Page 4 of The Devil's Price

"It was wrapped in a bloody T-shirt with the victim's blood, tossed into a garbage bag, and we think it was left in a dumpster but fell out by accident. This is the break we've needed. It was found less than a block from the house on the ground in an alleyway. Sib, don't you see? This is our smoking gun. Ballistics report matches the striations in the rounds recovered from the vic's body. We got our man."

My mind reels as Liam speaks. I'm overcome by wonder and concern all at once. I don't know how to feel about this. Why did no one turn this in sooner? It's been months.

"Do we have prints?" I ask as my eyes turn to the glass of wine. Perhaps I need another to take this new edge off. I should be elated, but my gut tells me to be guarded. I've never felt like this before.

"No prints, unfortunately. The weather degraded DNA. We barely had a match to the blood. But the ballistics don't lie. It's our murder weapon." Liam clears his throat and starts rambling about "socking it to the murderous assholes" while I fill a glass and down it.

Then I sink back into the heat and shove the soggy towel back behind my head. This is all too much, even though it's good for my case. It may not be the "smoking gun" Liam thinks it will be since there is no DNA evidence, or even fingerprints, tying Mick O'Connor to the weapon itself, but it will help. Judges and juries can be quite persuaded by simple things. I may be able to knock them for six, or maybe not.

When I hear the name "O'Rourke", my ears perk up. I listen to what he says more carefully now, as I know the O'Rourkes are allies with the O'Connors and it's Ronan O'Rourke, their chief, who's footing the bill for Mick's defense.

"Stay away from them, Sib. They're vipers. You'll put the whole case at risk." Liam's cautioning tone sounds more demanding and bossy than fatherly. He's not at all like the judge.

"I had one approach me, ask me to dinner…" I've been toying with the idea of going anyway, even after rejecting the offer. If I can work an angle to get undercover with the O'Rourke clan and weasel my way in, I could bust this case and maybe several others wide open.

"No, Sib. Are you insane? They’re killers…" Now he sounds concerned. I picture his lips turning downward into a frown. Liam's handsome, caring too, but he's committed. Another dimension and I'd have probably thrown myself at the hulking god of a man, but I won't be a wrecking ball in someone else's life.

"Not insane at all. Think about the dirt we could gather if someone gets on the inside." I smile as a fuller idea begins to materialize in my mind. Going undercover with Liam's help to get Finn O'Rourke to give up information may just work.

"I forbid it. You aren't trained for that sort of thing. They'll eat you alive." Liam is chastising me now, talking down to me. But he isn't my boss, my king, or my god. And he sure as hell isn't going to tell me what to do.

"I have to run, Liam. I'm in the bath having a soak." And the wine is swirling nicely in my head now, helping me dream up all sorts of imaginations about nailing Mick O'Connor to the wall, along with hundreds of others, once I get the intel. "Bye, then."

I press theEnd Callbutton with a dripping finger and close my eyes again, ignoring the sudden buzz of my phone as Liam tries to call me back. I may never have gotten this idea if that man hadn't approached me in the alleyway. Now that I have it, I'm like a dog with a bone, and even Detective Garda Liam Kearney can't stop me.

4

FINN

Isit in a wingback leather chair in Ronan's office nursing a pre-dinner drink. His curiosity about Mick's trial has fueled our entire conversation thus far, and I've been here for nearly an hour waiting for his chef to finish dinner. Isla and Declan, my brother and his wife, are set to arrive any minute.

"But you've set up the meeting with the solicitor for next week?" Ronan watches me carefully. He put this all on my shoulders to test me, make sure I'm loyal and trustworthy. As the family strategist, I'm used to taking the lead on things, making sure our plans and pathways forward move us in the right direction. This is no different other than the slight hiccup of the law being involved.

"Yes, Quinn is tight-lipped with me, something about privilege and need-to-know basis. You can fix that up for us when you see him. He's an eejit." The solicitor won't speak with me directly. He shares information with Mick and Ronan, no one else.

"It sounds like it…" He takes a long sip of his whiskey, downing the rest of the contents before setting the empty tumbler onthe table between us. "The prosecutor hasn't shown her hand, then?"

"Mick knows what they have against him. Quinn says it's weak. That's all I get from them. She's feisty, though." I smirk at him and think of my plan to wine and dine her into my inner circle where I'll be feasting on everything she knows about this case and perhaps even swaying her mind.

"What's that look about?" he asks me with a grin.

"I'll be taking Ms. Gallagher to dinner tomorrow. I'm working some angles and hoping they pay off. She'll be eating out of my hand and she'll see the light. Mick is innocent, and I'll do anything I have to do to make sure she sees it and drops those charges." After finishing my drink, I set the glass next to Ronan's empty one.

"Anything?" he says, and I hear the question. He means am I willing to kill her and yes, I am.

"Anything," I say with a pointed stare. "If it gets to the point of the trial where there's no turning back and we haven't secured a not-guilty from all of this, I'll kill her. The judge will have no choice but to declare a mistrial." I don’t relish the idea of having such a stunning creature's blood on my hands, but I will do what's necessary to keep Mick safe. My father would’ve called that The Devil's Price.

"Ro?" we hear, and both of us turn to see Maeve in the doorway. She's holding their brand-new baby, Xander, who's about three months old and full of fire just like his father. He's fussy, as normal.

"Yes?" Ronan says, standing to welcome his wife to the room.

"Dinner is on. Let's go eat. Isla and Declan just arrived." Her eyes flick to meet mine. "Hi, Finn, it's so good to see you."

Maeve is just as beautiful as the mysterious prosecutor I desperately want to bed. Her dark hair and imploring eyes shift back to her husband where I see a flick of knowing desire pass between them. One day, I'll be so lucky…

"Baby Xander," I coo, walking toward them. I pinch his cheeks and smile at him, and he starts to cry harder. The fire in his veins will steel him for what's to come in his life. Heir to the O'Rourke name, this child is more precious than them all.

Ronan ushers us to the dining room where we all have a seat. Isla is absolutely bursting with energy, bustling people around as she serves up dinner. Declan has his hands full with this farm-girl turned Mafia bride. She doesn't know how to let the staff take care of things, and now with her only weeks away from giving birth, she's nesting, making it even more challenging for my older brother to make her sit down.

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