“Fiona is fine Seamus. She’s a handful but she’s safe as promised.” I didn’t want to bother him with the dagger in her car nonsense because it had been handled before we left town. All he needed to know was that we were no longer in Boston.

“If you’re not around, who’s keeping things running at home?”

“I am,” I growled, wondering what the fuck was up with all the questions. “Since when do I need to be present to put the fear of god into any man?”

Seamus chuckled and I could hear him puffing on one of those disgusting fucking cigars of his. “True enough. I heard somebody found one of the Red ‘Rock boys near death outside of Madigan’s Pub.”

I smiled at his mention of my handiwork. The army taught me how to kill, but the streets taught me to enjoy it. Some assholes just needed a beat down or worse, and I was happy to do either in service to my crew. “I’m sure he served to deliver the message as I intended.”

“I heard the boys came into some extra goods, more than they know what to do with.”

Yeah I heard the question he didn’t have to ask. “It’s handled. Being split between black and green,” I told him. Just because we were on burner phones didn’t mean we could be careless with details. “I just wish I could be there to see Cally’s face when he sees that empty truck.” We both laughed at the idea of screwing that asshole any way we could. Payback might be a bitch, but revenge was a motherfucker. “Have you found out anything yet?”

“Only that the fucking Feds were tipped off. Anonymous call I’d bet came from a 617 area code.”

I knew he would hate this but I had to ask, “You want me to ask Fi for help?” She was always hunched over a computer so she had to have some skills in the area.

“You know I don’t.” Seamus’ voice went deadly serious and I sighed.

While I understood his reluctance to involve her, she was already involved. “Seamus, she is already at risk since it was a Cerulean truck. The Feds will be looking for her any day now.”

“An administrative assistant is hardly worth the Feds’ time.”

“Maybe so, but it sounds like she’s done a lot more to me.” How could he not know how involved she’d been with the company?

“Put her on the phone.”

I turned to call out to her, only to find Fiona standing in the door that lead to the back deck, completely unashamed that she’d been caught eavesdropping. I handed her the phone and she grabbed it, brushing the back of my hand in the process and I had to tell my cock to settle down. She’s not for you, asshole.

“What’s up Daddy?”

Though I could only hear her side of the conversation I knew my old friend had to be as frustrated as I with her stubborn nature. His voice boomed down the line, but in typical Fiona fashion, she merely rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, well it’s a little too late to worry about that now, isn’t it? What the hell did you think I was doing at the office every day for fuck’s sake, finishing up an art project?” She barked out a laugh at whatever he’d said. “Oh please, Maeve couldn’t find her ass in a rectal exam,” she said of the office manager. Shaking her head, she turned frustrated blue eyes towards the heavens and growled. “Whatever. If you want my help, all you have to do is ask. If not, then I’ll happily never set foot inside Cerulean again.” She smiled, obviously Seamus was as unable as I was to resist her. “Write down everything I need to know about the shipment in an email but don’t send it. Just save it and I’ll do the rest.” Another laugh that transformed her face beautifully. “Of course I do, it’s Mom’s birthday. Love you too.” She handed me the phone with an icy look and walked away.

I guess I’m still on her shit list though I still couldn’t figure out why. “You need anything else Seamus?”

“Just keep her close.”

Like I could do anything else when it came to her. My cock stirred again just thinking about how close I’d come to taking her yesterday morning. How wet she’d been on my fingertips. After she stomped away, I couldn’t resist licking all traces of her from my fingers, that sweet juice slid down my throat and made me hungry for more. From her juicy pussy.

“Will do. Check in again in two days.” We disconnected and I went to check on Fiona, who was already bent over her laptop busy at work. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to help. Despite what you think of me Keane, I have skills you don’t know about.”

I refused to touch that remark knowing it only lead to trouble. “You’ll lead whoever is looking for us straight here on that thing.” This was why she needed protection, because Fiona could be impulsive, though usually it was only when it came to friends and boyfriends. Now the stakes were higher with our very lives on the line.

Rolling those big blue eyes, she ran a hand through her hair and looked up at me like I was a pest. “You really do think I’m useless?” Her voice held equal parts disbelief and disappointment, but she pushed on. “Fine. I’m using a VPN so if anyone is watching they’ll think I’m in Switzerland, Australia, Czech Republic and so on…got it? They can look all they want but all they’ll get is frustrated.” She turned her back to me and got to work.

Hell she really did have skills I didn’t know about, couldn’t even imagine. “I don’t think you’re useless Fi.”

“I’m sure I’ll rest easier knowing that.” That flat voice told me I’d hurt her more than she would ever let on.

“Have you found anything?”

“You’ll be the first to know,” she told me without looking up or acknowledging that I still stood behind her.

Damn. Never had a woman so thoroughly dismissed me, and fuck if it didn’t have me hard and aching to pound into that tight little pussy, forcing her to acknowledge me. I groaned and walked away.

I had a date with a cold shower.

* * *

“Does this mean we’re calling a truce?” I scanned the patio table to take in the feast she’d prepared. Grilled whole fish, salad, grilled potatoes and chocolate cake.

Fiona shrugged, but she couldn’t hide the pretty little blush that started at the swell of her tits all the way up to her scalp. She wore another one of those little dresses, this one red and just as short and sweet. “I wouldn’t say a truce but sometimes cooking helps me work out a problem.”

“Am I the problem?”

She shook her head and sighed. “No. I prefer to work on problems with actual solutions.”

If only she knew how I really felt. “Did all this cooking help you figure out the problem?”

“Maybe. I need to think on it a little longer.”

I couldn’t look away as her back arched while she scooped her hair up into a messy bun. I just wanted to take it down and watch it fall over her bare shoulders.

“Okay then, tell me how you learned to do all that computer stuff?’

She licked her lips and grinned, gesturing for me to sit. “You might not realize it, but having the most notorious gangster in the city for a father made it hard to keep friends. After awhile I just stopped trying and turned to the computer. I could meet people from all over the world with shared interests. One of those people was a college professor who taught me a couple programming languages. It kind of spiraled from there.”

“You weren’t worried he was some kind of pervert?”

She laughed. “Not at first, but spend any amount of time online and you pick up on it pretty quick. Back then I was worried, but Alan only talked about programming and jobs I could do. He still hasn’t tried to meet me.”

“You still talk to him? Are you insane?”

“He’s more than capable of finding me if he wants. And I can find him if I wanted too. We just trade tricks and I’ve done a little consulting work for him. All legit,” she added before I could ask.

I wondered if Seamus knew any of this about his daughter. “So is that what you want to do when you get your degree?” For some reason I assumed she would stay on at Cerulean. Close by.

“I don’t know. I thought I might like to run Cerulean Shipping but now I’m not sure.”

“This is good,” I pointed a fork at my half-empty plate. “You’re worried that what your dad does with the Cearul organization is too intertwined with the Cerulean Shipping company?”

She took a long pull off the sweaty beer bottle. “Yes, but not how you think. I’ve already got systems in place to hide that. My problem is that too many of Dad’s people work at the company.”

My brows rose. “Never took you for a snob Fi, these people are just like me and Seamus.”

“No you jerk, it’s because they’re unqualified and they don’t listen. I can’t work for a company designed to fail. Do you think Billy Fists ever delivers mail? Or that Ciara forwards calls when they come in? Because they don’t, and customers don’t like being hung up on, and they certainly don’t like their calls going unreturned. Or have contracts waiting to be signed.” She stood with her plate and grabbed the beer. “I’ll finish my meal inside. Alone.”

How could I read her so wrong? I’m damn good at reading people, it’s an essential part of the job, knowing when a guy really doesn’t have information and when he’s holding out. But with Fiona I keep getting it all wrong.

I bit into the delicious chocolate cake with the Bailey’s frosting and smiled. I knew one area where I got it right with her, and I knew I could use that to my benefit.