Page 17

17

Thea

R ain fell in sheets, casting a gloomy pall over the dull green landscape. Ireland reminded me of Scotland, only less hilly. Here, at least. Wherever here was.

Geography had never been my strong suit, but from what I could gather, the safe house was somewhere on the north-west coast. Not that I cared all that much. It wasn’t as if I’d be staying long.

If my father was still alive, he’d be searching for me. Torrance, too. From what little Kyril had told me, Dad had tried to marry me off to Konstantin Marku. For all I knew, I was now a married woman. I just wish I could remember.

I hoped not. I was too young to be a mafia wife. And make no mistake, Marku was very much of the era where wives never uttered a word unless spoken to first. No doubt my father had accepted a substantial payment for the hand of his daughter. Millions of euros, probably, plus all the additional benefits that came from a marriage alliance.

Knowing him, he was currently having an aneurysm at the loss of his cash cow.

Cows. Verity was his other chief asset. Young and a lot more pliable than me. Perfectly capable of giving some man a baby one day, even if the thought of my sister being treated like a broodmare made me feel ill.

Trees and dry stone walls flashed by as the SUV navigated the narrow lanes snaking between towering hedges and trees. Occasional flashes of a churning gray ocean caught my attention. It had been ages since I last saw the ocean, and despite the anxiety in my stomach, a small spark of excitement at the thought of wandering along a deserted beach dispelled the fog in my brain.

The SUV took a left turn down a narrow decline. I prayed we didn’t meet a coach of Japanese tourists coming in the other direction; there were no turnaround spaces.

The lane grew narrower and the hedges taller. Skeletal trees loomed over the SUV, blocking what little remained of the light, their naked branches clawing at the sky. I shivered. There was something sinister about this place; I half-expected goblins and leprechauns to leap out at us.

The rain eased off just as the sun broke through the clouds. The SUV slowed down and came to a crunching halt at a set of wrought-iron gates set between thick stone walls. I looked up to see a magnificent rainbow curved over a large house beneath tall trees. Beyond the house, waves pounded rocks as gulls wheeled in the sky above.

It was wildly beautiful. Nothing at all like the hot, dry vineyards and olive groves I had grown up surrounded by.

“Looks like we’re here,” Kyril announced, shoving his phone back into his pocket. The two guards standing at the entrance nodded at our driver and then the gate opened as if by magic. Our car and the two behind passed through and up a gently curving driveway.

We had arrived at our temporary sanctuary.

The moment the SUV stopped, the front door swung open and Eden flew out, her pink hair jarring against the monochrome walls of the house.

“Oh my god, you’re finally here!” She flung her arms around me so tight I could barely breathe.

“Eden!” Kyril snapped. “Thea has a concussion!”

“Concussion?” Blue eyes shone with concern. “Are you OK?”

“I’ll be fine,” I reassured her. A concussion was the least of my worries.

“I’m so sorry about…everything.” She looked on the verge of tears for a moment, so I patted her arm awkwardly. Comforting someone didn’t come naturally to me.

“Honestly, I’m fine. A good night’s sleep and I’ll be back to my usual happy self,” I joked.

“You better be! I need help to wrap all my Christmas gifts.”

“What?” Christmas wasn’t something I usually celebrated. Dad had never bought us anything or suggested we sit down for a festive family meal. He didn’t even allow us to attend Midnight Mass, not that I would have. Father Raphael was usually drunk and rambling by 10 PM.

A fleeting recollection of the priest guzzling from his hip flask while cowering under a table flickered in my mind. Was it an actual memory?

I struggled to focus on Eden as she chattered away, spewing word-vomit in my face.

“It’s Christmas in six days. I have s ooo much to do!”

“Is this place your family’s home?” Behind me, Kyril talked in a low voice to the guys who’d arrived with us. They all looked like hired mercs.

“No, it’s a recent acquisition. Declan has a massive property portfolio. He’s been diversifying into new areas,” she said while her fingers tapped away on her smartphone. “Probably laundering some of the family cash.”

That made sense. Paying cash for properties was a good way of cleaning dirty money. The Russians had been doing it for years in London. Oligarchs owned many of the prestige properties in the city, all paid for with money of dubious origin.

“I think he intends to use this one as a holiday home, but for now, it’s your safe house.”

“You’re not staying with us?” The thought of Eden leaving me all alone with the guys made me nervous. If she wasn’t here, acting as an emotional buffer, I’d have to talk to them. Difficult conversations gave me heartburn.

“Only for three days, then one of Declan’s men is picking me up.” She bounced on the seat with excitement. “Michael’s flying over to visit me on Boxing Day, so he’ll get to meet all my family.”

“Are you two a couple now?” Last I remembered she’d claimed she didn’t want to ‘put a label on it’.

“Yeah.” She smiled. “I told him who my family was, and he’s OK with it.”

“He’s not met Declan yet then.”

Eden laughed at my dry observation. “No, but it will be OK. Declan can be nice when he wants to be. I warned Michael my cousins are super protective, and he said he understood, as he has a younger sister.”

I’m not sure he knew what he was in for. Declan’s overbearing protectiveness was on a whole other level. Frankly, I didn’t get why he’d let Eden stay at the safe house. She must have blackmailed him. The man I met had made it more than clear he was willing to do anything to ensure his cousin’s safety.

She looped her arm through mine and then stared over my shoulder in surprise.

“Who’s the girl?”

Two of the men from the plane carried my sister inside the house. She still hadn’t woken up, which worried me, but the medic assured me everything would be fine.

“My sister, Verity.”

“Oh my god, what happened to her?”

“My father happened to her.”

Eden’s eyes welled up with tears, and I turned away, picking at a loose thread on my sweater. Then a familiar figure climbed out of the last SUV and I froze. I’d not seen him since the night of the Christmas Gala. He’d stayed out of the way when we disembarked from the plane. I stupidly assumed he’d disappear shortly after, but no, it looked like I was stuck with him for the time being. Unless he planned to leave now.

But as I watched through narrowed eyes, he reached into the trunk of the SUV and pulled a bag out, looping it over his shoulder.

“Thea, cara ,” he said in a low, husky voice as he strode toward me.

I threw my hands up in the air in warning. “Don’t, Dar.” The anger in my voice made him stop dead. We stared at each other for a few moments while Eden’s curious gaze flitted between the two of us. I knew damn well she’d be quizzing me the minute we were alone, but I appreciated the fact she kept her mouth shut for now.

“Thea,” he tried again. “We need to talk.”

“I have nothing to say.” My head throbbed and the longer I stayed on my feet, the sicker I felt. From my previous experience with concussions, the best cure was to rest in a dark room, not stand around in bright sunlight.

“You heard her,” Landon said from the step, causing me to spin around in surprise. I’d forgotten he and Milo were also here.

Dario ignored Landon. “I know you’re upset, but there’s shit you need to know, Thea.”

“Leave her the fuck alone, Dario,” Landon growled. Great . Just what I needed. Another pissing match.

“Enough!” I yelled. “Eden, can you show me where I’m sleeping? I need a moment.” She threw a glare at Landon before squeezing my arm in a show of solidarity.

“Of course.”

We pushed past Landon, who didn’t look happy about being dismissed, but I wasn’t in the mood to soothe his hurt feelings. There was no sign of Milo, but I figured he’d show up at some point. It felt like none of them understood the meaning of boundaries.

“You have the attic room,” Eden told me as we climbed a set of creaky stairs. “It has the best views.”

“Didn’t you want it?”

“Nah, I’ll be gone in a few days.”

“What about Verity?”

“She’ll be staying on the floor below. I figured you’d want a little, ahem , space.”

“Space?”

“Yeah, for all the makeup sex you’ll be having once you feel better.”

I ground to a halt. “Nope. Not happening.”

Eden just laughed like she knew I was full of shit. Which I totally was. She pushed open the door to the attic room. I stopped and stared in wonder. The room was spacious, with large dormer windows overlooking the ocean and a set of double doors to the side that opened onto a Juliet balcony.

Someone had left the doors open to air the room and although it was cold, the fresh smell of salt soothed my frazzled brain. A large king-sized bed with a soft white comforter called my name.

“Thank you, it’s lovely.”

Eden smiled. “I thought you’d like this room best. A head’s up, though. The stairs creak like crazy, so you should get a forewarning if any of those horny assholes try to sneak up here in the middle of the night. There’s a bolt on the door if you don’t want company, but I wouldn’t put it past them to climb up the ivy and onto the balcony if you attempt to shut them out.”

I smiled despite myself. She wasn’t wrong, and I had a strong suspicion who would crawl into my bed tonight.