“If you already know it for a fact, there’s no reason to say it out loud.I’m not going to pat you on the back for having spies in my house.”
Dmitri snorted.“Please.There’s no need for spies when human nature is so predictable.Mae Eldridge shot Mark’s cousin, so he’s uniquely situated to want vengeance, and he’s got a skill set that makes him useful.Send him to New York to eliminate the person holding the power in the Eldridges’ absence, and I’ll have my men accomplish the rest after the first domino falls.If my man hasn’t found Alethea by then, the resulting events will draw her and Mae out.”
Aiden drummed his fingers on the desk.“I’ll think about it.”
“Think fast.”He rose.“We want the same thing, Aiden.”
“No, Romanov, we don’t.”He didn’t move, just kept up the damn drumming.“My sister tells me that you’re fucking on every available surface.”
Did she, now?He lifted one shoulder in a shrug.“She’sa beautiful woman.We’re married.I would think it’d be stranger if weweren’tfucking.”
Aiden’s expression didn’t shift.“You’ll be having a wedding reception.”Not a question, but not quite a command, either.
You’re learning, O’Malley.“Invitations went out today.It’s set for next Saturday.”
“We’ll be there.”He waited for Dmitri to take a step to continue.“All of us.O’Malley.Sheridan.Halloran.Every single one of us have a vested interested in Keira’s health and happiness.”
Smarter to keep his mouth shut and allow Aiden to hold the high ground, but Dmitri couldn’t let that comment stand.It was all well and good to crow about family loyalty and their beloved youngest sister, but not a single fucking O’Malley had stepped in to stop her free fall after Devlin O’Malley’s death.Notone.
Oh, Aiden tried after he’d taken control of the family, but by then it was too late, and his attempts weren’t nearly strong enough to breach Keira’s walls.Understandable, perhaps, but unforgivable when taken hand in hand with his holier-than-thou attitude.Dmitri smoothed down the lapels of his suit.“Really, Aiden, if herhealth and happinesswere so important to you, I would think you’d have acted much sooner to try to get through to her.You forgot about her while in pursuit of your own goals—every single one of you.”
He didn’t flinch.“We’ve all made some mistakes when it comes to Keira—even you, Romanov.”
“Without a doubt, but if there’s a villain in this piece, it’s not me.”This conversation had just confirmed what he already knew—Aiden would never stoop to using Keiraagainst him.The man still saw her as the baby sister she’d been while they were growing up, making no allowances for the formidable player she could become in her own right.“I’ll be waiting for your answer.”He walked out of the room before his temper could push him to say something he didn’t intend.
All these Irish, so fucking superior in their moral high ground.They were no different than he was, save that he was better at the game.That was the problem, though.They were so busy blundering around, thinking with their hearts instead of their heads, that they were sometimes tricky to predict.It changed nothing—they had blood on their hands, same as he did.
He stopped into the library to say good-bye to Hadley, all too aware of the man at his back, shadowing his every move.Aiden was too smart to let Dmitri wander his house unwatched, but the muscle had stayed further back before their meeting.
He stepped out of the library.“You have something to say.”
Mark Neale shifted out of the shadows.“Aiden will work with you.I’ll be in contact.”
That didn’t take long.The damn man knew what his decision would be before Dmitri arrived here.It wasn’t much of a delay, but it irked all the same.He itched to be back in New York again, away from these goddamn Irishmen.
But he let none of that show on his face.“I look forward to hearing from you.”
“Keira is upstairs.”He made no move to back away, so Dmitri walked past him to the main stairway curving up the inner wall.It was ostentatious in the extreme, but he was hardly one to throw stones.His home wasn’t humblein the least.Both were designed to make an impression, and he climbed the stairs with a strange feeling taking up residence in his chest.
This was the home Keira had grown up in.
He’d known that, of course—the whole O’Malley brood was raised between here and a secondary country residence in Connecticut—but somehow walking these halls brought that truth home.
He knew which room was hers, and walked past the other closed doors without so much as a sideways glance.If Mark hoped to catch him snooping, he was in for a disappointment.
Keira’s door stood ajar, and he took it for an invitation, using a single finger to send it opening the rest of the way.His wife sat on her bed across from Charlie Moreaux—formerly Charlotte Finch, daughter of the fed who had let Mae slip his cage.The blond woman looked up and froze at the sight of him.“Romanov.”
“Charlie.”He had no interest in digging at her further.Aiden was more entertaining to bait, and the actions of Charlie’s father a few short weeks ago had proven exactly where she was on the totem pole.The woman’s only political value now lay in her pending marriage to Aiden O’Malley.It was just as well—nothing good came from meddling with cops.
Keira closed the suitcase before he had a chance to examine what she’d packed.“I’m ready.”
“No need to rush on my account.”
She sent him a censuring look.“I’m relieving my family of your presence.It upsets them.”Charlie snorted and Keira rolled her eyes.“What?You know I’m right.”
“That was almost political.I’m proud of you.”Charliepushed to her feet and crossed to stand before Dmitri.He knew what the move must have cost her, and something akin to admiration pulsed when she lifted her chin.“I’m sure Aiden has already said it, but if you fuck with Keira, we’ll bring everything in our arsenal at you.You’ll end up behind bars for good or…” She trailed off and shrugged one shoulder.“Or.”
“I see that your fiancé’s bloodthirstiness is rubbing off on you.”It made him like her more, which was damn inconvenient.His life would be a whole hell of a lot simpler if he could mark the entire O’Malley clan as enemies and remove them from the earth.
