Chapter Twenty-Eight #2
Through the kitchen window, I could see Aislinn have dinner with her mother and Finn.
She had cooked it herself. I’d watched her work in the kitchen for the last three hours, and I could almost smell the roast she’d prepared.
I ate rather bland Tikka Masala from a diner down the street and ignored the calls from my brothers and father.
This was one of the sadder Christmas Eves of the last few years.
Seamus always invited me over so I never celebrated alone.
I knew Father would have driven me up the wall, but even that was preferable to being alone.
But even if I’d never admit it, most of all I wished Finn, Aislinn and I could have celebrated Christmas together.
When the lights went out in Aislinn’s apartment, I risked a quick nap. One of Balor’s men would take over for a few hours in the morning. I needed some sleep.
After a four-hour nap in the morning, I resumed my watch.
I didn’t have to wait long before Aislinn left her apartment.
Finn was with her. I missed the little guy too.
My lips pulled into a smile when I saw what he held in his hand.
A remote control. Aislinn carried the Batmobile that I’d given him for Christmas.
There was a note in the package so she definitely knew it was from me.
It didn’t feel right not to send the boy something for Christmas.
He’d suffered enough abandonment at his age, and I didn’t want him to think I dropped him like a hot potato too.
I followed Aislinn and Finn at a great distance.
It was still risky. Aislinn looked over her shoulder a few times.
Maybe her instincts told her she was in danger.
They went to a parking lot across Ha’Penny Bridge so Finn could test his Batmobile.
I watched them for a while. Aislinn beamed as she watched Finn enjoy his gift, but on occasion her expression would sober, become almost forlorn.
It was weak to think she missed me. She’d been averse to our bond from the very beginning and never hid it.
In the late afternoon, Aislinn left the apartment again, but this time alone.
It was already turning dark. Her stride was purposeful, with a definite destination in mind.
I followed her toward an Italian restaurant.
Maybe she was applying for a job. I leaned against a wall in a side alley that still allowed me a partial view of the restaurant’s entrance.
Lack of sleep was catching up on me and I felt my eyes falling shut on occasion. Maybe whoever had followed Aislinn lost interest.
I jerked awake. I had briefly fallen asleep. I only caught the hint of Aislinn’s hair as she turned a corner and disappeared from view. Damn it .
I pushed away from the wall. The street was busy and eventually I just crossed it, causing cars to sound the horn and to hit the brakes with screeching tires.
Jogging or running makes you look suspicious.
That’s the last thing you needed when you trailed someone.
Still my quick walking could hardly be considered actual walking.
When I rounded the corner, I still didn’t see Aislinn.
This part of Dublin had many smaller alleys branching off each other.
A scream rang out followed by a metallic bang. Fuck. I began running.
I felt elated. My job interview at the Italian restaurant was really good. They even invited me to work a shift next week to see if I was a good fit. The first hint of progress since my move to Dublin.
I glanced over my shoulder as I left the restaurant. Maybe my time with Lorcan made me paranoid but I had felt like being watched these last few days. At first, I’d hoped it was Lorcan but now I thought my mind was just playing tricks on me.
I was still disappointed that Lorcan hadn’t tried to see me, which was completely idiotic of me. He didn’t want anything to do with me.
Steps crunched behind me. I glanced over my shoulder once more and for a heartbeat, I was sure I caught a glimpse of a familiar tall and muscular figure.
Then a sound made me turn back around and a shadow fell over me, causing a scream to rip from my throat.
A tall man grabbed me and jerked me to the side, into a narrow alley without any street lights.
That definitely wasn’t Lorcan. He didn’t smell like him.
This man smelled like cigars and sweat. I struggled against his hold but he shoved me against a wall.
My head hit the stone, sending a stabbing pain through my skull.
Light from the main alley caught on a blade and fear shot through me. Was this a rapist? A contract killer? Maybe from the Devaneys? Maybe this was Lorcan’s form of a divorce.
A muscular arm hooked around my attacker’s throat and jerked him back, away from me. Now that my eyes had gotten used to the dim light, I could make out two tall men wrestling. Lorcan was one of them, and he had my attacker in a headlock. The man still had his knife and slashed it backwards.
“Lorcan! The knife!” I screamed.
Lorcan reacted before I even finished my words.
He shoved sideways so the man’s arm smashed against the wall.
A sickening crack sounded, and the man howled in agony.
I was frozen against the wall. Lorcan tightened his hold around the man’s throat and slowly my attacker sank to the ground, sputtering and choking.
Lorcan seemed immune to his elbow jabs that he sent backwards with his uninjured arm.
The man choked and eventually he became slack.
Lorcan dropped him, and he fell to his side motionless.
Lorcan kicked his ribs hard then picked up the knife.
I braced myself for him to kill the man but he simply closed the knife and put it in his pocket.
Lorcan’s gaze hit me. His eyes scanned me then he stalked toward me.
Now that the first adrenaline spike was over, I realized how hard I was trembling and something warm ran down my neck.
Lorcan cupped my cheek, surprising me. I leaned into the touch without thinking.
His brows furrowed as he tilted my head.
“You’re bleeding. You might need stitches. ”
I nodded, then grimaced because of the brief flash of pain in my head.
“Is your vision blurry or do you feel nauseous?”
I shook my head. Hundreds of questions raced through my mind but none left my lips.
“Are you hurt anywhere else?”
I shook my head again.
My eyes moved past Lorcan to the unmoving man on the ground. “Is he—?” I didn’t think he was dead, but I needed to ask.
“No, not yet. I’ll need some answers before he’ll die.”
I nodded. Of course. It made sense. Maybe. Right now, nothing really made sense anymore.
“I’ll give my brother a call, then I’ll take you home.”
“I can’t go home like this. Mum will be worried sick if I show up with blood on my head.”
“I’ll take you with me and treat your injuries, then you can go home,” Lorcan said, his voice was tight with an emotion I couldn’t decipher.
He took a step away from me, and I almost asked him to come back, but instead I wrapped my arms around myself.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around the fact that he was here, that he had saved me .
“Balor, I caught the guy. Send someone over so they can keep an eye on him until I have time to question him.”
Lorcan’s expression tightened even more at something his brother said.
“No. Aislinn is here with me. I’ll have to take her home, so send someone over.”
Lorcan hung up then he got down beside my attacker and searched his pockets. He found a cellphone, a small gun, another knife, and some cash. He checked the man’s neck, arms and calves. Maybe for some tattoo that would give away who’d set him up on me.
I wasn’t sure who wanted to hurt, maybe even kill, me, but that wasn’t even my most pressing question right now. Why did Lorcan save me and why did he know I needed saving?
I shivered from the cold. Lorcan looked up to me and my belly warmed at the look of concern in his eyes, then he got to his feet and came over to me.
He removed his black down jacket and draped it over my shoulders.
Beneath it, he wore a white wool sweater.
I’d never seen him wear anything like it in our time in New York.
Maybe he got it in the mansion over Christmas.
He looked even more burly, but also more approachable with the cozy sheep’s wool sweater. “Won’t you be cold?”
“I’m fine,” he grumbled. “Put my jacket on properly. You’re trembling.”
I pushed my arms into the sleeves and closed the jacket. It smelled of Lorcan’s cologne. Of course, it was way too big for me.
“Let me see the back of your head. I want to make sure you’re not losing too much blood.” I turned my back on him. A flashlight came on as Lorcan used his phone to check my wound. I only felt a dumb throbbing, not really any pain. Lorcan parted my hair and that’s when I winced.
“It’s a small cut. Two strips should do. But stitches might be better because of your hair.”
I turned back around because I needed to see Lorcan’s face and he turned off the flashlight of his phone.
“Why are you here?” I whispered.
Lorcan’s jaw flexed then a condescending smile formed. “To save your pretty ass. Would you prefer that I didn’t?”
I shook my head. Lorcan’s brows furrowed. Steps rang out, and Lorcan positioned himself in front of me, his hand going to a gun in his back pocket.
“Lorcan?” A man called .
Lorcan relaxed. “We’re here. All clear.”
Two men entered the alley. They nodded a greeting at Lorcan then at me before they picked up the unconscious man.
“Balor is going to send you the details of where we’re taking him so you can join us whenever you’re ready,” the older man, who’d called Lorcan’s name before, said.
“Good.”
Without another word, the men left, dragging the unconscious man by his arms, leaving me alone with Lorcan. Nobody would bat an eye at them. People would just assume they were dragging a drunken friend home, a common occurrence.
“We’ll have to walk back,” Lorcan said. With his hand on my lower back, he led me out of the alley. I followed his lead, not sure where he’d take me. My confusion only grew when we got closer to home.
“Lorcan, I can’t go home like this.”
“I’m not taking you home.” He didn’t elaborate, and when we turned into Merchant’s Arch, my confusion reached its peak.
He didn’t take me to my door though, instead he approached a building across from mine and unlocked the door there.
He held it open for me and I stepped into the narrow entry. It was dark and smelled of piss.
“Second floor.”
I took the first step and a wave of dizziness overcame me.
Lorcan touched my back, steadying me. I gripped the banister and slowly ascended the stairs.
If I hadn’t felt unsteady, I would have bombarded Lorcan with questions, but I needed to focus on dragging myself up.
Lorcan unlocked the door on the second floor and motioned me to go in.
It was a tiny one room apartment. There was a sleeping couch, kitchenette, folding chairs and table in it.
I walked over to the narrow window, which had a clear view of the Merchant’s Arch and my front door, as well as our apartment’s kitchen window.
Lorcan rummaged behind me. Wouldn’t he explain? He appeared behind me, a warm presence I’d missed despite my determination not to.
“I’ll clean the wound now and fix it with strips. You can still go to a doctor and get stitches if the strips fall off.”
He swiped my hair to the side and then something cold touched the back of my head. I hissed from the burning sensation.
“How long have you been staying in this place? ”
“A couple of days,” Lorcan said. His voice didn’t give anything away. His fingers applied pressure to my wound, then he said: “Done.”
I turned immediately, needing to see his face, even though it was as closed off as his voice had been.
“Don’t you think it’s strange that you’re living in an apartment across from me and happen to be around when I get attacked? What’s going on? This is my life. I deserve to know if I’m in danger.”
He smiled wryly, but his eyes remained humorless. “Of course, you are. What just happened should have proven that. But you’re protected.”
I shook my head, not sure what to make of this. “So you came all the way from New York to Dublin to protect me?”
“I was here to celebrate Christmas with my family. Recent discoveries made me cancel these plans and watch you.”
So my instinct hadn’t been off. Lorcan had really stalked me. But my attacker too. Goose bumps erupted along my skin. “Why did you come? You sent me away. You have every reason to want me dead. But tonight, you protected me.”
He got up and walked over to a small trash bin where he dumped blood-covered wipes. When he turned back to me, his face was carefully guarded. “You’re still my wife.”
“You sent me away.”
“That made a few people obviously think you weren’t under my protection anymore. I hope my actions tonight showed them their mistake.”
“Who are they? Who wants to hurt me?”
“I won’t know until I’ll question your attacker.”
“What about Finn, is he in danger, and Mum?”
“I’ll question him and then I’ll know more. But neither Finn nor your mother nor you are in danger. Even when I return to New York, someone will watch you until we’ve determined the danger is over.”
“Is this because of Imogen?”
Lorcan glowered. “Aislinn, I won’t know until I loosen the asshole’s tongue by cutting him open.”
I walked over to the sleeping couch and sank down on it. I lowered my face into my palms, overwhelmed by everything that happened.
Gulliver had been right. I couldn’t just return to my old life.
For many reasons. Because others wouldn’t let me.
Because I had changed. Because part of me longed to return to New York and that part was even louder with Lorcan in a room with me.
He saved me tonight. It would have been easy to get rid of me this way, without having blood on his hands.
I felt like crying. The sleeping couch groaned and shifted, then Lorcan touched my back. “You don’t have to be scared. You’re still a Devaney and I’ll make sure everyone knows it.”
“And what happens once I’m not a Devaney anymore? Will people then lose interest in hurting me?”
Lorcan wedged his finger under my chin, forcing my face up. “That’s no immediate concern. You are my wife.”
I searched his eyes, trying to understand the man before me.
He’d easily subdued the tall and bulky attacker, and could have killed him from the looks of it.
He had no qualms about it either, but he never hurt me despite what I’d done.
Without thinking, I moved my face toward Lorcan, seeking his comforting touch.