Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Franco: Devon’s mad at me and it’s your fault.
Colum: It’s not my fault.
Colum: But if it was, why would he be mad at you this time?
Franco: He saw the pic you sent of Xavier’s ass.
Franco: Terrible picture, by the way. It’s blurry and he’s wearing pants.
Colum: How would I be having a pic of his naked ass?
Franco: Come on man, you’re better than that. You are totally clever enough to sneak a picture of another man’s naked ass.
Colum: Thank you?
C olum looked up at the sound of footsteps climbing the front stairs, followed by a loud knock on the door. After calling Annie and Xavier, Colum had planted himself in the front office. By God, but this was an uncomfortable chair.
He’d checked every floor and seen nothing out of place, turning on all the lights as he went through the large building. He’d locked the door after himself but once his check was complete, he returned to the first floor, and even with the door locked, he still felt safer sitting by it and staring it down like he was some damn watchdog.
“Colum?” Xavier called his name urgently, knocking once more.
Colum rose, rushing to the door. Unlocking it, he stepped aside as Xavier and Annie hurried inside.
Annie stopped short, her concerned expression morphing to one that almost had Colum taking a step back.
“Who hit you?” she asked in a deadly, dark tone.
Colum blinked a few times, just to make sure it was really Annie standing in front of him.
“Er…”
She shook her head, schooling her features quickly into a concerned expression, obviously aware she was scaring him. He sighed in relief when she reached for his cheek, touching it gently, her eyes growing soft. “You need to put some ice on that. It’s swelling.”
Xavier was standing slightly behind Annie, his dark hair askew—Colum’s calls had pulled them both from their beds. Xavier, who was always debonaire, had buttoned his shirt wrong and hadn’t bothered to tie his runners in his rush to get here. His gaze slid down, taking in Colum’s disheveled attire, frowning when he noticed his slippered feet.
Despite the pain and the remnants of fear that remained, Colum couldn’t help but grin, touched by their concern. “I’ve had worse.”
He was about to add he’d done worse to himself, but doing that would open the door to his past issues with grief and drinking, and now was not the time for that. He was just freaked out enough that he was worried about dumping his entire life story on them in an explosion of word vomit.
Xavier stepped forward, placing his arm around Colum’s back. “You’re cold. Is it warmer upstairs?”
Colum nodded, then winced when the motion made his head hurt.
Xavier helped him up the stairs, even though the assistance was unnecessary. Annie followed in their wake, continuing to the kitchenette as Xavier got him settled on the couch.
She returned a few moments later with an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel and a cup of hot tea in her hands. She handed the cup to Colum, then sat down next to him. Xavier had one shoulder propped against the wall, a seemingly casual pose, but there was a tightness in his posture, and he watched him with an intensity Colum could feel.
“What happened?” Annie asked, gently holding the ice pack against his face before encouraging him to hold it.
Colum winced before answering. “The front door alarm was triggered.” His grip was tight around the teacup, letting it warm his chilled hands. “I ran from my flat—it’s downstairs, basement level,” he added by way of explanation, “to the front door.”
“Did you take a weapon?” Annie asked, and though she was giving him a soft, concerned look, there was something hard in her voice.
Colum ran a hand through his hair, his grin self-deprecating. Neither Annie nor Xavier smiled back at him.
He swallowed heavily. “My first thought had been to save the archive. Unfortunately, no other thoughts followed that. The gate squeaked when I threw it open. I saw the man on the front stoop, trying to break in, so I went after him.”
Xavier muttered a curse in French as Annie pressed her fingers to her lips, probably to stop herself from calling him a gobshite.
“He punched me, then ran off,” Colum said, wanting to wrap up the story as quickly as possible.
Xavier pushed off the wall. Cupping Colum’s chin, he tipped his face up to the light. Annie pulled the ice pack away, and then her gentle fingers touched his cheek, just above Xavier’s hand, urging him to turn his face slightly. She pushed up so she was kneeling on the couch beside him and leaned in to examine his face.
Colum’s heartbeat picked up, and it had nothing to do with recounting the danger of the attempted break-in.
Xavier’s hand dropped to Colum’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Did you call your admiral…” He frowned, clearly remembering Colum didn’t have one. “Did you call the fleet admiral?”
“No, only you.”
Xavier’s dark brow rose. “Why wouldn’t you call him?”
Colum wasn’t sure how to answer that without giving himself away. The truth was, he was in pain and scared, and they were the ones he wanted with him. But he couldn’t say that. He shouldn’t be having any feelings for them. For one thing, they hardly knew each other, and for another, he was married. Even thinking that word made his stomach hurt.
“You didn’t want to worry him, did you?” Annie asked.
Bless her. It was the perfect response, even if it wasn’t the real one.
Colum nodded. “I didn’t. Plus, I wasn’t thinking clearly.”
Xavier frowned. “Worry the fleet admiral? It’s his job to worry about attacks against our society.”
Annie looked up at Xavier. “Colum has a different relationship with Eric, closer than most members.”
“Eric?” Xavier parroted, with both brows raised. He looked from Annie to Colum and back again.
Annie ignored Xavier, her focus returning to Colum. “You should call him.”
She was right, but now that she’d made the comment about Eric being worried, Colum hedged. Eric tended to react badly—as in a mad, murder-people way—whenever someone he cared about was hurt or in danger, and he had enough on his plate with the Trinity Council and all the other operations and missions that had started as a result of that meeting.
To say nothing of how Nikolett was probably reacting to the marriage.
“Nothing was taken, and no one was hurt. Eric has bigger problems than?—”
“No one was hurt?” Xavier all but yelled, gesturing toward Colum’s face. “You need to call him.”
“Er…um…okay. I will,” Colum lied. “Later.”
Xavier’s eyes narrowed, proving to Colum that he was still the shite liar Josephine had always accused him of being.
“Have you ever had a break-in at the archives before?” Annie asked.
Colum shook his head. “Not once in all the years I’ve been here.”
“Do you think this was a random break-in? Have you heard of other robberies in the area lately?”
Again, Colum shook his head. “No.”
Annie ran a finger over her lower lip. “Have you recently acquired anything of value? Something that someone might have noticed being moved in?”
“No,” he answered.
She looked around briefly before honing back in on him. “What exactly do you keep here?”
Colum felt a bit like he was being interrogated, Annie’s questions coming quickly, all her focus concentrated on him.
“Artifacts, records, artwork, books.” The back half of the lower floors and the majority of the upper floors were state-of-the-art storage.
“Do you think one of the members might be behind the break-in?” she asked. “Perhaps?—”
“No. That’s not it.” Xavier had been pacing back and forth, his hands shoved in his pockets, but at her question, he turned and stopped in front of them. “Most members don’t even know this place exists. I didn’t until my admiral told me to meet the two of you here to join in this investigation.”
Annie reached over, lifting Colum’s hand, encouraging him to put the ice back on his cheek. Distracted by her questions, he’d let it fall to his lap.
Xavier pointed to him. “You heard Colum. He hasn’t acquired anything of value recently . He’s had the first part of that manuscript for years.”
“I don’t think we can immediately assume that the thief was after Control’s Undoing . There are probably a dozen things in this archive of higher value,” Annie argued.
Xavier shot Annie a dismissive look. “You believe in fairy tales and coincidences?”
Annie’s eyes narrowed.
“He had to have been after the manuscript,” Xavier said. “We know there are people out there on the dark web searching for it.”
“I’m not discounting it,” Annie insisted. “I’m just saying we can’t make that assumption without considering other possibilities.”
Xavier glanced at him, his brows furrowing as he looked at Colum’s injury. “We need to assume that this has to do with the manuscript.”
Annie started to shake her head, clearly ready to continue the argument, but Xavier cut her off.
“I need some air.”
Before either he or Annie could reply, Xavier stormed downstairs. Colum was tempted to call out and demand he come back. After all, the maybe-thief was still out there, somewhere. What if he was watching the archive from a distance? Still looking for a way in?
Colum’s chest tightened with the realization that he’d put Annie and Xavier in harm’s way by bringing them here.
“Would you like some more tea?” Annie asked.
Colum glanced down. He’d let the first cup go cold. “Aye, but I can make it.”
He started to stand, but Annie pressed him back down. “Stay there. I’ll get it.” She took his cup and the rapidly melting ice pack. “I’ll get more ice too.”
Colum remained in the workroom alone, leaning back on the couch, weary beyond all measure. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but Annie and Xavier both returned at the same time, Annie descending from the kitchenette as Xavier reached the landing.
Annie handed him the fresh cup of tea as well as the new ice pack before reclaiming her spot next to him on the couch.
Xavier, still keyed up, resumed his pacing. His constant motion reminded Colum of Josephine, and he found himself smiling at the comparison, imagining the ruts the two of them could wear in the carpet.
Xavier paused. “Is something funny?”
Colum shook his head, jerking slightly when his phone began ringing. Retrieving it from the coffee table, he frowned. “It’s Eric. FaceTiming me.”
Annie smiled softly. “I was going to ask if anyone else would have gotten the alert that the alarm went off. I was actually wondering if the police were going to show up.”
“Feck.” Colum stared at his phone. He had no idea if the alarm company would call Eric. He knew how to arm and disarm both the primary and secondary systems, but they’d never been tripped before, so he didn’t know what happened after.
“You should answer it,” Xavier said, in a way that sounded almost like he’d been expecting the call.
Colum accepted the call, Eric’s face filling the screen.
Colum held back his sigh when—as expected—Eric’s expression turned black. “Who hit you?”
“Er…” Colum really needed to come up with an answer to that question. “Someone tried to break in. Why are you calling me?”
“Because you didn’t call me ,” Eric replied. “I don’t like hearing from one of my admirals that the archive was nearly broken into and the archivist injured.”
One of the admirals had called him? Annie and Colum both shifted their gazes to Xavier, who crossed his arms, one brow raised, an unapologetic expression on his face.
“I’m not—” Colum started.
“I can see the bruise even with your glasses on, Colum. Who tried to break in?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t see the man’s face. He wore a hood and face mask.”
“What did he want?” Eric asked.
Colum shrugged. “I don’t know. We didn’t have a great long chat.”
Xavier scoffed as he stepped around the couch, crouching until his face was in the screen with Colum’s.
“You have a different answer, Allard?” Eric asked.
“I think the thief was looking for the Oscar Wilde manuscript.”
Eric rubbed his jaw. “Any proof of that?”
“The timing was too coincidental,” Xavier responded.
Annie was sitting closely enough to Colum that her image showed—meaning Eric could see—at least one of her eyes rolling.
“Can I assume you’re Annie Ward from the Trinity Masters?”
Annie gave Eric a friendly smile. “I am. I’m pleased to meet you, Fleet Admiral.”
“Thought you two were on a first-name basis,” Xavier muttered.
Eric closed his eyes briefly. Unlike Annie and Xavier, who’d been pulled from their beds, it was apparent the fleet admiral had been wide awake when Xavier’s admiral called him.
“Can I assume you don’t agree with Allard’s opinion about the break-in?” Eric asked Annie.
“I simply suggested we can’t jump to that conclusion without more evidence.”
Eric nodded. “I agree.” There was a brief pause. “Colum, you said you’d probably end up going to New York for this mission. Is that still true?”
“Yes, and we were planning on going tomorrow. Well, today, but…” Colum was hesitant to leave the archive unprotected.
“No buts,” Eric interjected. “I want you out of that house. The plan remains the same. Take the manuscript with you to keep it safe; study it while you travel.”
“Eric…the archive,” Colum started, ready to fight for his baby.
“It will be protected, Colum,” Eric reassured him. “I’ll send Spartan Guards and make Arthur give me some of his knights to watch over it. They’ll be waiting if the thief comes back.”
Colum agreed without argument, aware the archive would be safer with knights and Spartan Guards protecting it.
“Why now?” Annie said slowly. “Assuming that this is related to the manuscript. I know there was an inquiry on the dark web, but that wasn’t recent. Why tonight?”
“How did they find out about the archive?” Xavier added. “If you told a member this manuscript existed, they would assume it’s with either the admiral of England or France, since Wilde lived in those places. The archive is a secret, even from our own people.”
“And what about—” Annie started.
“Stop,” Eric ordered. His gaze slid from Colum to Annie, then to Xavier. His next words meant for all three of them. “I’ll bring in more people to work on this. Those are all good questions, but you’re not the ones who are going to answer them. Your only job is to find the rest of that manuscript before someone else does.”
Annie stepped onto the elevator of 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge, catching sight of her reflection in the mirrored doors as they slid closed.
Yep. Just as she thought. A zombie would look better than her right now. Her makeup was faded and smudged and her clothing wrinkled after too many hours of shifting uncomfortably on the plane. There were dark circles under her eyes, and a large section of hair had fallen out of her loose ponytail. She was also starting to fear she’d never be able to turn her head again, thanks to one hell of a stiff neck. She winced as she bent it to the left, then to the right, in an attempt to work out the kinks.
She’d only just managed to fall asleep last night, tossing and turning as she considered the investigation, when Colum called about the break-in. Concern had driven her from her bed and, not wanting to wait for a rideshare or taxi, she’d raced through the streets, arriving at the same time Xavier arrived in his friend’s car.
Despite her short association with Colum, she’d felt a pull toward the quiet, intelligent man, so the idea that he’d been in danger and injured bothered her quite a lot.
Once she and Xavier had taken care of Colum, spoken to the fleet admiral, then done a quick check to make sure all the doors and windows of the archive were securely locked, they’d said good night to the archivist for a second time.
Xavier had dropped her back at her hotel sometime around three a.m. The sleep that had been elusive prior to Colum’s call had been impossible after, so she’d managed little more than a few hours of fitful dozing before the alarm went off.
The largest part of Annie’s restlessness had less to do with tracking down Oscar Wilde’s manuscript and more to do with the two men she was working with. She wasn’t sure what it said about her that she was as wildly attracted to Xavier’s arrogance and cutting wit as she was to Colum’s shy, absentminded-professor vibe. It was probably an indication that she’d let too much time pass between lovers.
Dropping out of the dating scene hadn’t been an intentional decision; rather, it was something that had just evolved into being after too many shitty dates. Being a single woman in this day and age sucked. One might think living in a big city like New York would increase her chances of meeting a decent man, but instead, too often she felt lost in the masses, stuck wading through online dating sites or going to meat-market-like clubs with her friends.
Neither had proven an effective means of finding someone to sleep with. Which was all she wanted. It wasn’t like she was looking for a long-term commitment because finding her future spouses was in the hands of the Grand Master. All Annie was seeking was a handsome, nice man—or woman, though she definitely preferred a dick—who got her blood pumping. In the past year, there’d been no one she’d been attracted to enough to take to her bed.
“Christ, but I’m knackered,” Colum muttered, his words mimicking her feelings. Annie shuffled a foot closer to him, lightly resting her head against his arm, giving him a tired smile through their reflections.
He looked a little startled that she was touching him but returned the smile. She’d spent a good bit of her first night in Dublin worrying about the archivist, after his abrupt departure from the pub. Part of her had been tempted to follow him to make sure he was okay, but given the fact they were virtually strangers, she didn’t feel as though she had the right.
She still wasn’t sure what had driven him away from the table like the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels, and she had intended to ask him outright yesterday morning. That plan changed after Colum opened the door to the archive and she’d taken one look at his face. His gaze had been lowered as if embarrassed, while his stooped posture and obvious unease proved he was bracing himself. Rather than mention the pub, she’d given him a cheery hello. It was the right thing to do, because he’d finally lifted his gaze to hers in obvious relief and returned the friendly greeting.
She wasn’t sure what secrets Colum was harboring, but she had caught a glimpse of something in his expression when he’d talked about meeting Eric. It was something sad, something broken, that didn’t seem to match the story.
“Long day,” she said. And it had been. Because Murphy’s Law had decided to make Annie her bitch. On top of two nights of little to no sleep, their morning flight was delayed due to weather and hadn’t left until dinnertime. So while it was only nine p.m. in New York, her system—which was still dealing with the jet lag from flying to Dublin—was all out of whack.
At least the trip back across the ocean to New York was uneventful, as she, Colum, and Xavier had been seated in separate rows due to their last-minute booking. She’d hoped to grab a few hours’ sleep while they were in the air, but her mind wouldn’t shut off.
She’d decided to get a room in the hotel because the thought of grabbing a rideshare and making the hour-and-a-half journey to her place in Jersey felt like a nightmare. Besides, she preferred to hang close to the guys rather than slow down their investigation by adding a commute in and out of the city.
“I’m going to sleep the sleep of the dead,” she murmured, as the elevator slowly rose. Colum, whose dark circles rivaled hers, merely nodded. Xavier, on the other hand, smirked, looking almost well rested. Every time she’d glanced in his direction on the plane, he’d been reclined with his eyes closed, so apparently he’d been able to sleep just fine, which struck her as odd, considering the phrase was “no rest for the wicked” and the sexy Frenchman was sin incarnate.
Once the elevator stopped on their floor, Annie dragged her suitcase behind her wearily. They’d managed to get rooms on the same floor, Colum’s directly across from hers, Xavier’s to the left.
“This is me,” she said, stopping in front of her door. Both men paused as well.
“Such a waste of money,” Xavier murmured, shaking his head.
She laughed softly. Xavier had strongly suggested they cut down on the costs of the trip by sharing a room.
“Not our money,” Annie reminded him, repeating the same thing she’d said at the check-in desk when she asked for her own room. Their societies were footing the bill for this scavenger hunt. Of course, that wasn’t to say Annie hadn’t been tempted, certain that if she hadn’t been so damn jet-lagged, she would have given him a different response. Unlike the countless men she’d met over the course of the past year, Xavier had no problem revving her engine. She was suddenly regretting not packing her vibrator.
“We’re on the pig’s back here, eh?” Colum said, glancing down the wide, tastefully decorated hall. He whistled when they’d first stepped into the brightly lit, elegant lobby, clearly impressed by their five-star hotel. Annie recalled Colum’s story about growing up on a sheep farm, and how his family had been poor. Given his simple, functional wardrobe, he was clearly the type of man who didn’t need money to be happy.
Xavier frowned, confused. “We’re what?”
Annie laughed, able to use context clues. “It’s a nice hotel. And I love your accent, Colum.”
Xavier turned toward her, smirking. “You like accents.”
“I like handsome men with accents.” She gave Xavier a once-over, then sighed in pretend disappointment. “Sorry.” She tossed in a bright smile. “But your accent is cute!”
Xavier’s expression went slack in either surprise or affront, but only for a moment. He grinned, taking a step toward her. Annie tipped her head back, holding his gaze, and hoped he couldn’t tell how his nearness was affecting her.
“Are you trying to insult me?” he purred.
Out of the corner of her eye, Annie saw Colum watching their exchange, his eyes bouncing between them like a spectator at Wimbledon.
“Do you feel insulted?”
“I might, if you weren’t a terrible liar.”
Annie was actually an excellent liar. “What if I’m not lying?”
“We both know you are.” Xavier’s eyes sparkled, and his gaze kept slipping from her eyes to her mouth. He was enjoying this as much as she was.
“Are you delusional or arrogant?” Annie poked out her lower lip in an exaggerated pout of concern.
Xavier grunted, his gaze fixed on her mouth. “I know what I am, and I know what you need.”
“Oh, I doubt that.” Actually, she was sure Xavier could give her exactly what she needed, assuming he could cash the checks his mouth was writing.
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“I’m saying prove it.”
“Stop fighting,” Colum burst out, his expression troubled.
Annie blinked, still looking up at Xavier. A moment of shared understanding passed between them. And a small, almost tender smile touched Xavier’s lips.
Annie turned to Colum.
“Oh, Colum.” She placed her hand on his forearm. “We’re not fighting. We’re just flirting.”
“That’s flirting?” Colum asked, wide-eyed.
“We’re simply blowing off some steam, relieving the sexual tension,” she said, trying to find a way to explain.
Xavier grinned. “I know a better way… We should fuck.” He gestured from Annie to Colum, and then to himself.
Colum reared back a full step. “All of us?!”
Annie shot Xavier a look, warning him to behave himself. “We’re not fucking.” At least not yet, she mentally added to herself, because like Xavier, she thought it was a good idea. Or maybe that was her libido talking.
“Why not? We—” Xavier started.
Annie didn’t have enough energy to continue mentally sparring with Xavier. “Tell you what. Let’s stick a pin in that suggestion. I’m exhausted.”
“Stick a pin in it,” Colum muttered, running a hand through his hair in that way she was coming to understand was one of his tells. He did it every time he was confused or uneasy.
Annie leaned into him, gripping his forearm and pushing up on her toes. “Good night, Colum.” She gave him a quick, fairly platonic kiss, mouths closed, no tongue, and while Colum didn’t pull away, he also didn’t push for more. Dammit.
When she stepped back, she saw an almost pained expression on his face that told her he hadn’t wanted to hold back. That soothed the tiny part of her that feared this attraction of hers was one-sided.
“Thank you for the kiss,” he said softly.
She looked up at Colum through half-open eyelids as they both shared a smile, hers tinged with desire, his reflecting awe. God save her from sexy Irishmen.
Once she and Colum moved apart, Xavier was there, leaning one shoulder casually on the wall by her door. “Where’s my good-night kiss?”
Annie twisted, lifting one brow in silent challenge, as she leaned forward to give Xavier the same peck she’d offered Colum, curious to see what he’d offer in return.
Xavier, the clever bastard, read her game plan before she’d finished writing it, because he was waiting for her. His hands gripped her cheeks a split second before she could kiss him.
“ Mon cheri ,” he murmured against her lips, throwing back the French term of endearment she’d offered him the day before.
Xavier understood the power of less is more. His lips danced across hers, the touch so featherlight she nearly opened her eyes to make sure he was really kissing her. Sight wasn’t necessary when he followed that soft touch with the slightest stroke of his tongue, the tip of it stroking her upper lip, not as a way of seeking entry but simply to take a taste. He followed that taste with an unexpected bite, his teeth playfully sinking into her lower lip, gripping onto it, the pressure measured, just short of causing her pain.
Annie tugged away, only an inch, her breath mingling with the heat of Xavier’s. She could smell the sweet scent of the wine he’d drunk on the plane.
“Is that all you’ve got?” she taunted.
Xavier’s smile was almost wolflike. “For now. After all, we stuck a pin in it.”
She huffed out a laugh, unsure if she was amused or frustrated. Probably both.
With some reluctance, she pulled away, glancing between Colum and Xavier. They were looking at each other, sharing a heated glance, and she hoped perhaps they’d share their own good-night kiss. Voyeurism wasn’t something she’d indulged in much, but the idea of watching Colum and Xavier together was suddenly ranking very high on her must-see list.
Annie was disappointed when Colum broke the connection, taking a step away.
Nodding at them both, he stepped across the hall and let himself into his room without another word.
“He knows what he wants but is scared to admit it,” Xavier stated.
“He is,” Annie agreed, not surprised that Xavier was that insightful.
They shared their own long, hungry look and then Xavier turned, walking to his own room. He waited by the door until she unlocked her own and stepped inside.