This is not affecting me.
I am not affected!
Sigh. Oh, but I am. So bloody much it scares me a little.
Leith and the woman are having a lively discussion, and from where I stand, I can see Dougal watching them with narrowed eyes, the arsehole. He trusts no one. I watch as he turns from Leith and takes a swig from a flask he’s got hidden behind the counter.
I’ve envied girls who had brothers who protected and cared for them, even the ones that’d have rows and argue. Still, they knew they were allies, just like these men I’m with now. They’d argue and fight, even with their sisters, but it was clear they cared for one another.
“Excellent. Thanks very much for the info,” Leith says, giving the woman one final grin. He beckons to me from the back, and I go out the second door, the one furthest from the register, with Tate.
“Got them.” Mac jingles keys and gives me a wink when he meets us by the car.
“The girl filled me in a wee bit,” Leith says. “Not sure who she is or how she knows so much, but she was willing to tell me quite a bit. Not only told me where the church is, she says there was a bit of a skirmish there recently, though no one knows who was behind anything. She gave me more intel than I hoped for.”
“Is that right?” Tate asks, stroking his chin. “Odd, William said there wasn’t a word about it online. Wonder how she knows?”
I text Leith.
Could it be that she knows the men who were attacked?
He frowns and nods. “Aye, Cairstina. Could be.” He tells the others what I said.
“Can’t imagine a beaut likethatwould have anything to do with those fuckin’ arseholes,” Mac says, playing with Dougal’s keys.
“You never know,” Tate says with a smack to Mac’s arm. “Some bonnie lasses have terrible taste in men. Take Cairstina, for example.”
I spin around to glare at him and for once, I don’t need my words to communicate with him. I flip him off with a flourish, which makes Mac smack his knee and even Leith crack a smile. Tate shakes his head at me.
“So Dougal’s an arse, that much is clear. Knew that already, though,” Leith says, muttering under his breath. “Now, we kill time in Inverness until he realizes his keys are gone. He’s off work in an hour.”
He glances over at me. “You’ll be in the car for that.”
The door to the shop opens, and Dougal stumbles out, just as a woman with a baby in her arms steps into the shop. He lets thedoor slam right in her face and she needs to jump back to avoid getting hit with the door.
“Fuckingdouche,” Mac mutters. “I hope you let me get a good smack in?”
Leith is watching him through the window. “I’ll think about it.”
We drive into the city, and I quite like this vantage point. I feel sexy as hell in my outfit, and I’m riding with three attractive, powerful men. Sure, maybe they’re criminals, but right now, I don’t fucking care.
I can see the steeple from the Cathedral, and an odd pang hits me. It feels like I’ve lived another life since that night in the graveyard, as if the Cairstina who hid in the shadows when they came was another woman. How many times do we live in one lifetime?
I have so many mixed feelings about the church. My only friend lives here, but will he know me? Isn’t he in danger if he does?
“Go ‘round the back, Mac. You know what to do,” Leith says. I imagine they’re making sure the body they brought here was properly disposed of, with no evidence left behind. “Tate, you spoke with your contact, aye?”
“Aye. Should be all set then.”
“Christ, it looks different here in the light of day, eh?” he says to me.
I frown at him and send him a text, raising my brows with what I hope is an icy look.
He reads the text and smirks. I quite like that look on him as well.
“Aye, lass, I won’t take the Lord’s name on sacred ground, if it pleases you.”
I nod. I’m not a religious person, but I do have some principles.
