CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Griffin
O ne week with Ava the murderer and I’m still breathing.
Although, she keeps that stupid clown between us in bed like it’s some kind of wall. Like that won’t get people talking. She falls asleep with a leg thrown over the thing while reading a book. Every night, I fall asleep and wonder if I’ll wake up again having that little murderer snoring two feet from my jugular.
I’m not dead yet, so I must be doing something right.
Behind closed doors, no one knows we’re not fucking. I thought my suggestion of screwing around made perfect sense. But she turned me down. Now, I’ll make her beg for it.
“We’re here, boss,” Gus tells me, pulling up to the office Kai Powers rented months ago when he needed a team to work on the UN proposal.
Ares offered space in one of his high-rise office towers, but I declined. I’m in bed with the guy enough. It’s getting crowded with him, the clown, and the wife he expects me to keep until my last breath.
“Park the car,” I tell Gus and signal for Zeke and Ace to get out. Ace walks ahead of me, and Zeke behind me.
In the lobby, I ask to see the main guard to introduce myself. He gives me a keycard because the elevators are protected by a turnstile. I hand it back to him.
“I don’t use these.” Glancing at a gate on the side for handicapped people, I add, “When you see me, you go to that gate and let me in. Do you understand?”
The guard’s eyes widen, but then he looks at Zeke and Ace. “Yes, sir. And when I’m not here, I’ll make sure you’re given access. Come with me.”
He leaves the counter and lets me and my guards through. “You have a private elevator, too, sir.”
Now, that’s cool.
The man steps inside and programs it. “Have a good day. I’ll wait here for you to leave.”
Offering a brief, approving tilt of my head, I don’t say thank you. A mob boss doesn’t do that. But I can see this turning into some logistical nightmare, so I tell Zeke to get with that guy and make sure I’ll always have access.
When we reach the floor to the office, Ace posts in the private vestibule and Zeke returns to the lobby.
Inside, Kai Powers waits for me. “You made it!”
“Barely. A guy downstairs tried to give me a keycard that probably won’t work and I’ll look like an asshole.”
Kai loses a few shades from his cheeks. “I’ll speak—”
“I handled it,” I huff out “It’s fine. We’re fine.”
“Let me show you your executive suite.” We strut past offices lining one wall until we reach the end of the row. “This is yours, boss.” Kai opens the door to an opulent, corner office with wraparound views of the East River, the Verrazzano Bridge, and Lower Hudson Bay. “On a clear day, you can see Lady Liberty.”
I think of my mother’s favorite movie: On A Clear Day You Can See Forever . I’m getting by one day at a time, no matter what the weather.
“I told your assistant to meet us here in ten minutes,” Kai adds when I don’t compliment the office that quite frankly leaves me speechless with a little bit of imposter syndrome.
Staring at the desk, I turn around. “Assistant?”
“Executive assistant. She’ll answer your phones. Get you coffee. And other things.”
“Like what?” I put down the briefcase I started carrying around to look legit and fold my arms. “Are you saying you hired an assistant who will fuck me if I want?”
Kai’s throat bobs harshly at my tone. “Sir, I know your marriage will be—”
“Don’t worry about my marriage,” I growl.
“Suit yourself.” He walks confidently further inside. “You have your own bathroom. And shower.”
I glance around, only casually recalling other men wearing suits sitting in the offices I passed and the pretty women perched at desks right outside.
“I will not tolerate any of the men here harassing these women.” I pull Kai in by the collar. “Do I make myself clear? If anything inappropriate is going on, bring that sleazeball to me because he’s getting fucking fired.”
Kai struggles to speak. “I will watch out for that, boss.”
I release him. “Did Troi work in this office?”
“No. His office was uptown. Not as nice as this. He’d had it for years. Didn’t want to move. I terminated the lease and moved everything out. Donated it.”
I wonder if he’s saying that to get back on my good side.
“How often do I have to be in this office?” I ask Kai, considering I gave a guard downstairs a heart attack thinking he can never take a day off again until he retires.
“It depends. I set this up for you because I thought you’d want the image of a powerful CEO.” His eyes bore into mine.
I wonder if he still sees the exhausted guy in a leather jacket and jeans from New Year’s Day dying for a cigarette. Five months and I’ve not caved.
I hide the fact that I don’t want to be a CEO. But I guess that image comes with heading the Irish Mob to throw off the Feds.
“It’s hard to get the taste of blood out of your mouth, isn’t it?” Kai says like he knows me. Heck, he studied me. Stalked me. Found me. And struck. “While we’re finalizing the UN project bid and waiting for approval, you need to look the part.”
“I need to be on the street with Connor, settling scores.” I tug on the suit, although I loved how Ava looked at me wearing it.
Kai just smiles. “I’ll hire a figurehead COO to handle all the business aspects of this deal. Once we start building, there will be reports from subcontractors to go over. Change orders to review. Contractors are notoriously corrupt. I felt it was best to have you positioned to meet with them. Use your kind of...”
“Power?” I ask the man who’s been blessed with that name.
“Exactly.”
I see Kai in this office more than me. An aching to be with Connor on the streets at night gnaws at me. This isn’t me.
Just like being a mafia princess isn’t Ava. She wants to be in the field, kicking ass. Like me. She might be the perfect woman for me. She’s not clingy, or needy, and wants her independence.
Fuck, we’re perfect for each other, but we can’t live those lives.
“Since this will be your office for however long you want to work out of here, and you’re a powerful businessman about to marry a beautiful woman, let’s complete the picture.” He removes a framed photo from his briefcase and puts it on my desk.
All I heard was beautiful woman come out of Kai’s mouth.
Glancing down, I see it’s a picture of Ava. “Where the hell did you get this?”
“I asked Ava if she had a nice photo, and then her aunt emailed me a few options.” He moves it around a bit. “I had it printed and framed. Helps reinforce the truce.”
“Where are the other options?” I ask, feeling irrational.
The attorney looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “In my email.”
“Delete it. Now. No one keeps photos of my wife on their phone. And how did you ask Ava anything?” Last I checked she didn’t have a phone.
Kai purses his lips. “I stopped at your house.”
“You stopped at my house, without telling me?”
“Mr. Quinlan, I am your lawyer. If you don’t trust me in your home, with your wife, I won’t step foot—”
I hold up my hand, unsure where these feelings of jealousy are coming from. “It’s fine. I was just surprised.”
How do I tell this guy that I don’t trust anyone around Ava without coming off as weak? Like I can’t handle a man looking at her. Maybe because I can’t. I’m slowly growing obsessed with her. Especially since she’s resisting me.
I grab the frame—the source of all this tension—and stare at the photo. That gorgeous woman is a mystery. By the looks of it, it must have been taken right when Ares pulled her out of the CIA. And then forced her into fancy clothes, high heels, and a dye job back to her dark hair.
All before Brandon abducted her.
“Powers, let me ask you something.” I sit at the desk. “Are you happy being the man behind the curtain pulling all the levers?”
“I’m not a threat to your reign, Mr. Quinlan. I like my job.” He turns serious. “Except when it comes to pushing you and Ava to look more like a happy couple.”
“She’s being...difficult.”
“Is there something that will appeal to her? Fashion Week in London is coming up in June. Maybe Ava would like to travel. I have some investors there to meet with. I could bring her and—” He stops talking when I give him a death stare.
Like I’d send Ava on a trip to London with another man. I’m also getting tired of him talking about her.
Kai’s gaze cuts to the opening glass door. “Ah... This is Wren. Your assistant.”
Wren, like the bird?
The woman strolls in, and I resist an eye roll at how unbelievably hot she is. And not in any debatable way. She’s tall and thin but with full breasts and perfect porcelain skin.
I’m startled that she does absolutely nothing for me.
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Quinlan.” She struts to me like she belongs on a runway.
“Thank you,” is all I say with a quick handshake that I drop immediately.
Kai clears his throat. “Wren, honey, work through me until Mr. Quinlan is briefed by the department heads.”
Christ, this place sounds like IBM.
Ava’s photo snags my attention again. I’d rather spend my day with her. Seeing how utterly put together this Wren woman is, highlights how broken my Ava is.
I’d rather have her with all her imperfections because those flaws make her real. In the shower this morning, I jerked off until I saw stars, wishing my soapy fist was Ava’s tight cunt.
Hadleigh. It was Hadleigh, though, who rearranged my senses.
And I’m not this guy in a suit behind a desk. I’ll sit at one and reinforce my role as the leader of this vicious clan. But I’m handing over this job to someone when we get the contract. I’ll figure out a way for Shane to monitor everything to make sure we’re seeing real reports with real numbers.
I’d rather be on the streets at night where the real power is.
Ava understands that, too.
Wren leaves, glancing at me on the way out. After years of working as second-in-command to a brutal enforcer, the muscles in my face knew only two expressions. Sinister grins and deathly grimaces. I’m pretty sure I just gave my new assistant the latter.
“Here is your schedule for the week.” Kai’s voice pulls my attention back to him. “Dinners with building inspectors, union bosses, and a few senate aides in town for...”
“For?” I raise an eyebrow.
“Fun. Handouts.”
I roll my eyes and grab my phone, needing to talk to Shane. Reaching across the desk, I see the photo Kai set up there is now facedown.
Wren...
Since I’m in a shitty mood, now is as good a time as any to do what I’d been dreading for months.
Telling my mother I’m getting married to a woman I hate.
I still hate her, right? God, I could have fucked her in that bridal dressing room. She lights my fuse easily enough.
I hated the idea of a spoiled princess. Even though I see more of Ava than Hadleigh lately, I realize Ava was never spoiled.
***
S HANE AND I CROSS THE border into Astoria, and an immediate sense of loss surrounds me. Everything I’ve left behind to take my place on a throne that was thrust at me out of nowhere passes by in a blur.
“I don’t like Ma living here all alone,” I mutter.
“Ma’s hardly alone. Sadie is there after school, and she minds Maggie all day for Ewan and Darcy.” He reminds me Darcy is a surgical nurse who works full-time.
“You know what I mean.”
We reach the house, and I get chills passing the gate I opened for Kai Powers on New Year’s Day when our lives changed.
If I could go back, knowing all that I know, would I toss him out on his arse?
No. Because now I have the woman of my dreams back in my life. Even if she won’t touch me.
I take out my key, but the door swings open.
“Uncle Griffin!” Our niece Sadie stands there smiling and reaching for a hug.
Christ, she can’t just be answering the door like that. I reach in and lift her into my arms, an empty ache hitting me. I’ll have a wife. I’ll be expected to have a child, but I’m throwing it all away.
For what? To stay single my whole life? To keep fucking around? To find someone I actually love?
When Ava is gone, finding someone to love a mob boss who’s not just aching for status or my money will be impossible. I can’t help but feel deep in my bones that Ava would love me for the man she met seven years ago. She doesn’t want to be a queen any more than I want to be a king. In the pageantry sense. Sure, I want to rule, I want to be in charge, I want to call the shots after so many years as the protection force behind the O’Rourkes.
Christ, I came up with the idea to let her go, and I’m the one already looking to break my word.
Shaking my angst away, I carry Sadie into the kitchen where Ma is feeding her baby sister Maggie in a highchair.
Seeing Ma with grandbabies now hits differently. I’m ready to tell her I’m getting married while hiding the secret that I have no intention of having children with my wife.
Sadie wiggles out of my hold and attacks Shane, who takes her into another room to play princess tea party. He’s the no-relationship guy who I doubt will ever get married, never expressed wanting to be a father, but he adores our nieces.
“Ma, I need to talk to you,” I say, turning away from Shane and Sadie in the playroom.
She stops the spoon lifting to Maggie’s mouth. “Everything all right?”
“Aye.”
She pulls Maggie out of the highchair and sits the cherub on her lap. It flashes at me, the day we found out Darcy was pregnant with this wee one. How Ewan utterly freaked because he thought a bullet to the femoral artery took away his ability to conceive.
He had to tell Ma and Da he was in love with Darcy, who is also our niece. But she’s adopted, and Ewan is Ma’s favorite so they accepted it. Da is long gone mentally, and I have to break my own bit of shocking news to Ma without him here to either approve or talk me out of it.
“What are you here to tell me? I don’t have all day.” Ma’s brashness is strong, I love it.
“There’s no way to ease into this, so here goes.” I drag in a deep breath, releasing it in a cautious sigh. “I have to get married.”
“You bleedin’ knocked up a girl?” Her tone is neither shocked nor disgusted.
“No.” I shake my head, realizing that’s how it sounded. “The truce with the Greeks. It came at a cost. I didn’t tell you months ago because it was complicated. But to keep the peace between the Irish and the Greeks, I have to marry their sister.”
“Oh,” she chirps like it’s no big deal.
“You’re not concerned?”
“About you? No,” she huffs a laugh.
“You’re getting a daughter-in-law you never met.” I don’t tell her it's temporary because if Ma doesn’t look like she’s all-in, no one else will buy that I’m serious about the alliance.
Yeah, there won’t be children and a divorce. The two things Irish mothers hate.
Ma comically looks past me. “Then why didn’t you bring the lass?”
“In case you didn’t react well.”
One graying eyebrow raises. “Then you care about this girl?”
“Woman. She’s twenty-seven.”
“A princess being handed over for marriage that old? Was she married before?”
“No, she was in the military for a while, then the CIA.”
“Really?” Ma sounds impressed.
“Her older brother made her join because her father tried to give her away to pay a debt. Then he died and the next brother in line got her discharged.” And now she’ll be mine.
God, I sound like an asshole.
“The lass must be furious,” Ma snarls...
Right there, I know Ma and Ava will get along.