Page 32 of Praying Mantis

Sean

We unload the suitcases before going in search of my mom. She needs to see Louisa just as badly as I did. There are voices coming from my dad’s office and one is a male who sounds like Colin.

“Where is he, Cara? You won’t let us take meetings without the boy wonder.”

“Watch your tone with me. I don’t want to pull out my gun and shoot you in your face for the disrespect your tone is giving me.” My mom’s voice is calm but scary.

“Someone looking for me?” I cross my arms standing in the doorway. My mom smirks at me while Colin scowls at me.

“Where have you been? You knew we had a meeting.” I shrug. “We need to go.” He’s like a child being dismissed for having a stupid idea that no one likes. I think he’s about to throw a tantrum in front of us if he doesn’t get his way.

“Colin, the meeting happened already. Finn and I took it last night.”

“What are you talking about?” Colin moves toward me. I step into the room with Louisa following me.

“Someone handled it already and everything is good. We have a new gun supplier which Finn will oversee. I have a meeting tomorrow with some new suppliers for other businesses as well. I also will have Finn and Louisa head to the strip clubs to see how things are working there as well. I have a handle on things. This is what my dad would’ve done right?” My mom nods while Colin stares at me.

“You’re leaving the FBI and taking your dad’s place?” Colin asks me. I shrug because I’m not telling him shit right now.

“I don’t know but as my father’s son, I stepped up when you didn’t. I made things happen quickly as there will be people trying to take over my dad’s territories. I couldn’t let that happen. So while you were playing with your dick, I decided.” I can see the smoke coming from his ears if he were a cartoon character. Colin is pissed and knowing he put a hit out on me makes this even sweeter, especially knowing I have the Praying Mantis on my side. Colin opens his mouth then promptly closes, not sure what he wants to say. “Is there something you want to say?” It’s like poking a bear. Louisa walks over to my mom and gives her a hug. Seeing the two most important women in my life together in my dad’s study makes me know this is where I want to be.

“This isn’t over. I deserve to be the boss. I worked my ass off for your father while you were on the wrong side of the law.” Colin stands next to me, leaning in trying to intimidate me. I scoff at him.

“You would never be the true O’Hannon Family boss. It was always mine whether or not you like it, but honestly, I don’t give a flying fuck about it. Get in line or end up on the wrong side of me. It won’t be a pretty place, I guarantee you.” Colin storms out of the office and I follow him making sure he’s gone. I also grab my bug detector from my SUV to check for any listening devices. It’s nice being part of the FBI because you know how they think and what to look for while trying to protect yourself.

“Are you okay?” I hear my mom ask Louisa.

“Better than okay now I have you and Sean on my side. I know there is a lot we need to do to fix the trust I broke.”

“We both broke the trust, baby. We’ll figure it all out. And together.”

“I’m so excited for the grandbabies that are going to be coming and soon I hope, I’m not getting any younger.” Then she just waltzes out of the room leaving us both speechless. I shake my head in absolute surprise by what comes out of her mouth. I show Louisa how to use the bug detector. She’s going to be using it when she does meetings with some of my men as she’s the queen of this family. Once there’s a confirmation of no bugs or cameras recording us because I wouldn’t put it passed Colin not to try to figure out what you’re planning. I don’t want him to outsmart me.

“Where do we start?” I ask sitting down where my dad spent so many nights. Louisa jumps up on the desk to sit next to me. My hands are on her thighs as we talk. She pulls out a stack of papers and hands it to me. “What is this?”

“This is the file I received about you with the hit. Colin provided a lot of information. If it’s a male, I use a secure dating site to talk to them.” I love her honesty. It blows my mind the trust she has in me. Beside the men I served with and Tony, I’ve never had someone put their entire trust in me like this and it’s a precious gift I don’t want to ever lose. Now that I have put the FBI brain away this is all fascinating for me to get into the mind of a serial killer. “Apparently when requesting on the dark web there’s a lot of questions to answer. I don’t have anything to do with it because I have a handler which is my mother.”

“I can’t believe your mother is promoting this kind of work for you.” I shake my head in disbelief.

“That’s a story for another time because with just learning about me being the Praying Mantis, I don’t want to overload your system. I promise to tell you but let’s deal with Colin first.”

“Sounds excellent, baby.” He flips through the pages of the file I received in my email and his mouth opens. “I can’t believe he knew all this information about me. He must have been stalking me.”

“It’s usually the case,” she tells me.

“Go back to the dating site. Is that how you contacted the man in Denver? We couldn’t figure it out.”

“Yes, then I wiped his phone of all mention of it. There’s a programmer I know.” She sighs, looking at her hands. “You won’t go after the people I’ve used to stay hidden from the world, right?”

“I wouldn’t do that to you. I want you to trust me because you are saving my life literally. The FBI is done and with you by my side, I can use you as an asset as we can build an empire bigger than what my dad had dreamed when he started the O’Hannon Mob.” With a hand on my cheek, Louisa smiles.

“You’ll make your dad proud and I know him dying without knowing you’re following in his footsteps will always be something you think about but I think he always knew.” I lean back in my chair trying to take in all of this information. It’s hard knowing someone wants me dead for being my father’s son and for it to be the man my father trusted to have his back.

Louisa

Watching Sean take in all of this information is a struggle. I’m still waiting for him to look at me differently. Will he when he finds out how I kill them? This is a big gamble on my part and it’s sending my OCD into overdrive because I need to control something.

“What do we need to do now?” Sean asks.

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