Page 20 of Corrupted Union

“Stetson?Keir, what the hell?” Her suddenly shrill voice shot from the phone.

Wellington’s face contorted with disgust. “You know this asshole?” he barked at her.

“Watch your tone, Wellington,” I said with lethal calm. I didn’t care how upset he was; he didn’t get to talk to her like that. “Rowan wants you to know it’s over between you. My relationship with her is irrelevant.”

“What?” Rowan’s voice rose yet another octave.

I clicked off speakerphone. “We’ll talk later,” I told her, then ended the call. Her seething anger across the line was so tangible, I’d have sworn the damn phone was on fire.

She’d get over it.

I swung my leg over my bike and met Stetson’s furious glare. “Suppose it’s time you looked elsewhere for your Stepford wife.”

“Right, like Rowan is all of a sudden yours? She’d never be interested in a thug like you.”

That stung more than I would have expected.

I flashed a menacing grin. “If that’s the case, no reason to worry.” I turned on my bike. When he tried to call out at me over the sound, I revved the engine. Placing my hand behind my ear, I indicated that I couldn’t hear him, then flashed my teeth in a vicious grin and pulled into traffic.

Fuck, that felt good.

* * *

It was tooearly to go to work, but I wanted to check on a few things, so I drove to my office. We owned the entire building that housed the Moxy. Typically, I wasn’t in the club all that often. It was a coincidence that I happened to be there auditioning when Rowan had come by. I spent most of my working hours in the offices upstairs, which I had expected to find empty. Instead, the main door was unlocked, and the lights were on.

“Hello?” I called out, my hand easing toward the gun holstered beneath my jacket.

Oran stepped from his office into the hall where I could see him. “Hey, man. Just me.”

What the fuck was he doing here?

I lifted my chin in greeting. “Can I help you with something?”

“Doubtful,” he grumbled. “I was working on getting another shipment of guns sent our way, but the supplier is skittish now.”

“Suppose he has good reason.” I leaned a shoulder against the wall. I’d already voiced my opposition to staying in the guns and drug business, but Oran seemed hell-bent on using the money to grow quickly. I preferred to fly under the radar. Why pursue income streams targeted by the feds when we already made bank in other, more discreet markets? Gambling, money lending, fights, and other pursuits were plenty profitable.

Oran had argued at recent family meetings that we’d never survive without acquiring more power. He specifically mentioned the dramatic decline of his wife’s family as a reason for his beliefs, claiming that they would still be alive today if they’d had more of a presence. As far as I was concerned, Flynn and Caitlin were without parents precisely because of their greed for power. They grew too big, too quickly, and made too many enemies, our family among them.

“Yeah, well, it won’t happen again,” Oran said with conviction before disappearing back into his office.

How could he guarantee that? If we had a rat who outed the location of the guns, who was to say it wouldn’t happen again? Unless … the guns were never stolen. If they’d been sold to someone on the sly, someone he didn’t want to tell us he’d made a deal with, then he could speak with authority. Had they been stolen, it was awfully ballsy of the thief to sell the shit right in our backyard. If they’d been cunning enough to get the drop on us right after the shipment arrived, why not move the guns so we couldn’t trace them?

The whole thing looked more and more sketchy by the day. I hated to think we could have a traitor in our family, but I didn’t want to ignore the facts either. I’d be watching Oran.

I wasn’tsure my hands were strong enough to strangle a man. I needed some rope because I was going to kill Keir Byrne. He had no right to confront Stetson. No right. I’d asked for help investigating, not an intervention into my relationship.

I called Stetson three times after Keir hung up, relieved when he finally answered. “I don’t know what that man said, but he was lying.”

“What the hell, Rowan? How do you even know him?” Stetson’s voice was curt with wariness.

“He’s some mobster trying to get a favor from my dad. He was at their house the other night when I went over, and now he somehow has my number.”

My boyfriend was quiet for a beat. “Shit, Ro. Why didn’t you say something?” His words lost their edge, allowing me to breathe again.

“I had no idea he’d do something like this.”

“You wouldn’t…? I mean … you sounded like you knew the guy.”

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