Page 66 of This Blood That Breaks Us

“Shut up.”

Zach joking was a good sign.

Once the boat docked, we passed a few tourists standing in line for the ferry in their rain jackets. It was drizzling, but the worst of the storm had cleared. The city was full of people walking along the sidewalks. The brightly colored buildings stood out against a mostly gray sky, but the clouds dissipated like the sun might make an appearance. I wondered what day it was. How long had it been since we took the ferry for the first time? Was it a weekend or a weekday? I had no way of knowing.

We arrived at an outdoor patio covered by a large awning. I identified Aine right away. She was younger than I’d imagined and couldn’t have been older than twenty-five. Her red hair was brighter than Kimberly’s. She sat alone with a folder andsteaming coffee resting on the table. The cold chill brought red to her pale, freckled cheeks.

“’Bout time you boys showed up.”

I would definitely have to take the lead on this one.

“I think we’re right on time.” Zach checked his invisible watch.

“Two minutes late, actually. Please sit.” She motioned to chairs at her table.

“I apologize, Miss. My name is Luke, and this is my brother Zach.”

I held out my hand to shake hers. She squinted at my advance but took my hand with a strong handshake.

“Call me Aine.” She pushed some hair out of her eyes. “You’re taking over for Ezra?”

“Is that surprising?”

I kept smiling. If I’d guessed right, she wanted professionalism but also a friendly face. I could be that for her.

“You both look too young.”

“We could say the same about you.” Zach clicked his tongue.

“We are.” I interrupted. “We’ve got a lot to learn. But we’re willing. Have you worked with Ezra long?”

“Well, I haven’t. To give you the short of it, my father has made a deal with your boss that he insists he cannot get out of. Though it breaks the law, in addition to our own moral code. Which tells me you lot aren’t my kind of people. The sooner we get this deal sorted, the sooner I never have to see your pretty faces again.”

“Sounds good to me,” Zach said.

“You’re not a criminal—”

“How would you know anything about me?” She had an equal amount of venom in her voice as my brother.

“I’m not either. Sometimes we don’t always have a choice in what we’re involved in. But my brother and I are doing the best with what we have.”

Her scowl softened. “Prior obligations. An unfair consequence of family.”

“Family. Exactly.”

She reached into her folder, then lay papers in front of us. “I need you to sign and initial all of these. One of you will be a cosigner. All future communication on shipments will be through me.”

I flicked through the papers. It would take forever.

“We can’t hurry this along?” Zach said.

“Got more important places to be?” She smirked as she leaned back in her seat and took a sip of her coffee. “I can’t imagine how anything could be more important than this arrangement. I’m no fool. I think you need us a little more than we need you.”

“We have time.” I raised a brow at Zach.

We did, but we’d need to hurry. I scanned the documents as quickly as I could without her noticing I wasn’t reading them.

“You’re a fast reader.”