by Katee Robert
As much as she wanted to let it go, she couldn’t just sit here and soak up the postcoital bliss. Charlie rolled on her side to face him. “That club you talked about …” She wasn’t sure what she was going to say. That she wanted to go? That she most definitely did not want to go?
He saved her from having to decide. Aiden gave her a downright rakish grin. “It doesn’t exist.”
Her jaw dropped. “You … I can’t … You …” Charlie smacked his shoulder. Then she smacked him again for good measure. “I can’t believe you. I …” At a complete loss for words, she did the only thing she could think of. She threw herself at him and kissed him for all she was worth.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Aiden woke up early. He watched Charlie for a few minutes, marveling at how different she looked with her face relaxed in sleep, one arm flung over her head as she breathed evenly. It was almost enough to draw him back to bed to lose himself in her for a few more hours.
Last night had been a reprieve—a welcome one that he had every intention of revisiting—but now there was business to attend to.
He showered and dressed, and then headed downstairs to take care of any complications that had arisen overnight, before the rest of the household was up and about. Business had been quiet for the last year as they’d engaged in their cold war with Romanov. Aiden hadn’t wanted to pull the trigger on full-out war, and the Russian seemed just as hesitant for reasons unknown. In the meantime, the O’Malleys were pulling in as much from their legit businesses as they were from the darker side of things.
He reached the bottom of the stairs, and stopped short. Liam blocked his way. The man looked downright worried.
Cause for worry was a problem, but if there was immediate danger, they wouldn’t be standing there staring at each other. He waited, but Liam didn’t seem all that inclined to break the silence. Finally, Aiden sighed. “What’s going on?”
Liam cleared his throat. “You should go to your office. Immediately.”
That had been his intention, but now it seemed that was the last place he wanted to be. He gave himself a mental shake. Whatever was waiting for him there couldn’t be worse than he’d faced in the last few years. Still … “You’re very cryptic this morning.”
His man hesitated and then muttered, “Seamus is back.”
He froze. No. But there was nothing joking on Liam’s face. Which meant his father was, in fact, behind the office door, waiting for him. At six in the morning. “How long has he been here?”
“He got in last night.” Liam held up his hands and took a step back. “I was under command not to disturb you. He’s been in the office since he got here.”
“What time last night?”
“Around eleven.”
Which meant someone had called him about the party, and he’d left the house in Connecticut almost immediately to drive here. The only reason Seamus O’Malley would be back and snooping was because he expected to catch Aiden doing something he shouldn’t be doing.
Considering the plan he’d already put into motion, there was quite a bit for his father to find.
I don’t have to explain anything to him. He took himself out of the equation when he left and never came back.
The thought wasn’t comforting in the least. He shot a look at Liam. “Is my mother here?”
“Yes.”
Then shit was definitely going to be hitting the fan.
The only thing worse than dealing with his father was having his mother sniffing around Charlie. She’d more than proven she could hold her own, but it was one thing to face down his enemies and his siblings. His mother was a different animal altogether.
One thing at a time.
Aiden took a steadying breath that did nothing to steady him, and headed for the office. There was no point in delaying this coming confrontation—because it would be a confrontation. He’d worked too damn hard to get all the pieces in motion to have his father step in and fuck it up. No matter how much Seamus O’Malley liked power.
Aiden stepped through the door and closed it softly behind him. “Hello, Father.”
Seamus didn’t look up from the desk, where he had several stacks of paper scattered. “You sure as hell made a mess of things while I was away, didn’t you?”
“Actually—”
“Sit down and shut up. I’m speaking.”
Aiden instinctively moved for the chair before he caught himself. He straightened, working hard to keep his voice calm and controlled. “With all due respect, you don’t have the full story.”
“Don’t I? In the last year, you lost your sister Sloan, handing her off to none other than Jude MacNamara, one of the deadliest hit men out there, in addition to being a sworn enemy to our closest allies, the Sheridans. You also reached out to yet another enemy and offered your baby sister to him in marriage to keep your cowardly hide safe—feel free to step in if you think I’ve got it wrong—and you’ve hooked up with some gold digger and put my mother’s ring on her finger. It sure as hell sounds like you’re so busy thinking with your cock that you’re not doing what is required of you.” Seamus sat back. “So I’ve come to resume control.”
Absolutely not.
Aiden wrangled back his instinctive response—but only barely. “We’re in a delicate position currently—”
“Because of your actions.” His father’s dark eyes were steely. Unforgiving. “All your current problems are a direct result of steps you’ve taken.”
Aiden crossed his arms over his chest, and then abandoned the stance because it made him look defensive, and looks mattered when it came to going toe to toe with his father. He couldn’t let his temper off its leash, because any display of emotion would confirm the impression he didn’t want—that he was out of control. “We need to remove Dmitri Romanov from the equation.”
“Then maybe you should have paid Sloan’s new man to do exactly that.” Seamus steepled his fingers. “You want a chance to explain yourself? Now’s the time. Because I have half a mind to remove you from the situation.”
Aiden froze and did his damnedest to smother the instinctive fear that had been drilled into his head from the time he was a kid. Fear wasn’t driving him. He refused to allow it.
He dropped into the seat and stared his father down, keeping his words clipped. “You want to throw around accusations? Fine. We’ll do that. I’ve been the one running this family for the last year and a half while you were out licking your wounds. You handed over the reins. You don’t get to come take them back because you don’t like how I do things. I’m the head of the O’Malley family now.”
“Watch your tone, boy.”
Aiden kept his tone contained and calm even though all he wanted to do was throw something. “If you’d stopped to talk to me instead of coming in here behind my back—which just proves that you know coming back here like this was bullshit—you would know that I have no intention of letting Keira marry Romanov. It’s a stalling tactic while I get the rest of the game into play.”
Seamus sat back. “I’m listening.”
Aiden couldn’t help feeling like he was delivering a closing speech and his father would act as judge, jury, and executioner if he fucked it up. “Taking out Dmitri Romanov would split New York wide open and create a power vacuum. We have no control of who steps into the hole Romanov would leave.”
His father made a noncommittal noise, so he kept going. “But if I take his power before we remove him, it lessens the impact of his absence—and allows for us to gain a stronger foothold in his territory.”
“And how, exactly, is this ploy about marrying off your sister part of the plan?”
Seamus was taking an awfully high horse considering that three years ago, he had tried to force Carrigan into marrying the same damn man.
“Romanov came to me for help, which indicates that he’s in a precarious place at the moment. He wants Keira. He has for some time now, if I’m not guessing wrong. While he’s distracted with her, he’s not going to be
looking for a knife in the back from one of his allies.”
“You’re underestimating him.”
“I can’t afford to.” Romanov wasn’t stupid. He’d expect some kind of betrayal, but he needed Aiden’s help badly enough to risk it. What was more, the fact that he was willing to negotiate about Keira meant that he really wanted her. His actions at the party last night had only driven that home.
His baby sister was nothing but bait. They might be temporary allies with the Russian, but one wrong move would put it all in jeopardy. Romanov said he’d give her a choice, but that was shit-all of a guarantee that he wouldn’t cart her off to New York the first chance he got.
Not going to happen.
Seamus shook his head. “It’s too much risk for too little payoff.”
“Bullshit. Romanov is going to take us out. He’s got the ability to do it, and we both know it. The only reason he hasn’t is because we keep Olivia and her daughter safe—and because he wants Keira.” When it came right down to it, that was the tipping point to the man offering the alliance in the first place. He had to know Aiden would fight him every step of the way if he tried to force his hand.
More flies with honey and all that bullshit.
“You’re right. He could have taken us out—and he damn well fucking will if he finds out you’re planning on going back on your word and crossing him.” Seamus shoved to his feet. “I don’t care if you’ve been running things for a day or a year—you’re out. It’s over.”
Nothing his father said made any sense. He shook his head. “So, what? You’re going to renounce the engagement and have him come after us for blood? You just said that he could take us all out.”
“There’s only one option—thanks to you. You will honor the alliance and do whatever the Russian says. Your sister has to marry Romanov. No schemes. No knives in the back.” Seamus strode for the door. “You made your bed. Now Keira has to sleep in it.”
* * *
Charlie had just finished getting ready when a knock at the bedroom door drew her out. She opened it to find Keira there, the very picture of nervous energy. “Hey.”
“You want to get out of here for a little bit?” She shot a look down the hall like she was afraid someone would catch them and drag them back to their rooms.
Charlie followed her gaze. “Looking for someone?”
“My parents came back into Boston last night unexpectedly.” She made a face. “The very last thing I need is to be cornered by either of them.”
Aiden’s parents were back? Was that why she’d woken up alone?
Reaching out for him when she was half-awake only to find his side of the bed cold was such a silly thing to worry about right now, but it had stung all the same. She stepped back and allowed Keira to put a door between them and anyone who might come by. Aiden’s parents would think she was a gold digger the same way the rest of his family did, but they might actually try to do something about it.
He’ll handle it. He’s handled everything else up to this point.
It didn’t comfort her as much as she would have liked. “When’s the last time you saw them?”
“Over a year ago.”
She let go of her own worries and focused on Keira. She was obviously concerned about facing her parents if she’d sought Charlie out.
A year was a long time not to see someone—especially family. Charlie took in the woman’s body, skinny in a way that seemed to indicate not eating, rather than exercising. And the circles under her eyes and the way her cheeks were hollowed out. From what she’d heard of Seamus O’Malley, he cared less about his daughter’s mental and physical health than he did about his value as an investment.
It was tempting to think that Keira’s mother would be different, if only because she was alive and well and able to be a mother to her kids. Charlie’s tendency was to give mothers almost godlike power because she didn’t have one of her own. She knew that. It was nice to think that every mother who managed to live to see their children grown was a good mother, but it wasn’t reality.
The woman hadn’t stepped in when Keira’s siblings were in need, so there was no reason to think she’d do so now.
“Keira—”
“I know, okay? I know I look like shit, and I don’t need everyone and their dog telling me that I look like shit. My mom will lecture me for hours, and my father will just look right through me. I don’t have it in me to deal with either.”
Charlie knew all about doing whatever it took to survive. Hadn’t she been in a similar place a few years ago? Her downward spiral would have lasted a lot longer if Jacques—a bartender she barely knew at the time, not her fucking dad, who should have done it—hadn’t stepped in and basically slapped some sense into her. I wonder how Jacques is doing … She put the thought away and refocused on the woman in front of her.
Keira needed an escape. She needed to feel in control—maybe for the first time in years. Charlie didn’t pretend to know the woman inside and out, but she knew what made her feel better when she was clawing her way back from the edge.
“Give me two minutes.” She went to the dresser. “I just need to grab my gun.”
“Gun?” Keira walked deeper into the room, curled her lip at the rumpled sheets, and walked to the window to open it. “Holy shit, it smells like fucking in here. God, you two are like teenagers.”
“Yeah, well … magic pussy.”
She snorted. “I’m never going to live that one down, am I?”
“It’s a classic. Give me a second to make a few calls.” Charlie was conscious of Keira’s attention on her as she figured out which Krav Maga gym was closest, and allowed drop-ins. Then she pulled her gun from her suitcase and strapped on her ankle holster. A few seconds later and the weapon was barely a bulge against her jeans. “Let’s go.”
“What does a poker dealer need to carry a nine-millimeter for?”
“Good eye.” She shot Keira an appraising look. It was tempting to brush off the question, but it also wasn’t fair. “I was attacked a few years ago. I was helpless, even with all the training I’d had, and I’ve promised myself I’ll never feel like that again. The gun is just a tool—not some magical protection—but it might make the difference between being the one on the ground and being the one standing over my attacker.”
Keira considered her for a long moment. “It’s entirely possible that my snap judgment of you was a shitty call. You have a past, don’t you?”
“We all do.”
“Isn’t that the fucking truth?” She followed Charlie out into the hallway. “Not that way. Come on.”
They took the back set of stairs down to the kitchen and ducked out a door leading to a walkway to the street. A few minutes later, Charlie caught sight of a man shadowing them half a block back. He was a big dude with shoulders that would do a linebacker proud, and he moved like a fighter—light on his feet despite his size. Dangerous. “That man is following us.”
Keira craned her neck to look, and sighed. “It’s okay. That’s Mark.”
She seemed to remember Aiden mentioning a Mark at one point. “Does Mark often trail you when you leave the house?”
“Him or another one of Liam’s people. Mark is Liam’s cousin, so he gets the fun task of being my babysitter more often than most.” Keira shrugged. “I’m an O’Malley. There are people who’d snatch me up to use against my family.” Something passed over her face, gone too quickly to identify. “Goes with the territory.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.” She had, but it was one thing to know that Aiden routinely sent one of his men to watch Keira and totally another to have the spooky experience of being shadowed by a stranger. Of course, Mark wasn’t a stranger to Keira, but the fact remained.
No wonder the woman does whatever it takes to escape sometimes. I would, too.
Her phone rang, and she knew who it was even before she looked at the caller ID. “Good morning, Aiden.”
“Where the hell are you going?”
&nbs
p; She shot another look at their tail. “That was fast.”
“Mark reports to me, so imagine my surprise when I find out that my fiancée and my sister just staged a jailbreak and are walking down the goddamn street without a protection detail.”
So much for any lasting feel-good sensation from their night before. Charlie rolled her eyes. “One, we already discussed how much I despise having to check in with you before doing anything. Two, you know as well as I do that I’m more than capable of taking care of myself and Keira.”
“There are other factors in play.”
So we’re just going to ignore logic when it doesn’t suit our argument? Nice, Aiden. His icy bullying tactics might work with his family, but she wasn’t about to play that game. “It’s got to be something of a shock waking up to realize your parents are back in town.”
He cursed and then changed tactics. “Just get your ass back here, Charlie. There’s trouble.”
It was like she could actually see his thought process: Commanding didn’t work. Let’s try warning about danger. Sooner or later, he’d realize that she preferred him to just be fucking honest with her instead of trying that high-and-mighty O’Malley lord crap. “You mean politics.”
“They’re the same thing.”
That answered that. She shook her head. “No, Aiden. Your man can follow us—at a discreet distance—if that will make you feel better, but we both needed out of the house, so we’re getting out of the house.”
“Charlie—”
“See you tonight.” She hung up, frowning when she caught Keira looking at her strangely. “What?”
“No one talks to my brother like that.” She shook her head. “Hold that thought. I mean no one talks to him like that and gets away with it, without him putting them under house arrest or some other macho bullshit.”
One didn’t become the head of a mob family without a certain level of don’t-cross-me. If anyone in the family could talk back to Aiden and get away with it, he’d have anarchy on his hands before long, and anarchy was dangerous for everyone.
