Take It On The Run

Chapter 57

POV: Sloan

"You have nothin' to be nervous about, macushla," Liam reassured me as I fiddled with the hem of my skirt. He'd managed to find a bottle of water and some napkins, cleaning me off as we drove to the warehouse. "Your granda will love you as much as I do."

I pretended to be relieved by his words. It was better if he thought I was nervous over meeting the notorious mobster for the first time than the truth. Which was that I hadn't expected Red to come through so soon. There had been no time on the ride home to formulate a plan, including how I would manipulate the situation to my advantage with Liam present.

Not knowing what had happened to the guys after they left the club was also eating me alive inside. Judging by the way Liam's auburn brows furrowed as he furiously texted back and forth with someone, his kidnapping scheme had gone awry.

"Everything okay?" I asked him. "You seem preoccupied."

"Not sure. I'm still waitin' to find out."

His candor surprised me. My earlier performance must've been pretty convincing if he was beginning to let some of those walls down.

Again, I almost felt bad for my duplicity, but if the guys' lives hinged on me being a two-faced, murderous bitch, then that's what I would be.

"Anything I can do to help?" I offered.

"Afraid not, love." He set the phone down on the seat between us and took my hand. "Not to worry. My team is very thorough. These things have a way of workin' themselves out."

I hoped for the opposite but said, "That's good."

We pulled up to a dark warehouse, but the driver didn't turn off the ignition as he left the front of the limo to open my door and help me out. Liam followed, taking my hand and leading me toward the lone door. I noticed another limo idling nearby.

"He's already inside," Liam said when he noticed where my attention had gone.

"Any idea why he wants to meet with you?" I asked with no small amount of apprehension.

"No. But this isn't outta the ordinary for him."

My stomach fluttered. Without knowing what Red had said or done to get my grandfather here, I didn't know how to anticipate his reaction to being summoned at such an ungodly hour. If Liam also found out that Red and I had gone behind his back or suspected we were working together, I didn't imagine it would go down well, especially since it made him look like he didn't have control of his people.

The warehouse appeared to be one of the many international gambling halls my father had warned me about. These facilities allowed The Collectors to launder large sums, converting dirty money into chips to be cashed out in the form of a check.

Liam released my hand to open the door for me. I thanked him, but my attention was already on the rows of gambling tables. There was no one inside save for an older man in a black suit.

While my fiancé had been raised by Cillian Gallagher, I hadn't so much as seen a photograph of the man before. Still, I knew right away that we were related. He was the spitting image of my father except this man had more wrinkles around his mouth and eyes along with large swaths of gray streaking his short blonde locks, overgrown brows, and kempt beard. I hadn't been expecting the black eye patch that matched his meticulously pressed suit, but it would be weirder if I met a member of The Collectors who wasn't maimed.

Liam found my hand again and began pulling me towards my grandfather. Despite the fact that I was freaking the fuck out, I looked him in the eye and smirked as we approached.