"I can handle it." The words sound more confident than I feel. "Go on."
She leaves, and I take a moment to steady myself. If Sean doesn’t want to handle things, if he wants to disappear, then maybe it’s time that I stand up and take some small measure of control. I’m not a frightened orphan any longer; I’m a married woman.
Even if everything about this house, this marriage, this life feels uncomfortable.
I check my reflection in the mirror. I’m too pale, with dark circles under my eyes from not sleeping well, but my hair is brushed, and the dark green sweater dress I put on this morning is fine for guests. I take a deep breath and head downstairs.
The man is waiting in the foyer.
He’s tall and broad-shouldered, wearing a suit that’s not cheap, but isn’t the quality someone from my family would wear. He has a scar through one eyebrow, and his eyes are cold as they take me in.
"Mrs. Flannery." His voice reminds me of Sean’s without the accent, cold and unforgiving. "Where's your husband?"
"He's not available." I keep my voice steady. "I understand you have business with him?"
"Business." The man laughs. “Desmond Connelly owed me money. Now he’s dead, and I can’t collect from him. So your husband needs to answer for it. Unless you’d rather.” He gives me an appreciative once-over, and my stomach turns.
“What kind of debt?” I ask, trying to keep my voice even.
“That’s between your husband and me. If you’ll be so kind as to get him.”’
“My husband,” I repeat it slowly, trying to understand what’s going on. How this man could have walked into the estate so easily—clearly known to the guards—and stand here insulting me. The last thing I want to do is go involve Sean in more of my family’s drama, and a sweeping wave of anger washes over me at Desmond, who is somehow managing to fuck things up further even from the grave.
“Yes.” The man speaks slowly, as if he’s talking to an idiot now, which sends a flare of anger through me. “Sean Flannery. The Wolf of Dublin. We know who you married, Mrs. Flannery. And we know the Council gave him control of everything that was your family’s. Which means he can pay what's owed."
"I'll speak to him about it. If you leave your information?—"
"No." He moves closer still, close enough that I can smell a waft of cigarette smoke. "That's not how this works. We're done waiting. Done being polite. Your brother's debt is now your husband's debt. And it needs to be paid. Today."
My heart is racing. "That's not possible. Even if the debt is legitimate, I can't just hand over?—"
“Well, if you’d rather pay a different way?—”
"Get out." My voice shakes, but I hold my ground. "Get out of this house right now, or I'll call security?—"
He laughs. “I have men of my own that can be here quick as a flash. You want a fight, sweetheart? I intend to get what’s mine. One way or another?—”
“Get the fuck away from my wife.”
Sean's voice cuts through the foyer like a blade. I turn, and the relief that floods through me is immediately replaced by a fear that’s deeper and colder than anything I’ve felt before.
The man standing in the doorway doesn't look like the Sean I've briefly known and married. The cold, distant, angry husband who pushes me away and can barely stand to look at me.
This Sean looks like a predator.
His eyes are fixed on the man, and his expression is utterly blank. Which somehow makes it worse. There's no anger, no emotion at all. Just a cold, flat stare that makes the temperature in the room drop. The man doesn’t move.
"I said," Sean's voice is soft, deadly, "get away from my wife."
The man releases me immediately, but doesn't back down. "You must be Flannery. We need to talk about?—"
He doesn't get to finish the sentence.
Sean moves so fast I barely see it. One moment he's in the doorway, the next he has the man by the throat, slamming him back against the wall hard enough that a painting falls and crashes to the floor.
"You came into my house." Sean's voice is still soft, still controlled, but there's something underneath it now. Something violent and barely leashed. "You threatened my wife. You scared her."
"I was just—" the man chokes out.
