Page 6 of Twisted Thorns

“Yeah, Sloane says it will be here in a few days.” Finn says as he passes an envelope across the table to me.

I flip through the contents. “We still don’t know what it is, though.”

“Knowing my father, it’s probably guns.”

“Either way, the plan is still on. We interrupt the shipment and derail Sean’s plans, whatever they are.”

“And hopefully, cutting off the flow of money he is expecting.”

“We know he won’t stop, though. He’ll just find another way to come by more power, no matter how dirty it is.”

“That’s why we have to force him out, so we can clean up the O’Neils like we cleaned up the Calders once our father passed away.”

For someone like Sean, morals and a code don't apply if money and power are to me made. Drugs, trafficking, murder-for-hire, Sean will take it all.

Between me, Finn, Liam, and Sloane, we've been keeping tabs on Sean and trying to undermine his attempts to extend his reach, including cutting off his deals with sex traffickers and drug pushers.

"How'd the meeting with Rocco go?" Finn asks, his gaze sliding over to me, glancing at the fresh gashes on my fingers.

“Rocco and I had a nice little chat about attempting to exhort his staff with illegally taken photos and video for extra ‘favors’, I grumble, tossing back the rest of my drink.

“I still don’t know why you didn’t let me take care of Rocco,” Liam says.

“Aw, is the little puppy feeling ignored?” Finn jokes. “You know how your brother is,” he continues, “he needs to beat someone up now and then.”

As our business winds down, Finn excuses himself and Liam moves to the bar to catch the attention of a redhead sitting there. So, I'm left alone and, of course, my mind and gaze drifts to Avalina.

I glance down at my almost empty glass of whiskey and contemplate ordering another, but no matter how drunk I get, I'll never erase the image of her from my mind.

Without something else to occupy it, my thoughts automatically drift to my last night with Avalina. The last time she remembered me.

Immediately, my senses are full of her. The silk of her hair wrapped around my hand, the smell of her skin, jasmine and sandalwood, the sound of her moans as I moved inside of her. I tossed the whiskey back, gritting my teeth against the fire. For a split second, the burn in my throat almost erased the burn in my heart.

Chapter 4

Avalina

Conan stretches out in front of me on my couch, swishing his striped tail to grab my attention. Running my hand along his soft fur, I smile as the gentle rumble of purring began. It is a pleasant distraction from the back-and-forth banter that is going on between Claire and Iris in my living room.

After Iris recently decided that a girls' weekend was what I needed to feel like myself and reconnect with my friends again, she roped in Claire to do the heavy lifting.

Iris is seemingly allergic to planning, while Claire has her entire life mapped out. But despite their differences, I know they’ll come up with something special for the weekend ahead.

Even if I’m not completely sold on the idea of this trip, watching Iris and Claire work together to create a vacation everyone gets something out of is amusing.

I glance up to see Claire pulling out her phone. "Fine, we'll make a list."

"A list, really, Claire?" Iris groaned.

I held back a laugh. This was one reason I loved Claire. She has an enormous love of lists.

"Well, Amanda wants to go shopping. Jessica wants a spa day. You want a night out. Avalina wants books, and I want a museum. You try planning all of that without a list," Claire frowns, exasperation punctuating her words.

It doesn’t really matter to me. I don’t even want to get away. I just want answers.

Shaking off my wandering thoughts, I turn my attention back to Iris and Claire, laughing as I realize my best friend's single list has turned into multiple lists strewn about over my living room floor like confetti.

Claire’s focus shifts from her colored-coded lists to me at my laugh. The gleam in her eye spells trouble.

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