Shattered Hearts (Irish Kings #1)

24. Finn

Chapter 24

Finn

It’s almost nine at night when Riley and I dress and ready ourselves to go downstairs. We slip out my front door into the third-floor hallway of the Gallagher estate. Though I’ve lived here my whole life, nothing feels familiar.

And that’s because I don’t recognize myself. I’m too busy reeling from what just happened. I flex my fingers, remembering Riley’s soft blond hair coiled around my fist as I plunged my cock inside her as deep as I could.

Heat pools at the base of my spine, warming my whole body like a hearth.

Who the fuck was that guy back there? Half enforcer, half sex demon…

I’ve…never…fucked someone like that before.

Never been set off emotionally and sexually at the same time, ultimate rage and uncontrollable lust converging at once, like a total eclipse of the sun.

I’m so turned on and so turned around right now, I agreed to bring Riley with me down to the basement. If I’m being honest, I let her tag along because in my current state, I’m not even sure I can find the basement on my own. Not while my brain is free-wheeling through the afterglow of the mind-blowing, earth- shattering, insane sex we just had. My dick still hungers, itching to finish what we started.

Goatee decided to sing, huh? I need to change that fucker’s legal name to Cock Block. This is the second time his bullshit has gotten in the way of me having my way with Riley Brennan, and I’m not the kind of man who forgives.

I’ve never fucked and teased the truth out of anyone I’ve ever interrogated. I hope to God Riley doesn’t think otherwise after that crazy debut performance back there…

My eyes gravitate toward her face like it’s magnetized.

Her poker expression gives nothing away.

How is she feeling after…all that? Does she think I’m a maniac? I fucking do.

I didn’t hurt her, did I?

Her tight virgin ass…my thick thumb. The head of my cock ramming the back of her throat…

I’m trying to tap into genuine concern, so why do the memories get me hard all over again? If she tells me she never wants to sleep with me again after that, what the hell am I going to do?

Panic flits around my heart like moths around a porch light.

Why does Riley Brennan erode my impulse control?

We descend six flights of grand carpeted stairs to the main level of the mansion and venture toward the entrance of the basement. Still, I track her face, trying to suss out her opinion of me and discerning nothing.

The delicate tip of her nose, her long, full eyelashes, the silky blond tresses shading her deep blue eyes from the light, her full lips.

I squeeze my hands into fists to stop myself from throwing her against the nearest wall and kissing her the way I want to.

There’s something different about her tonight. Her walls have lowered. She’s like water, receptive to and affected by my every move. Or maybe it’s the other way around.

I don’t realize I’m staring at her like an idiot until she meets my gaze. We’re standing outside the basement, and she’s waiting on me.

I punch in the keycode. The door hisses open as if it’s guarding a bank vault. We enter the dark corridor on the other side, motion-sensor lights flickering on as we travel down to the basement.

In the dimness, I grab her hand. And the electricity that jolts through me just from this small point of contact is unreal. Why am I so alive to her touch? I can feel her proximity in every part of my body.

I’m so scattered, and if I don’t get my head on straight…well, I know all too well what happens when I let myself get distracted.

People die.

I force my mind to focus on her words from earlier, mulling them over in my mind. What did she say? A secret, stolen drug shipment?

I don’t regret the incredible sex Riley and I just had, but I do feel like a shithead for taking all my anger out on her. She and Harper were the least to blame in this picture. She’s only guilty of keeping her sister’s secret. And that stemmed from love, from wanting to keep Harper safe.

If I were in her position, I wouldn’t have told me either.

She deserves better than me. She deserves the world and more.

As we climb down the last set of stairs before we enter the basement level of the estate, I think of her strength. She bore the brunt of my sexual wrath. She let me do everything I wanted to her body without protest.

Why? She’s anything but submissive by nature…

“Fuck, Enzo!”

We both freeze outside the door to the interrogation unit when we hear my father’s deep voice and share a look.

What the hell is going on in there?

My father is typically a calm, measured man. I’m told my laconic charm comes from him. I got my mom’s sweet tooth and my dad’s stony disposition. He rarely yells.

I get the door open, and we find…chaos.

The interrogation unit is akin to a miniature prison block. Soundproof, bulletproof interrogation cells line the perimeter, each designed differently to suit our various needs. Certain cells lend themselves better to particular types of torture. To the left of the entrance is the office, where we keep the interrogation footage archives.

The back of the unit houses a special garage entrance for easy access, and in the center of the whole setup sits a space resembling a lobby. Inside, monitors display video feeds of each cell.

We find everyone in the lobby.

Thomas Brennan paces in front of the two-way mirror of the first cell. We only put high profile abductees there, and as expected, Troy Sullivan is on the other side of the glass. He’s unconscious again, and I’m willing to bet Thomas’s bloody knuckles are the reason.

“What’s going on?” Riley speaks up, casting her eyes toward Thomas. To say he’s tense would be a gross understatement.

“Got a confession out of Darragh’s boy.” Dad’s eyes lower to mine. “Red Hill has allied themselves with the De Lucas. They’ve claimed responsibility for the attacks on you and…your wife.”

Understanding clangs through me, metallic and painful. I know that my father and I share the same thought.

This changes everything.

I don’t miss the way my father didn’t say either Harper or Riley’s name, though at this point, since the De Lucas and Red Hill have aligned, I don’t think it makes much difference who knows. If Troy had a chance to tell anyone that Riley was the one who married me, then the De Lucas are already well aware of Harper’s disappearance. But on the slim chance Enzo’s guys still believe Harper married me, we need to keep our secret within the Gallaghers.

For now, at least.

Riley’s fingers squeeze mine, reminding me she’s there and that we’re in this together. The concern on her face anchors me.

We never had the talk I meant for us to have…

How could she understand the immensity of this moment?

Shane shifts his head to the left, subtly indicating the door behind us. “Tomorrow. Six p.m. My office.”

We’ve been in this room all of five minutes, and we’re already dismissed. Almost instantly, I realize Riley’s the reason. My father didn’t expect me to bring her. Whatever he needs to share is for my ears only.

There’s nothing more I can say, so I just nod and lead Riley out into the hallway. We make our way back upstairs in silence, but I can tell she has the whole spectacle we’ve witnessed on her mind. Almost as soon as we reenter my suite, she tugs on my sleeve, grabbing my attention.

“Your turn,” she murmurs with those lips I can’t stop kissing.

“My turn for what?”

“To tell me the truth. The whole truth.” Her expression is gentle. “About the De Lucas. Why are they after you? Why did they…kill your wife?”