by Katee Robert
“How shall we deal with the responsible party?”
Should have seen that coming from a mile away. It struck him for the first time that there were fiancées from the O’Malleys, the Hallorans, and Romanov in that restaurant. If Dmitri hadn’t sounded warning, that would have been a blow that every single one of them would have had a hell of a time coming back from—if there was any coming back from it at all. Aiden’s chest tightened painfully again at the thought of Charlie sharing the same fate as Devlin. “Prove it’s the Eldridges—with evidence—and I’ll take care of it.”
“Unfortunately for both of us—and James Halloran, I imagine—I’m not handing over that information unless you give your word that we will cooperate in bringing down our mutual enemy.”
“No. Our alliance doesn’t cover this, and you damn well know it.”
Dmitri sighed, as if Aiden had disappointed him. “That is the wrong answer.”
Frustration had his control cracking and his mouth getting away from him. “What the fuck do you even care? Keira is merely a means to an end. I’m sure you have other women lined up if that falls through.” A man in Dmitri’s position—Aiden’s position—had his pick of political hopefuls who wanted to marry off their daughters to accrue more power for their families. No one was quite on the O’Malleys’ level, but there were other players in New York who would fall all over themselves to step in if Dmitri so much as crooked a finger at them.
“Your lack of understanding doesn’t change the fact—if you want the information, you will loop me into whatever retribution you have planned.”
He could find the information on his own given enough time, but it presented the same problem he’d run into with James. Aiden stepped to the side as Liam came back to the porch with a handheld device that he promptly ran over every piece of furniture they had out there, before turning it to the deck itself. He cursed and lifted a chair to yank something off the bottom. I knew the timing of his call was too convenient.
Aiden watched with satisfaction as Liam crushed the surveillance device under his heel. “Do not bug my house again.”
“I make no promises. How can I expect to know when you’re planning things if you refuse to call me and inform me when my fiancée is involved as well? What is your answer?”
There was no choice, as much as he hated to admit it. “Fine. You’re in.”
“Delightful. We’ll meet in neutral territory. I trust you’ll ensure that James Halloran minds his manners.” Dmitri ended the call.
Aiden leaned against the railing and glared out into the night, wondering where the fuck he’d gone wrong. He was supposed to be orchestrating the downfall of Romanov to ensure that he didn’t end up actually marrying Keira, and yet here he was, working with him again to bring down a common enemy.
The world had gone topsy-turvy when he wasn’t looking. He felt like he was moving through a foreign land without a map or compass. It didn’t matter. He wouldn’t let it.
All that mattered was the bottom line.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Charlie picked at her breakfast, not feeling much like eating. She took a bite of the eggs out of principle. With all the chaos going on, she needed her strength. Waking up alone—again—had put her in a foul mood. Add to that the fact that Keira wasn’t in her room and Liam wasn’t lurking at the bottom of the stairs like she was used to and she felt completely out of place.
The two men who worked in the kitchen took pity on her and threw together a late breakfast, even though it was obvious that they were on the way out the door. Now she sat alone, wishing she’d just gone back to sleep instead of coming downstairs.
Footsteps had her perking up, and for half a second, she thought the man who walked through the door was Aiden. But then his features registered. Seamus. She braced herself, but the contempt that appeared in his dark eyes still hit her hard enough that he might as well have reached across the kitchen island and slapped her.
Seamus O’Malley crossed his arms over his chest and looked her up and down—or at what he could see of her upper half. “At least my son has good taste, even if thinking with his dick has put our family in jeopardy.”
Even though she knew that was the part she played and a necessary one at that, irritation bloomed. “I happen to like his dick quite a bit. And you’ve already made your opinion known. Now you’re just being mean.”
He cocked his head to the side. “What I can’t figure out is how you got Liam on board. He’s usually the more level-headed of the two, and he won’t hear a word spoken against you. Are you fucking him as well?”
Charlie carefully set aside her fork, because if she didn’t stop holding it right now, she’d throw it at him. She pushed back her stool and stood. He was the same height as Aiden, so he towered over her, even with the table between them. Every instinct she had screamed not to show Seamus her back. She lifted her chin, refusing to let him intimidate her. “If I was fucking him, it wouldn’t be any of your business.”
“Wrong, girl. Anything and everything that happens in this house—with my children or my men—is my business.”
She widened her eyes and pressed a hand to her chest. “Your men? Oh my God, I’m sorry. I didn’t know Liam’s dick had your name tattooed across it.”
She expected him to come at her. Most straight men with anger issues couldn’t stand even the slightest homoerotic accusation leveled at them.
Seamus surprised her, though. He raised his eyebrows in an expression that almost perfectly mirrored the one Aiden had given her just hours before. The similarity made her skin crawl. He shook his head. “You aren’t doing yourself, or my son, any favors by continuing this charade. You can’t make it in this life—your temper is going to get you both into hot water, and it’s Aiden who will have to get you out again.” He reached into his jacket. “How much?”
“Excuse me?” She was still trying to process the lightning-fast change in his demeanor, and it took his pulling out a pen for her to understand what he meant. “You can’t pay me off.”
“I think we both know that’s not true.” He opened his checkbook. “A hundred thousand should be enough, don’t you think?” Seamus glanced at her. “Don’t look like I just kicked your puppy, girl. You might love fucking my son, but you don’t love him. Anyone with eyes can see that. Take the money and get something better than a bullet for your troubles.”
She swallowed past a suddenly dry throat. This conversation was like barreling down a winding road in the middle of the night with no headlights. “Are you threatening me?”
“I don’t have to. Someone else already has your number, don’t they? Neither of my daughters have been attacked in over a year, and you come along and, within days, there’s a drive-by. Coincidence? I think we both know it’s not.”
“We both seem to know a whole lot, according to you.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand why you’re being difficult. Do you need more money?” He appeared to do some quick math in his head. “I can offer you a million, but not a penny more.”
Charlie stared. “You … You’re offering me a million dollars to break up with your son. That’s insane.”
“Insanity would be not taking it.” He straightened, replaced the checkbook, and adjusted his jacket. “I can see that you need some time to mull it over. The offer stands.” He turned around and walked out of the kitchen, leaving her to stare after him and wonder what kind of rabbit hole she’d fallen down.
People didn’t do that. They didn’t offer to pay money to break up a couple they didn’t approve of. That was so crazy, she didn’t know how to put it into words.
Even worse was the tiny traitorous voice inside her whispering that this thing with Aiden wasn’t for real, so there shouldn’t be anything wrong if she decided to take the money and run.
Except there would be everything wrong with it.
She hadn’t agreed to this because of money. She did it because she wanted justice done. Or vengeance. Or both. At this poi
nt, she’d settle for Dmitri Romanov being taken out of the equation in any way.
The problem was that things had ceased to be that simple almost immediately. She liked Aiden. She admired his strength in the face of impossible odds. She liked his sense of humor, which she’d only gotten glimpses of before last night. She liked how he made her feel … safe … even though she’d never been in more danger than in the last week and a half.
Charlie couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt safe.
The fact that she’d been shot at should negate that feeling. Not to mention Aiden’s many masks. He actively manipulated the people around him by using their expectations of him against them. As much as she wanted to believe that he dropped the mask around her, Charlie couldn’t be 100 percent sure of it. He told her to trust her instincts, but her instincts hadn’t told her that men she’d considered brothers were dirty cops. They hadn’t told her that her father would turn against her.
They hadn’t told her that she’d go and fall for Aiden O’Malley, a man who should be the enemy.
But he was so much more than the coldly calculating crime lord that she’d first met. He had a bone-deep honor that might not fit with society’s standard, but it functioned in the world he moved within. He loved his siblings, despite occasionally making decisions that hurt them—his bottom line to always keep them protected. It was for that love and responsibility that he’d stepped into his father’s place as head of the family.
Who would have thought that Aiden would have more loyalty than both Charlie’s father and her brothers-in-arms?
She didn’t want to let him go. Not yet.
The mindless work of rinsing off her dishes in the sink did nothing to settle the feeling inside her, like one step wrong would send her hurtling off a cliff. She felt guilty for even considering taking the money. She was supposed to be the righteous one, and she was just as fallible as anyone else when push came to shove.
It wasn’t a comfortable thought.
She turned around and went still. “How much did you hear?”
“It’s a good deal.” Aiden stood in the exact same spot that his father had just a few minutes earlier, though the icy feeling his father managed to project was nowhere to be found. He looked calm—too calm. “A million dollars to end a relationship that wasn’t real to begin with.”
Hearing her treacherous thoughts come out of his mouth hurt. A lot. Charlie started to wrap her arms around herself but stopped the motion halfway through. This wasn’t who she was—this weak woman who went with the flow and didn’t dare stand against the current. It used to be that she saw what she wanted, and God help anyone who tried to stand between her and her goal. Everything she’d staked her life on—that Justice saw in black and white, and the good guys always won—had proved to be false, and reality had almost broken her. She survived, but she’d lost part of herself in the process.
I want to be that woman again.
I want Aiden.
She walked slowly to him, studying his face like her very life depended on it. Too calm. No expression showed, though he looked like he was holding his breath while waiting for her response. He doesn’t want this to end any more than I do. She wanted to believe that was the truth and not just another mask, but she was terrified she was wrong.
“It’s a good deal.” She stopped in front of him, close enough that it would be the simplest thing in the world to slip her arms around his neck and press against him. “Though I’m inclined to tell your father to fuck right off. Unless you want me to take it.”
He stepped into her, pulling her against him. “Fuck no, I don’t want you to take that deal. I want you to stay.” Aiden gently touched her bandaged arms. “Though you’d be safer accepting that money and getting the hell out of Boston—and New York.”
“Maybe.” But maybe not. There were a lot of things to fear from the world if someone looked closely enough, and she’d spent most of her adult life doing exactly that. The crime statistics in most major cities were enough to keep a person up at night.
She laid her head on Aiden’s shoulder and inhaled the clean woodsy scent of him. She had no business feeling safe in his arms, but that didn’t stop the sensation from curling around her again. “We’ll figure it out.”
“Charlie …” He kissed the top of her head. “You’re right. I’ve already set some things in motion to figure out who the responsible party is. It’ll be taken care of.”
It’ll be taken care of. Those words could only mean one thing.
Aiden wasn’t going to hunt down the evidence and call the cops. He was going to deal with it outside the law. The same way we’re dealing with Dmitri Romanov. She took a shuddering breath. Crime statistics aside, she was lying to herself if she said that things were the same here as they were in the rest of the country. Boston might have law enforcement and lawyers and judges, but none of those people played a part in dealing with enemies on O’Malley territory.
She shivered. Right now was her opportunity to suggest he try something new—like actually calling the cops—but when she opened her mouth, that wasn’t what came out. “Okay.”
“Trust me, bright eyes.” He tipped up her chin and kissed her. “I’ll keep you safe.”
God help her, but she actually believed him.
* * *
Aiden found his father sitting with his mother in the library. He stopped in the door, struck by the fact that they looked old. Rationally, he knew they were almost sixty, but there had always been something ageless about both of them. The events of the last few years would be enough to age anyone. Even Aiden had new lines around his eyes that had never been there before.
His mother looked up and smiled. “Aiden.” She stood, and he crossed the room to give her a hug.
“Mother.” It was probably better that they were both here for this, because he didn’t doubt that his mother was capable of pulling the same shit Seamus had earlier. “Father.”
Seamus hadn’t stood, and he didn’t do more than nod now. “I trust you’re not going to do something stupid.”
“Stupid like offering my fiancée a million dollars to break off the engagement?”
Aileen turned to Seamus. “A million dollars? Are you insane?”
“She made a tough bargain.”
Aiden’s control snapped at its leash, but he fought back the anger as best he could. Punching his father in the face might feel satisfying in the moment, but ultimately it would cause more problems than it solved. So he sat down on the couch across from his parents with a perfectly contained demeanor. “You haven’t been in Boston for over a year—either of you. I don’t fault you the need to get away, but the fact remains that I’ve been running the O’Malley enterprises in the meantime. Though you seem to be under the impression that I’m going to ruin everything, the world hasn’t ended in your absence. Coming back here to resume control is out of the question. Meeting with gunrunners behind my back is out of the question. You’re putting our men in a hard situation, and this push and pull for leadership is going to get our people killed.”
Seamus lifted a single eyebrow. “Which is why you should step aside immediately.”
Aiden gritted his teeth. “Which is why you will go back to your early retirement in Connecticut.”
“Son, you know damn well that’s not going to happen.” His father leaned back and crossed his ankles. “You mishandled the Romanov situation. We’ve dealt with that Russian bastard time and time again, and nothing we’ve done has made the slightest impact on him. It’s time to face the fact that he’s a bigger fish than we are.”
The sheer lack of trust in Aiden made him see red. He’d successfully managed Romanov for well over a year, holding him off until things were in place to move. He hadn’t done that by being a fucking coward. “Sacrificing Keira is not the answer.”
His mother touched Seamus’s leg and leaned toward Aiden. “Have you asked your sister what she wants?”
He didn’t have to. Aiden already knew
what Keira would say. He’d seen her face the night Romanov sent his delightful little note with the ultimatum in it. A year wouldn’t have changed how his sister felt about the entire thing. “She’ll marry him just to end it.” That was why he’d fought so hard to allow her the ability to choose—truly choose—without the threat of potential war hanging over her head.
“That’s her choice.”
He stared at his mother. “You’ve got to be joking. Her choice? You didn’t give Carrigan a choice when you were going to shove her out the door and down the aisle to that monster. You would have done the same fucking thing to Sloan if she didn’t disappear.”
“If Carrigan had done her duty, none of this would be happening.” Seamus pushed Aileen’s hand away. “Don’t shush me, woman. You know I’m right. Keira’s a good girl, and she’s going to do what her older sisters failed to.”
Aiden shook his head. “Keira is an addict. She sees Romanov as just another form of killing herself, the same way she’s been killing herself since Devlin died.”
“Aiden.”
“It’s the goddamn truth.” He’d already talked to Liam before this meeting and figured out who on the staff would be a problem if it came to forcing his father out. There were surprisingly few of them. Most of his men had made the transition with him the week Seamus left. To have his father randomly show up and try to assume control was making everyone edgy. They might back Aiden if push came to shove, but he wanted to avoid putting them in that situation if at all possible.
Aiden stood and buttoned his suit jacket. “You will abide by my wishes in this, or you will be removed from the house. For now, we’ll move forward with planning the wedding, but it’s ultimately my decision with how that proceeds. Do you understand?”
Seamus’s face turned a mottled red that couldn’t be good for his blood pressure. “Crossing me is a mistake.”
