Except that thought didn’t bring the same satisfaction it once had.
Finch was Charlie’s father, which meant his death would hurt her, and Aiden didn’t relish that.
“That sounds great in theory.”
He shifted to face Cillian. He could tell his brother knew what he was thinking. “Our father is going to get in the way.”
“Without a doubt. He’s already started trying to undermine you.”
Aiden knew that. But there was only so much Seamus could do. As soon as Aiden realized that his father might be back—and that he didn’t necessarilywanthim back—he’d taken steps to ensure the men’s loyalty. It wasn’t foolproof by any means, but it would make it harder for his father to win them over.
That didn’t mean Seamus would play along. If he had his way, Keira would actually marry Romanov. The thought of his sister, already so lost, trapped in a marriage with that monster…
“I’ll take care of it.” He wouldn’t make the same mistake with Keira that he had with Carrigan. He would protect her, even if it meant defying his father and putting both himself and Charlie in danger in the process. He pushed to his feet. “I’ve got to go.”
“What are you going to do?”
“What’s necessary.” He let calm settle onto his face—a mask was better than nothing. “I’ll protect the family—even if that means protecting the family from Seamus.”
***
Charlie hadn’t had a chance to talk to Aiden about Keira taking Krav Maga. She hadn’t actually talked to him atall, despite sitting six inches from him for the last five hours as they traveled from Boston to New York. The silence had been uncomfortable at first, but when she realized Aiden was thinking hard about what the night would bring and probably strategizing the best way to go about it, she left him alone.
The driver slowed and pulled the car to a stop. They’d arrived.
She leaned over Aiden and peered out the window. “It’s a warehouse.” And a seedy one at that. When she was still a cop, she’d spent time in some of NYC’s worst neighborhoods, and the location of this place was the worst of the worst. Cops barely patrolled this area unless they had a specific reason to be there, because the badge put a target right between their eyes, and the neighborhood mostly took care of its own. They didn’t want or need the law interfering. “This is such a bad idea.”
If she’d known Aiden would take them to murder central, she wouldn’t have chosen a short strapless dress that hugged every curve and left little to the imagination. It was also a red bright enough to stop traffic, and she’d felt pretty damn great about the choice. Until now. “You said we were meeting the Eldridges.”
“We are.”
She pointed at the building. “We’re going to walk in there and get killed.”
“It would be bad business for Alethea to murder us, in a warehouse or otherwise.” Aiden climbed out of the carand held out a hand to help her from the backseat. If she didn’t already know that things were tense, she would have now, by the fact that he didn’t comment on her dress or do more than brush a quick kiss over her mouth before they left. He was preoccupied, which was all well and good…if they weren’t about to meet two of the scariest women Charlie had ever come across.
“Aiden.” She stopped him with a hand on his arm, catching her breath when he turned to face her. He looked downright lickable in his black suit, the sheer lack of color in his clothing somehow bringing out the green of his eyes, even in this light. Charlie wanted to tell him that it would be okay, that whatever it was that was bothering him—father or enemies or otherwise—she’d be at his side to face it. But if she said any of that, he’d laugh in her face, and rightly so. She wasn’t his girlfriend, and there might be a ring on her finger but she wasn’t walking down the aisle to him. This wasn’t real.
So she didn’t say any of it. She just adjusted his already perfectly buttoned-up shirt. “I’ll tell you a secret.”
“Oh?”
Conscious of Liam and the other man just a few feet away and the possibility of cameras and audio equipment monitoring their every move, she inched closer. Her heels—just as red as her dress—put her at almost the same height as Aiden, so it was child’s play to lean in and whisper in his ear. “I’m not wearing anything under this dress.”Thatwould distract him.
Sure enough, his hands came to rest on her ass, palming her as he confirmed what she’d just said. Aiden growled a little. “When I said make a statement, that wasn’t what I meant.”
“Wasn’t it?” Even though her adrenaline was pumping in anticipation of walking through that warehouse door, she smiled. “Doesn’t it make you feel just an eensie bit better knowing that you’ll be having me in the backseat of that town car after this hellhole of a meeting is over?”
His hands spasmed on her ass. “Christ, bright eyes, you really know how to change a man’s outlook.”
Apparently, she didn’t need sweet and comforting words to get his head in the game and chase that hopeless look off his face. She just needed to remind him of what they did best. “Let’s go get them.”
He took a step back, claiming her hand as he did, and they turned to face the warehouse. “Try not to bait Mae this time.”
“She likes it when I bait her.” She squeezed his hand. “If she thinks that we’re so in love that you’ll actually marry me, she might cut my throat herself. It amuses her to consider me a dalliance and to consider you something of a sure thing forher.”
Charlie loathed the thought of Aiden with that monster of a woman. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t something he wanted or planned for—she’d put a ton of money onMaeplanning on making it happen.
He shot her a look and then cursed. “Fuck, Charlie, I didn’t even think about that when I asked you to do this.”
