Page 26 of Tempted By her Daddies

“We can’t come to Escana,” his mother said before she abruptly left the room.

Alina’s face fell.

“I will talk to your mother,” his dad said. “We are very happy for you all. Really.” He left the room as well.

Poor Alina.

When she’d called, she’d been so happy and now she looked defeated and sad.

“I will talk to them, honey,” he told her. “Don’t worry. This is a really special time for you and your day will be spectacular.”

Alina smiled. “Thanks, Salem. Alexei and Roman, you guys are invited too, of course. You’re family now.”

Wonderful.

Salem walkedtoward the meeting room. Alexei and Roman were with him.

As they passed through an open office area, he caught sight of a television on the wall, broadcasting the news from Dublin.

“Shit. Another shooting incident,” Alexei said, coming to a stop beside him.

The reporter was talking about the growing unrest in Ireland and then it switched over to where Patrick O’Connor was being interviewed by a different reporter.

“He’s going to use this to his advantage,” Salem said quietly.

“Think he’ll become the next Prime Minister?” Roman asked.

“He will if he keeps going like this,” he replied. “He’s promising to clean up crime and he has the sympathy vote since his wife died after an armed robbery several years ago.”

“Did you know that he and Riordan are related?” Roman said.

“What? Really?” Shock filled him. “How?”

“They’re half-brothers. Different mothers. I think Riordan uses his mother’s last name. There’s about ten years between them. I’ve never heard him say anything about him. They might be estranged.”

Hmm. It was interesting, though.

“I’ve just seen someone I need to talk to,” Alexei said. “Go on without me.”

“We can’t be late,” he told the other man.

He just waved his hand and moved off.

Not a great start.

They walked into the meeting room. The rest of the team was already there, and all talk stopped as soon as he entered.

Fuck.

He’d led this team for the last three years as they’d tried to infiltrate Pinky’s circle to take him down.

And he had a feeling that meant nothing to most of them if they could instead gain the favor of the man standing at the front of the room.

Riordan Orr.

He was the darling of MI6. The guy they brought in to troubleshoot problem areas and get shit done.

Under other circumstances, Salem would have loved to work with him. But not when he’d been brought in to troubleshoot Salem.

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