Unshackled

“Aye.” I jumped in and shut the door, and I was sweating so hard that I left the window open. It was too much to process, all of it, and I found myself twisting in my seat to look wherever I could in search for answers. Two duffels in the back seat. Nothing else, not a damn thing. We had more luggage. We also had a giant Yukon XL SUV. “Where’s—”

“You left your damn phone behind,” he snapped. “I couldn’t track you. I saw you bolting from the building on my way back, and I assumed I could catch up to you, but the signal only got me upstairs.”

“I rarely activate that thing.”

“That’s why I did it for you when you were asleep,” he grumbled. “But a fuckload of good it did me when you didn’t even bring it.”

I grinned and coughed, still trying to get my heart rate back to normal. “Check you out, being a sneak, Daddy.”

He looked like he was suppressing a sigh and maybe some colorful words. “When I understood I wouldn’t be able to provide backup, I emptied the apartment, called Eric, and went to get our car.”

“This isn’t our car.” I wanted to make that very clear. This was a cheap sedan, one Julien wouldn’t accept as a trade.

The French knew a lot about cuisine and art and…stuff. But cars… No. No, the French shouldn’t be making cars.

“I parked the SUV in Caen the other day,” he said. “If one thing would stick out like a sore thumb in this little town, it’s an enormous American SUV.” He side-eyed me. “And that tattoo.”

Oh, right. I flipped down the sun visor and checked my face in the mirror. “So here’s the million-dollar question. Where did you get this car from?” I sucked on the hem of my sleeve to get it wet, and then I unceremoniously began scrubbing off the temporary ink from my neck and jaw.

“I borrowed it in Caen,” he answered stiffly.

I snorted a laugh. And given that he wasn’t telling me not to touch anything, I had a feeling it was going to catch on fire or get sunk in a river soon.

Daddy wasn’t a saint after all.

“Finally!” I yelled. “We’ve been tryna reach youse for hours, mate!”

I’d thought I was gonna have a fucking heart attack.

“We’ve been busy!” Finn shouted back. “Can we lower our voices now?”

I slumped back and rubbed my forehead. “Fine. Are you guys okay over there? I’m getting unconfirmed reports online about an explosion outside of Philly.”

I rolled down the window and stole a smoke from Shan. It felt good to be back in the SUV with our stuff and have Étretat and most of Normandy in the rearview, but I was out of smokes and snacks and all the things I became a hard-core fan of when I was a nervous wreck.

“The motherfuckers blew up Evan’s club in Camden.” Finn was pissed. And now, so was I. Fuck, we had to help the guy rebuild. We had guys who made most of their money dealing there, and I wasn’t talking about the kids hustling coke and prescription drugs. We had crew bosses who arranged private parties and meetings to push larger quantities to buyers all over the country.

I glanced over at Shan and wondered if he’d react to that news, considering…

“Any injuries?” I asked Finn.

“None, thankfully—and we hunted down all the Italians we had intel on.” That was a relief. “Your turn. Eric said you found the funder.”

“Aye, I’m sending Eric a bunch of documents as soon as I get access to a scanner,” I replied. “He’s outta the picture, and we’re almost in Paris. Oh, and your dad stole a car.”

Shan shook his head.

I smirked and took a drag from my smoke.

“I’m weirdly proud,” Finn chuckled. “Hold on.” There was some talking in the background, and I assumed it was Eric. It usually was. “I’m putting you on speaker, mate. Eric wants a word.”

“Got it.” I put the call on speaker too. There was no reason Shannon shouldn’t hear it.

Eric didn’t beat around the bush. “I heard you say documents. Can you give me more details than that?”

Boy, could I. “Property deeds, some receipts, insurance papers, a will, a handful of letters, and ownership certificates. And get this—I got the name of Gio’s secret baby momma. She’s the niece of the funder.”

I took a fair bit of pride in hearing Finn breathe out in relief, saying, “That’s fantastic, brother.”

I basked in Shan’s attention too, as he put a hand on my thigh and squeezed it affectionately.

“Yeah, that’s awesome. That means cleanup is next,” Eric said. “If you have the time, take pictures of the documents instead and send them to me on the server. I can get started right away, because we have some loose ends that need tying up over here. I’m hoping whatever you’ve found will provide some answers.”