28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Carys
W e’re seated in our own section of the quiet, upscale restaurant, and we’ve been here for hours. We’ve exhausted the polite chitchat topics, and Jade’s bodyguards have rotated out, so everyone has had a chance to eat. The bill has been paid, and we’re sipping our tea and coffee. Used cotton napkins litter the gray tablecloth.
Jay slouches back in his seat and pats his stomach. “I’m not sure I’ve got any more room in here.”
Jade’s phone pings, and her rueful smile slips when she glances at whatever is on the screen. She taps her manicured nail on the case and seems to be running something through her head. She types out a quick message and drops her phone into her purse.
“You okay?” I peer at her, trying to read her mood. She’s been quiet and reserved during the meal—more observer than participant.
“Lucas. That’s your son, right?” She meets my gaze, but there’s been a shift in her brown eyes. The open naivety is gone, replaced with a more sinister slant. The directness of her question is surprising. Despite the amount of time we’ve spent together, our talks have been superficial. Until this minute, I hadn’t even noticed. A frisson of unease snakes down my spine. Kim, who has been lounging beside me, sits up straighter.
“He is, yes.” Lucas isn’t a secret, though I have been very careful not to video chat with him in my room or anywhere people might overhear.
“But Finn’s not the father?” She cocks her head, and her chestnut hair swishes around her shoulders.
“He’ll be his father in every way that counts.” I sip my wine and flick my gaze to Jay to check if he feels the heaviness in the air too. Alert. Listening carefully. We’ve noticed the unspoken swing in power. I focus on Jade. She’s fishing for something, but I’m not sure what.
“Eric, right? Eric is Lucas’s father.”
“Biological, yes.”
“Hmm…” She drums her fingers on the table, her nails making a soft tap on the cloth. “How did he die?”
Kim’s eyes narrow, and she tucks her phone into her pocket. She’s read the new tension too. Behind Jade, three of her bodyguards appear.
Did Finn and Lorcan get caught? Kim checked her phone almost an hour ago and gave me the nod to tell me the search was done. Something has tilted, and not in our favor. Anxiety pools in my stomach. None of us has dared to look at our phones while Jade’s been at the table with us for fear of tipping our hand. Even Jay has kept his in his pocket.
“Eric was shot in Russia during a raid on a house my father owns.” The details are public knowledge, and the way she’s behaving, she must already have the particulars.
“By whom?” A hint of a smirk appears on her face. This is not the same woman I’ve spent so much time with the last week and a half. This is the woman Kim and Finn warned me about.
“I—I don’t know.” I shrug.
“Mmm. You never bothered to find out? The father of your only child and you dismiss his death like it’s nothing?”
I clench my jaw. “You don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”
“What if I told you Finn shot him?” Her gaze is calculating, angling for a reaction.
“He didn’t.” I narrow my eyes.
“Oh, Carys. You poor, na?ve soul. I almost feel bad for what’s coming. Almost .” She rises from her chair and drops some bills on the table. “If only Eric had lived, you would have known what to expect. Of course, you would have been afraid this whole time.” She grins. “Would’ve been glorious as far as I’m concerned.” She sighs. “Finn’s bullet put a wrench in my plans, so I sent you a going away present to your office.” She stares at me a beat, waiting for me to catch up. “I must have watched the security footage a million times.” Her Irish accent is gone, and in its place is one I don’t recognize. Not American. European of some sort.
“The confetti bomb,” I whisper.
Kim draws her gun, leveling it at Jade. The three men behind her point their guns at each of us. “I could kill you and save us all some trouble.”
Jade tsks. “Murdering me wouldn’t solve your problems. Oh, sweetheart. The path is set. Finn didn’t mention how empty the mansion was today? The pawns are in place. If you’re dead, because you tried to take me out, who’s going to rescue Lucas, Rosa, Luciana, Sofia, and Lena?” She shifts her gaze from Kim to me. “The walls have closed in, and you didn’t even see them moving.”
I want to scream at her, try to call her bluff, but the woman rising from her seat across from me isn’t the person who walked in here after a day of shopping. She’s cool and calculated. Whatever version of her this is, it’s real. All pretenses are gone.
Her bodyguards circle her, creating a protective barrier for her to make her exit. Their guns are still raised, and the few other customers in the restaurant cower under the tables. The restaurant staff is absent. Has someone already called the police? If Jade’s threat is real, we have to get everyone moved no matter what we have to do to accomplish it. My body runs hot and cold, and I dig into my purse for my phone.
Twenty missed calls from Finn.
Shit.
Just before she gets to the door, she turns back, giving me a long look. “Give our mother my regards.”
My stomach drops into my feet, the dip after cresting a hill at high speed. “Our mother?” I whisper in disbelief. Our mother? The bells above the door jingle with her exit, and my mind is still scrambling until her words stick.
Oh, my God. Pearl . She’s my half-sister from my mother’s first marriage, the child my mother abandoned to marry my father. My mother warned me about her months ago. A woman who wanted my mother to understand the fear she grew up with because of an abusive father. Finn and Jay searched everywhere and found nothing on Pearl. Not a single blip to indicate she was a real danger, that her threat to my mother wasn’t bitter bravado.
Of course, if she’s been using aliases for years, they never stood a chance.
Kim grabs my hand and tugs me away from the table. “Back exit is this way.” The distant sound of sirens pierces my consciousness. The last thing we need is to get hauled in by the police.
Jay and Kim led me out of the restaurant and into a rear alley. We don’t have a car or any means of transportation. Finn and Lorcan are still at the mansion, and Jade has revealed herself. My head is spinning, and my knees are weak.
“We can’t worry about Lorcan or Finn until we’ve secured a place for our family to go. They need to leave the island now.” Jay’s phone is out, and he’s frantically going through his contact list. “Who can we call?”
“You call Demid,” I say. “Tell him things have changed. We’ll do anything he wants.” My voice catches. “Anything. I’ll call my father and make him draw up the contract. I’m not having—” My throat closes up, and I have to swallow a sob. “I’m not having my son murdered over money.” The thought almost drops me to the ground.
I punch in my father’s number with shaking fingers. The phone rings and rings and rings, but he doesn’t answer. I glance at Jay, and he’s grimacing. “What is it?”
“Demid’s dead.” His voice is dull. “I just—I just got his man on the phone. Car bomb this afternoon. The PLA must have realized we were trying to move our families.”
My breath catches, and Kim’s arm snakes around my waist when my knees give out. I clutch onto her, shock hitting me square in the chest. “Dead?”
“Finn and Lorcan are on their way here.” Kim keeps a tight hold on me. “I talked to Lorcan, and they’re in the car. That must be why Jade decided to tip her hand. Finn found her passport in the office when they combed it. Pearl Jade is her name. Pierre-Jacques must have woken up and realized Finn and Lorcan were missing or the office had been searched—something.”
“My son,” I whisper. “She’s going after my son.”
“And my family.” Jay runs a hand down his face.
Sirens wailed in the distance. “We need to get out of the alley and away from the restaurant. Maintain a normal pace.” Kim points in the opposite direction to what I would have chosen. “This way. We’ll find a pub or somewhere to duck into. Keep calm.”
My hands shake while we walk onto a side street, away from the downtown core. Our steady pace makes me want to jump or run or scream. Energy courses through me with no outlet. Kim leads us through the narrow streets, the closed shops, as though she knows where she’s going, and I’m grateful for her confidence.
With his family at risk, Jay isn’t in any position to hold me together. My heart is in my throat. I’ve wanted a baby since I lost my first with Finn, and to have Lucas now, and to realize he could be snatched from me at any moment is terrifying.
“If Demid’s organization is in chaos, who is most likely to step in?” Kim asks.
I take a deep, shaky breath and force my brain to think. “Before she was murdered, I would have said his daughter. Now, I’m not sure.” There are black dots on the edges of my vision, and I’m fighting to stay upright. My baby .
“Try your father again. He’s better than nothing if he can arrange for them to go somewhere or at least get a lot of additional security.”
“They can’t stay on the island,” I whisper. “She’s already a step ahead of us. She’ll realize how to get to them.” Was she responsible for the bomb in my hotel? The one who almost killed me and Jay?
“I understand it’s hard,” Kim says. “She’s counting on fear to drive us. We have to stay rational and logical. We don’t have a timeline, but since she’s shown us her hand, we have to move now. Do you still have your plane in Cape Verde?”
“Yes,” I say. “Why?” Her decisive tone is steadying me, and she drops her hand from my arm.
“Let’s get your family on it. Get them headed here, but somewhere in the south of Ireland. If a better option comes up while they’re in flight, we’ll reroute them. But at least if they’re in Ireland, we can conserve resources and minimize worry.”
“I’ll call Sofia,” Jay says with tears in his eyes.
“Have your security detail sweep the car and the plane for explosives before anyone sets foot in either.”
“Do you think…” I say. “Do you think she knows who you and Lorcan are?”
Kim shoves her hands deep into the pockets of her jacket. “She wasn’t surprised I had no loyalty to her. I held a gun on her, and she didn’t flinch, didn’t pull rank. Technically, as far as she knows, she employs me.” We walk for another moment before Kim says, “If she does realize we’re agents, and she doesn’t care, she doesn’t think we can stop her.”