Well damn. What could I say to that?
Could I really take a chance and go to New York? It had been more than a decade. I didn’t think my father was still looking for me, but then again, he was a mobster to the bone and whether he wanted to let me go or not, he had to save face in front of his men. The same men who would think he was weak because he couldn’t locate his only living daughter when she was supposed to be sold into a marriage that would benefit the family.
“Okay, let’s go to New York and see your mom,” I decided. It was a gamble, but one that needed to be taken. If I was ever going to have children of my own, I needed to know that it would be safe to be me. The trip to New York would be the first step toward a future where I could openly be Aoife Elaine Quinn again.
Or Aoife Elaine Connolly.
Another shiver ran down my spine at the thought of becoming a Connolly instead of rightfully being a Maddox like I’d always dreamed. I supposed that the dream my younger self had would only live on through fiction, through the writings of A.E. Maddox and all the stories I made using different characters’ names, even though each of them was a prime example of wish fulfillment. Each story was a different fantasy for how mine and Logan’s life might have played out differently, if only...
Then again, my name had legally been changed to match my nom de plume. Not that anyone but my agent, a sympathetic judge, and I knew that.
As Drew leaned in to kiss my lips, I swore to myself that I would try to love him. I would give it a real shot and somehow bury my first love deep enough inside my heart that I could pretend he was just a character I’d dreamed up.
One day, Drew would feel like the real deal. The flesh and blood man who was there to sweep me off my feet and marry me so that my father would never be able to use me as a bargaining chip. It didn’t even occur to me to wonder what Drew would think about my circumstances, the real name I’d have to trust him with before we could be legally married, or how that name came to be.
TEN
Rage
LOGAN
“It’s almost Christmas, Logan.”
“And?” I tuned out whatever Adrian was blathering on about over the phone as I moved across the tarmac at a pace that was just shy of a jog. “Look, I understand everyone is worried but I have to do this. I’ll be back before Christmas, hopefully with a guest.”
“Lo, she disappeared for a reason.”
“Yeah and that reason was because I fucked up and let her down.”
“You said she was engaged to another man. Don’t you think it’s time to finally let her go?
There was something off about the way my brother spoke to me. It sounded almost as though he had been the one to give up on Aoife all those years ago. They were never close, though. I wanted to ask, to find out if there was something else going on with my brother, but the need to get to Aoife, to put her ahead of everyone else this time, won out. I would check in with Adrian later.
“I can’t.” I hung up the call before he could argue with me further.
I was not operating under any delusions. After what I did, there was a good chance that Aoife would never want to speak to me again. I understood and accepted that. Even if her choice was to remain a stranger to me, I had to hear that directly from her. That was why I was about to hop on a flight to San Diego. If her friend, Shaina Carmine, lived there, then chances were that Aoife did as well.
About twenty minutesafter we took off, a message came through from Miles on my phone.
Miles: We got another hit on your girl.
Logan: What do you mean? Like an actual hit or something else?
Miles: Caught another ping from the laptop. Facial rec caught her at the airport.
I stewed over that last message for the duration of my flight. There was no point in asking for more information. Miles would update me as soon as he knew where she was headed, if she didn’t change her ID for a new identity again.
My cell rang the minute we touched down, and I didn’t hesitate to answer. “What the fuck did you find out?” I yelled into the phone as I grabbed my bags and got ready to hop off the plane.
“She’s here,” Miles huffed impatiently.
“What the hell does that mean?”
“We got another hit on the laptop. She’s in New York. Arrived today, you probably passed her in the sky as the two of you swapped coasts.”
“What fucking kind of luck is this?” I growled and then marched in to see the pilot. “I’m headed back, but I still need someone out here to talk to the friend and find out everything.”
“I can put Christian on it.”
