Page 32 of Wicked Villain

Now we outnumber the Irish, but I have a feeling I’ve made my point and my estranged cousins will be more open to hearing me out.

Kieran returns his gaze to me. “Who else?”

Time to get serious. “Micah Moretti.”

The air shifts. Kieran’s eyes grow wide and hard, while the easy expression Lachlan wore morphs into shock. Tiernan and Flynn both freeze, as though someone switched them off.

“How did you find this out?” Lachlan challenges, balling a hand into a tight fist.

“We have our ways,” Cassian answers with a smug smile. They may have distanced themselves from us, but everyone who’s anyone is aware of my brother’s above-board tech skills.

It takes a moment before Kieran straightens, but he hasn’t stopped looking at me. I cock my head and glare right back at him.

“Alright, cousin. You have my attention. I’m not one to ask, but clearly, you have more intel I need. What do you want for it?”

Smart man. The one thing I’ve always liked about him is he never allows anger to make him either stupid or stubborn.

“I want to talk to you. Just me and you. Grant me my request, and I’ll tell you the rest.” Everything except Corrado’s treachery. If I were a better man, I’d feel guilt right about now.

Kieran looks at the others and nods, then returns his focus to me. His brothers rise as one, but Lachlan breaks away to collect the box. Then they leave.

I glance back at my crew and gesture for them to do the same. Seconds later, only Kieran and I remain in the room. He motions to the chair nearest to me for me to sit. I pull it out and lower into it.

For a few moments, we stare at each other, and I think of the last time I saw him this close. The memory is fuzzy, just a haze that could be a dream, but I know it was real.

It was when I first woke from the coma in the hospital.

Fifteen years ago.

He was one of the first faces I saw. Just for a few minutes.

He must have left shortly after.

Never saw him again after that. Not that close anyway. Every instance after was in passing where only I saw him, but he never saw me.

Over the years, I’ve wondered if the same may have happened to him where he saw me, and I was unaware of it. It’s sad. We used to be friends.

He’s a year older than me and a few years older than his brothers. So, he seemed to get on more with me and my brothers in our younger years than his own.

But that was the past. This is the present, where a matter of business has brought us together.

Kieran relaxes against his chair, his expression more at ease. “So, let’s hear it, then. What do you want in exchange for your intel?”

“I want the old alliance back. Access for our cargo to pass through your port terminals and use of your other services.”

A tic appears in his jaw. “That’s a big request, cousin. Especially when there’s bad blood between our families.”

“That bad blood exists because your family blamed my father for something he wasn’t entirely responsible for.” I choose my words wisely on purpose, but he knows that by my use of the label ‘family’ I mean his father and late grandfather. I also use ‘entirely’ because Father was in possession of the chip that started this mess. My old man wasn’t to know it would be the source of his damnation. “New evidence has come to light. The same man who’s screwing you left and right is the very same responsible for my mother and sister’s deaths.”

His brows snap together. “Micah Moretti.”

I nod once.

“How did you come by this?”

“Chance, and a fucker who said too much.”

He grits his teeth. “Micah Moretti…” he repeats the name, more to himself than to me. “The man is a ghost. Untraceable. Practically non-existent until he strikes. No fucking wonder I couldn’t find him.”