Page 25 of Dark Secrets

“Are you—”

Delaney smiled. “You first.”

His eyes searched her face. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, and her heart squeezed at the softness in his eyes, the relief. Why did this man have to seem so good? “I’m okay.”

“What were you going to say?”

“That was amazing. What you did for her.”

“I’d do it for anyone.”

He said it so casually, but she believed it deep down to her core. That he would do it again and likely had before. They still hadn’t moved, and she felt his nearness much more acutely. Her heart pounded with it but for the first time it wasn’t fear. It was something else entirely.

ChapterEleven

James sat holed up in his office, catching up on the paperwork he’d been avoiding. The training sessions this week had kept him busy. They’d finally separated all the different skills into groups, and he was already seeing improvements from the handful of people he’d been working with, as well as working on form and technique with the less experienced groups.

Brogan had a couple women who had the makings of really excellent marksmen—a skill that was always in demand in their line of work. Reagan was still giddy over the progress, wholly undeterred by the bad attitude of some of the boys she was training in weapons fighting. He could tell she enjoyed drilling them extra hard when they let their mouth engage before their brain and said something stupid.

The more they improved, the easier it was to see where everyone would fit into the organization when they were ready. Being able to train even more people to bolster the ranks of the syndicate would make Declan’s expansion into New York and then Boston even easier, leaving enough people to cover ground here in Philadelphia while also covering the other cities as emissaries and muscle so they could maintain a regular presence and protect their interests.

All of that, exciting as it was, along with his regular duties of managing syndicate inventory and shipments and deliveries, had left precious little time to do the paperwork required by the state of Pennsylvania to run a legitimate business. So he’d shut himself up in his office while the lunch rush raged outside the door, determined to get caught up.

When his phone buzzed on his desk, he sighed. He should have put the damn thing on silent.

“Hey, Aidan,” he said, tossing his pen on top of the pile and leaning back in his chair.

“Hey. Busy?”

James surveyed the stack he still had to get through. “Only marginally. What’s up?”

“I need a second for my meeting today.”

“Don’t you usually take Rory?” James leaned his elbows on the desk. “You two have a fight?”

Aidan chuckled. “No. Bridget went into labor.”

“Oh, shit. Isn’t she early?”

“Late. But that means Rory is at the hospital, and I need a wingman to watch my six. Up for doing a little business with me?”

James was already out of his chair and reaching for his jacket. “Absolutely. Send me the address. Addy,” he called when he pulled open his office door. “I’m going out for a few hours.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Addy replied, not bothering to look up from the steak she was plating.

His phone signaled with the details, and he took the fastest route to the rundown deli, pulling into the mostly empty parking lot. Aidan had taken over as Declan’s right hand two years ago, inheriting the role from his brother, Finn, who’d been killed by Italian thugs during a raid. Aidan carried it well, both his position and Declan’s high expectations.

Aidan had made the syndicate a lot of money in the last two years. As good as Finn had always been at the politicking, Aidan had a unique style that didn’t leave room for bullshit and often brought in multi-seven figure deals. James didn’t know what kind of deal his cousin was closing today, but it was likely a smaller one based on the meet location.

Aidan’s truck was already there, and James pulled in beside him, meeting him at the tailgate to check his weapon.

“Thanks for coming.”

“Of course,” James replied. “What’s a little tax evasion when you can help sell millions in illegal weapons?”

Aidan’s smile was wide, and he clapped James on the shoulder. “This guy is more like tens of thousands. According to Finn’s notes, we did business with him a few years ago. But Brogan can’t find much on him in the time since, so I remain skeptical he’s good for it. Ready?”

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