42. Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Two
L orcan can be a light sleeper, so when I slip away from under his arm the next morning, I’m not sure I’ll make it out of the room before he wakes up. The longer I stay curled up with him in bed, the less likely I am to do what needs to be done. If I can’t prove Finn had something to do with Eamon Donaghey’s murder, Lorcan won’t be safe. According to Finn and Antonio, the only ways out of the business are death or jail. Antonio has already proven one of those true. It won’t be Lorcan who proves the other.
Before leaving, I head to my old room and clean up the mess of papers strewn around. I’m still surprised he let himself in yesterday, and if he’s capable of doing it, then I know for a fact Finn wouldn’t hesitate. I put both boxes in the closet and change the code on the door to one number off Lorcan’s birthday. Let’s see him figure that out.
I slip out of the house through a side door to avoid anyone seeing me leave. I’m through the front gates and headed to the Volkovs’ when my phone pierces the silence in the car. I glance at the display. Lorcan . There’s a pang of unease in my chest. If I answer, he’ll realize something is wrong. If I don’t answer, he’ll think there’s something wrong anyway.
My hand hovers over the green button on the display, but I never press it. My phone pings with a voicemail message. Almost immediately, it rings again.
With a sigh, I answer.
“Kim, where are you?” Lorcan’s voice is laced with a hint of anger.
“I’m okay. There are a lot of arrangements to make for my mom. Funeral, burial, and so forth.” Flexing my hands on the steering wheel, I hope my mother, wherever she is, doesn’t get angry at me for using her death as an excuse. She told me, in her letter, to make it right. This is the only way I know how to do that.
Silence hangs in the vehicle, and I picture Lorcan weighing my words, trying to decide. “I want to be done with the lies.”
My hands tighten on the leather wheel. If I tell him where I’m going, he’ll follow me. I’ll never get the information. It’s a particular version of Kim who is needed today, and I can’t be her with him around.
“Christ. I want to order you to come back. Fall in fucking line and don’t do whatever you’re off doing.” Silence stretches across the phone line again. “It doesn’t work that way anymore. I know. So I’m going to decide to trust you. I don’t know if you’re telling me the truth. If you were here, I might be able to figure it out. The fact you snuck out…” There’s another tense silence.
I keep quiet, willing him to continue so I don’t have to lie.
His voice is rough when he says, “You’re my a chroi . My heart, Kim. Whatever you’re doing, make sure you come back to me.”
“Always.” I barely get the word out. “It’s nothing. It’s mom stuff.”
“You need me, call, text, whatever. I’ll be there. I’ll come. You understand me? Don’t be a lone wolf.”
Three words are on the tip of my tongue, and they almost topple out. I can’t say them on speakerphone while I’m lying. I can’t.
“I’ll see you back at the house in a bit.” Each word leaves a bitter taste as it exits my mouth.
“Be safe.” His voice is rough again.
After he disconnects, I stare out the windshield, a weight settling across my chest. Lying will be worth it if I can nail Finn’s involvement, give Lorcan his proof.
When I get to the gates, a guard is posted there the same as the other day. “Name?”
I hesitate, and then I take a chance. “Vivian Lee.”
He speaks into his walkie-talkie. Turning from me, he talks a bit longer and then comes to my window. His phone is directed at me, either taking a picture or giving whoever is on the other end a video.
He touches a button on his belt, and the gates ease open. “Someone will meet you at the door.”
My heart beats against my breastbone, but I give the guard a brief smile. “Excellent. Thanks.”
As I drive the car up to the circle driveway near the door, Semyon appears flanked by two guards. He grins at me as I put the vehicle in park.
Sliding out of the car, I stand by my door for a minute, debating the wisdom of coming here. It’s too late now. I’m loaded to the gills with weapons, and no one has searched me this time. Semyon’s opinion of women is they can’t be dangerous. At least I have that going for me.
“Vivian Lee,” he crows as I come around the car. “I knew I recognized something about you the other day.” His focus rakes over me. “How do you know Vivian?”
“A distant relative.” A small smile touches my lips. “She passed away yesterday.”
His smile fades. “That’s too bad. She was an exceptional woman.” He waves his hand around his men. “Come in, come in. Lorcan and Finn don’t realize you’re here.”
It’s not a question, but I’m still tempted to lie. Having him think I have no backup is extremely dangerous.
“On the contrary,” I say over my shoulder. “I told Lorcan I wanted to hear your offer in more detail.”
He chuckles. “I bet that made him happy.”
Half turning, I aim a sly smile at him. “What can I say? He likes me.”
“Yes,” Semyon says. “I bet he does.”
His guards lead us into a sitting room without laying a finger on me. It’s unbelievable they’re this trusting because I’m a woman. Lorcan bringing me on as a bodyguard seems like a pretty smart move now. Derry underestimated me, now Semyon is doing it too.
“So.” He pours me a glass of vodka and passes it. “How did you know I knew Vivian Lee?”
“I was under the impression you had a business arrangement. I only found out yesterday. She was on her deathbed. She asked me to come collect what was owed to her. Apparently, you didn’t fulfill your end of the contract.”
Semyon freezes and then chuckles. “You think you’re so slick. I know Vivian’s memory was not what it once was.”
“Indeed. And, had she lived longer, it might have been true she’d forgotten. It wasn’t her Alzheimer’s that took her. It was pneumonia.”
He screws the top on the bottle of vodka, his back to me. Resting my hands on my thighs, I take stock of my weapons and which of them I can reach the quickest, eliminate the most targets.
“Lorcan doesn’t know you’re here. Neither does Finn.” He sighs. “I was hoping you’d be a good match for one of my boys. Or at least a pleasant distraction. Seems I miscalculated.”
“Women aren’t toys.”
“The best ones are.”
“I want Vivian’s money. You broke the contract.”
Semyon chuckles and whirls around, his men tense. “You come to my house to make demands? You may not be a toy, but you haven’t got many brains in that lovely head of yours.”
“You broke the contract.”
“We had no contract. We slept together a few times. She paid me some money for my time.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You’re the prostitute in this situation?” My heart races, and a thin sheen of sweat coats my palms. Setting down my glass, I ease my hands along my thighs. Assuming he lets me leave, I need to be sober enough to drive out of here.
The thought of my mother sleeping with this man is repulsive. She should have told me what she was trying to do. I could have helped her.
“You think making me mad is going to get me to tell you something? No. No, that’s not how this works. Honey works better than vinegar.” His gaze roams over me.
He’s not getting any honey out of me. “Did you fulfill your part of your agreement with Vivian?”
“He’s dead, isn’t he?”
“Did her payment do that?”
He looks at me for a minute and shakes his head. “What did I tell Lorcan about fishing?”
I lean back in my chair and stare. My fingertips brush up against my gun. “I’m not Lorcan. And I’m not fishing.”
“What would you call this exercise, then?”
“It’s a friendly conversation between Vivian’s proxy, the executor of her will and estate, and a man who owes that estate money.”
“I owe her estate nothing. Eamon Donaghey is dead. You cannot prove I did that nor can you prove I did not.”
“So she got screwed over in more than one way by you.”
His granite gaze meets mine as he throws back the last of his drink. “I liked Vivian. But she was two things I could not tolerate. Consumed by revenge. Consumed by disease. One of those, maybe. But both? No. No. She was a shell of a woman. A beautiful shell. She had nothing left to give anyone except death and destruction. Her family was dead, and she wanted to light the world on fire.”
Hearing him speak about my mother that way is almost enough to call my bluff. It’s too fresh. “That’s rich coming from you.”
“Maybe.” He waves his hand in a dismissive gesture. “I’m done entertaining you now. My guards will see you out.” Semyon tips his head at them. Before he leaves the room, he stops in the doorway, his back still to me. “Make no mistake, Kim. If you or Lorcan come back here seeking anything from me, one of you will not make it out alive. I’m done with your nonsense. Whatever you’re after, you won’t find it here.”
Before I can say anything else, he’s out the door and down the hall.
I pinch the bridge of my nose and stand to leave. The primary guard touches his ear and holds up a hand. “Wait a minute.”
My fingers move to the gun inside my jacket.
At the door to the room, a familiar figure appears. I googled the whole family before coming here. This looks like one of Semyon’s sons, a younger, fitter version of his father.
“Hagen.” He enters the room with an almost catlike gracefulness.
“Kim.” I ease my hand out of my coat. If I rub him the right way, I wonder if he’ll purr for me. I keep my focus on him but don’t say anything else.
“I saw you here talking to my father the other day. You’re back again.” His gaze trails my figure in a possessive, lustful way I used to enjoy seeing. Men with that attitude never think with their brains.
“I am,” I reply breathily, giving him my best smile.
“Why exactly?”
There are a few things I could stroke right now which would draw the information out of him. Something in his eyes are both sinister and childlike. He’ll enjoy seeming like the expert. Ego, it is. “Your father took cash for a contract kill and never did it.”
“Eamon?” He raises an eyebrow. “We did it eventually.” Hagen shrugs. “The initial money wasn’t high enough. She needed to make a war worthwhile.”
“That means you didn’t fulfill the contract.”
“That’s not how it works.”
“So what changed, then? She didn’t pay enough, but you still killed him. That makes no sense.”
“We had a guarantee of no retaliation.”
“From who?”
Hagen smirks and bends forward. “From someone who could guarantee there would be no retaliation.”
“Lorcan.” I say his name as though he’s the obvious choice. My heart booms in my chest, but I keep my shoulders lowered.
“Lorcan,” Hagen scoffs. He eyes me for a beat. “Finn thought you’d get here, eventually. I guess I’d better call to let him know the jig is up.”
“No need.” A drop of sweat races along my spine. “I knew it was him. Carys told me. He told her. I told Finn I knew. We wanted to see if either of you would flip, if he could trust your family. He told me everything.” It’s a risk. If Finn knows I’ve been here before I can get back home, I’ll be met at the door by a gun to the head.
Hagen chuckles. “That sounds like him. I doubt he told you everything. He plays the odds. Trying to figure out who’s going to fuck him over. Guy’s paranoid.” He gives me a calculated look, and his eyes narrow. “You haven’t told Lorcan? Finn said you had him by the balls.”
“No one wants a war. I’m here to make sure one doesn’t get started by accident.”
He watches me for a beat longer than I’m comfortable with. “You’d better get out of here before my father changes his mind about letting you go. Or before I decide it’s worth having you stay.”
I’m not going to wait around for him to tell me twice. As I glide past him, his hand brushes my ass. “They’re lucky men.”
My instinct is to confront him, to stand my ground. I’ve spent years honing that instinct and tamping it down. In the grand scheme of things, I’m outnumbered, and he could do so much worse than grab my ass.
It doesn’t take long to get back to the Donagheys’ property. I’m lucky no one stops me for speeding. It’s the last thing I need right now. Although Hagen appeared to buy my story, I can’t be sure he hasn’t called Finn to confirm.
When I stride in the front door, a sense of relief spreads through me. There’s no sign of anyone except Jorge standing guard. With a wave, I head toward the kitchen. I need food before my stomach starts eating itself.
I’m buttering my toast when Finn wanders into the kitchen clutching his phone. The sight of him and his phone causes a sharp jolt of fear, and I straighten.
“I’m not sleeping worth shit.” He grabs a mug from the cupboard above me.
It takes me a moment to register he hasn’t said anything that’ll lead to my murder. “In pain?” I take a bite of my toast and chew.
Maybe I should have gone straight to Lorcan. Every time I look at him, all I can think about is Chad, dead, blood leaking out of him and onto me. When that happens, part of me becomes so angry it’s hard to see straight, let alone think straight.
“I got drugs for that.” He shakes his head and runs a hand down his face. “My dreams. Or, I don’t know, maybe nightmares. I’m waking up to the thwump of the helicopter blades.” With a huff, his brow furrows. “Someone calling your name. I don’t recognize the voice. He calls you Kimmy.”
I pause before I take another bite. His back is turned, but his posture isn’t tense. He’s on the cusp of remembering, but he knows nothing yet.
“That’s weird,” I say. “You used to call me Kimmy, though. You haven’t since you woke up.”
He frowns and glances at me. “No?”
“Nope.” I pop out the p. “I gotta go see Lorcan.”
Finn nods. “You know why I’d hear someone calling your name?”
“Not a clue.” A brief smile crosses my face. “Maybe it’s your subconscious telling you to call me Kimmy again, even if I hated it. Or maybe you’re taking too many drugs.”
He smirks and rubs the back of his head as the coffee finishes brewing. Glancing at me, he says, “That’s not it. It’s a memory. I can’t quite catch it.”
“I’m sure it’ll come.” I dust off my hands. There’s a sinking sensation in my stomach. Although my tone is casual, inside, a riot brews.
Before Finn says anything else, I leave the kitchen and head for Lorcan’s bedroom. The door unlatches before I key in the code. He must have been watching for me.
“All sorted?” He eyes me from the kitchenette. There’s a wariness to his posture I’m not used to seeing anymore. We’re not back on even ground yet.
“He did it.” I move closer to Lorcan. “I know Finn had a hand in your father’s death.”