“He admitted to breaking in!”
“With a butter knife,” I turn to get milk from the fridge. “He wasn’t wrong when he said my doors are a piece of shit, plus,” I reach into Aiden’s hoodie for my purse, slam the bank card on the counter, then continue making tea.
Ciara’s brows jump so high behind her fringe that I lose sight of them for a second before they decline as she reads his name on the card. “He gave you his bank card?”
I nod, adding sugar to the tea. “Yeah. I just dropped twelve grand on new windows and doors.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, my phone buzzes.
I glance at the screen and see a text from Aiden. “How much money do I have to spend to piss him off?”
“Wait,” Ciara reaches for her tea while I put the milk back into the fridge. “He’s not bothered that you dropped twelve grand from his account?”
I close the fridge door a little too hard, hearing the contents rattle inside. “No, it’s infuriating.” We turn back to the sitting room, and I hear my phone buzz again. I grab it and see a text from Maria with a link to an article titled “Body found in a house in Killinarden Heights. Gardaí appealing for information.”
“What the fuck?” Is it someone we know? I immediately text Maria back, asking if she has any more details, then scroll down the article, seeing a name I sort of recognise, before my blood freezes. Keane McCarthy is listed as a person of interest. “Did you see this?” I shove the phone at Ciara and watch her face contort.
“Keane McCarthy? That’s the guy who used to live up theroad from us?”
I never told Ciara what happened or what he did to me. I never told anyone but Maria and…Aiden!I was just talking to him about this on Sunday at his mam’s. Surely it must be a coincidence.
Something gnaws at my gut as I try to make sense of the situation. “What…” I force my nails away from my mouth and look at Ciara. “What day was that?”
“The gardaí think Sunday night or early Monday morning,” she says matter-of-factly. “Why?”
“No reason.” It couldn’t have been Aiden. There is no way. He was at work, and then he was with me.
Ciara lifts her gaze from the phone, “are you alright?”
“Yeah, just,” I take the phone back, trying to act nonchalant. “Mad to think that something like that happened so close to home.” My phone starts buzzing, which almost makes me jump out of my skin. Aiden.
“Hey.”
“Bug.” I can practically see the frown on his face. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just talking to Ciara.”
“Do you need me to come over? You sound…triggered,” he proffers. There is no way this man is involved in whatever happened. There’s just not.
“No, I’m fine, honestly. Just a little tired,” I assure him. “But you may need to come down here and take your bank card back before I make another impulse buy.”
He chuckles lowly. “I told you to buy whatever you want.”
“You don’t want me to do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’ll probably clear off my mortgage if youleave me alone with your bank card,” my shoulders start to relax and I sink back against the cushions.
“How much is left on your mortgage?” Aiden asks, I hear him rooting through some papers on his end.
“Around €61,000, not including interest; that’s probably another ten-grand penalty for early repayment.”
He pauses briefly, most likely planning on rallying his gorgeous arse down here to take back his card. “That it?”
Ciara almost chokes on her tea; spittle flies in every direction; my piggies are not happy. They both flee into their respective hiding spots. Oreo chatters his teeth, clearly annoyed with the fright she gave him.
“You’re not serious.” Are the only words I can think of to say.
“You should know I never joke about money.”
