Page 8

Chapter Eight

I spend the next few weeks trailing Lorcan around the city as he makes deals, leans on people, and accumulates more and more money. I’m never sure what Finn does with his days. Sometimes I see him, but most of the time it’s like Lorcan and I are the only ones in the house. Finn is a ghost.

When my phone buzzes the familiar sequence, I’m sitting on the edge of my bed, contemplating the gym. I swipe the phone off the nightstand and catch sight of the innocuous message.

Lunch is on me today.

Malik.

Glancing at the clock, I realize I have two hours to make it out of the city to a dive bar in Newport, Rhode Island. I throw on my favorite outfit of black pants and shirt and secure my dark hair into a tight ponytail at the base of my neck. Grabbing my jacket off the chair where I tossed it last night, I head down the hall to ask if I can get the day off.

I ring Lorcan’s office, wishing I could let myself in. We go through the usual pattern, and he buzzes me into the room.

“You should put a camera out there so we can dispense with the back-and-forth,” I say as I enter the room.

Lorcan glances up at me from behind his desk. He’s shirtless again, but he hasn’t started his workout yet. Every single time he’s like this, the pit of my stomach flutters.

“We’re already at the stage where you can tell me my systems annoy you?” His tone is mild, with a hint of amusement flickering across his face.

“I think it’s always best to say what you think in the moment.” I smile.

Lorcan’s face fills with disbelief. “No, you don’t.”

“You’re right. I rarely say what I think. You should feel privileged I graced you with an opinion.”

“Privileged.”

“Yes.” In my peripheral vision, the clock ticks, and it snaps me into focus. I should not be flirting with the guy I’m trying to take down. “Do you need me this afternoon?”

He snatches a pen from his desk and rocks back in his high-backed leather chair. “Not necessarily.”

“I used to live in Newport, Rhode Island as a kid,” I say. “I was wondering if I could borrow a car to drive there, look around.”

Lorcan brings the pen to his lips and taps them. “Borrow a car. Drive to Rhode Island by yourself.”

I bristle. “I’m not going to steal your car.”

He chuckles. “That’s not my concern. You’ve been all over the city with me these past few weeks. Your value is increasing, not only to me but to other people who might be watching my organization.”

“You want me to take a guard.”

“Will you?”

“I did when I worked for Carys. It’s not exactly the trip I was hoping for.”

“Or I can come with the guards.”

I frown. “That would be worse.” But also so much better. I’ve gotten used to having him near.

He comes around the desk and stops in front of me. “How confident are you that you can handle this trip by yourself?”

“Very.” My mind is ticking away the minutes. If I miss the window, Malik will be gone, and this conversation will have been for nothing.

Lorcan runs a hand through his hair in a back-and-forth motion, mussing up his blond-brown strands. “You can go.” With a couple of strides, he’s at the lockbox that holds the keys to the cars in the garages. He plucks out a set and tosses them to me.

I catch them in one hand. “An SUV?”

“Good handling, bulletproof glass.” He ambles to me, close enough for the scent of his musky cologne to touch my nose. No mint and oak today. “You’re becoming an asset. I try to protect those.”

When I glance up, I realize we’re closer than usual. Any time Finn is around, Lorcan makes a point of standing in my personal space, gazing at me longer, but there’s no audience here. It’s just us. The air hums with a new sort of tension.

“I suppose I should be flattered,” I murmur.

“I suppose so.” His lilting accent is back again.

He must read my mind, or I’m giving something away in my body language. The dip in his voice, the intoxicating blend of his Irish and Boston accents, make my knees wobble. If only I could reach out to steady myself. If my skin touches his, our spark will become a flame, then a raging inferno will consume me. There are things I cannot want.

“Be safe.” His gaze flicks between my eyes and my lips.

“Always.” I rattle the keys in my hand, breaking the spell.

Lorcan opens the door and leans his shoulder into it. “When are you back?”

“I’ll be gone for the afternoon.”

“Any later than that—”

“I’ll call.”

His head nod is almost imperceptible.

I hurry out the door and down the hall. I wasted too much time in his office. I’m steps from the front door when I spot Finn.

“Where are you off to without my deartháir beag ?” Finn calls to me.

“Out for the day.”

“You’re taking a guard?” He frowns. “People know who you are now.” He’s moving toward me, trying to head me off.

No one knows who I am.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Kim.” Finn grabs my elbow.

I yank my arm away from him. “Touch me again and you’ll lose some fingers.”

He takes a step back. “This is a shit idea.”

“It’s not your choice.” Inside me, a clock ticks. “Go do whatever it is you do.”

As I beeline to the garage, I’m surprised Finn isn’t following me. He doesn’t like being defied.

Sliding into the vehicle, I open the garage door. Once outside, I cruise through the iron gates that block off their property from the ones surrounding it. The city has consumed them, and driving out of here is a constant surprise. The estate feels isolated even though it’s far from it.

While I drive, I toy with the idea of stopping to see my mother. It would be out of my way, but might be my only opportunity to visit her for months. My presence never matters much. The good days are rare anymore. The sharp wit and intellect I admired in her as a child has leaked out, one memory at a time. My mother is no longer my mother. She’s my last thread of family, and she’s fraying so badly our tenuous connection is bound to snap at any moment.

A few blocks from the bar, I park and wander in and out of shops, keeping an eye on the time. Somehow, I’m here fifteen minutes early. Once I’m sure I’m not being followed, I zigzag through the streets until I get to the bar. Opening the door, I take a moment to let my eyes adjust to the dim lighting. The scent of spilled beer hits my nose as the bells overhead jingle. That smell must have seeped into the wooden floors a long time ago.

The bar is a place most locals, if they used it, would call a hole in the wall. There are a few tables, a bar top, and a bathroom at the back. The bar is well stocked, and I ease onto one of the stools. When I look up, it’s as though Malik, dressed as a bartender, has appeared on the other side of the bar out of thin air.

He passes a whiskey to me and then pours one for himself. “You weren’t followed?”

I don’t answer, just stare at him over the rim of my glass.

“Any news?”

“I’m making progress. Lorcan’s taking me around to meet a lot of people. I almost had to bring a guard today.”

“Willing to give up assets to protect you. That’s a good sign.” He pours himself another drink. “The two brothers?”

“Things are definitely tense, but they mostly ignore each other. At some point, Lorcan is going to expect me to start investigating the death of his father.”

“We know who did that.”

“The file is shit so far. We might not know.”

“Lorcan thinks Finn did it?”

“Yeah, he does. His second choice is the O’Malleys. Any outcome leads to war.”

“Drag out the search—see if cooler heads appear in a few months.”

“I’ll do what I can.”

“You going to stop in to visit your mom on the way back?”

Taking a sip of my drink, I catalog the dingy bar. The wood is painted black, and the stools are nicked, showing flecks of white at the edges on the high backs. The tables have seen better days. “You closing this up when I leave?”

Malik sighs and tries to catch my line of sight.

I focus on the whiskey in my glass, and the burning sensation rolls down my throat.

“The bar exists as a meetup for agency people, so yeah, I’ll be closing. I might stay open for another hour or two after you leave. Better if the locals don’t put two and two together.” His hand covers mine across the bar, and he gives me a gentle squeeze. “You need connections in the real world, Kimi. It’s too easy to get lost in Kim without them.”

“You’re my real connection.” Even as I say the words, I realize they’re not completely true. We sleep together, and he understands me very well. But I know the bare minimum about him beyond the job. We’re friends, but I’m not sure how real that is sometimes.

“I like being someone you connect with. Believe me. But your mom isn’t going to be around forever.”

“The woman who raised me is gone, Malik.”

“The last time I called the home, she’d rebounded a bit. Worth stopping in.”

“I’ll think about it.”

When the bells above the door jingle, we both freeze. In the doorway, squinting into the darkness, his platinum-blond hair catching the only bit of light around, is Finn.