Chapter 20
CATRIONA
“Shouldn’t you go with him?” I spin to Mara and Eamon and send them an accusatory glance.
“He doesn’t need a babysitter,” Eamon says, as though this is the most ridiculous thing he’s ever heard.
“We’d only make it worse.” Mara’s pinching brows and her inability to look away from the doorway where O’Connor disappeared belie her words.
“You’re making me feel worse,” I grumble into my glass, frowning when I find it empty.
“Aiden knows how to handle Cian Lynch. You’re better off keeping away until it all settles down.
” Eamon scoots over to Aiden’s vacated seat and wraps an arm around my shoulders.
The caramel and coffee scent that seems to follow him everywhere envelops me.
“Don’t worry, love. We’ll keep you company. ”
“Fantastic,” I murmur, scanning the faces around me for my family—and Devin Franklin.
Father could never turn down a good opportunity to schmooze and the crème de la crème of society is out en force. But it’s always possible his disdain for me will outweigh his desire to network. Maybe I put too much faith in his insatiable greed.
“Looking for someone?” Mara asks with an all-too-knowing smirk.
“My father. You haven’t seen him around, have you?” I figure it wouldn’t hurt to have more than one person looking out for him. Wherever he is, Devin is sure to be.
“Ugh, pass. I’m going to go find a drink.” In a swirl of perfume, Mara gives us her back and strides away.
“Charming woman,” Eamon says fondly at her retreating figure. Then he turns to me. “Tell me about that best friend of yours. Is she coming tonight?”
I slide him a glance, distracted from my frenetic searching. “Nooo,” I say, drawing out the word, then lowering my voice. “Why do you want to know? Is your wound still hurting you?”
“Is she always so prickly?” he asks, avoiding my question. He tosses his hair back, but there’s no denying the way he focuses on me, waiting for my response.
He’s not… interested in her. Is he? My eyes bulge. “Yasmine? She’s not prickly. She’s very direct, especially when she’s working. Don’t get any kind of ideas. She’d chew you up and spit you out.”
He rubs a thumb over his lips, and I can’t tell if that horrifies or entices him. “Pity she’s not here. Playing with her would keep me out of trouble.”
“What sort of trouble?” But he’s already pushing to his feet and striding away. I blow out a breath. O’Connor’s friends are the worst.
I don’t want to sit at the table all by myself so I lurch to my feet, the hulking bodies of Bren and Tadhg following at a respectable distance.
I barely even notice them anymore. Oh no, I’m starting to get used to having them as my shadows.
The weight of the ring on my finger hardly even bothers me now. I sleep like a goddamn baby in his bed.
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go, but I can’t think about that right now. I have to keep focused. I have a mission tonight, and it’s not to worry about O’Connor or his psycho friends.
“You certainly look the part,” says a voice that has me stopping in my tracks. My shadows do the same a few feet away.
Elizabeth rounds a column with a glass in her hand.
I almost laugh at myself that my first thought is that she’s too young to drink.
Father has given her a glass of wine with dinner for the past decade.
The older sister impulses are getting old.
She’s never cared for my consideration, so why is the urge always there, just underneath the surface?
“Bethie.” I haven’t called her that since we were kids. We’re in the center of the room. The last thing I want to do after the mess of our last public outing is make a scene, and she seems primed to throw down. “I’m glad you’re here. Can we talk?”
“Why would I want to talk to you? You humiliated me in front of everyone.”
“That wasn’t my intention.”
But she doesn’t seem to hear me. “Do you even care? Did you ask me about what I wanted or let me know about your plans?” I open my mouth, but she keeps going.
“No, of course not. You never do. You always assume you know best. That you can do no wrong. I bet you’ve barely thought of me since you married him, have you? ”
“That’s not fair,” I say in a low voice, hoping the music and conversation is enough to drown her out. “I wanted to call, but I knew you were upset with me. I was giving you time to cool down.”
Still, it’s like what I’m saying doesn’t register to her because she’s talking over me.
“It’s always what you want. You never stop to think or ask me how I feel.
It’s like you still think I’m six years old and in need of protecting.
God, do you know how selfish that is? I’m an adult, I make my own decisions.
Decisions that have nothing to do with you. ”
Each word is like a lash and I take them, fists knotted at my side, feet glued to the floor. I deserve this for going behind her back. Marrying O’Connor and for being there the night Mom died. I let her spew her venom and don’t say a word.
“A’right, that’s enough,” Tadhg says, and grips me by the arm. “Mrs. O’Connor is needed elsewhere.”
Elizabeth’s protests follow, but I barely hear them. Tadhg pulls me from the crowd and deposits me near the bar. “Thanks,” I say, tilting my head up to his face. He’s the older of the two, with a bushy dark red beard and close-shaved head. “Maybe you guys aren’t so bad to have around.”
Tadhg grunts. Which I suppose in bodyguard-speak is his way of showing gratitude.
“I have three sisters myself. That could have been way worse.” Bren is younger, and of all the men I’ve met from O’Connor’s organization, he’s been my favorite so far.
Doesn’t seem as hardened or dangerous as the rest. If I weren’t so pissed off about being followed all the time, I might consider him like a younger brother.
Blowing out a breath, I claw my emotions back into place. I don’t have the time or the luxury to indulge in a world-class breakdown right now. I can do that after I find and interrogate Devin. After I know O’Connor is safe. After I learn the truth about my mother.
“Thanks for having my back, guys.”
Bren smiles, and Tadhg crosses his arms, which I take to mean he’s my eternal servant.
Most of the guests, here for whatever charity The O’Connor Foundation supports, have finished their sit-down meal and are now mingling and dancing in the center of the room.
If Elizabeth is here, that means Father can’t be far behind, and wherever he goes, Devin goes.
This may be my only chance to interrogate him again.
As though in answer to my prayers, a swarm of people surges to the front doors, and there they are.
Senator Gallagher and his entourage. Devin Franklin takes up the rear.
I study them from across the distance, wondering if they really have the capacity to murder someone in cold blood.
Devin has been with my father for as long as I can remember.
Former Secret Service, he was hired the moment my father took office to make Senator Gallagher feel safe, when in reality, I think he wanted to feel important.
Or maybe there were legitimate threats to his life I never considered.
After all, I had no idea he had a gambling problem or that he was mixed up with organized crime.
“Alright, gentlemen,” I say, turning to my ever-present shadows. “There’s something I need to do, and you can either come with me, or I’ll do it without your help. Which will it be?”
Tadhg jerks his chin. “Franklin already knows you’re here. If you want, I’ll follow him and keep him company so you can have your conversation.”
“I—” That wasn’t what I was expecting. “I—yes, that would be great. Thank you.”
Bren squeezes my shoulder. “We’re a lot more helpful when you’re not trying to run away.”
Mirth bubbles up. “Right.”
“I’ll stay with her. Shoot me a message when you’ve got him,” Bren says to Tadhg.
Between one heartbeat and the next, Tadhg disappears into the crowd. Bren holds out an arm to escort me around the room as we wait.
“I didn’t expect that you’d help me,” I admit.
“It’s easier to keep watch of you this way. Otherwise, you could get yourself into real trouble, and then O’Connor would really have our hides.” It doesn’t take long for Bren’s watch to ping with a notification. “By the elevator. Tadhg will follow him up, and then we can follow.”
At his words, I cast an eye around to find Devin. There—right by the elevators with Tadhg at his back, just like he said. Devin glances around, hands in his pockets. The elevators glide open and he steps inside.
I must start moving toward him, because Bren lays a hand on my shoulder. “Wait. He’s not going anywhere. We don’t want to draw too much attention. Tadhg will keep him for us.”
Impatience sizzles beneath my skin. I’m so close. All I need is for Devin to break his composure. Just once. For him to give me something I can use to nail him to the wall.
After an eternity passes where I don’t look away from the elevator or breathe, Bren shoots me a wide-mouthed grin. “Let’s go.”
Oxygen surges back into my lungs as he tugs me across the room. Luckily, no one stops us along the way. I force myself to calm, to slow my heart rate. This may be my last chance to get Devin alone. I can’t waste it.
A bell dings with each floor. First. Second.
And then it stops at the third. The doors glide open, and there’s Tadhg with Devin in a headlock.
My nerves disappear, and I hide a smile.
A good lawyer, someone who respects the law, should hate the use of violence against another person.
But as a woman who has spent so many years under the thumb of men, it’s satisfying to have one at my mercy instead.
I shoot a glance around me, but the hallway is empty. We could find a room, but I don’t want to linger, and I’m too eager to get answers to wait.