Kelly Clan 02 - Connor (14 page)

“It’s a nice neighborhood,” she said and looked around.

Conor groaned. He had debated even mentioning a few facts, but there really wasn’t going to be much a choice if she and Claire were ever going to get along.

“She wanted us to live with her,” he said.

Teagan’s head snapped toward his.

“What? When?”

“When Mom left,” he said. “She didn't want just to help out with the bills, you see, she wanted us to move in.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded.

He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Because I said no,” he said. “I just couldn’t let her help like that. You have to understand, once Mom left, I vowed to never have to depend on anyone else. It wasn't just pride. It was your life. At least that's what I kept telling myself.”

Teagan’s face fell. “So, it was better for you to work yourself to the bone?”

“How was I supposed to just take her money?” he demanded. “All our lives there was a separation in this family between those with money and those without. I couldn't be sure, and I had to be sure.”

“And she was crossing those lines,” Teagan countered. “Of course, that's why you really left her, to take care of me.”

He fell silent.

“All these years, and I continue to be a burden on my family,” she said quietly. “Without me, Mom would still be here.”

Conor opened his mouth to say something but stopped when she held up a hand.

“No,” Conor continued.

Teagan nodded sadly. “I knew what a burden it would be, and yet I couldn’t stand the idea of never having even the slightest happiness.” She looked out the window as tears streamed down her face. “So, I told myself that you were better off without our mother. That we didn’t need her. But I was wrong.”

Conor shook his head. “You weren’t wrong. We didn’t need her, and she wasn’t much of a mother if she was willing to abandon her only daughter who was sick. What kind of mother does that? She claimed to be godly. What kind of godly woman does that? She's the selfish one, and we're better off without her.”

Teagan smiled slightly. “We might not have needed her, but we did need her money.”

He couldn’t argue. Not having her money meant that things were far more difficult.

“I think some things need to change,” she said.

Conor’s head whipped to her. “You don’t need to be admitted anymore.”

“For now,” she said. “But Ennis is going to stop the treatments, and my condition will likely worsen. There's no cure, Conor. There's only treatments.”

“I won’t let you be admitted anywhere,” he said with such force it echoed in the confines of the car. He took a deep breath. “Let’s just try to think of a solution that we can all live with.”

Teagan stared at him for a minute before wrapping him in a crushing hug.

“You are a good man,” she whispered. “Claire is lucky to have you.”

Conor gave a hollow laugh. “I don’t think she’s feeling so lucky right now.”

Teagan pulled back to look at him.

He shook his head. “I’ve been helping ruin her campaign.”

Teagan frowned. “Why?”

“If she’s not elected, they wouldn’t need her,” he said. “Ennis won't.”

Teagan sat back in her seat and thought for a long time. “She’ll forgive you,” she said.

Conor stared at her in shock. “What?”

“If she can forgive all the other shit, she’ll forgive this,” she said.

“But what about the election?” he said.

Teagan pressed her lips together.

“We’re waiting outside for some crazed murderer in order to protect her,” she said. “She’ll forgive you.”

Conor gave a small smile.

“When did you get so smart?” he asked.

“I might just be your big sis, but I still know women better than you,” she said.

Conor smiled fully. It was nice to have some solid advice for a change.

He jumped when his phone rang, and when he pulled it out, he was even more hesitant to answer.

“Yeah,” he said over the line.

“You’re at the wrong location,” Finn barked over the phone. “Claire and Anna stopped by the office. Riley just spotted them on surveillance. They also just spotted Boris outside.”

“How did you—”

“Do you really need to fucking ask?” Finn shouted through the line. “Move! We’re all on our way, but you’re closest, dumb-ass.”

Conor had the car started and was peeling out before Finn had even finished talking.

“Roger that,” Conor said. “What’s your ETA?”

“Riley and Noel are closer. Maybe fifteen?” Finn said.

“I’m ten out. Five if I don’t stop.” He looked to his sister. Her face was pale, but she nodded her understanding. “We’re five out.”

“Thank God,” Finn said. “Just hurry.”

“You don’t have to tell me,” Conor said and pressed down on the gas pedal.

* * *

“I’m really sorry about this,” Claire said to Anna. “I just had to check it out before we went to the apartment.”

They looked around the place, and she had to admit, her cousin was pretty amazing. He could turn her living hell into something manageable in just a day's time. If there had been more time, she wondered what else they were capable of.

“This is awesome,” Anna said quietly. “There’s still a ton of work to do, but at least we won’t have to deal with broken glass.”

There was still time to make this work. All she had to do was work a little harder. Maybe a few press conferences. She would remind the public that she was the one that came out in the first place rather than let corruption continue. It could still all work.

She jumped at the sound of breaking glass.

“Claire,” Anna whispered.

Claire placed a finger to her lips and pointed to the closet.

Anna nodded and silently they walked over.

“Get in,” she said to her when they were near it. “Feel around on the wall near your head. There’s a panel that slides. Inside is a gun. It should be ready to go. Just flip the switch and fire.”

Anna’s eyes widened. “You aren’t getting in with me?”

Claire shook her head. “They want me,” she said. “You are my surprise. Someone opens that closet, you come out shooting.”

“But I’ve never shot a gun,” she said.

Claire grinned. “All the better. I’ll just have to duck then. Really, the shooting is easy. It's the hitting that's hard.”

She could hear footsteps down the hall and pushed Anna.

“In!” Claire whispered and shut the door quietly behind her.

She raced to her desk and pulled out the top drawer.

“Looking for this?” Boris stood in the door with her gun in a gloved hand. “Such nice gun. You should keep better eye on.” His deep laugh chilled her to the bone.

“It is a nice gun,” she said with a smile. “Would you like me to give you a demonstration on how it works?”

Boris shot the floor beside her foot.

“It work fine, bitch.” He smiled. His men filtered in behind him. “Where’s your friend? The blond-haired bitch.”

Claire shrugged. “She ran off.”

Boris held up a finger and tutted. “You know we’ll find her,” he said. “Then, we make her suffer for your lie.”

Claire bit her tongue. It was better if she just didn’t say anything.

“Anton,” he said to the larger of the two men. “Look around the room for her.”

Anton nodded his head. A lock of greasy hair came loose from his pony tail, and she prayed he didn’t find Anna. A man like that just might be able to take a hit and keep standing.

“So,” Boris said and stepped closer to her. She noticed the large cross tattoo on the side of his shaved head and nearly laughed at the irony of it. That such a sadistic man would even play at religion seemed like a mistake.

She stood her ground as he stepped closer, and one of his eyebrows rose, perhaps in respect. She wasn't sure.

“Your boyfriend, he is not such a great protector,” he said from in front of her. “He very stupid too.”

Claire glanced around him at the other man at the door. His attention seemed torn between what his boss was doing and his actual job. She could only hope that someone would be coming by on patrol. Noel was thorough in his work, and she hoped that this would be one of those times.

“Seems to me like he is a great protector,” she retorted. “I don’t remember you making any attempts when I was with him. What’s the matter? Does Conor scare you?”

His face twisted in rage, and he said something in Russian she could only assume wasn’t flattering to women.

“You think you can be mouthy with me, you stupid bitch?” he yelled. “Do you fucking know who I am? I'm not pussy-whipped coward like those Irish bitches in this town who play at being men.”

She nearly gagged at his terrible breath and stepped back.

A wicked smile appeared on her face at his retreat.

“You should know the true me,” he said and chuckled. “I'll show you. Iosif,” he said. The man at the door turned to him. “Get my pack.”

She watched as the man lumbered away. All around the room, she could hear Anton crashing about but kept her eyes on Boris. He was the true threat in all this.

“Do you know what I do to people?” he asked. “Especially those who disrespect me and get in my way?”

She nodded.

“And what do I do?” he asked.

She struggled to get the words out. True terror ripped through her. It was one thing to be shot but another to be tortured.

“What do I do?” he shouted.

“Hurt people badly.” Claire shivered as she spoke. “Like Noel,” she said. “Like the burns on Noel.”

Boris laughed.

“Oh, that was good, but it wasn’t me,” he cackled. The sound chilled her. “Oh no, that was all Anton,” he said. “Very good work. Never seen flesh melt like that. Good work indeed.”

Her stomach rolled as she struggled to keep her food down.

“No, I prefer knife over chemicals,” he whispered and stepped closer to her. “There’s nothing like that feeling.” He breathed in deeply. “The screams for me to let them go. And they all beg for it.” He smiled widely at her, and she held her breath. “No matter how tough they are, they beg in the end.” He tilted his head and grinned. “You’ll look so pretty begging me for your life.”

“Found you,” Anton said from across the room.

“Duck,” Anna yelled.

Claire slammed to the floor as Anna shot off the gun wildly in front of her.

She rolled under the desk and watched as both Anton and Boris took cover on the other side of the wall. If the gunfire did anything, it would attract at least someone else. Maybe Anna would even get lucky and manage to hit one of the men.

“Anna,” she shouted over the gunfire. “Get the other mag!”

Claire nearly cried when Anna shouted back, “What’s a mag?”

Chapter Fifteen

Conor could hear the gunfire before he’d even stopped the car. He turned to his sister.

“Get down and stay there until I come out to get you,” he said. There wasn’t going to be time for a lot of instructions, and he could only hope that she wouldn’t encounter anyone while hiding.

Conor reached over and pulled out his guns.

“Be careful,” she whispered.

He nodded and headed to the building to peek inside. From his position, he could see Anna waving a pistol around and firing at random. In the corner, Boris and one man hunkered down, waiting for her to run out of ammunition.

“Come on,” he said and scanned the area for Claire, but he couldn’t see her. With the way Anna was firing, she could be lying on the floor and bleeding. His heart dropped into his stomach at the thought.

Not wasting any time, he worked his way around to the side. If he could get in before she stopped shooting, they wouldn’t even know he was there.

Conor pushed open the broken door and made his way inside. He started to sweat when silence fell over the office. Someone started to shout, and he ran, not caring if he was heard. He came to a stop at the door, guns drawn.

“See,” Boris said to Claire, who was being held by her arm. “He is not so smart.”

Conor swallowed when Boris brought a gun up to her head.

“Drop them.” Boris nodded to his guns.

They fell with a thud.

“You should have shot him,” Claire said calmly, far more calm than he ever expected she would be. She might have done a little training with them when they were younger, but that didn’t mean she had near the experience, and she certainly never had to deal with this sort of situation before.

Boris laughed. “She is funny,” he said. “So many things come out of her pretty little mouth. Maybe that is first thing I cut.”

He frowned and turned to Anton. “Where is Iosif?”

Anton shrugged.

“Go see why he’s taking so long,” Boris said.

Anton walked to the door but stopped at the sound of gunfire. He turned back to Boris, and the two began to argue furiously in Russian. From what Conor could figure out, it seemed like Boris wanted Anton to go check outside, or at least that’s what he guessed from all the gesturing.

He looked over to Claire, over and over her eyes looked down. He followed her vision and saw the flash of something shiny on the floor under Anna, who sat on the floor, an angry expression on her face.

Conor weighed the options. Anna was sitting on the floor, and he would only have one shot to stab Boris in the leg, but then he could make a grab for his guns. The timing for this was going to have to be just right.

“You and I got a debt to settle,” he heard from behind him. Conor turned and found Noel and Riley just outside the door. The two stepped in with their guns pointed at both Boris and Anton.

Anton laughed loudly. “But you look so pretty now,” he said.

Noel’s face contorted with pure rage. Conor had never seen the calm and composed man come so close to losing it. They all knew the effects of the torture had been more than most men would have been able to take, and yet Noel came out mostly normal. He couldn’t really count it against him that he wanted some vengeance. God knew that Anton and Boris deserved it and then some.

“Did you take out Iosif?” Boris asked from in front of the desk, tightening his grip on Claire. He was quiet as he asked, and Conor only smelled trouble.