Kieran (5 page)

“Rica.” Her movements were stiff. Contrary to what his enforcer was implying, he didn’t just believe she wouldn’t turn on him--he knew it to the depths of his soul. “Something wrong?”

“Shit is hunky dory.” She grabbed the bucket they used to transfer ice from the machine to the bar. “I
gotta
get ready to open. If you two plan on sticking around I might put you to work.” She retraced her steps.

“Rica.” Something was up.

“Yes, Kieran?” She didn’t twist around to look at him.

“We’ll talk later.”

She disappeared beyond his view.

“How can you put up with her bad attitude?” Marty picked up the bottle.

This asshole had taken the very last fuck Kieran had to give. He wrapped his fingers around the handle of a thin blade resting on a cutting board. A quick jab to the heart would shut the asshole up. Would he feel bad for Martin’s death? Maybe a
nano
-second, given his years of service.

Kieran recited numbers in his head, and the tension stretching through him abated. It was technique he developed growing up--he would allow himself so many seconds to decide if someone lived or died. If, after the time passed, he still wanted the idiot dead then they disappeared. Martin would live another day.

Kieran dropped the knife and snatched the Irish whiskey from Martin’s hands to pour another shot. He tossed it back. Heat blossomed in his chest and the alcohol coursed through him. He slammed the tumbler down, and the crack of glass hitting wood reverberated around him. Anger diluted his thought processes. He inhaled slowly, taking in the scent of pine finish, old smoke and Martin’s cheap cologne.

A fucking stream of information was in his
da’s
hands and God knew who else had it. The call from Roscoe was what had brought him to the bar. Rica had become known to a few folks he would have preferred not learn about her. It wouldn’t change his plans, but some ideas would be altered.

“Kieran.” Martin poured him another shot. “I’m telling you--”

“Leave him alone. He’s got better things to do than worry about your pussy ass griping.” Rica appeared next to Kieran and hefted a bucket of ice onto the counter. She picked up an ice pick and rammed it into a misshapen block of ice cubes. “I told Roscoe to fix the damn machine.”

“You can do that another time. Kieran and I were talking.” Disgust dripped from Martin’s voice. “You’re the root of the problem.” Martin didn’t bother to hide his disdain for
Derrica
.

“Run along, Martin.” Rica cocked her head and cupped her ear. “I hear your mama calling you.” She grinned innocently. “I guess you
ain’t
let go of that tit yet?”

She was in a mood to fight. Kieran pressed his lips together to keep from barking out laughter. His mood elevated. For a moment he’d forgotten his woman could take care of herself. He needed to focus on the problem at hand, lay the trap and see who came sniffing.

A deep rumble flowed from his old friend. “The dark taint of your touch is all over our crew. Assholes take us for a joke because of you. Why don’t you do what your people do best?” Martin leaned forward and whispered. “Meet me in the backroom and suck my dick.”

Rica’s hand tightened on the ice pick handle. Her skin paled between her knuckles. She peered over at Kieran. A tic appeared in her jaw. He wouldn’t interfere; she would have to make the guy respect her. He folded up the sleeves of his shirt and crossed his arms.

In a sudden flurry of movement she was across the counter and burying the pick into Martin’s hand, pinning him to the wood. A yowl of pain escaped his friend as big tears brimmed on his lashes. He jerked his arm. She snatched up the bottle by the neck and slammed it across Martin’s temple. The aroma of aged whiskey drifted to Kieran’s nose. He pursed his lips—she’d ruined a damn good bottle of liquor and fucked up the bar top, for an idiot. Her violent streak gave him an erection. Half listening to her comments, he calculated the cost of the damages in his head and how he wanted to collect them from Rica.

“There are two problems with your suggestion,
Martin
.” She cleared her throat and held up a finger. “One, I am African American, not one of you people and two, I would have to find your cock first. There isn’t a magnifying glass available with that kind of strength, you sorry son of a bitch, closet motherfucking racist.”

Kieran eased behind her, grazing her ass with his palm. He peered at Martin. “You should have seen that coming.”

A puddle of blood grew around Martin’s fingers. “Cunt, ass, fucking bitch.” His words ran together.

She leaned forward and shoved her index finger against his forehead. “You got a problem with me, pussy boy, come at me. Like I keep telling folks, I am open to communication. You lying fuck face.”

“The cost of that liquor, pretty girl—yeah, I’ll be taking my payment for that tonight. Patch up my ignorant friend and clean up your mess.” Kieran stared straight ahead. “Martin, after you finish bawling, call the fellas together for a meeting. Everyone needs to be upstairs by ten tonight.” He strolled toward the hallway.

His men looked uncomfortable. Kieran didn’t just let anyone into his crew. He wanted college-educated men, mostly without a conscience. Other than Martin he’d recruited each guy personally. Within two years, after comparing college records with criminal ones. He’d found men almost as ruthless as he and his brothers and built a team he’d believed would be loyal only to him. But Paddy had gotten to one of them.

Martin Reilly went to high school with him and his brothers. He was the class clown, but Kieran knew he took licks from his dad just like they did from Danny. It must have been something in the water there
cause
most of the guys from Lowell were made men and fucking crazy as hell. Martin ran behind
Conall
and
Fionn
like a shadow. His brothers thought he was annoying, but Kieran felt pity for Marty. At least he had his brothers while the scrawny kid trying to act tough had no one. When he was starting law school, he ran into Martin again who was a drug mule for some dealer.

By then he was building his own group. He was a lot of things but he didn’t abide drugs, selling or using. When his mother couldn’t take Paddy anymore she ended her life with pharmaceuticals. For that reason alone when he ran in to Marty he offered the guy a job running between collection spots for him.

In the beginning there weren’t many pick-ups, only a block his
da
had given him with a merciless laugh before advising him not to lose it the next day. Then the old bastard proceeded to try and take it back within a few weeks by sending Danny Boy and a crew to reclaim it. That ass-whooping was another lesson learned but that day he wasn’t alone--Marty was swinging his fists with him. When Kieran’s brothers joined the fray Danny backed off. Bruised and bloody, Kieran kept his territory. He repaid his debts--Martin Reilly was under the O’Shea brothers’ protection as part of their gang.

Eventually, each sibling recruited their own people but for whatever reason, the past hung on to Kieran, and he not only kept Marty around but his
da’s
driver, Roscoe, eventually joined him. He’d never lost contact with the older man growing up, and when he opened Irish he enlisted Roscoe to help run it.

The next guy he brought into his fold was Shin Goo
Tak
. A second-generation Korean American, martial artist and hacker, Goo
Tak
graduated top of his class with a Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering. He’d broken through multiple government security systems several times and Kieran had represented him in two of those cases. Kieran was waiting for him after his eighteen-month stint in federal prison. Goo’s skills kept his enterprises under the radar of certain agencies.

“Goo, after the dock deal is done, hack the union files and make sure to delete any mention of my companies and name. Replace them with one of the other councilmen names.” Kieran leaned back in his seat. “Brinkman has been irritating me lately--use him. We can use the paper trail to blackmail him later if needed.”

Goo nodded. “Consider it done.” He waved his fingers. “I also took care of those money transfers. Rica is an extremely wealthy woman now.”

“I’m sure she would thank you if she knew about it.” Kieran locked his palms together and rested his chin on his knuckles. “
Krank
, get with the Shop Stewards, take them out for some drinks,
get
the history. I want to know everything that has happened on the docks
hor
the last ten years.”

Krank
Jagger was a smart guy with a degree in psychology and a short temper. The way he carried himself in dress and speech, anyone would have thought he was a surfer. Sun-bleached blond hair, tanks and board shorts. He didn’t suffer fools well. His record was littered with assault and battery charges. The man liked a good fight and could quote Alfred Adler and Kurt Lewin while beating the shit out of somebody. Kieran had looked up who they were and damn if
Krank
wasn’t reciting famous psychologists’ theses. If someone needed a bit of re-education,
Krank
was sent to handle the schooling.

“Dude, I’ll find out who’s fucking who too while I’m at it.”
Krank
waggled his brows.

“Take Martin.”

“Damn, guy, just ruin my high.”
Krank
slumped into his chair.

“You’ll get high on his cologne,
Krank
.” Esteban snickered.

“I get that Marty doesn’t always play well with others. Deal with it.” Kieran sighed.

“Unlike our esteemed leader,” Esteban continued. “White boy doesn’t like minorities.” Sarcasm dripped from every word.

“
Krank
, smack Mr. Rivera upside the head for me.” He was going to have another talk with Martin. Under some circumstances a bad attitude was welcome but Marty’s--his behavior was changing.

“Kieran, boss, you have gotten me out of some serious shit. I hope you believe me when I tell you Martin Reilly is off…way off…like out of this world off.” Esteban nodded while talking.

Esteban Rivera had only been part of his gang for a year. He was Puerto Rican, with unruly black hair and a look in his eyes that warned people to stay away. Ladies sometimes did the opposite and followed the young man around. His looks were a distraction the guy welded like a weapon. Esteban had sticky fingers, and could easily lift a wallet without anyone noticing. But his true gift was that he could crack a safe in thirty seconds flat and solve equations just as quickly. With his keen sense of observation, he saw things the average person missed. His degree was in mathematics.

“Esteban, I want you to case a place.” Kieran jotted down the address of the warehouse his father occupied. “I want to know everything about this place and every-fucking-body that sets foot in there, understand?”

“Your orders are transparent.” Esteban saluted Kieran.

“Smart ass.” He shook his head.

“Boss man, where is Marty?”
Krank
lowered his tone. “Since I am stuck with him.”

“Good question.” Kieran pulled his cell from his pocket.

“Pussy boy just called me,” Rica grumbled as she entered the office. “Something about car troubles…flat tire…” She waved her hands in the air. “He said your phone was going straight to voicemail.”

“Hey, Rica.” Goo winked.

Krank
and Esteban waved their fingers. “Hey,
Boo…
I mean Goo.” She grinned wide and her shoulders shook. “
Krank
, Este, you guys good?”

He didn’t give his men a chance to answer. “You know what to do. Get the fuck out of here.” Kieran held each man’s gaze for a moment. Joking with him was fine but flirting with his woman? If the shits kept that up he would replace every one of them.

They lowered their stares and exited the room.

“Forget about Marty.
Krank
, take care of my business without him.” Kieran rose and touched the last fella’s elbow. “Esteban?”

“Yeah?”

“Watch Martin. I want to know what he’s done in the last twenty-four hours.” He tightened his grip on the Hispanic’s arm. “Keep this between us.”

Esteban pressed his lips together and nodded.

Rica rested her hip on the side of the desk. “I tried calling you from downstairs. Your voicemail did come on.”

“I know. My phone is on
do not disturb
. Martin was already here. He had no reason to leave.” Kieran closed the space between them. “Strip.”

“Why?” She lifted her chin.

“I have some work to do, and you’re going to keep me company.” Her defiance set him on edge. “Close the door, take off your clothes and lay across my desk, now.”

“And you expect me to just fall in line with your grocery list of demands?” She brushed her palms across her jeans. “Wow, it’s dusty in here.”

“Rica, I’m losing patience.” He reached for the hem of her T-shirt.

“What’s got you all up in your feels?” She covered his hands with hers.

“Flirting with another man will get them killed.” He jerked her forward. “And I will enjoy making them an example of my depravity. Do you want to find out how crazy I can get?”

“Like I would want anyone in your crew.” She shook her head. “We were just having a little fun.”

“You have till the count of five.” He slid his fingers into the waistband of her pants. “One.”

“Say please.”

“Two.”

“Kieran.”

“Three. I will fuck you with the door open, and I give less than a fuck who see us.”

“But…”

“Four.

She stood up abruptly and walked to the door, shutting it soundly. “You’re a dick.”

“Say that while I’m inside you.” He pulled the holster free from his back and set it on the desk before taking a seat. Kieran rolled up his sleeves, and the inked images on his arm danced as he flexed. “Take off your clothes before I do it for you.”

Rica unbuttoned her jeans and shoved them over ample hips.

“Panties?”

She rumbled low in her throat. “Honestly.”

He gripped the arms of his chair. Kieran pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes.

“All right, all right.” She lifted her hands and waved them downward.

He relaxed.

She curled her fingers through the elastic and did a little shimmy. Her underwear dropped on top of the denim. Rica clutched the hem of her shirt and heaved it over her head. Her braids broke free of the neckline in a waterfall of plaits. She grasped a handful of hair and tossed the locks behind her. Ample breasts were half covered by a shiny pink material. Rica reached behind her and the straps to her bra loosened. She leaned forward and tugged at the cups, freeing her mounds.

“Lay across the edge of the desk, flat on your back.” He reached for his briefcase and pulled out a few files.

“How long?” She climbed up on the furniture and twisted around. Rica lay down and bent her legs at the knees. “Satisfied?”

He set his elbows on the smooth surface and leaned forward. “Very.” Kieran leaned back and picked up the documents he needed to go over.

***

The furnace kicked on and heat flowed over exposed skin. Her nipples tightened into rigid peaks, and she eased on her side away from Kieran.

“Stop fidgeting.”

“You didn’t answer my question. How long?” She flipped to face him.

“Why didn’t you tell me Paddy threatened you?” He set the papers down in front of him.

“Your dad is a pathetic old man with a gang who is just as ancient. I didn’t take him seriously.” She rested her chin in her palm.

“You need to, and I shouldn’t have heard about the meeting through a third party.”

“Roscoe is worse than an elderly aunt who can’t wait to gossip,” she murmured to herself. “I will strangle that old man when I get a hold of him.

“He was doing what I told him to do and watching you.”

“Do I look like I need a babysitter?” She turned onto her back and stretched her arms.

“It’s what you need and what I want.” He grabbed the documents and leaned back.

Irritation burned through her. She pressed her thighs together and her pussy clenched. Kieran got her all hot and ready and then shut down. Rica exhaled. The furniture was uncomfortable, and she was horny. Turning to lie on her belly, she rose up on her hands and knees and maneuvered to face him.