Chapter 2 - The Brother Who Built the Trap
Cormac did not take Faye to his mansion.
He took her to an old bakery in Dorchester.
The bakery had been closed for eight years, but the upstairs apartment still belonged to him. It was one of the few places in the city no one connected to Cormac Brennan would think to search.
Faye stood near the window while he made calls.
She watched him become the man people feared.
His voice remained low.
He did not shout.
He did not threaten anyone directly.
He only asked questions.
And every person on the other end of the line seemed to understand that the wrong answer could end their life as they knew it.
Within an hour, Cormac learned the truth.
Declan had reopened parts of their father’s old operation without telling him. He used Brennan Maritime as a cover for illegal shipments, bribed port inspectors, and moved money through construction companies connected to the new terminal.
More importantly, Declan had been preparing to blame Cormac if the operation was discovered.
The party was not a celebration.
It was a farewell.
Declan had planned to let Cormac drink, embarrass himself, and become the perfect public face of a coming scandal.
Then Nora found the records.
And Declan’s men took her.
“He’s going to kill her,” Faye said.
Cormac looked at her.
“No.”
“You do not know that.”
“I know Declan.” His face hardened. “He will keep her alive until he gets what he needs.”
“What does he need?”
Cormac opened a safe beneath the floorboards.
Inside were old ledgers, keys, and a black folder.
“My signature,” he said.
Faye stared at him.
“He wants you to sign something?”
“He wants me to take responsibility for everything he has done.”
Cormac looked at the papers in his hands.
“If I refuse, he exposes Nora. If I sign, he destroys me.”
Faye stepped closer.
“And what happens to everyone else?”
Cormac looked out at the empty street below.
“That is what he is counting on. He thinks I will protect my name before I protect strangers.”
Faye’s eyes sharpened.
“Will you?”
Cormac turned toward her.
For the first time, his expression was not threatening.
It was honest.
“I do not know how to be the man you think I am,” he said.
“I don’t think you are a good man.”
Cormac almost smiled.
“Good.”
“I think you have power. And I think you have spent years deciding when to use it.”
Her words stayed with him.
Then his phone vibrated.
A video message.
Nora sat tied to a chair inside a warehouse. Her face was bruised, but she was conscious.
Declan appeared beside her.
“Midnight,” he said into the camera. “Pier 28. Bring the black folder. Bring Faye too.”
The video ended.
Faye looked at Cormac.
“Why me?”
Cormac’s face went cold.
“Because Declan knows about the ring.”
Faye’s hand moved to her pocket, where she had placed it.
“He thinks I am your weakness.”
“No,” Cormac said. “He thinks you are leverage.”
Faye swallowed.
“What is the difference?”
Cormac looked directly at her.
“Leverage is something a man uses.”
May you like
His voice dropped.
“A weakness is something he cannot live without.”
