Page 9

Cillian

After we have the doctor fired I decided to take it a step further and personally visit his wife. I knock on the door, and a few moments later a woman answers the door.

“Hello, can I help you?”

“Are you Mrs. Papaioannou?”

“Yes, that’s me. Can I help you with something?”

“Yes, I would like to talk to you about your husband.”

“Nicholas? Is he ok? Is he hurt?”

“No, ma’am, but there is something you need to know about him.”

She opens the door wider and lets me and Oscar inside. She guides us to have a seat on the couch and asks us if we would like a drink. We both decline.

“What do you need to tell me about Nicholas?”

“Do you know where he was last Saturday?”

“He told me he had to work another shift because they were short staffed,”

she tells me. I shake my head.

“He was with his mistress.”

“Mistress? No, you must be mistaken.”

“I’m not. Here you can look for yourself,”

I tell her and hand her the hotel footage I had gotten my hands on. I watch her face as she comes to realize the husband she thought knew isn’t who he says he is.

“Why?”

As the tears start rolling down her cheeks, Oscar reaches over and hands her the box of tissues sitting on the end table.

“Thank you.”

She mutters quietly. I give her a few minutes to compose herself.

“Why did you show me this?”

“Your husband was treating my fiancée, who was in a terrible car accident, and was okay with not giving her any pain medicine because he didn’t want his secret about having mistress get out.”

“Is your fiancée Bia Vasileious?”

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Anything with the Vasileious family is big news around here. And Mr. Vasileious announced that if anyone had any information about the shootout to get in touch with him and thanked the man who pulled her from the burning car before it blew up. Plus, my best friend was dating her older brother, Leonidas, in high school. At least she was, until one day she and her family disappeared. I figured his family had something to do with it.”

“I have no knowledge of anything about that.”

“I know. Will you tell her I said hello?”

“Of course.”

I say, standing up and getting ready to leave. She walks us to the door as soon as I take a few steps outside, she stops me.

“Why did you tell me about Nicholas?”

I turn back around and face her.

“You deserve to know, and no one fucks with what is mine.”

She nods at me, “Bia is lucky to have you.”

Without another word, she turns inside and shuts the door. Oscar walks beside me silently as we climb inside the SUV.

“I feel bad for her,” he says.

“Yeah…”

I agree. “Send her a check.”

“Getting soft there, Cillian.”

“Fuck off prick.”

“I think sweet Bia makes Cillian a softy.”

I growl and punch him in his arm.

“Ouch. Asshole.”

“Don’t be a prick and you won’t be punched,”

I say before putting the SUV in drive and going toward Xander’s mansion.

When I pulled up to the gates at his mansion, the guards came out to stop us.

“Name?”

“Cillian O’Sullivan.”

“Is Mr. Vasileious expecting you?”

“No, but seeing as we will be family soon, I shouldn’t need an appointment to see him,”

I say, arching my eyebrow at him.

“Let me call Mr. Vasileious,”

he says and steps inside the guard booth to call him. After a minute the gates open, and I drive the rest of the way to the front of the mansion.

The butler greets us at the door and escorts us to Xander’s office. He leaves us there and I knock twice.

“Enter.”

When we walk inside, Xander stands up and greets us, shaking our hands.

“Cillian, Oscar to what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Should we talk about you blackmailing a doctor into not giving Bia any pain medicine because of her supposed drug problem?”

“She has one.”

“We both know she doesn’t have a drug problem. You told me and my father when we signed the contract that she has been homeschooled. Away from dangers of the world and other men. Unless you lied to us.”

“Of course not.”

“Then tell me why the hell you blackmailed the doctor?”

He shrugs his shoulders. “I have my reasons.”

I clenched my fist, itching to get my gun and land a bullet between his eyes.

“I see. Well do you at least have any answers for who attacked her?”

“I do. It was the Turkish Mafia; they are upset that you chose Bia as your future bride instead of one of their daughters. They said they would keep attacking her until you change your mind.”

“And when were you going to tell me this?”

“I was working on handling it.”

“I should have been told right away because it deals with Bia, and she is my fiancée. This is why I’m taking her back with me to Ireland where I know she can be protected.”

“I agree. She needs to be where she will be safe.”

“Good. I will arrange to have her stuff packed up and shipped,”

I say before getting up to leave, not trusting myself not to shoot him if I stay any longer.

Once we get settled into our SUV, Oscar turns to me. “Please tell me after you are married his days are numbered.”

“Yes, men like him don’t deserve to be breathing.”

“Fuck no they don’t.”

Xander

“That fucking little prick thinks he can come into my office and demand shit from me? If I didn’t want to take over his father's Mafia, I would have killed the sorry sack of shit,”

I say as I throw a knife at the wall.

Ares and Theodore don’t react as it’s not the first time I’ve thrown a knife at the walls in my office when I lost my temper.

“No shit. You aren’t exactly known for being kind to anyone. Just think of the reward once we have those gems and jewels.”

Ares smirks as he rubs his hands together.

“And have sexy Irish women at our feet begging for us.”

Theodore smiles. I can tell he is imagining a redhead at his feet begging to take his cock.

“It’s the only reason,”

I say. Patience, I remind myself.