Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 632(@200wpm)___ 506(@250wpm)___ 422(@300wpm)
“You didn’t come,” I rasped eventually.
“I didn’t want to. I just wanted this.”
This.
I didn’t ask exactly what she meant. I knew because I wanted it too.
“Can I stay the night?”
I nodded. We stretched out on the sleeping couch and soon Aislinn drifted off. I grabbed her phone and sent her mother a message, pretending I was Aislinn and telling her I would be spending the night somewhere else. I knew Aislinn would hate to worry her mother unnecessarily.
It didn’t take long for her to reply.
This is a mistake. You should forget Lorcan. Don’t let him lure you back in.
I felt a strange sense of relief that Aoife couldn’t imagine Aislinn spending the night with anyone but me.
I stretched out beside Aislinn for a moment and closed my eyes, breathing in her sweet scent. Soon my relaxation turned to anger at myself. I could only imagine what Seamus would have to say to all of this.
I’d enjoyed my wife. It didn’t mean anything. In the past I often fucked women that didn’t mean anything to me.
Fuck. But this wasn’t like it. It didn’t matter. I’d be back in New York in a couple of days and Aislinn would remain here.
I got up and entered an alarm on Aislinn’s cellphone. Her mother had to work in the morning so Aislinn needed to take care of Finn.
With a last glance at my sleeping wife, I left, half hoping this was the last time I’d see her and knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to stay away.
When I arrived at the old warehouse just outside of Dublin where Balor’s men had taken Aislinn’s attacker, Balor already awaited me. His look of mild disapproval as I entered the vast hall stacked with wooden crates ticked me off.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“In the backroom, but I’d like a word with you first.”
I stopped by his side, hating how his gaze tried to dissect me. “What is it?”
“The events of the last few weeks and what happened today really made me curious. I made some inquiries and it seems your wife might have talked to the police. That’s why you sent her away.”
“You need to learn to stay out of my business. What happens in New York isn’t your concern and don’t say that it could negatively affect business here.”
Balor listened to my rant without batting an eyelash. His ability to remain stoically calm had always driven me up the wall. “Your wife is your business. But if she talks to the police, here in Ireland, that could lead to unpleasant results.”
“I don’t want you to touch her, Balor.”
“She’s your business. But if she knows certain things, we need to make sure she can keep them to herself. Even if you don’t want anything to do with her…” I could hear that he didn’t believe that for one moment. “…we need to keep her in control. And if you decide to give your marriage another chance, then you need to know where she stands, too.”
I gritted my teeth, but I knew he was right.
“What do you suggest?”
“I’ll ask Eddy to approach her. She’ll be spooked after the attack and realize she’s still in danger. He’ll play into her fears and try to offer her protection and a chance to escape the name Devaney.”
Eddy was one of our contacts in the Dublin police force. I gave a terse nod then turned and headed for the backroom. Before I was out of earshot, Balor called, “I never used my chance. If you think she is yours, don’t throw it away. Not without having turned every stone first.”
His chance at love, that’s what he meant. I headed into the room where two men watched over Aislinn’s attacker. He was bound to a chair. His stubborn gaze as he looked at me told me he had been taught to withstand torture.
We would see how long that would last. I needed information and I’d get it.
He proved very hard to crack and what he revealed was hardly worth mentioning. His string of expletives gave away he was Russian, but the only information that he revealed about the people who sent him was that he’d found a parcel with money and instructions on his doorstep in London, supposedly his usual way of finding clients. I didn’t believe that. Maybe he worked like that on occasion, but I had a feeling it hadn’t been the case this time. Frustrated, I eventually killed him with a knife to the heart.
I called Sergej again. He answered right away despite the late hour in New York.
“Lorcan, my friend, what do I owe the pleasure of this late call?”
His jovial act rubbed me the wrong way, but money was raining down on us from our new business endeavor. Maybe Five-Leaf Clover would eventually be able to uphold the business without the Russians but then an ugly war would ensue.