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“Jesus, woman, you’re supposed to sip it!” Rory says, reaching for the bottle again. He splashes more into my glass, and I have to wonder if he’s planning on me getting drunk just so I can’t remember a damn thing about our meeting.
“Yeah, whatever,” I mumble, but this time I just hold my glass in my hand.
He squints at me then looks at Declan. “Can we get on with this or what?”
Declan heaves a sigh. “Yeah.” Looking directly at me he continues. “How do I put this… The ‘family’ encompasses many men, each one with ajob to do. Some dabble in cars, importing and exporting and some deal in firearms, nightclubs, strip joints and money handling.”
“Declan for fuck’s sake, why are you pussy footing around her?” Rory says before turning in his chair to look at me. “The family is organized crime, and Declan here is stepping down as Captain until either I or you replace him. Do you want to? No? Good. Come on, I’ll help you pack so you can be on your way back to Alaska.” He stands up and stares down at me.
Declan wipes a hand over his forehead then drags it along his face to his chin. “Sit down Rory and for Christ’s sake, she’s from Nevada! Kat has the MacGallan blood running through her veins. It’s up to her if she wants to take over as Captain, but it’s a hell of a messy job for her to get there. She needs to learn to run the business proficiently. She can’t, nor will she, just take over.” He looked pointedly at Rory. “We have already discussed this.”
“She can’t take over at all. Ever,” he said, flopping into his chair. “I forbid it.”
Leaning forward, I looked between the two men. “You know, I am here! I don’t—”
I stopped right there from telling both of them they could shove the Captain’s job up their asses, because just then Rory’s words registered in my head.
Heforbids it?! Oh, hell no.
I looked Declan straight in the face. “I’ll do it.”
Rory swore, and Declan said, “Are you sure?”
I didn’t know what the hell I was getting myself into, but if there was one thing in my life that I had to learn the hard way, was that no man was ever telling me what I could and couldn’t do.
I nod. “Absolutely. Sign me up.”
Declan threw his hands up in the air. “Okay. You will start tomorrow going around to the establishments that we own or protect.”
I risked a side glance at Rory as I was sure he was fuming, but he wasn’t. The fool was sitting there with a wide grin on his face.
“After that, you will be getting into the more, shall I say, unsavory aspects of the business.” Declan said, and that got my interest piqued.
“What kind of aspects?”
“Prostitution, and human smuggling,” Rory piped in.
Great, all the things I didn’t want to get involved in.
Declan glared at him. “Ones that I had planned on eliminating had I stayed on long enough as Captain. But as such by me announcing that I amstepping down, I can no longer make that decision and can only hope that whoever takes over will do so.”
I smacked my knee. “Well, I definitely will be eliminating those… professions once I’m Captain.”
Rory laughed. “You can’t just stop dealing with them, not when you’re partnered up with people that are worse than Satan.”
I think he was trying to scare me, make me want to back out on my decision but that wasn’t going to happen. “I look forward to negotiating with them.”
His smile faltered but only for a moment. He was handsome when he smiled. If I were being honest with myself, he was handsome even when he didn’t.
Suddenly tired, I stifled a yawn. “Will there be someone going with me?”
Rory made a snort of derision. Stupid question I know, but I just wanted this meeting to be done so that I could crawl between my bedsheets.
Declan nodded. “Of course I wouldn’t send anyone alone. Meet him in the kitchen in the morning at 8 am.”
I felt like I was pulling teeth at this point trying to get any information out of Declan. “Great. Does he have a name?” I asked, glancing at Rory again. Hewas still sitting there staring at me with that stupid grin on his face. I don’t know if he thought he was being intimidating or what. But I stared right back at him, and I was so glad I wouldn’t be seeing it for much longer.
“Yeah,” Declan said. “You’re looking at him.”
