Page 92 of King of Temptation

“Didn’t figure we were. What did Killian say?”

“He’s asking if we need backup.”

Brody paused, his fingers tapping at the steering wheel as he considered a moment before shaking his head. “No. Tell him it’s more important to keep Murphy contained. Last thing we need is him running in half-cocked and tipping Rowan off.”

“Got it.” She sent off the message and put the phone facedown on her lap as she twisted in her seat to face him. “You have an in-dash computer in your car.”

“I do.”

“You could have easily done all of that through voice commands.”

A smirk tugged at the corner of his lip. “Isn’t that what I did?”

Rolling her eyes, she drilled a finger into his shoulder. “You know what I mean. You didn’t have to give me the code to your phone. But you did.”

“Aye. I did.”

His Irish was slipping out more, and she wondered what that meant. From her observations, his accent only thickened like that when he was feeling some kind of strong emotion.

So what was he feeling just then?

Unfortunately, she didn’t get a chance to ask him, seeing as how they were already turning onto the side road that led to the docks. The energy inside the vehicle changed in a fingersnap, with so much tension vibrating between them she wondered how she couldn’t physically see it wiggling through the air.

Brody slowed the car to a crawl as they passed warehouse after warehouse. They were nearly to the end before they spotted the flashy red convertible his cousin had taken off in.

“Motherfucker,” Brody muttered, his tone borderline murderous. “He’s in bed with the goddamn Russians.”

“How do you know that?” She wasn’t really sure why she was whispering since they were in a car with all the doors and windows closed and there wasn’t a single person in sight, but it just seemed like the thing to do under the circumstances.

“They own this warehouse and the ones on either side of it as well. Along with that row of houses,” he added, pointing to several old buildings running along the other side of the street. “They’ve been buying up property around the docks for a few months now. Killian sent Lochlan to see what he could find out, but we don’t have any real intel yet.”

“Power in numbers? Like the more real estate they have, the more places they can put their men for like, surveillance and stuff.”

“That’s one theory. It makes the most sense but… I don’t know. Something just feels off about the whole thing. Especially now that we know Rowan is involved.”

As if on cue, the man himself stepped out of his car to greet what might have been the largest human Goldie had ever seen. The two stopped a foot or so away from each other, as if they were both wary of what the other might do. Which was kind of hilarious, since the Russian had at least six inches and roughly two hundred pounds on Rowan.

“Pictures, menace. We need photo proof or Murphy will never believe us.”

“Oh, right.” With fingers that trembled more than she wanted them to in that moment, she lifted his phone and snapped a series of photos, making sure to zoom in as much as she was able to capture Rowan and the Russian’s faces.

“Got it,” she said, letting out a breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding.

Huh. Apparently that was actually a real thing.

“Good girl.” Shifting the car back into drive, Brody eased it back onto the road and away from the warehouse.

“So… what now?”

A muscle in Brody’s cheek jumped, and when he spoke, his voice was rough with grief. “Now we get to go break my cousin’s heart.”

Brody

* * *

As requested, Killian managed to keep Murphy corralled until they returned, though it was clear from the way their eldest cousin was pacing when Brody and Goldie stepped back into the office that he wasn’t the least bit happy about it.

“Where the hell have you been?” Murphy pounced the second the door opened. “And where’s Rowan?”