First message
There were exactly three things Mick hated with a passion: losing at poker, cheap whiskey, and me.
We’d spent the better part of eight years keeping each other alive. I’d pulled him out of burning warehouses. He’d taken bullets meant for me. Together, we ran the Devereux family like a well-oiled machine.
Outside of work? I’d gladly shove him into traffic if it meant wiping that smug look off his face.
“Boss,” one of the guards called from the lobby, barely looking up from his phone. “Mick’s sister brought lunch.”
Like it was the most ordinary sentence in the world.
To be fair… it was.
She wandered into headquarters often enough that half my men greeted her by name. The front desk already knew her coffee order. One of the accountants had started setting aside desserts for her.
Mick claimed he hated it.
I claimed it was a security risk.
Neither of us really meant it.
The elevator chimed.
I glanced up just in time to see her step onto the floor, take one look at the organized chaos around her, and walk in like this wasn’t the headquarters of one of the most dangerous crime families in the city.
A terrible idea crossed my mind.
I smiled.