Taryn
Something is wrong. Really wrong. Gráinne shows Liam and me back to that same stupid library where Liam and I sat together on the night of our engagement party.
Until I saw Gráinne’s face, my biggest concern had been missing my afternoon classes.
She looks sick. She keeps sneaking peeks at me as she escorts us down the hall.
Liam comes to an abrupt halt when we’re almost to the study door. “What the fuck is happening here, Gráinne?”
I suck in a breath, and her eyes widen at his tone. I don’t blame her. This doesn’t sound like the friendly guy everyone knows.
“I can’t say, Liam.” Her voice is hoarse.
“Can’t or won’t?”
She swallows. “Both.”
He makes a low noise in his throat, and I squeeze his bicep to comfort him. “I’m sure it’s fine. Right?” I give my friend a tentative smile.
Gráinne bows her head. “I’ll be here for you when the meeting is over.” Her eyes are full of apology as she looks back at me. Holy shit.
Liam wraps his arm around me and pulls me into the room.
Oh wow. We should have stayed in the hall.
Rowan is in deep conversation with my father and oldest brother.
In fact, Da is too animated with ruddy cheeks and his hands flailing about as he tries to make some point.
Liam’s father is pacing at the other end of the room while one of the Chicago guys I met at Titus, Darragh, tries to calm him.
Everyone stops what they are doing when we enter.
“About goddamn time,” Liam’s father barks. I want to point out that we left shortly after we got the call and that Rowan’s estate isn’t right around the corner from St. A’s. Instead, I wisely keep my mouth shut.
“What’s happened?” Liam’s voice is strained.
“We finally found out why the Greeks are so well funded,” his father erupts. “You want to tell them why, sweetheart?” He snarls this question at me.
I take a step back in confusion, and that’s when my father loses it.
“You’ll watch your tone when you address my daughter!
” Da comes across the room at Liam’s father, but his path is interrupted by Rafferty, who literally grabs the collar of his shirt to stop him.
Darragh holds my future father-in-law back with a hand on his shoulder.
“Enough!” Rowan shouts. “We won’t accomplish anything this way.”
“We won’t accomplish anything at all.” Liam’s father’s face is mottled with anger. His top guy, Darragh, still has a hand holding him in place. “Liam. Get the ring off her finger so we can go.”
Wait. What?
“Someone needs to explain,” Liam grits out.
“We were set up!” Da yells. “Taryn wouldn’t give money to the Greeks for Chrissakes.”
I wouldn’t have what now? Surely I’m misunderstanding his words.
“We’ve verified the documentation,” Darragh says flatly. “The accounts appear to be real. So are the transactions.”
“What accounts? What transactions?” Liam looks back to his father’s right-hand man. I tremble slightly under his arm. I can’t help it. There is so much testosterone in this room. So much anger. Seemingly directed at me. I don’t understand. Liam tenses when he feels my tremor.
“We’ve been following the Greeks’ money. A new thread appeared yesterday morning. We found a shell company. One that appears to exist to support their trafficking business. We were able to see which accounts were funding it. We have a list of the investors. One of them is Taryn Walsh.”
I make a squeaking sound. No. This isn’t right. Yet, the words stay buried in my throat.
“That’s ridiculous,” Liam hisses. “Of all the stupid things. Trails like that don’t just magically appear.”
“That’s what I said!” Da throws his arms in the air.
“I’m sorry, Liam.” Darragh ignores my father.
“The records are clear. Bobby pulled all the info. We can see Taryn’s personal bank account.
We can see where her parents make a monthly deposit into it.
We can also see where she transfers some sum of money each month into the Greeks’ shell company.
It looks like they also may be syphoning some money out of the Walsh’s bigger accounts since they are tied to Taryn’s.
Her deposits gave them a way to hack more of their money. ”
This can’t be right. Something is off, but familiar. My brain scrambles to piece together what I’m being told.
Darragh turns to look at my father. “You deposit $5,000 a month into her account, right?”
A rosy flush climbs my father’s neck. He sucks in a breath. “What I give my child is none of your concern.”
But, I see it in his eyes. The hesitation. The doubt. The confirmation that the transactions are real. Darragh just gave an accurate reflection of our banking activity. Of the fund my parents established for me to pay rent and have spending money. Liam’s father sees it too.
“Do you invest money that your father is unaware of, lass?” Kian McGuiness asks me in a low voice. His emotional high is coming down now. His eyes have turned calculating.
“I—” My voice comes out as a croak. I clear my throat. “I’ve been doing some investing, but not to fund trafficking!” I can feel the color drain from my face. I turn to look at Liam. He has to believe me. They all have to believe me.
Suddenly, I understand. My fund for grad school. This is about my secret fund. But how did the Greeks get it? I think about Sam’s relationship with Theo. My stomach bottoms out.
“Enough!” Rowan shouts at me, and I clamp my lips shut. “Don’t say another fucking word.” His voice is a growl.
“Watch your tone with her.” Liam’s growl echoes Rowan’s.
His father’s chuckle is dry. Harsh. “Here’s what I know: Worst case, we have a traitor here. Either in the lass or in her whole feckin’ family.”
Rafferty steps forward, but Kian puts his hand up.
“Best case, this young woman is too stupid to realize she was used. Either way, we aren’t doing this anymore. You need to get your house in order, O’Toole. My son isn’t going to marry a liability.”
Oh my god. There are no words. My chest tightens with the insult. My throat feels thick. My eyelids burn.
Rowan looks ready to implode. He walks over to Liam and me. “Unhand her, Liam.”
Instead, Liam tightens his grip. “Rowan.”
“I’m not fucking around. Take your arm off her.” His jaw is tight. His eyes are fire.
God. It isn’t fair to put Liam in this position. I take the choice away when I twist out from under his arm and walk over to Raff, who pulls me to his side, reassuringly squeezes my shoulder. I can’t fucking breathe.
“This is crazy.” Liam mumbles the words. “Everybody needs to think for a minute. How did this information just drop into Bobby’s lap? That makes no sense.”
Rowan shakes his head. “It’s a good point.
I don’t understand how the fuck this happened.
” His voice is but a murmur. My father says something, but I don’t catch it because I’m too focused on my brother, who is lifting my hand, removing my ring.
I gasp as he pulls it from my finger and then shuffles me over to my father. He approaches Liam with the diamond.
“This is wrong. It’s a mistake.” Liam says the words again, definitively, as his fist closes over the jewelry. “There’s an explanation.”
“No. The only mistake was thinking we could trust these people,” his father sneers. “Let’s go. We have plans to make.”
“We still need this alliance,” Liam tells his father as he grabs Liam’s elbow in an attempt to haul him out of the room. My engagement ring is still clasped in his fist. “Listen. There is more to the story—”
“Liam. Shut. Your. Feckin’. Mouth.” His father is snarling. His brogue is more pronounced. Spittle is gathering at the corners of his lips. Liam’s cheeks burn with heat, but he remains silent.
My father pulls me closer as he glowers at the McGuinesses. Gráinne’s presence, her cryptic comments about being here after the meeting, now make sense. Rowan must have called her to come comfort me. I feel nauseous. I let out a slow breath through pursed lips as I try to settle my stomach.
Darragh gives a little shove to Liam as his father strides from the room. “We need to go. Regroup.”
Again, I look helplessly across the library. I meet his eyes. He shakes his head. “This isn’t over,” he vows. I look away. I can’t take this.
He allows Darragh to drag him from the room.
My father pushes me over to the table I sat at when I got engaged.
The last time I took this seat, Liam was sliding a ring on my finger.
Now, my father, brother, and Rowan hover over me.
They surround me. All look upset, but it’s my father who launches into a tirade.
If I thought he was upset with me that day in the restaurant, when I balked at my engagement news, well, I had no idea what my father’s wrath could really look like.
“I don’t know what you’ve done, Taryn Kathleen, but it may very well be the ruin of us.” It’s like someone lit a fuse under his skin. His cheeks are bright red and his green eyes flash with fury. I shrink into my seat, unprepared to see my father this way.
“Da,” Raff tries to interrupt but is silenced with a hand from my father.
“If the Greeks wanted Kian to know that you’ve been their patsy, then the whole clan will know soon enough.
They will leak your stupidity to everyone.
All of New York will think the Walshes have been funneling them money.
That we are traitors to our own people. We won’t survive that type of scandal.
We’ll be outcasts. In danger. The clan will come for us.
Jesus. What the hell were you thinking, lass?
” His voice goes hoarse on the last sentence. Tears prick my eyes.
“Taryn.”
We all freeze to look over to where Liam stands in the doorway.
“Liam. You shouldn’t be here.” Rowan’s words are curt.
Liam shrugs and then shocks us all with what he does next. He smiles. We all flinch with the unexpected motion. “I’d like to speak with Taryn before I go.” His voice is conversational. Kind. He shoves his hands in his front pockets as he walks into the room. Nonthreatening. Casual.
“That won’t be possible,” my father tells Liam. His voice is rough.
“I wasn’t asking, Mick. I was letting you know my intent.” He smiles again. From the corner of my eye, I see Darragh in the entryway.
My Da narrows his eyes. “Do you find this amusing, boyo?”
“Not in the slightest.” Liam nods at me. Holds out his hand. “We’ll only be a few minutes.”
Rowan looks confused, but it’s Rafferty who speaks. “Give them a minute. It can’t hurt, Da.”
“I’m not sure I agree,” Da tells Raff. “We don’t need any more damage done.”
“I’m on her side,” Liam tells my father. He sounds so sincere. “One minute. That’s all we need.”
Rowan gives me a quick jerk of his chin. “One minute.”
He moves to the table and reaches his hand to me. I put my trembling fingers in his rough palm. He pulls me to his side and leads me across the room.
As we walk he whispers in my ear, “I know this has something to do with whatever Sam came to warn you about the other night. We’re going to sit on those ugly ass chairs so you can tell me what happened and what your family knows. I need to understand so I can help you.”
He helps me get seated in a deep scarlet plush side chair in the corner of the room.
My every instinct says I should curl up in his lap, which makes absolutely no sense.
I have no idea why I want his comfort. I also have no idea why he’s here, smiling at everyone.
Is he crazy? Nonetheless, his smile accomplished what I’m sure his fists or words wouldn’t have… because here we sit.
When he’s arranged himself on the chair next to me, he leans over to run a thumb across my jawline. He lifts my chin so I’m forced to look at him. “Go on. I have your back, remember?”
My eyes are glassy when I meet his imploring gaze.
“I don’t know what he wanted to warn me about exactly.
Sam had been helping me invest for a little over a year now.
For California. Before that, I had my savings in a money market account at a different bank, but he said that he could guarantee me higher returns.
His family is so wealthy, I thought he had an inside track on something.
I didn’t know it was a shell company. I didn’t know I was funding—” I break off.
Shudder. I can’t complete the heinous sentence.
He looks like he believes me. I feel lighter. Relieved.
“What did you tell Rowan? Your family?” He says the words in a low voice.
“Nothing yet. My father hasn’t stopped talking about a scandal and family. What a mess the broken alliance is going to create among the clan. How all of the Walshes will be outcasts. I haven’t been able to get a word in edgewise.” My voice is tinny. Forlorn.
Liam nods. “I’m going to have to leave here in a minute, but listen to me.
Don’t mention Sam. He’s Theo’s best friend.
A tie to the Greeks. It won’t help you or your family if they know about you trusting him.
Tell them that I’ve been helping you with your investments.
Tie it to me since we’ve been seeing each other for a little over a year now. ”
“Wh-what? No, we only just—” He wants me to say we’ve been secretly seeing each other for over a year? That this was all his idea? Yes. He really is crazy.
“We’ve been seeing each other a little over a year now,” he repeats, looking at me meaningfully. “It’s why I wanted to marry you.”
“That’s enough,” Rowan’s voice carries across the room.
“I can make this look purposeful, beauty. Like you were doing what I guided you toward.” He leans over to kiss my cheek, and I can hear my brother’s footfalls as he makes his way across the room to us. “Trust me.”
I feel Rafferty’s hand on my shoulder. I sigh heavily and look up to meet his concerned gaze.
“Thank you for giving me some time,” Liam tells him as he rises. “This is all my fault, Rafferty. But, I can still fix this.”
Raff cocks his head to the side, unsure of what Liam’s words mean. Hell, I can’t help him because I’m equally confused. He studies Liam’s face. Then, he turns to me. “We should head home, Tare Bear. I want to get you out of here before Da has a stroke.”
I nod as I stand.
“I’ll be in touch,” Liam tells me.
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea.” Rafferty’s words are a sigh. There’s no heat behind them. He sounds as defeated as I feel.
Liam winks at him and Raff’s mouth drops open. “It’s honestly the best idea I ever had. I don’t intend to give up on it now.”
Raff shakes his head. “Leave before you start a fucking war, McGuiness.”
“I’ve got your back, beauty,” Liam tells me once again as he heads toward the door. “We’re inevitable.”