Chapter 40
Callum
Soaking up the sun, Shane Gallagher lounges with deceptive calm at the head of a terrace table that’s grand enough to serve as a king’s official desk.
I sit across from him, waiting while he connects the crypto wallet to a sleek black laptop.
The only other people within earshot are a few scattered guards.
When I arrived, Shane left his meeting with his son, Finn, Kellin Brennan—a cousin to the twins, I was told—and a couple of other associates so I could speak with him in relative privacy.
Shane Gallagher isn’t the type of man you interrupt without good reason, so I exhaled a sigh of relief when he told Finn to take over and excused himself without another word.
Accessing the crypto wallet must rank higher than locating Nolan Doyle, their missing accountant.
Though I put on a good front, the guilt roiling in my stomach nearly causes me to spew all over Shane’s pretty table.
As soon as I returned to my house after dropping Lucy off at her modeling gig and leaving her in Ryan’s care, I combed through her belongings with a laser eye.
When I finally stumbled on the USB drive, I just stared at it for several minutes, my emotions warring with my logic.
I considered putting the drive right back where I found it and erasing its existence from my memory.
But as appealing as that idea was, I knew burying my head in the sand wouldn’t keep Lucy safe.
To improve my odds of successfully assassinating Viktor Roguilin while he’s in prison, I need Shane’s connections, and the crypto wallet is my only bargaining chip.
Now that I’ve kept my end of the deal, the Kings’ leader owes me a favor.
That’s the only reason I managed to go through with the theft.
I understand the risks involved. Once Lucy discovers I stole the wallet, her trust in me will fracture.
My deception will cause her pain. But I’m willing to sacrifice both to eliminate the man who hurt her in such unfathomable ways.
She deserves to stop glancing over her shoulder and to quit worrying about her safety.
Even if she catches me committing the crime, she’ll still be okay.
If removing the wallet from Lucy’s possession leads to her finally finding some peace, I’ll pay that price.
No matter the cost.
Shane’s expression reveals nothing as he scans the screen. Once he finishes, he disconnects the crypto wallet from the computer, setting the device on the table.
He gestures for a member of the Gallagher security team to approach. “Get my nephew.”
“Yes, sir.” The guard disappears.
Whatever he found in the wallet must require Darren’s expertise. I’m tempted to ask but don’t. Shane will share as he sees fit.
He sips from a tumbler of whiskey while we wait for my oldest friend.
A couple of minutes pass in silence before Darren strides into the afternoon light. He lifts his chin at me and stands by my side.
Not bothering with greetings, Shane swivels his computer screen toward us and nods at me, his implication clear. Time for me to fill Darren in on the crypto wallet business.
Upon seeing the monitor, though, I freeze in horror.
Instead of the contents of the wallet—laundered money statements or Viktor Roguilin’s private files—pictures stare back at us.
Paparazzi photographs.
Of Lucy and me. From yesterday.
One image shows us holding hands, the suit she chose for me slung over my shoulders.
In another, we gaze into each other’s eyes over an ice cream cone like a pair of lovesick teenagers.
My tender expression as I peer down at her requires no caption.
I might as well have stuck a Post-it on my forehead with Whipped scrawled across it.
Motherfucker.
Shane leans back in his seat. “Darren, do you realize that one of your security guards is romantically involved with a client?”
I hold myself still, my years as a soldier helping me hide the stress that’s currently flooding my system.
Talk about shit luck. Now’s probably the worst time in the world to own up to my relationship with Lucy. I need them to believe my emotions aren’t compromising my logic when I lay out my plan for offing Viktor Roguilin.
This request can’t sound like a personal favor. I need to spin the assassination as good business.
Lying. That’s my only hope. Even if my feelings for Lucy run deep enough for the lie to ache.
“Negative, sir,” I cut in before Darren can respond. “I assure you there’s no romantic involvement. What you see is me acting, and I only did that to keep Lucy Marlow compliant and gain her trust so I could complete my assignment.”
A sharp gasp of horror cuts straight through my focus.
Dread rams me in the gut. Part of me doesn’t want to look because I’m scared of what I’ll find. I need a moment to steady myself before glancing over my shoulder.
When I see Lucy’s face, the dread sharpens into a spear, slicing my insides wide open.
Fuck.
The betrayal dimming those gorgeous eyes flays me.
I have to explain.
Desperation floods my veins, prompting me to pivot in her direction. “Lucy.”
Stumbling back a step, she flings her palms out to ward me off, freezing me in place. “Did you go through my things and take the drive?”
“Yes, but—”
“You were searching for it all along?”
“Lucy, now’s not—”
“So stupid. I’m so damn stupid.” Her whisper is barely audible, as if she’s talking to herself.
“This is why you were so happy to take us to a hotel. I thought you were on my side for once, but you wanted my apartment to be empty. You searched through my stuff there and made it look like the work of an intruder so that I’d want to leave. ”
Her grim little laugh morphs into a sob. She swallows the noise immediately and yanks on her hair.
The pain etched into her beautiful face makes me want to kick my own ass.
Shane hums from behind me. “So, that’s how you got her out of her apartment? Clever.”
The cringe I force into stillness is enough to crack my ribs.
Lucy’s eyes well up.
That comment earns Shane the number two spot on my ass kicking list. I’ve never wanted to climb over a table and pummel a man as much as I want to clock the head Gallagher at this very moment.
I also want to toss Lucy over my shoulder and carry her off to a safe, private place so I can lick the tears from her cheeks and fuck her until she listens. After that, hopefully forgiveness will follow. Then I’ll lock her up in my bedroom until the threat disappears.
The horror widening Lucy’s eyes alerts me that her mind’s spinning in an entirely different direction.
“That night you went back to my place…and you got hurt… It was because you were looking for that, right? You didn’t do it for me.
You haven’t done one single thing for me. All of it was for the money. And I…”
I start toward her again, my heart crashing down to the bricks beneath our feet. “Hear me out, Lucy.”
She shakes her head and continues as if I never spoke. “…I slept with you. God, I really am an idiot.”
“Bullshit! Stop saying that.” Now she’s starting to piss me off.
She recoils when I reach for her, almost tripping in her haste to avoid me. “Stay away from me, you lying bastard.”
“You slept with her?” The edge in Darren’s voice warns me I’m about to catch a fist to the face sometime soon if I don’t find some way to curtail the chaos unfolding between us.
“You’re fired.” The finality in Lucy’s tone saws me in half. She spins away, stopping only to speak to a fuming Veronika. “Don’t send him to guard me again.”
If looks could kill, Darren and I would be bleeding out at Veronika’s feet. “Already done. Come on, Lu, you can stay at our place tonight.”
Veronika wraps her arm around Lucy and ushers her back inside without another word.
I move to follow, but Darren grabs me by my shirt and drags me backward. He pins me with a chaotic, furious glare. “You cocksucker!”
The fist that slams into my gut knocks the air from my lungs.
Damn. That hurt.
He rears his arm back for a follow-up, but I grab his catch mid-strike. “One,” I wheeze. “You got your freebie. Next time, I’ll return the favor. But I’ll tell you right now, it’s not what you think.”
Darren’s bright blue eyes gleam with malice. “So you didn’t sleep with her?”
I straighten and put some distance between us, raking my fingers through my hair. “Okay, maybe that part is what you think, but there’s more to it than me just getting off.”
Darren’s expression remains stony. “You’ve got ten seconds to tell me what the hell is going on.”
“Not now. I need to—”
“Yes, now.”
“Enough.” Shane’s commanding voice slices right through the tension binding us together.
“Callum, you can deal with your love life later. Right now, we have matters to discuss.” The crypto wallet glints in the early evening light as Shane lifts it.
“Namely…how we’re going to use this to undo Viktor Roguilin for good. ”