“What were you so worried about?” she asked. “I can look after myself.”
“We know you can,” he assured her. “It’s Pagan Sinclair we don’t trust.”
I cocked an eyebrow and gave my woman a pointed look.
“Well, there’s no need to worry,” she said reassuringly. “I’m going back to Denver later, and that will be the end of it.”
“And the video?” Donovan asked.
“Pagan didn’t give a damn about the video,” she said coldly. “Never cared about Saskia getting hurt, either, and he sure as hell wasn’t calling the cops. It was all about him getting his own way. He deleted the video in front of me. Rosie’s in the clear.”
I grinned as Donovan muttered a relieved, “Thank fuck.”
I heard Atlas clear his throat. “Ash, can you send us all the numbers you’ve got for Pagan and his men, including any burners? Colt wants to hack into their phones so we can check that none of the others kept the video. Pagan may have deleted it for your benefit, but it doesn’t mean Cruise did. Tristan gave us his number, so we’re wise to whathe’sgot, but they proved last night that they’re sneaky fucks, and I’m thinkin’ they’ve got other cells stashed away.”
I sat up straight.
Fuckin’ shithead.
Ash made an ‘eek’ face at me, and I nodded at her to play along.
“I’ll forward them the second we finish,” she agreed, then quietly asked, “How’s Rosie holding up?”
An emotion I hardly ever felt gripped me. Namely, goddamned regret.
“She’s been a wreck,” Donovan said quietly. “Pacing the house all night. I told her you’d be okay, but it barely calmed her down. She felt guilty that you had to go with Pagan because of her.”
“It wasn’t her fault,” Ash told him, her eyes drifting back to meet mine. “What’s going to happen with the truce?”
Atlas replied to that one in a graveled voice. “Not your problem, sweetheart. We’ve got it.”
I scraped a hand down my face.
Shit, I had some making up to do.
Aislynn looked at me, panicked.
I waved my hand in a circle, indicating she should play along.
“I should have listened to you all when you told me to stay away from him,” she murmured. “But he was always so good to me, so charming and... well... genuine, or so I thought. I never expected everything to come crashing down the way it did. I’m still in shock myself, especially after last night.”
I leaned back in my office chair and sighed.
“Sis, if you want to give him another chance and see if there’s something redeemable in him, then go for it,” Donovan suggested. “There’s no shame in giving second chances. It’s not like he strictly cheated; you weren’t his ol’ lady, and your relationship wasn’t exclusive. We’ve all serial dated in the past. As much as I hate to say this, I wasn’t very different from him a few years ago.”
Sitting forward again, a slow grin spread across my face.
Donovan always was my favorite O’Shea brother.
Aislynn deadpanned at me and said, “It wasn’t just about what he did, Donny; it was how. He didn’t even wait for me to leave the fucking building before he got Saskia to kneel. It shows me he has no loyalty, and that makes him a hypocrite because it’s his favorite buzzword. He expects total loyalty, but he’s shown me he’s not prepared to give it, or at least if he does, it’s on his terms. I admit there are feelings there because the side he showed me, I liked, but the other sides of Pagan, like last night’s, aren’t what I want in a guy. He went after Rosie and Maeve, all because he couldn’t get his own way. I could never trust him.” She shot me an amused look that said, ‘Take that, motherfucker’.
A low growl escaped my throat.
Bitch was gonna get her ass beat for that one.
“Thanks for last night, Sis,” Donovan murmured. “Appreciate the way you stepped up for Rosie.”
“It was the least I could do,” she said softly. “Saskia would’ve slapped Maeve if Rosie hadn’t stepped in. I never even saw itcoming, so I’m just grateful Ro was there.” She paused and then lied through her back teeth, “Look, I have to go. Mammy needs me. I’ll forward those numbers to you.”
