. They have no idea how much money he took off the Italians to get in that position.”
