Page 54 of Dublin Brute

I sigh. “Not the first chance I get, but once you let me finish what I was telling you this afternoon, you’ll likely escort me to the door.”

“Never going to happen. Did you see how happy Piper is and how much we love her? That is Mattie McGuire’s daughter. She’s from the enemy camp. She was the worst possible person for Sean to fall in love with, but he did, and we made room for her in our family.”

I’m not sure what he sees in my expression, but I’m thoroughly shocked. “Sean married Piper McGuire?”

“Aye, he did. He found her beaten and left for dead after her father offered her to the Bratva to sweeten a gun deal. It was brutal. Then, after Sean fixed her up and got her back on her feet, her crazy old man kidnapped her and tried it a second time. We barely got there in time to rescue her.”

“How long was that before he was killed?”

“Uh…twenty minutes? That was Mad Mattie’s last night on earth. He was smacking Piper around because she refused the Russian agreement. That was his very last mistake.”

Oh, my goodness.My father is controlling and can be indifferent, verging on cold, but he would never beat me or trade me off as chattel. “That’s insane.”

“Aye, the moniker of Mad Mattie didn’t come out of nowhere.”

I can’t imagine how betrayed and scared Piper must’ve felt. Seeing her now, I’d never have guessed.

“So, if we can navigate that, there’s nothing you can tell me that will scare me off.”

I wish that were true, but he’s wrong. My stomach twists and I know I can’t put this off any longer.

“What if I tell you my father is the head of the Europol task force formed to take you down?” My heart sinks as his brow furrows. “I’m from the enemy camp, too, Brendan. Just not the one on the south side of the river.”

He moves over to the window and sinks into the leather chair. He rubs both hands over his face before pegging me with a tortured gaze. “Holy fuck. Way to bury the lead.”

“I tried to tell you.” I go over and sit on the couch opposite him. “I didn’t know who you were until last night. Now that I do, I have to stop this. Da moved us here specifically to dismantle organized crime in Dublin. He’s gunning for you and your family.”

“I didn’t even realize there was a task force in play.”

Shit. I can’t win for losing with this.“And I shouldn’t have told you. Officially, my father sells corporate insurance, but you trusted me with your family secrets, so I’m asking you to not make me regret telling you mine.”

“I’d never do that.”

“Not you, but does knowing put my father in danger from people in your organization?”

He waves my concern away. “That’s not the way we do things. The only people who ever have to worry about us are the people screwing us over.”

“And how do you rank the people coming for you?”

The heartbreaking truth is there in his expression. “Okay, so things are a fuck-ton more complicated than I realized.”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you.”

He looks away, digesting it all while I wrestle with the weight of what I just said. Did I tell him too much? Yes, I did…but will he turn that against me? “You value family, so I’m trusting you when you say you won’t go after my dad.”

He frowns. “What would be the point? If he’s heading a task force, there will be six, ten, or even twenty more people on that squad ready to take his place. It makes no tactical sense to go after him.”

I’m both relieved to hear that and disturbed that he is so tactically minded that he knows things like that.

He sits forward and takes my hand in his. “But tell me the truth. If I were just Brendan and you were just Nora, would you give us a chance?”

“In a racing heartbeat.” I drop to the floor in front of him and reach to cup his chiseled jaw. He tilts his head and presses his stubbled beard into my palm. I wish it were this easy. Here we are, within arm’s reach, despite the gaping chasm between us, keeping us apart.

After a long moment, Brendan’s shoulders slump. “Okay, I don’t see how to fix it yet, but I’m not giving up. Right here and right now, we’re just Nora and Brendan. Tonight, we’re going to enjoy our dinner, talk things through, and pull something amazing out of the ether and fix this.”

“And if we can’t?”

He shakes his head. “Failure isn’t an option.”

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