Page 67 of Arranged Addiction

“That’s because you haven’t tried to look closely yet.” She shakes her head at me, and I feel slightly ashamed of myself. I remember him sitting on the edge of my childhood bed, his body tense and slumped like a whole planet was perched on his shoulders.

“I still don’t get why he’d care about me.”

“You were so young when your parents died. He kept his distance, but he made sure you had what you needed. Maybe out of some obligation. I don’t even understand it. For years, that’sall it was. He made sure you were financially secure and thriving, but otherwise kept his distance. I figured it was a nice thing he was doing for you, at least until you got older. Then things changed.”

My stomach twists. I have to cover my nerves by drinking more. Siobhan refills her glass and sighs as she stretches her legs. “What changed exactly?”

“He got more interested in you. I kept telling him to leave it alone. He did well, making sure you were taken care of while you grew up, but the deal was long gone. You owed him nothing. But that boy doesn’t listen to anyone but himself.”

I can’t help but smile. “I know that all too well.”

“It was around the time you went to college. I think he realized you were grown and not just a girl anymore. And I think he decided he liked the woman you had become.”

“Around college…” I say softly as the gears begin to turn in my head. “How exactly did he get involved? I mean, after I left for school, what was he doing?”

Siobhan frowns slightly and looks at me. For a moment, I think she’s going to say something, but it’s like she realizes with a start what she’s doing. Instead, all she does is shake her head.

“You’ll have to ask him,” she says vaguely, waving a hand in the air. She pushes back from the table and gets to her feet. “I think it’s been a long day, my dear, and I should get some rest.”

“Of course. I’m sorry I bothered you, it’s just that?—”

“Goodnight, Casey.” She pats my shoulder lightly. I want to call her back. Desperation fills me. What changed after I went to school? What was Declan doing?

He realized I had become a woman…

Dread fills me. I drink down my glass and feel my heart pounding in my ears.

There’s more she didn’t tell me.

Suddenly, a string of misfortunes and failures suddenly makes sense, and a nauseous terror rolls over my body.

Chapter 22

Declan

Ikeep thinking about my father in that box.

The casket was closed. He insisted on that. My father was smart enough to know that first and last impressions matter. And he couldn’t control how people saw his dead body.

But I knew he was in there. All throughout the service, I kept staring at the casket. My father was once the largest man in the world. He was life and power. He cowed New York City and turned out small organizations into something massive. That was my father’s genius. He knew how to build coalitions and alliances.

Now he’s gone.

I just couldn’t understand how a box so small could contain a man so enormous.

“I have to admit, the transition has been going fairly well.” Donnell Lynch leans back in his overstuffed armchair and swirls a glass of whiskey. Ice clinks against the glass, and I force myself to be present. He’s a powerful member of the Whelan Clan, andI need his support if I’m going to wrestle this ugly beast into submission.

“I don’t think I love that wordfairly,” I say with a smile as I sip my drink.

He scowls and nods. “Aye, I’m sure you don’t, but you know how these things are. With a change in leadership, some of the lesser families think it’s a good time to renegotiate certain deals.”

“I’ve been dealing with them.”

“And not everyone’s happy.”

“They never are.” I put my glass down and lean forward. “Areyouhappy, Donnell?”

The old snake feigns surprise like the thought had never occurred to him. But I know what’s happening here. Behind the smiles, the toasts to my father’s memory, the reminiscing, there’s the implication.