He went white.
“What. The. Fuck have you gotten involved with? And what does Marcus Lawrence have to do with it?”
Ash held his head in his hands. For a second, I felt sorry for him. Then I didn’t. It was hard to erase the memory of the woman you loved most lying dead in a road.
“Marcus deals in weapons.”
“And?” This wasn’t uncommon. Most syndicates who trafficked drugs trafficked guns and girls as well. My family was old school, preferring to control what was dealt on the island rather than getting more involved in other shit, although it did happen. The venues on Ibiza and other resorts brought enough now to keep my uncle happy and it was legitimate cash, but he was never going to let anyone else dictate the terms of what a line was sold for, or its quality.
Ash rubbed his face. “He’s trying to throw me under. He owes money. A shit ton of it. He’s telling the person he owes that he’s passed the debt to me.”
“How much?”
He named an amount that made my brows raise.
“They know I can find the money. Dad…”
“Won’t do it. You know he won’t. He’ll just go after them.”
Ash looked at the floor. “But I did a thing.” His laugh wasn’t a happy one.
“What?”
He looked up. “Marcus is a problem for them. If I can get rid of him, it all goes away. Or, if I can make him pay up.”
“Can he afford to?”
Ash shrugged. “I don’t know anything about his dad apart from he has a private jet, although I don’t think it’s actually his. But his step-mum’s loaded. Millions.”
I shook my head. There was something about this that was making me twitchy. If something smelt off, it generally was.
“What’ve you told Colm?”
He shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Where were you when you went missing?”
His eyes darkened. “Took a trip.”
“And got roughed up.”
“A bit.”
“Same people after Marcus?”
He nodded.
“Why did they let you go?” I already knew the reason. A payment and a threat.
“We came to a deal.”
I nodded. I didn’t need more information from that, because Ash’sinformationwould be a variation on the truth.
“You could just disappear.”
He shook his head. “I’d be looking over my shoulder. They’re not good people, Tom. I know Dad's merciless, but these are beyond that.”
“I don’t want anything to do with this.”
