There was not a single doubt in my mind, no matter what Aoife thought, the politician would never allow himself to be manipulated into doing anything he didn’t want. So, no, I wasn’t about to use the Senator’s sticky side boo as a means of getting an in with the future President of the USA. I was too fucking smart to do that. Aidan, not so much, and the last thing I needed was Aidan and Aoife in the same fucking place.
Aidan resented the fact that none of his boys were married. It was a point of contention, one that we all narrowly avoided by never bringing the subject to his attention. But taking home a woman? Yeah, that would have him leaping down my throat, and no way in fuck did I want that conversation.
I was stressed as we walked down the darkened parking garage toward the elevator. In the background, the exhaust on Samuel’s beat-up car made a racket as he set off and headed home for the night—on the proviso that if I needed him, he’d be back here within thirty minutes. I always made that stipulation, but I rarely asked him to come back unless business with Aidan made it imperative.
Tonight, unfortunately, Aidan had brought business to me.
He said we had a problem, and Aidan’s problems were rarely things like a leaky roof or a bathroom faucet that was dripping and driving Magdalena, his wife, nuts.
I was hoping that whatever his issue was today, it would be dealt with after a half-hour’s conversation, one that was liberally lubricated with half a bottle of good Irish whiskey, then he’d fuck off home and I could, well, fuck.
The elevator whirred as we silently climbed the floors to the penthouse. I had private access to it, and that came as one of the perks of being the developer behind the building. I’d had the penthouse designed with my personal tastes in mind.
I said it was a perk, but it was one Aidan gave us.
This was my ‘bonus’ for hitting an all-time high almost five years ago—thirty million dollars in profit, and five laundered through the system Conor and I had drafted that year.
Conor had the other penthouse in the building’s twin across the way, and so far, only the two of us and Eoghan had been given such a bonus. I knew Aidan Jr. was pissed about that, too. As the oldest of the brothers, it normally figured that he’d be the golden boy and would receive all the perks first.
Not in the O'Donnelly household.
Everything was earned.
Every-fucking-thing.
Take Eoghan. He was the youngest. That was why his name started with an ‘E.’ The brothers often joked that their mother was so unimaginative, she’d named her children after the alphabet, but then, they also joked how it was fate that I become her sixth son considering my name began with the letter ‘F.’
Still, he might be the baby, but where wet work was concerned?
He made a Navy Seal look soft core.
It helped that he’d been through all kinds of military training. Back in the day, when he’d rebelled about becoming a part of his father’s ‘corporation,’ he’d headed out to serve his country, only coming back when he was dishonorably discharged.
See, Eoghan wasn’t like regular people.
In his own way, he was a decent man.
He knew the difference between right and wrong, but to him, right and wrong was skewed.
Take his battalion commander.
He’d been fucking one of his female soldiers.
Against her will.
So, what did Eoghan do?
Didn’t keep his mouth shut. Didn’t even report said battalion commander to the MPs. No, he blew out his knee caps. Five Points’ style.
Aidan Sr. had had to pull a shit-ton of clout to get Eoghan out of prison, and only by using a crap-ton of leverage and a fucking mountain of favors, had he managed to make it so.
In the end, it had been a worthy investment.
Uncle Sam had trained Eoghan to be one of the world’s best snipers, and lookie here, wasn’t that just a nice way to shore up his daddy’s empire.
Eoghan had earned his penthouse after killing a cartel leader down in Mexico. Or, that’s to say, he’d been paid to shoot the cartel leader, but he got the penthouse because he’d made it look like the Colombians were behind it.
Cue gang war in their CentralandNorth American territories.