Chapter Twenty-Two
The day before
S eamus and I were on our way to Miami. We’d booked the earliest flight we could get when Sergej revealed the information to us. He was a businessman first, and doing business with me was more important than protecting certain information.
“Why didn’t you tell, Aislinn?”
“It’s not the right time yet. We don’t know what we’ll find. I’d like to know the details before I reveal anything to Aislinn. She’s emotionally invested.”
“It’s her sister. Of course she is! You’d be invested if one of your brothers disappeared.”
“If one of my brother’s disappeared, I’d know they were either dead or in serious danger. Aislinn’s sister is after money and dick. She’s not in danger.”
“She’s with a Russian business-man, not the best source of money.”
Imogen wasn’t my problem, and yet she was.
Aislinn wouldn’t rest until she knew what had happened to her sister.
From what I’d found out about the woman Gulliver described and the countless other accounts of people at the Doom Loop, it was obvious what had happened.
She was a leech and was currently sucking money from a rich asshole in exchange for sucking his dick.
Right after we landed, we grabbed a taxi to the marina. Sergej had given me the number of the jetty where I’d find the yacht Imogen was currently living on. Maksim, the owner of said yacht, knew of our visit. Sergej’s word was probably the only reason why he even received us.
The sun was setting over the ocean as we headed down the jetty toward his yacht “ALYONA” named after his wife. I smiled wryly. Seagulls screeched over our heads while the wooden boards groaned under our combined weight.
“Do you think Imogen knows about his wife?”
“She doesn’t care.”
“Maybe he told her a sob story about being a widower.”
I slanted a disbelieving look at Seamus. “As if that were necessary. She wants his money, not his heart—if he even had one. Maeve’s turned you into a romantic.”
The tops of his ears turned red and he glowered at me.
Two bodyguards stood at the end of the jetty, barring the way toward the yacht. It was one of the medium-sized ones but knowing the price of rent at this place, Maksim was still stinking rich.
“No violence?”
“No violence today. We’re here as Sergej’s friends. We should act accordingly.”
“Friends,” Seamus spat out.
I chuckled. Behind the two bodyguards, a very tall, blond man in his fifties appeared.
He was fit, dressed completely in white—even down to the white slippers—and it was clear his face had undergone a few plastic surgeries but overall Imogen could have chosen worse, at least from a physical standpoint.
I wouldn’t touch many of the sponsors in Sodom with a ten-foot pole.
“Sergej warned me about your visit.” The two bodyguards stepped aside. “Come on board. Sergej’s friends are my friends.” He made a welcoming gesture, but I didn’t let that fool me. Seamus would keep an eye on the two guards while I chatted with Maksim and later Imogen.
I shook hands with Maksim and gave him a tight smile. “Did Sergej tell you why I wanted to pay you a visit?”
“Because of Imogen. He says you have an interest in her.” His eyes became snake-like. He wasn’t protective, maybe a tad possessive, but mainly he was interested in a possible bargain.
“She’s my wife’s sister. She ceased contact, which made my wife worry. She thought something might have happened to her.”
Maksim snickered. “She’s spending my money, that’s what’s happening.”
I nodded. “I assume you don’t intend to leave your wife for her?”
He snickered again and ran a hand through his hair. “My wife is loyal. She spends my money too, but at least she doesn’t complain. Imogen isn’t a girl you marry, it’s a girl you …” He chuckled and wiggled his eyebrows. “You know.”
“Fuck.” I scrubbed a hand over my face, not in the mood to beat around the bush.
He nodded. “She’s keeping me entertained, so I intend to keep her for a bit.” Then his gaze darted to something behind me. I turned and spotted Imogen in the seating area inside the yacht.
“Sergej told me to trust you, so I’ll give you privacy. You should know I don’t mind sharing, but I prefer to watch.”
“I won’t be touching her. I’m married to her sister and I’m loyal.”
Maksim disappeared to the upper deck, and I moved down the few steps below deck. Imogen’s sister painted her nails but stopped when she noticed me. Clad in only a very skimpy white bikini, she rose to her feet. She tilted her head and smiled. “I remember you.”
“Do you?”
She nodded. “I saw a few articles on the internet. You’re Lorcan Devaney. You married my sister.”
So she knew that Aislinn was in New York. “And you didn’t consider giving your sister a call to tell her you’re okay or maybe congratulate her?”
I walked closer to her, growing annoyed by her blasé attitude.
“She seemed to be doing all right. I wouldn’t have thought she’d ever be this adventurous, but I’m glad she’s finally pulling her head out of the sand.”
Was she daft or just playing dumb?
“Your sister came to New York because she was worried about you. She thought something had happened, especially when she found out you were looking for sponsors in the Doom Loop.”
Imogen laughed, but it sounded off. She watched me warily. Maybe she finally noticed I was pissed and not falling for her body or her charm. There were many women like her on the hunt for sponsors at the Doom Loop. I’d always stayed far away from them.
“She’s always worrying over nothing.”
I lost it and stalked closer, backing her against the table. “Then you should have called her and told her that you’re fine.”
“Aislinn wouldn’t have believed me. She would have tried to talk to me in person, or tried to make me feel guilty.”
“For leaving your son?”
She blanched. “You mean Finn?”
“Are there more children out there you abandoned for your own selfish reasons?”
“I have my reasons. Finn doesn’t need me. He has Mum and Aislinn.”
I gritted my teeth. “He’s in New York, with me and Aislinn. When you return, you can see him.”
“I won’t return. Maksim and I will be cruising the Caribbean for a few weeks, and after that, he’s going to introduce me to a producer in Los Angeles. New York’s behind me.”
“If I were you, I wouldn’t put too much faith into Maksim. This yacht has his wife’s name on it, not yours or the name of the many mistresses that came before you. You’re a blip in time for him.”
She smiled with fake confidence. “I can handle myself and Maksim.”
I took a bundle of cash from my pocket. “Three thousand dollars in case you need money to return to New York or get away from Maksim. Just in case.”
“Maksim has been very generous.” Still, she stuffed my money into the Louis Vuitton bag on the leather bench.
“Don’t tell Aislinn you found me. It’ll make things worse.
She’ll still want to save me from a life I chose, and she’ll guilt trip me.
I can’t have that now. I need to focus on myself. This is my chance.”
My lips curled in contempt. I turned on my heel and returned to the deck. Maksim leaned on the rail above my head. “Everything settled?”
“Indeed. Enjoy the Caribbean,” I muttered with a salute. Then, I disembarked the boat, hating how the ground felt under my feet when I returned to land. I wasn’t a fan of boats and yachts, never had been. I liked the steady life that a house or apartment offered.
Seamus caught up with me while I ordered an Uber on my phone. “No luck? ”
“She’s determined to use Maksim until she has what she wants. A new sponsor with more money and better contacts.”
“He’ll dump her before that happens. The Doom Loop is full of desperate, very pretty girls.”
“I know, and I believe so does she. She thinks she’s clever, and maybe she is, but definitely not as clever as she thinks.”
“Aislinn will want to talk to her.”
“Probably,” I said. Even if Aislinn trusted me, which she didn’t, she would want to talk to her sister in person once I told her the truth. She believed her sister was a good person. She was wrong. “But I won’t tell her. It won’t make her feel better. It’ll only aggravate her.”
The Uber car pulled up and we got in. The driver scanned us with obvious worry but drove anyway.
“She won’t just forget her sister. She’ll keep looking and fearing the worst, or maybe even suspect you.”
“She asked around. Nobody saw me with Imogen. Why should she suspect me without any leads? She’ll be busy with Finn for a few weeks, and maybe by then, Imogen will be crawling back to New York with her tail between her legs because Maksim found a new cunt.”
Seamus watched me with drawn brows. “At some point, you’ll have to tell her, you know? The truth will come out. It always does.”
“To what outcome?”
“She’ll be heartbroken but uncertainty can be just as bad.”
“You got your calling wrong. You should take Gulliver’s place and appeal to people’s conscience. You’re better at it than he is.”
“He doesn’t care about people’s conscience. He wants them to follow God’s bidding. There’s a difference.”
“You’re grating on my nerves. I won’t tell her, end of story. For now, things are good between us.”
Seamus shrugged. “Maybe you’re just worried she’ll run once her search for Imogen doesn’t bind her to New York.”
“Careful,” I warned. “If I wanted my brain dissected, I’d go to a shrink.”
“It’s not your brain I’m talking about.”
I pulled my gun and pressed it against his balls. “All right, Seamus. You’re my best friend, I’ll give you that, and I’ll be very sad if I have to watch you bleed out at my feet, but you should know when to shut your fucking mouth. Maeve will be heartbroken if you lose your dick. ”
The driver looked ready to pull the car off the road and run away.
Seamus raised his palms. “I’m just worried, my friend. No need for violence. And it was my mouth that enraged you, not my balls, so please aim at my face.”
“You bastard. I still need your loose mouth for business, not your hairy balls.”
“My voice would be unpleasantly high if you castrated me.”