“She had one last night, too. We had been asleep for a little over four hours. It was bad. I didn’t know what to do.” I stare at the contents of my glass.I could have been with her. I could have prevented the whole thing.
“Fuck, man. I’m sorry,” Orin says, shaking his head. “I should have warned you. I wasn’t even thinking about it. She usually sets alarms on her phone to go off throughout the night. That keeps her from slipping into the nightmares.”
“I wish I could kill those shit excuses for men over again and make them suffer slowly,” Ronan snarls viciously.
I down my drink and set the glass on the bar. “Well, one day wewillfigure out who was behind the whole thing, and not just the puppets. Then we'llfinallybe done with the fuckers. Anyone find anything else about it?”
But I already know the answer. It’s the same answer I’d been getting for the last seven years. We know that someone inside the business was involved, but we hadn’t been able to determine who or why. We thought we had them multiple times, with differing information being told to different individuals. Someone knew what they were doing, and I am determined to find out who it is.
“No,” Orin and Ronan say simultaneously, anger laced in their voices.
“Well, before Maeve gets down here, I want to give you two a rundown of what happened last night,” I say, sitting down in the chair beside Ronan. They both lean forward expectantly, resting their elbows on their knees.
“Maeve knows what happened that night nine years ago, with me and Nessa. And she knows Nessa was behind it. She doesn’t knowallof the details, though,” I say with a sigh, rubbing the back of my neck. “We were still at the restaurant, so I couldn’t really go into the rest of it.”
“I take it that’s why you both left before dinner had been served? How'd that even come up in conversation? You two had only been inside for about forty-five minutes before you walked back out,” Orin said, eyes narrowed.
I recap the conversation for them, how Maeve and I had been trading questions as a way to catch up, and how she’d asked me about all the men following us.
“I couldn’t lie to her,” I say, standing up and walking back over to the wet bar. Another whiskey isdefinitelyin order. “I’d kept her in the dark for too long. Thought she wouldn’t be able to handle it,” I trail off, shaking my head as I pour the drink. “Stupid of me. She’s more than capable. I told her about the Costas, about them showing back up, and that worried her.” I gulp more of the whiskey down and lean against the bar. “I told her about how I was the one who picked her up off that disgusting mattress and didn’t leave her side until she began to wake.”
Orin and Ronan were watching me, their expressions surprised, guarded. They knew this was big.
“I then told her that the party didn’t happen like she thought it had. She tried to argue with me, but I made her listen. She was shocked, and I could tell I had to get us out of there. Go somewhere more private. By the way, did you take care of the hostess?”
“Yeah, Fletcher had her tossed out immediately,” Orin says with a grin. “You should have seen her face as we walked in. She tried flirting with Ronan.”
I smirk at Ronan, who flips me and Orin the bird.
“We have to drop Maeve off at the bistro. She’s having lunch with my mom. After they’re done, Maeve and I will be going to Bryant’s store to pick out furniture for the house, so give him a call and let him know we’ll be there about four o’clock and we want a private shopping experience.” Ronan nods his head and exits the room to make the call.
“What are we going to do about Nessa?” Orin asks, looking tense. “I have this feeling that she’s going to try and pull some stupid shit.”
“I’ve been thinking about that myself,” I say, sighing heavily. “Maeve shut her phone off after Nessa attempted to call earlier, so I’m sure Nessa’s losing her shyte right now. She won’t be attending the lunch today, so at least we don’t have to worry about that,” I say.
“It’s all set up, boss man,” Ronan says as he walks back in, dropping back down onto the sofa.
“Thanks. I also want to put a tail on Nessa. Do we know where she is right now?”
“Not at the moment. She seems to be keeping under the radar since she found out about the dinner,” Orin responds.
“Let’s get someone on her as soon as we figure out where she is. Have a few men around the bistro on standby,” I say, and Orin nods, pulling out his phone to send out the orders. “Also, Maeve and I will be going to Ireland on Monday. Would that be a problem for you, Orin?” I turn toward him.
“Nah, I don’t have anything conflicting with that, so we’re all set. I figured Maeve would go with you anyway,” he says, leaning back in the chair and relaxing slightly.
The sound of footsteps causes us all to turn our heads towards the door. Maeve stops there, eyeing us suspiciously. She’s in a black mini skirt with black tights, knee-high black boots, and a thin black sweater. Her hair is down, still a little damp from her shower, barely any makeup on her beautifully freckled face.
“What? Is it too much?” she asked, slightly worried.
“No, it’s perfect,” I said in haste, realizing that I’d been staring at her hungrily.
“Well, I don’t want to be late, so we should head out. Where will you and numbnuts be while we eat?” she says, shooting Ronan a smirk.
“We’ll be eating inside, just far enough away that we can still have a visual,” I say. “I just… I just want to be there. I don’t want to crowd you, but with everything going on, and that car earlier…” I trail off.
Maeve smiles and places a hand on my arm. “Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’ll be there.”
“Well, boys,” she says loudly, “let’s head out.” She turns toward the front door, then spins back around quickly, looking at Ronan. “By the way. You need to work on tailing someone without being noticed. I saw you behind us the entire way to the restaurant last night.”
