“That works for me, sure. I’ve gotta go meet with Liam, but if you need me, call me, okay?” I offer, and she shoots me a grateful smile. A strained smile. A smile I don’t believe at all. But I can’t go back on my word as she turns away from me to lean over her desk. My chest tightens in a sigh before I leave her office doorway. “Shite.”
I curse under my breath. Glancing over my shoulder, I scowl under furrowed brows. Looking around at the drones of Knitted Hearts, scurrying around, my mood darkens. Not a single hint of Delilah’s frazzledness is escaping her office. She keeps her employees in the dark to save their futures. She’s a damn good boss, and an even better person. Most would’ve quit and left this dumpster fire to someone else, but not Delilah. She’s the person who’ll try to find a way to fix it all, if she can.
Anger gnaws at my gut, and I shake my head viciously. I have my own problems. Liam wants to meet. What does he want to talk about? Who knows. He wouldn’t tell me on the phone. I punch the elevator button sharply with my thumb and grumble to myself while I wait for it.
After such a wonderful day, everything seems worse, maybe even off. I close my eyes and take a deep, calming breath.
I need to focus. Whatever Liam wants to talk about is more serious than it seems for him to want to meet up urgently.
That’s right, Liam specifically said it’s ‘urgent’. I hold back a frustrated sigh. Stepping into the elevator, I suddenly wish I had taken the stairs. The walls are too bright and begin closing in on me. My mouth dries as I hold out my elbows as the doors close, but the claustrophobic feeling doesn’t fade.
I step out of the elevator and take a deep breath, holding it for a moment. The lobby is quiet and peaceful, so unlike Delilah’s office upstairs. Leaving the building, I step out onto the dreary streets. The sky threatens to open at any moment, and I head for the town car my driver brought me in, idling in a spot on the curb.
“To Liam’s house,” I declare. The car takes off, and I look out the window at the empty streets distractedly. Liam just purchased another property here in Belfast since I’m staying at his first property. Now he has a smaller cottage, but it’s not smaller, at least not in my opinion. The house is a few kilometers away from mine, but the security of this property is much more advanced.
Questions swirl in my mind. What could’ve possibly happened? Does it have anything to do with Asim? I grip my shoulder as the thought makes me ache and scowl darkly.
Asim. I still don’t know what his motives were, or if there’s even a single one besides his issues with Leticia. His attack on me flashes along the window pane as the first tiny raindrops splatter on the glass. Grinding my teeth against the sharp throb that spreads like flames down my side, I close my eyes briefly. But the flash of a muzzle crackles like lightning across my eyelids, and I gasp harshly.
My heart pounds, my breaths hot and unstable. Leaning away from the window as the rain begins to patter against the glass, I wince and roll my shoulder tentatively. No, I can’t let the past get the best of me. Reaching into my jeans pocket for my phone, I navigate to a game to take my mind off my encroaching fears.
“We’re here.” I freeze, my thumb hovering over the phone screen as it twinkles brightly with a combo move. Looking up out the window at the long drive leading up to Liam’s house, I purse my lips thinly. Unease flows through me. All those questions I staved off come flooding back more intensely. My hands grow clammy as I lock my phone and grip it tightly.
Yeah, we’re here.
Winding up the drive, we park, and I take a moment to collect myself. My doubts struggle to disperse, instead flooding my chest. I climb out of the back seat to stare at the large house. Yeah, small cottage, my ass. Even after all this time, it feels foreign to me that this is a place I can be. For so many years, I’d stare at these types of houses and wonder if I’d ever be within their walls.
I shake my head and head up the stairs to ring the doorbell. The barrier swings open immediately, as if someone’s waiting for me. Liam’s housekeeper nods graciously as my shoulders curl in foreboding.
“Keenan.” Liam stands from the armchair situated across from a sofa, and I grunt lowly. The small room seems too small for the furniture in it. Glancing around warily, I hold out my hand as Liam smiles politely. It reminds me of the way Delilah smiled at me a bit ago. A smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “You look miserable.”
“I’ve got some things going on,” I reply dully. “What do you want? What was so urgent I had to come here immediately?”
“Have a seat,” Liam says, graveness deepening the lines around his mouth. He sits back in his chair, and I take up the sofa, sitting back comfortably. My thoughts slow as I focus on him. “The Egyptians are back . . . Asim is back.”
The hairs on the back of my neck bristle wildly as I suck in a sharp breath. Liam holds my eyes as the blood drains from my face. Holding my shoulder defensively, my fingers are stiff and my palms grow sweaty.
Shock numbs my fingertips and lips, and I sit up at the threat that closes in on me. Panic gnaws deep into my gut.
“He’s here?” I breathe harshly. “Here in Northern Ireland?”
“Yes.” Liam’s voice echoes above the blood drumming furiously in my ear. Drowning out the ringing of shock. Drowning out the grinding of my teeth and the whistling of my wheezes. My cousin’s eyes brighten in alarm, keeping the darkness from closing in on me. “Keenan, take a breath. You’re safe here.”
“How can I be safe, especially after what happened? I could’ve fucking died. My first real taste of this life, and I was almost killed, Liam.” I jump up, and fury fills my veins. My heart and lungs trembling under the waves of phantom pain that wash through me. Gripping my side, I crane my neck and groan, falling back onto the sofa. It hurts like the bullet’s freshly piercing my skin and muscle, chipping bone.
I wheeze ragged breaths, not at all like the ones Liam instructed, and close my eyes to lean back against the cushions. He watches me closely over thinned lips before speaking up, his voice deep and gravelly with concern. “It still affects you so badly.”
“He tried to kill me,” I growl. Asim, that fucker! My sudden panic and fear give way to anger and bitterness that sours my tongue. “Fuck! Fuck! Where is he? I’ll fucking kill him!”
“I don’t know exactly where he is, just that he’s here. My people haven’t been able to pinpoint his location,yet,” Liam confesses, and I scoff as I sit up stiffly. A cold sweat breaks out under my clothes as I look around through narrow eyes. “But I promise you that I’ll find out, and you can end this. I’ve had my eye on him since he attacked you. He landed very early this morning, but the tail lost him.”
“So, you fucked up,” I snap nastily. Liam’s expression falters, and for a moment, I think he’s going to lose his shite, but he curtly nods. “What about his usual places of business?”
“I have eyes on them, or at least all that I know of. You need to calm the fuck down and listen to me, Keenan.” His tone brokers no argument, and I look away sharply. Scowling as I grip my shoulder tightly, my nails dig into my abused muscle. The glob of flesh under my shirt burns my palm.
“Shite, Liam,” I scowl darkly at him. “I don’t know whether I’m glad you told me or if I wish you hadn’t.”
“I’m telling you because it seems he’ll be here for a while, at least a few weeks.” He sits back, crossing his knee one over the other. I hate how leisurely he can seem, and my bitterness intensifies. “This gives you time to gather information and get revenge, cousin. I’ll help you to the full extent I can if that’s what you want. I’m not going to push you one way or the other.”
