5. Amy
Amy
When Kerry left, he told me to trust him.
And I do, gods above, I do. Because I’m in love with him. Because I feel strongly that he loves me and actually does want the best for me. Maybe it’s still foolish of me, I don’t know, but I’ve lived with lots of people that only pretend to love me. My whole family feels like that. But Kerry?
He feels different.
Kerry left me here with a kiss on the temple and a promise to be back soon.
But now, with no expectations lingering over me, I just sink into the couch and snack on stuff I found in the suite’s kitchen.
I know Kerry would be happy I’m having them.
I turn on the TV for a bit, but I find myself zoning out and missing what’s happening in the show, so I turn it off after half of an episode.
Instead, I look out over the city, letting my thoughts flow through me freely.
Some quiet time is massively overdue, anyway. It gives me an opportunity to have a breather, thinking through the events of this week and my feelings for Kerry.
Which is exactly why my phone pings with a text from my grandmother. She probably sensed me having some peace and knew it was her time to strike, it seems like her.
Where are you?
I don’t know whether to laugh or scoff at the audacity of this woman.
Out for a walk, why?
It’s a lie, but I can’t bring myself to care. Or trust the woman that’s supposed to care about me and look out for me. Not when she’s only used me. My gut is telling me that I shouldn’t trust her.
Come back to the hotel. Now. We’re leaving.
My grip tightens on my phone. I glance back at the view out the window, realizing I must’ve zoned out for longer than I thought. My grandparents think they can play god.
I leave the conversation with my grandmother and go to my contacts, searching for Kerry’s name. I can’t help but giggle at his contact name that he put in my phone. Kerry (Husband). I tap it and type out a message as fast as my fingers will let me.
My grandmother texted me. She’s demanding I return to my hotel room and go with them. They’re leaving.
I tap my thigh, wishing he’d see my text and respond immediately. I know logically he can’t do that, but my anxiety is high enough that the wish remains.
I’ve gotten up and begun pacing when my phone dings again.
Amy? Where are you? We’re coming to find you.
My grandmother’s words makes panic shoot up my spine and grip my throat like a vice, but after a moment, I’m able to release the breath I’m holding when Kerry’s name pops up on my screen, calling me.
“Hello?”
“Leannán. Tell me you haven’t gone anywhere.”
“No, I haven’t. I’m still right where you left me.”
Kerry chuckles, making my chest feel light and fluttery. “That’s my girl. Stay put.”
I take a deep breath, looking over at the city. “I will. Uh, what if they come looking for me here? It’s not hard to figure out I may be here, whether by choice or by force.”
“You’re right. They’ll probably check there eventually. Maybe even soon. But I happen to know that the tracker they placed on your phone isn’t working, and I’ll be there before they decide to go to the lion’s lair. That’s not something they’ll do without checking every other possibility first.”
I practically choke on my spit. “They placed a tracker on my phone? And how exactly do you know all this?”
He chuckles again, deep and resonating in his chest, so low that the phone only barely picks it up.
“Because I disabled it when I put one of my own on your phone, obviously. Along with a tap to hear all your phone calls and read your texts. You did good by texting me, by the way, leannán. I’m proud of you. ”
I pull my phone away from my face, looking down at it like it’s betrayed me before lifting it back to my ear. “Well, that’s just great. Can’t even trust my own phone to have a bit of privacy.”
“Do you need privacy from me, leannán? So you can talk about how not bald I am with your friend Lily? Perhaps so you can inform her that I am, in fact, handsome.”
Shock splashes over me like a bucket of ice water. “You know about that? Shit. Oh, double shit! Lily! She’s gotta be so worried about me. But she hasn’t texted me…I’ve been so preoccupied and overwhelmed that I didn’t even think of it.”
There’s a pause on the other line. "She hasn’t contacted you? I haven’t looked at your messages in a while, leannán, I promise. But it seemed like, beforehand, that you two talked constantly.”
I exhale softly. “We did. We always have.”
There’s another beat of silence. “I’ll have someone look into it.”
Relief fills me, and I can’t help but be thankful for Kerry and his resources in this moment. “Thank you. I would be eternally grateful.”
“Leannán, you are mine. And I take care of what’s mine. Including people that mean something to you and have been good to you. Lily seems like she’s been exactly that.”
“She has been. She is,” I say softly, anxiety gripping me once again. I feel awful for not noticing her silence. Lily would never ghost me like this, especially after telling her I was being forced to marry a stranger. Something is wrong.
“Mm. Then we’ll make sure she’s okay. Don’t let your mind go away with the fairies, yeah? Our imagination can be unnecessarily cruel. Just…stay there. I’m already on my way, and I’m not too far. I’ll be there soon, and we’ll deal with everything together, okay?”
His reassurance comforts me more than I thought possible. “Okay. I’ll wait here. Please…hurry. I need you.”
“Fuckin’ hell.” I hear Kerry mutter under his breath, making me grin. “I’ll be there as soon as physically possible, leannán.”
He hangs up, and I keep pacing the length of Kerry’s suite. There’s a couple of sounds down the hall outside of the hotel suite, making me jump. I swear I hear my grandfather’s voice echo at one point, but all is still.
The silence rings through the hotel suite, making me even more jittery.
So, I almost pee myself when the door flies open and Kerry walks in. His eyebrows raise when he sees my reaction. “Sorry, leannán. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
I let out a long breath, placing a hand over my racing heart. “It’s all right. I was convinced my grandfather was going to storm in here and take me captive. You know. Like always happens in the mafia romance books.” My face flushes as I realize what I’ve just told him.
Kerry’s eyebrows raise and a grin spreads over his face. “You’ve read mafia romance books?”
My cheeks feel really hot now, but I’m determined not to be embarrassed about it. “Well, yeah. But I’ve also read about alien cowboys, so…I never imagined it’d come true, of course.”
His eyebrows raise even higher, which I’m almost impressed is possible. “You read about alien cowboys?”
I huff and turn away from him back towards the view of the city. “Yes! My reading is diverse.”
Kerry opens his mouth to reply, but is interrupted by the buzzing of his phone. “One moment, please, leannán.” He pats my cheek, and turns a bit. “Yes?” He listens for a moment, and I watch his facial features closely for any clues on what might be going on. “Grand, we’ll be there shortly.”
I raise my eyebrows when he hangs up. “That was Jack. They’ve got my plane ready for us.” He pauses and slowly reaches up to cup my cheek. “Are you ready to go to my home, leannán? To the beautiful country of Ireland?”
I take a deep breath, mind racing. This entire week’s events have been happening too rapidly for me to properly process.
My brain feels fuzzy, like there’s static making it buzz and clouding my thoughts.
“What about Lily? I’m worried. I don’t want to leave the U.S.
without knowing she’s okay. And she needs to know where I’m going and that I’m okay, too. ”
Kerry nods. “I’ve got Liam and Jack on it.
But…they’re rather occupied with their own duties and we’re about to leave.
I’m considering asking for help from some of my…
collegues. But I wasn’t sure if you’d want that, or if Lily would be okay with that.
I know from your messages that she isn’t really a fan of my world. ”
I chew on my bottom lip and turn to look out the window.
He’s right, Lily would be upset if she knew I was considering telling mafia men to dig into her life.
But if she’s actually in danger…then they would be the least of her worries.
Especially if it was her dad, whoever he is.
If he’s involved, then no one would be better to save her than Kerry’s colleagues.
“Let me call her.” I take out my phone and Kerry nods, sitting down on the couch and looking at his own phone. I look at our last texts. It was several days ago, after the ordeal with my grandfather. I’d texted her to tell her the horrors I’d witnessed, and that I was struggling and overstimulated.
She hadn’t responded. I didn’t think much of it that night, sometimes it takes time for either of us to respond when we’re doing various things. But I’d expect a response by the next day, but nothing came. Only, I hadn’t noticed because that was the day that Kerry took me out.
It’s been such a whirlwind the past few days, I haven’t been able to keep up with it all. And maybe that failing hurt Lily.
I feel like I’m going to be sick at that thought.
I click the call button and take a deep breath as I hold up my phone to my ear. The phone rings.
And rings.
And rings.
I call again. But it does the same thing.
Kerry waits as I call over and over. I pace back and forth between the giant windows overlooking the city. I feel clammy and sick as time goes on. Lily would never willingly ignore me like this. We’re best friends. We have each other’s backs no matter what.
Tears burn my eyes and my chest feels tight with panic when Kerry finally gets up and wraps an arm around my shoulder, gently prying the phone from my grip. “Take a deep breath for me.”
His hand rubs my back as I take deep, gulping breaths, trying to calm myself.
Kerry sits me down on the couch and gets me a glass of water.
Only when I’m much calmer does Kerry get out his phone and make a call.
“De Matteis. I’ve got something else I need your help with…
” His jaw is clenched, his brow pulled tightly together, and his tone is filled with a level of disdain.
I wonder if this is harder for him to ask than he’s letting on.
I look down at my phone as I listen to their back and forth, mostly of Kerry providing information on my best friend. The device has been strangely quiet these past few days, which makes sense if Lily is…well, I don’t want to think about what she is.
But my mom hasn’t tried to contact me since that awful phone call, either, when I told her about being in an arranged marriage. Why? She acted so worried. Why would she not bug me more about it, like she’s always done? Why go silent all of the sudden? It doesn’t make any sense.
Does my family not care for me as much as I thought they did? Which is saying something, considering I hadn’t held high standards for that as it is. No one’s checked in on me throughout all of this.
I just feel absolutely ill.
I don’t even hear Kerry finishing the call, lost in my own thoughts. I’m jolted out of them by him kneeling before me, fingers sliding through my hair. “It’s being handled, leannán. I’ll let you know what I hear as soon as I find it out, all right?”
“Okay,” I say quietly, feeling a cold sweat across my whole body.
Kerry stands and brings me some juice, but I struggle to drink it. I stare at my phone like it’s the one who’s betrayed me. And, as if sensing my displeasure, it dings.
I share a look with Kerry as I unlock it and open the text. It’s not from Lily, much to my heartache, but it’s from my grandmother.
We know you have her in the warehouse. Return her to us at a location of our choosing or a hit will be placed on your head.
I gawk at my phone, causing Kerry to look over my shoulder and read the text. “Feckin’ hell, they followed me from the warehouse? And assume it’s you I have in there? What a bunch of dopes.”
I turn to look at him with furrowed brows. “Warehouse?”
Kerry sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “That’s where I went earlier. One of my…competitor’s men was following me. Jack and Liam brought him to that warehouse for questioning and I went to hear what they’d discovered. They can’t believe that I’d do anything but treat you like shite, hm?”
I give a small shrug. “It’s projection?”
Kerry clenches his jaw. “I think so. Which pisses me the feck off.” It’s his turn to pace now. “But this is good news. It means they don’t know that you’re important to me, so they won’t even try to use you against me. And they won’t look for you at the hotel.”
I raise my eyebrows. “But how long is that going to last?”
Kerry snaps his fingers. “That’s exactly the question, leannán.
It’s not going to last long. They’re going to expect you back, and I can’t have that.
If they figure out where you are before we even arrange a meeting…
I can’t protect you well enough here. Not as much as I’d like.
I need to get you out of here and to safety. ”
Ireland had been a lovely thought before. But now?
Now it’s a necessity.
I take a deep breath. “Okay. Then we’re going to Ireland?
” I feel the deep ache of leaving the country without knowing if Lily is okay or not settle in my chest, but I know that if I stayed here when it’s not safe because of her, she’d kill me.
She’d want me to be safe and away from the callousness of my grandparents.
Kerry turns to look at me with an intense expression, searching my face for my thoughts, and then nods.
Ireland, here I come. Ready or not.