Chapter 86 Girls Night – Briar
GIRLS NIGHT
brIAR
“One more movie! Please! Please! One more!” Remi begs, before the credits are even rolling on the movie that just finished. “We can make ice cream sundaes!”
“I don’t know… it’s getting kind of late.” I check the time on my phone.
“C’mon, Mom!” she whines.
“Yeah! C’mon, Mom!” Lily echoes, throwing popcorn at my face.
I narrow my eyes at her. “You’re not helping,” I mutter, before chucking a piece of popcorn back at her.
“I mean, what’s another ninety minutes?”
“Rory!” I whip my head around, clutching my chest at the unexpected betrayal.
The newest member of our little girl squad just shrugs her shoulders. “What? Ice cream sundaes sound amazing right now…” She winks at Remi, who beams back at her.
“It looks like you’re outvoted!” Lily teases, reaching over and swiping the clicker out of my hand.
“Ugh, fine!” I relent, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. “But only if there are cherries for the ice cream sundaes…”
Remi’s eyes go wide and connect with Rory’s.
“Race you to the fridge!” Rory shouts, launching herself off the sectional, with Remi tearing after her, giggling up a storm.
I laugh, watching Remi try to dart under Rory before they reach the door, and Rory almost falls trying not to trip over her.
“Be careful!”
We’re having a girls’ night. Liam and Aidan have an away game in Chicago tonight, so Rory has the night off, and while Koen was supposed to be here, something urgent came up and he had to step out.
We’ve done it up proper with pizza, and a fresh batch of cookies we baked using store-bought dough—because none of us can bake worth a damn—and a fresh coat of glittery black nail polish adorns my fingernails. And of course, a movie marathon, popcorn, and now apparently ice cream sundaes.
A crashing sound from the kitchen has me up and on my feet.
“You guys need help in there?” I ask, already moving.
Both Remi and Rory respond in unison, “Yes…”
“Don’t get up,” I snap playfully at Lily, who’s scrolling through movies with her feet propped up on the coffee table.
“Don’t worry, I won’t,” she replies without looking up.
Shaking my head, I enter the kitchen, finding a mess of bowls scattered all over the floor from where they must have fallen out of the cabinet.
It’s quick work to pick them up, and I help Rory gather the rest of the ingredients for the sundaes, setting Remi up at the kitchen island to make them.
A faint bang echoes from somewhere below us, maybe on the street outside, and Rory turns around to look at me.
“Was that you?” she asks over Remi’s head, who is fully absorbed in dropping as many chocolate chips as she can onto her tiny scoop of ice cream.
I shake my head slowly. “No. I thought—”
The elevator dings, and both of us lock eyes. Koen made it seem like he wouldn’t be back until late. There’s another noise. A heavy thud and then boots on the hardwood in the living room. I hear voices, Irish accents, but I don’t recognize any of them.
Rory slides a kitchen knife out of the block as I creep toward the archway separating the kitchen and living room. Remi, still blissfully unaware, is still filling her mouth now with more chocolate chips since I’m not policing her.
Heart racing, I chance a quick peek around the corner and see four men I don’t recognize. One of them has got Lily by the hair, his hand pressed over her mouth. One of the men is saying my name over and over to her while she shakes her head frantically.
I rocket back into the kitchen, moving as quickly as I can while being silent about it, and grab Rory’s arm. “I need you to hide her.”
Rory blinks at me. “But what about you?”
I shake my head slowly, my gaze heavy. “They’re looking for me.”
Rory grips the knife tighter, looking conflicted, but I turn my attention to Remi.
“Hey Rem,” I whisper, holding my finger to my lips to show that she should, too.
“We’re gonna play a little game, okay? Hide and seek?
” Her eyes light up, but I tap my finger again to my lips when her mouth opens.
“You have to be super duper quiet, and you can be on Rory’s team, okay?
” I’m desperately trying to keep the tears out of my eyes but failing.
Remi looks up at me, her brows creasing with concern before she nods.
“Okay, good. Go with Rory, okay, and remember…” I press my finger to my lips one more time, and she nods.
Quietly, she climbs down off the stool, but as her feet touch the ground, I wrap my arms around her tight. “I love you, okay? I love you so much.” I kiss the top of her head before letting her go.
She stares up at me. I can tell she wants to say it back, but I told her to be quiet. There’s fear in her eyes now because I’m doing a terrible job at hiding my own.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, go with Rory.” I nudge her in Rory’s direction, who takes Remi’s hand in hers, and the two of them retreat deeper into the kitchen.
I inch closer to the living room.
“She’s here. Search the house,” I hear and close my eyes.
Opening them, I spot Rory quietly opening the door out onto the courtyard that sits in the middle of the loft.
Good thinking. Even if Remi makes a sound, it’ll be harder to hear since they’ll be outside.
Rory pulls Remi into some bushes. Crouched down with the knife still in her hand, she’ll be able to see the kitchen, but it’s unlikely anyone will see them if they didn’t know they were there.
Releasing a shaky breath, I roll back my shoulders, making eye contact with my daughter one last time before I step into the living room.
I have their attention immediately, and I freeze, recognizing the man who appears to be calling the shots.
“Ah, well if it isn’t my lucky day,” he says, his Irish accent thick.
One of his men pulls out a gun and presses it to Lily’s head. I raise my hands, stopping in my tracks.
“Who are you?”
The man motions for one of his men to grab me. I don’t resist, but he’s still rougher than he needs to be.
The man frowns at me, pretending to look disappointed. “Ah, now Bella, I’m hurt.” He holds his hand to his chest like I shot him. “I know you recognize me.” He smiles, and it’s all too familiar.
I swallow because I do. I do recognize him.
He was there that night. At Wonderland. He was in the back in that meeting with all the important clients…
and he winked at me. Salt and pepper hair, broad shoulders.
But nothing else easily identifiable. I didn’t hear him speak that night, but his Irish accent has my stomach sinking.
The guy holding Lily cocks his gun, and my attention whips to them.
“No, no, no—we’ll keep the Kostalov girl.
I’ll take care of two problems for the price of one.
” He smiles again, and I shiver. He thinks Lily is Rory.
They do sort of look alike; they’re around the same height and blonde, but that’s about where the similarities end, and Rory’s eyes are blue and Lily’s hazel…
Lily and I lock eyes, but she keeps her mouth snapped shut. My ride or die. She knows what’s at stake and she’s not going to correct them.
“Ladies, allow me to formally introduce myself. I’m Seamus O’Rourke, Koen and Aidan’s uncle.”