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Chuckling, James followed the family into the dining room and waited for them all to take their usual seats before sliding in next to his father.
“So.” Declan turned to Sean once dinner had been served. “What’s the update from New York?”
“I’m close to a final deal with McConnell. He assures me Fahey and O’Neil are both on board, but I’m going to set up a meet with all three. I don’t think I can get him below 10 percent, though.”
“What was the floor?” James wondered.
“Seven.” Declan tapped his fingers on the table. “I’m willing to go ten, but I don’t want it to look like he got the upper hand.”
“If I let him open the negotiations, he’ll go high. My guess would be fifteen.”
Evie nodded. “But if we open at seven and they counter at fifteen, ten allows us to meet in the middle and save face. On both sides.”
Sean inclined his head. “Exactly. Once they’ve agreed to let us run guns through the boroughs, we’ll have to establish a base up there. Warehouses, men, living quarters. Driving convoys back and forth would be an unnecessary risk.”
“I’ve been looking at some properties,” Aidan said. “James and I found a few that look good in Queens, a couple others in Brooklyn. I’m not keen on telling them exactly where the warehouses are. A 10 percent cut of sales is all they need to know about the business we do. But if we could get them to draw up some territory maps to make sure we’re not surrounded by street gangs or something, that would help us narrow down our search.”
“Logistics-wise, I’ve got a solid team of about twelve guys I’d recommend sending up there. I can put together another team if you think it’s necessary. A couple have families, so you’d want to decide if it’s a permanent relocation or not.”
Declan nodded at James. “Is the training program going to net us enough people to replace them and not leave ourselves spread too thin?”
James saw his father shift in his seat. Sean hadn’t been as vocal a dissenter as Mick Donahue about women joining their ranks, but they shared the same mind on it.
“Absolutely,” James assured him. “I haven’t attended any of the self-defense classes Evie and Reagan have been giving, but we’ve got at least twenty solid candidates who would do great work on the front lines.”
“More who could provide backup or get a job and work on the inside somewhere,” Brogan added.
“The self-defense classes are going well. I wouldn’t put any of them on the front lines, but we’re talking with maybe about a dozen women who are interested in some inside jobs. Several interested in being nurses,” Evie added with a wistful smile at James.
“I had some wives approach me at a baby shower Viv and I went to last weekend,” Cait added. “They asked me if I thought this was a good idea considering what happened to Finn.” Cait twisted the wedding band she still wore around her finger and shared a look with Viv. “I think they were surprised by my answer.”
“Which was?” Libby prompted.
“I told them this life asks a lot of all of us. Whether we sit at home and wait for our men or we go out and fight alongside them. We never know when we might be asked to sacrifice something we wished we could hold on to. But the choice would always be theirs.”
“I think she convinced more than a few mothers to give their daughters the choice to decide for themselves,” Viv said.
“Reagan will love knowing that’s probably why attendance at Wednesday’s class was so high.” Evie reached across the table to take Cait’s hand, squeezing it gently. “Thank you.”
“It occurred to me that more people on our side isn’t a bad thing.” Cait smiled.
They finished dinner, chatting through the logistics of establishing a second base of operations in New York. If all went well, they’d set their sights on Boston, but Declan wanted to give it time. Boston was more volatile than New York, with more turf wars among the Irish there. He didn’t want to risk wading into the mess until they knew this would be a viable and manageable revenue stream.
James had no doubt establishing this arm of the syndicate and creating a solid presence in New York would go well. The fact that Declan was willing to respect the city’s mob bosses rather than going in guns blazing like any other asshole might do went a long way to establishing a relationship.
Creating tension and upheaval would interrupt the flow of money. For everyone. And Declan rarely allowed much to interrupt the flow of money into Callahan coffers. They weren’t looking to rule New York, merely establish a base there and see what happened.
It was close to midnight when James left Glenmore House and decided to do some last-minute checks on inventory stock at their warehouses. They were delivering several big shipments over the weekend, and he wanted to do one last check before going home. And maybe a small part of him was hoping Delaney would be asleep by the time he got there.
She hadn’t made any other mention of leaving, and he hadn’t broached the subject either. He didn’t want her to go, even though he knew he couldn’t have her if she stayed. He selfishly wanted her to stay. He couldn’t help it.
Every time she laughed or he caught her smiling at a customer or heard her teasing Addy or Clara, he toed a little closer to the line he promised himself he wouldn’t cross. The line that stood between him wanting her from a distance and having her underneath him in his bed sobbing his name. It was a finer line than it should be.
Checking his watch, he locked up the last warehouse and headed back toward the Orchid. It was nearly two in the morning. In the time it would take him to drive across town, the pub would be closed and cleared of customers and the kitchen would be clean and quiet, waiting for tomorrow’s busy Saturday rush.
As expected, the parking lot was empty save for Delaney’s SUV, and he parked in his usual spot, letting himself into the kitchen and using the single light to make his way to the stairs. He locked the lower door and trudged up in the dark.
The upper door was locked, and he fumbled with his keys before he finally felt it slide home and the lock give way. He heard the faint rumbling of a laugh track when he opened the door, the flashing blue lights of the TV reflecting off the door of the microwave.
