Chapter Twenty-Nine
A islinn’s eyes fluttered shut as she leaned toward me. This was a bad idea.
For countless reasons.
I cupped her face and pressed my lips against hers. It felt like eternity since I last kissed her. Whatever progress I’d made toward forgetting my wife, I was undoing it now.
My tongue parted her lips, and I pulled her against me, wanting her closer.
We kissed like this for a long time. No rush. No urgency. Everything in me compelled me to take this farther, but it would have complicated things even more.
Aislinn slowly pulled back, her eyes hopeful.
“Can I stay the night? Just sleep. I need…” She trailed off. Fuck. I didn’t want to fall for her again.
As if I’d ever stopped falling…
I nodded. We stretched out on the sleeping couch, with Aislinn’s face on my chest and soon she drifted off.
I grabbed her phone and sent her mother a message, pretending I was Aislinn and telling her I would be spending the night somewhere else.
I knew Aislinn would hate to worry her mother unnecessarily .
It didn’t take long for her to reply.
This is a mistake. You should forget Lorcan. Don’t let him lure you back in.
I felt a strange sense of relief that Aoife couldn’t imagine Aislinn spending the night with anyone but me.
I closed my eyes, breathing in her sweet scent.
Soon my relaxation turned to anger at myself.
I could only imagine what Seamus would have to say to all of this.
I should have killed her for betraying me.
I would have if it was anyone else. But she was my wife.
Seamus’ words about her not having grown up in our world, thus her trust in the police, crossed my mind.
Still, she should have come to me when the police asked her to spy on me.
How could I ever trust her again? How could she believe the photos proved my guilt in Imogen’s disappearance?
Because you’re a fucking mobster.
It didn’t matter. I’d be back in New York in a couple of days and Aislinn would remain here. There was no future for us.
I got up and entered an alarm on Aislinn’s cellphone. Her mother had to work in the morning so Aislinn needed to take care of Finn.
With a last glance at my sleeping wife, I left, half hoping this was the last time I’d see her and knowing I probably wouldn’t be able to stay away.
When I arrived at the old warehouse just outside of Dublin where Balor’s men had taken Aislinn’s attacker, Balor already awaited me. His look of mild disapproval as I entered the vast hall stacked with wooden crates ticked me off.
“Where is he?” I asked.
“In the backroom, but I’d like a word with you first.”
I stopped by his side, hating how his gaze tried to dissect me. “What is it?”
“The events of the last few weeks and what happened today really made me curious. I made some inquiries and it seems your wife might have talked to the police. That’s why you sent her away. ”
“You need to learn to stay out of my business. What happens in New York isn’t your concern and don’t say that it could negatively affect business here.”
Balor listened to my rant without batting an eyelash. His ability to remain stoically calm had always driven me up the wall. “Your wife is your business. But if she talks to the police, here in Ireland, that could lead to unpleasant results.”
“I don’t want you to touch her, Balor.”
“She’s your business. But if she knows certain things, we need to make sure she can keep them to herself.
Even if you don’t want anything to do with her…
” I could hear that he didn’t believe that for one moment.
“…we need to keep her in control. And if you decide to give your marriage another chance, then you need to know where she stands, too.”
I gritted my teeth, but I knew he was right.
“What do you suggest?”
“I’ll ask Eddy to approach her. She’ll be spooked after the attack and realize she’s still in danger. He’ll play into her fears and try to offer her protection and a chance to escape the name Devaney.”
Eddy was one of our contacts in the Dublin police force. I gave a terse nod then turned and headed for the backroom. Before I was out of earshot, Balor called, “I never used my chance. If you think she is yours, don’t throw it away. Not without having turned every stone first.”
His chance at love, that’s what he meant. I headed into the room where two men watched over Aislinn’s attacker. He was bound to a chair. His stubborn gaze as he looked at me told me he had been taught to withstand torture.
We would see how long that would last. I needed information and I’d get it.
He proved very hard to crack and what he revealed was hardly worth mentioning.
His string of expletives gave away he was Russian, but the only information that he revealed about the people who sent him was that he’d found a parcel with money and instructions on his doorstep in London, supposedly his usual way of finding clients.
I didn’t believe that. Maybe he worked like that on occasion, but I had a feeling it hadn’t been the case this time.
Frustrated, I eventually killed him with a knife to the heart.
I called Sergej again. He answered right away despite the late hour in New York.
“Lorcan, my friend, what do I owe the pleasure of this late call?”
His jovial act rubbed me the wrong way, but money was raining down on us from our new business endeavor. Maybe Five-Leaf Clover would eventually be able to uphold the business without the Russians but then an ugly war would ensue.
“I’m in Dublin for the holidays and unfortunately I had to kill a Russian contract killer who attacked my wife.”
“Sad news. Have you and your wife reunited?”
My lips curled, but I held back a nasty comment. “My wife is under Five-Leaf Clover’s protection. She is my wife. Russian contract killers are usually linked to the Bratva.”
“They can be, but not all of them are.”
“You’re allowing people to take away your business?”
“I don’t. Where was this killer from? I can tell you that he wasn’t one of mine and I doubt he was from my territory.”
“He was based in London.”
“I don’t have strong connections to the Pakhan there, so if you want information, you’ll have to contact him. He’s less approachable than me, I fear.”
“Have you heard from Maksim again? Could this be about Imogen?”
“I doubt it. Maksim wouldn’t hire a contract killer. If this was a freelance contract killer, maybe someone you aren’t taking into consideration set him up. Perhaps your family, because of your separation from your wife.”
“Careful,” I gritted out. “My family and I don’t have secrets, Sergej.”
“Of course. I sincerely hope this won’t negatively affect our business.”
“Not if we don’t let it. I’ll have work to do.” I hung up. I didn’t care if I’d been rude. Sergej was trying to play me against my family and I wouldn’t let him .
When I emerged, Balor was still there. “Nothing?” he guessed from a look at my face.
“Not much. He’s Russian, a contract killer from London. Could be freelance but I’m sure he has contacts to the Bratva. I don’t know why or if they were involved.”
Balor nodded. “I contacted Eddie. He’ll seek her out some time today. I’ll let you know how the meeting goes. Will you see her before your flight tomorrow?”
I was supposed to give her a heads up about the questioning, but if I saw her again today, leaving would be even harder.
Maybe I’d even decide to take her with me, and that would be foolish, no matter how Balor’s loyalty test today went.
I had to remain in control of the situation and right now, Aislinn made me lose control too often.
“Send one of your men to tell her what we found out and that she doesn’t have to worry.”
Balor regarded me. “You could take her with you. Just to protect her.”
“She stays. I’ll have to go now.”
I didn’t. I didn’t have important plans for today. But I didn’t want to discuss Aislinn with Balor anymore.
I went to a pub in the outskirts of Dublin where tourists were rare and I definitely wouldn’t run across Aislinn.
It was late in the afternoon, and Balor still hadn’t called me. I had drunk a few beers, but still felt disappointedly sober.
“Mind if I join you?”
I glanced over my shoulder at Aran. He nodded a greeting at the pub owner, probably the one who’d informed him or Balor of my presence. That’s what I always hated about Dublin. I couldn’t even take a piss without my family knowing about it.
“If Balor sent you, then you don’t have good news,” I grumbled. “I hope Father doesn’t know.”
“Only Balor and I.” Aran perched on the bar stool beside me. “Good news, I suppose. Depends on the viewpoint.”
“Spill.”
Aran held up two fingers to the pub owner then he turned back to me. “Your wife was pretty rude to Eddy. Didn’t want anything to do with him. Definitely no cooperation. She told him he should stay away. ”
I shrugged as if it wasn’t big news, but fuck, did I feel relieved.
“Nothing standing in the way of you taking her back home to New York with you.”
“I’m done with her.”
The pub owner placed two glasses with an amber liquid down in front of us. Aran and I clinked glasses then took a sip.
“We both know that’s not the case.”
“Have I ever shoved my nose into your business?”
Aran smirked. “Do what you want.”
We spent the rest of the evening drinking whiskey and beer in turn until Aran took me home with him because I didn’t want to return to the apartment across from Merchant’s Arch. I was still drunk when I boarded the flight early the next morning.
I had been back in New York for a week when Seamus came into my office with a pinched look. “One of our contacts in Miami just called.”
I leaned back in my chair. “And? Has Miss Killeen returned from her cruise?”
“She has,” Seamus said. “She was found by a hooker a couple of days ago, washed ashore.”
I got up slowly. “She’s dead?”
Seamus shook his head. “No. They resuscitated her, but she went into a coma. Someone beat her pretty severely before dumping her into the ocean to die.”