Page 3 of Claimed By Daddy
I push open the warehouse door, and the three of us step into the unseasonably brisk evening air. We head down the alleyway toward my G-Class. It’s dark—the only light coming from an occasionally flickering streetlamp—and the city is eerily quiet. We add to the silence, not saying anything as we climb into my SUV.
The drive from West 15th Street to Gansevoort Beach is fast this late at night. I park in a nearby lot, and we walk toward the river. The dark expanse of water stretches out in front of us like an endless abyss, swallowing everything in its path.Exactly what we need.This location might be far too public to dispose of a body—or four—but it’s perfect for a few shell casings and guns.
It’s vacant tonight—likely due to the chill in the air and the late midnight hour—but most nights, the benches are full of couples or friends. The three of us sharing a bottle of vodka on the riverfront wouldn’t draw anyone’s suspicion.
Nik and I toss the evidence of our crimes into the Hudson while Cillian paces between the water’s edge and the nearby park bench. When he sits on it, he hunches over, resting his forearms on his thighs. His eyes narrow slightly, and he clenches his jaw as he stares at me and Nik. From the look onhis face, I half expect him to lose his shit over what we just did. His voice low, he mutters, “I fucked up…”
It isn’t like him—or any of us—to apologize, and those three words are about as close as we’re going to get. Glancing at him, I find his eyes as apologetic as his words. “You fucking think?” I huff, my hands rising with my brows.
“I shouldn’t have brought her to the apartment. She’s going to fucking hate me. But, I just…” His jaw is tight, and he almost sounds like he’s trying to rationalize his decision with himself. “I couldn’t leave her to fend for herself. She’s my fucking sister, Enzo. The only family I have left.”
Nikolai doesn’t look at him. He stares over the Hudson to Jersey as he takes another swig from the bottle. “We’re your family, Cian. Tonight, sworn over spilled blood, we became brothers.”
“I know.” Cillian drops his head. “She’s the only person in this world I care about other than the two of you.”
I take a deep breath, trying to empathize with Cillian. Neither Nikolai nor I can put ourselves in his shoes—we don’t have siblings. The only people we have to think about are each other. “I know she’s your family. With us or without us, she’s going to be in danger. Bringing her to our place puts us all at risk.”
“She’s safer with us than anywhere else,” he rebuts, standing from his wooden bench. “I should’ve said something before I did it, but it was impulsive. I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to her because of what we did tonight.”
We don’t respond. For Mr. Rational to do something impulsive, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt how important she is to him. Still, thrusting his little sister into this mess we’ve made doesn’t sit right with me. Our lives are about to be complete and utter turmoil, and taking care of his little sister wasn’t on the agenda for any of us. The whole city is about to go to shit with the members of our families being forced to choose a side—with us or against us. The last thing we need is someone using her as leverage against Cillian. Someone will know that she’s his weakness. For her safety—and ours—he couldn’t leave her out there on her own.
“She’s going to be fucking pissed,” Nik imparts, passing the bottle of vodka to Cillian.
“I know.” Cillian sighs, accepting the olive branch.
“You don’t.” I shake my head. “We’ve been your friends for years. But she’s spent all those years learning and thinking that we’re the enemy. She’s going to be fucking livid.”
Cillian takes a generous gulp from the bottle and passes it back to Nikolai, who doesn’t hesitate to take another drink himself. “It’ll be all right.” They both fall quiet, and I take the bottle when Nikolai pushes it toward me. My hand steady, I bring it to my lips. The burn tingles over my tongue and down my throat as he promises, “She won’t be a problem.”
In my experience, women are always a problem…
“It’s settled then?” Cillian asks, not expecting an answer. “Eavan stays.”
“The girl stays,” Nikolai agrees, and I nod in acknowledgment.
His tone turning more serious, Cillian asks, “So, what’s next?” His eyes dart between me and Nikolai as we pass the bottle of vodka between us.
“Next?” I exhale slowly, glancing at the water, the lights of the city flickering on the surface. Turning to face him, my eyes span our sprawling empire. “We keep pushing. We take what our fathers built for us to inherit. Without the fucking trafficking.”
“Fucking right we do!” Nikolai raises the near-empty bottle of vodka into the air before taking another swig.
“We build our fucking empire!” My gaze flicks between my brothers before me and the skyline behind them. It’s far too soon to think about what we can build—the kingdom we plan to forge together. Right now, we shouldn’t be thinking about anything more than surviving and making sure that no one gets in our way or comes for what is rightfully ours. But I can’t help myself when I vow, “And then we burn everything else to the ground.”
Gone are the days of the Rosetis, O’Briens, and Romanovs. There will be no more families grappling for control. Together, we’re going to build something new. Something bigger than any of us individually.
Cillian looks like he’s ready to speak again, but he doesn’t. Instead, he takes another long gulp from the bottle, and I can see the resolve setting into his features. “Burn it,” he echoes. “Burn it until we’re all that’s left. Until there’s nothing but… The Kings.”
The Kings.
It’s fitting. It encompasses everything we are and what we plan to build. A smile pulls at my lips, and I nod as I firmly squeeze Cillian’s shoulder. “The Kings.”
Swiping the empty bottle from Cillian’s hand, Nikolai tosses it into the river with a roar, “The fucking Kings.” The splash of it hitting the water is swallowed by the night as the three of us fall silent.
“We should probably go.” Cillian breaks the silence, looking at his watch. “It’s probably too late tonight, but I still have to find some way to break this news to Eavan.”
While walking back to my G-Class, we go over the next phase of our plan—solidifying each of our parts and making arrangements to tidy up any potential loose ends. All of us are ignoring the biggest one—the fiery redhead locked in our apartment.
Sunlight seeps through the slit of slightly parted curtains, the rays shining directly onto the pillows and in my face, stirring me from my slumber. As I sluggishly sit up, I wipe the remnants of sleep from my eyes as I try to wake up. The smooth, dark gray sheets pool around my waist, and I quickly realize that I’m not in my bed.Not my room… Or even my father’s penthouse.My heart races for a second, and my eyes dart anxiously around, before I remember…This is Cillian’s room.
