Page 96

“George,” he snarls. “Just how hungry is your father for power? Is he going to be a problem?”

I shrink back. Not at the snarl, but at what he’s saying. And I try and sort it. “Dad, trouble? That doesn’t make sense. I’m really not worth all of this unrest, not a valued member of any organization,” I say.

And I’m not.

But someone shot at him and…

I stand and pick up Arnold’s leash. “Come, Arnold.”

The dog jumps down and I stalk out of the park, a wildness filling me at the idea of walking away.

Callahan jogs past me and turns, walking backward. “You can’t run or hide from me, Lucie Joy. Remember that.”

There’s no way I can forget.

I can, however, ignore him. Which I do. I don’t speak to him when we get home. Torin and Seamus take one look, sensing a lovers’ quarrel, and just head off to do whatever they were doing before we showed up.

Declan walks in wearing the kitten as a shoulder accessory and glances from me to Callahan and back again. He opens his mouth.

“I wouldn’t,” Callahan says.

He shuts his mouth, and I stomp into the living room and throw myself on the sofa.

“Kitten bomb.” Declan drops the kitten on me. “You all right?”

“Yes. No. Yes. I don’t really know. I’m just…” I let out a frustrated sigh. “Did someone shoot at Callahan?”

“Oh, yeah. It was grand. He was like an action—” Declan snaps his mouth shut fast. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you will excuse me.”

And then he takes off. I pet the dog and cat for a while, and soon I’m in a world of purring and doggy love, Arnold curled up next to me and begging with his eyes for a tummy rub. Which I absolutely give him.

I can’t resist, and it calms me to the point where I finally feel like getting up. I walk up the stairs and head into the bathroom to shower. Callahan is… I don’t know where he is, and I tell myself I don’t care.

But I do.

Dammit.

He makes my insides flutter and quiver. He makes thecage he’s built for me feel like the center of his world, and while I know that’s dangerous and not freedom, it’s better than my life at home. The hot spray crashes over me and I sink down to the tiled shower floor and hug my knees close.

He’s complex. He makes me feel good. And as much as I hate to admit it, things inside me seem to burst into life and glow when I see him. When he touches me, everything is new and brighter and…

“You’re not falling for him, Lucie, you’re not. He’s just a hot man, that’s all.”

And if I repeat that mantra enough, maybe I’ll start to believe it.

I push myself off the floor, finish my shower, and dress. I grab my phone from the charger and frown.

Three missed calls from Dad?

Unease trickles down my spine like shards of crushed ice.

I head downstairs to find Callahan, but I don’t see him. I stop short at the entrance to the main study. The door is closed, but I can hear the brothers talking.

Straining my ears, I hear them talk about an enemy named… Paddy? And Russians… a faction of a small bratva wanting weapons, a specific type…

Then I realize what I’m doing and jump away from the door.

Didn’t Dad have a meeting with a Russian a while back? Or an Eastern European? I don’t know for sure, other than the time I heard him speak to someone with an accent about some arms deal.