Page 80 of Líadan's Code

“Is that happening soon?” Lía asks, amusement clear in her voice. “I’m not involved in the arrangements, clearly.”

Snorting, I shake my head at her. Our humor is a bit on the inappropriate side, I see.

Mickey’s eyes shine with laughter as he nods. “Five days from today,” he responds. “The family members from Ireland will be attending before they return home. They want to show their respect.”

“That very well may be a part of it, but that’s not why they’re still in the United States,” Lía says. “I grounded their planes. They can’t leave until I take them off the no-fly list with customs.”

“Oh you evil bitch,” Joe says with a chortle. “I say that with the utmost respect and regard. That’s fantastic.”

“Our meeting with the family members that can’t be redeemed will be in three days' time. We will be notifying them all tonight,” I rumble. “Our first order of business was to meet with you and explain some of what will be going down.”

“Understood,” Rory grunts. “I’ll spread misinformation where it’s necessary, and rally the troops to help where I know we won’t be betrayed. It’s clear a heavy hand is necessary with this lot, but I trust you’ll be fair as well.”

“Absolutely,” Lía agrees easily. “I’m contemplating a change of residence after all of this is done. Daddy also has family members all over the United States that I don’t feel comfortable leaving to their own devices. The O’Malleys manage to get into a fair bit of trouble on their own.”

“Fucking Bailey,” Mickey sighs. “He and his little motley family are a mess. My next truck route runs through Burlington in two weeks, and I’m not against speaking to them on your behalf if you’re open to it.”

“Daddy always talked about them as if they were leeches,” Lía mutters. “If you could take that off my plate and handle it in a way that won’t create problems, I’d appreciate it.”

“You got it, boss,” Mickey says with a nod. “Now, use us. You shouldn’t have to do this on your own.”

Lía straightens and I stand to make coffee and order food.

“We’re going to be here for a bit it seems, and I want to make sure Lía eats,” I say. “Will someone throw me their card? We can’t use our credit cards right now.”

Rory smirks as he shoves his credit card at me. “Don’t insult me by offering to pay me back, boy,” he says.

We’re meeting somewhere no one would suspect: a back room at Rory’s construction company. It’s a great way to get rid of bodies, and they always manage to get the best bids in the city.

Thankfully, the building is empty because he gave them the day off after they landed a large bid. That’s the excuse he put together, and then he sent his workers off with a hundred bucks to buy the first round on him.

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Sir,” I say as I pull my phone out after checking his coffee selection. Seeing it’s shit but there is a single serve coffee machine in the conference room, I make a grocery order for delivery along with an order for pizza and garlic rolls from a pizzeria that isn’t far from here.

Once that’s taken care of, I tune back into the conversation, sliding Rory’s card back across the table to him.

“Líadan, what are your plans for the rest of your father’s businesses?” Joe asks, leaning forward. “Some of them are on the unsavory side.”

Pulling out a tablet that we also recently purchased, Lía accesses a virtual drive where she uploaded that information easily.

“Which one and where?” she asks, turning the tablet around to show them the screen. “There are quite a few and I’m still working my way through them all.”

“The Carnal Auctions,” he says. “While Seán had rules about when they could take place, it’s not difficult for someone else to step into the fold and begin selling people that they travel in for this purpose.”

“I didn’t actually believe they were still using it,” I say in horror. “Seán said he wanted to close it down because there was a task force in Chicago hunting down human traffickers.”

“Pfft. The place moves to different locations,” Nathan chimes in. “They have a texting listing that they push out messages to when they have an auction lined up. They aren’t given much notice, and that’s to stay ahead of the law.”

“Is there someone other than Daddy that was in charge?” Lía asks, but I tense in anticipation of the answer.

“Cormac,” Rory grunts. “He also helps to break in the girls before they head to the auctions. The man is very involved in that side of the business.”

“I’m somehow not surprised,” I rasp, sitting down next to Lía. “We’re going to need to take care of him before everything else, milseán.”

The endearment slips out without a thought, and the men zero in on me. I forget that it’s not common knowledge that we’re together. Lía rolls her eyes at them, amused by their focus.

“I’m an adult, gentlemen,” she reminds them. “Brendan has been in my life since I was practically born.”

“He’s not that much older than you,” Rory muses.

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