“Excuse me?” Anderson snapped out.
“I wanted your assurances The Alliance had nothing to do with the death of Alessia Romano, now known as Josie McClintock.”
My heart stuttered. I’d thought Moreau had ordered her death as reparation for me leaving The League. I was wrong to have ever suspected it, but when I’d heard Anderson was meeting with him . . .
“Of course not.” Anderson’s denial wasn’t very convincing.
Moreau returned his attention to me, his eyes focused on the gun still pointed at him. “You know I didn’t hurt her, my son.” He slowly left the study to join me in the foyer area. “I’d never do such a thing. Nor would I break one of the most sacred rules.”
Rule Two: No killing women—not unless they were assassins sent to kill you.
I sucked in a breath, knowing no matter who killed my sister, this was my fault. Her blood would forever soak my hands.
Moreau gently brought his palm over my hand that held the gun. After a moment, I released my grip and let him take it, then dropped to my knees on the tiled floor.
“She’s dead.” I never allowed myself to cry, but for her I would. She was an innocent dreamer with a heart too damn big. “It should’ve been me.”
He crouched before me and set the gun on the floor, then placed his hands on my shoulders. “When I lost my wife, I wanted to kill everyone. I understand how you feel, and it’s not easy. But say the word, and you’ll have the full weight of La Ligue des Frères backing you. We’ll find out who killed her, and we’ll seek justice.”
I dragged my gaze up to his to ensure I could believe him. His eyes were sorrowful, almost as if he shared my pain.
“I assume we’ll have your support as well?” Moreau asked Anderson. “When Sebastian left The League, we made a deal.”
“What deal?” I stood, as did Moreau, but my legs were fucking rubber.
“That The Alliance wouldn’t touch you even though you were no longer in our organization,” Moreau explained. “I told you that you’re like a son to me. Even if you’re not League, I-I couldn’t let anything happen to you.”
“We made a deal, yes,” Anderson said. “No one on my payroll killed Alessia Romano.”
The Alliance. The League of Brothers. If neither were responsible—then who?
“What do you know about her death?” Moreau pointed to the study. Two armchairs sat in front of a lit fireplace off to the side of a desk.
I took a minute to try and pull myself together. It’d only been a day since I met with the coroner. There had been nothing left of her body but ashes. Dental records had been a match, though. I reached for her Celtic cross in my pocket and gripped it. Somehow, it had survived the fire.
“She, uh, was in my home in Paris,” I whispered as I sat, physically unable to speak any louder. I was too gutted. Too shocked.
I drew in a shaky breath, then recounted one of the worst days of my life.
I’d received an anonymous text informing me Alessia was inside my home and that it was currently burning to the ground . . . I hadn’t believed it.
I called her immediately. No answer. Called another three times.
I’d phoned members of The League in Italy to try and locate her as I raced from my hotel to my home, hoping to hell the text had been a sick fecking joke.
When I’d pulled up to my street, both levels of my home were engulfed in flames. I’d barely noticed the crowd of people eyeing the fire, the squawking of walkie-talkies, the high-powered spray of water, the shouting firemen. It was all a blur.
I’d tried to get inside and confirm she wasn’t really there. It took seven men and a pair of handcuffs to hold me back.
“I need to know who did this,” I appealed to Moreau. “Whatever it takes.”
Moreau waved Anderson off, and once we were alone, he declared, “Rejoin The League. We’ll have everyone, including The Alliance, working toward finding justice.”
“I don’t want anything to do with The Alliance,” I rasped, still not sure if I could believe they were guilt-free in this matter. I’d racked up a number of enemies in their organization before The League had issued a truce.
My heart was fucking broken. The heart I thought I’d lost when my mother died. Alessia had helped to remind me it’d never been lost, it was merely damaged.
“You must join us again.”
The sight of Luca running down the stairs into the foyer caught my eye. Glock in hand, he rushed into the room but came to an abrupt halt when he saw me. “Sebastian.”
My best friend looked both relieved and heartbroken. I’d ignored his calls since it all happened.
“What do you need?” he asked. “Name it.”
I had no doubt Luca, also Moreau’s nephew, would help me seek revenge.
“What Sebastian needs to do is take his rightful place as a leader like he should’ve done a long time ago,” Moreau said in a steady voice. “We’ll find who did this to her. We’ll get vengeance.” He nodded, his eyes growing dark. “It’s what we do.”
Chapter Nineteen
Present Day
Sebastian
“How was your trip?” Luca was sitting at my bar with a devious smirk on his face when I arrived. “You look both relaxed and on edge at the same time.” He shook his head. “I swear it’s a look only you can pull off.”
I cursed under my breath and grabbed a bottle of whiskey, prepared to drink far too much even though it was only seven at night.
“You were with Holly last night in Limerick, right?”
He wasn’t going to let this go.
“Is she going to sell the land?” He stood and strode closer, his eyes narrowing on me.
“She doesn’t have a choice.” I decided not to let him know about the new deal I was hoping to propose instead.
I opened the bottle and brought it to my lips. Two times in less than twenty hours I was drinking straight from the damn bottle. Luca would know something was wrong just by that behavior alone.
“You fucked her, didn’t you? Took you long enough.” Normally, I ignored Luca’s crass behavior, but in this instance, he was talking about Holly. His chuckle came across as lewd, his words vulgar.
My jaw clenched tight, and I did my best not to snatch his shirt and yank him close.
He wasn’t just Moreau’s nephew, and my friend, he was almost as dangerous as me. I didn’t need bad blood between us because I’d been the one to mess up and sleep with Holly.
“So, you’re remorseful about it, huh?” He brought his hand to the counter off to his side and closed one eye. “You know,” he added, his voice dropping lower than normal, “you haven’t been the same since Alessia died. Always so angry.”
“Do you blame me?” I roared, grateful we were alone at the club.
We were closed on Wednesdays, so Ola and the others wouldn’t be there prepping for the opening.
“You shouldn’t have gotten out, you knew the risks.”
He’d never spoken like this to me before. He’d never openly admitted the truth—that Alessia’s death was my fault.
I’d hoped by distancing myself from Alessia after I left The League she’d be safe. I explained to her the only way I could get out was to put space between us.
I made her give up the club, leave Dublin and move to Sicily—a place run by Signore Calibrisi. I thought she’d be safe there. No enemies would dare step foot in his territory and kill a woman.
I hadn’t counted on anyone being crazy enough to abduct Alessia and bring her back to my home in Paris to be burned alive. It’d been an eye for a fucking eye. My sister gone because I’d once taken the life of a man’s brother.
When I’d gone after the bastard, seeking my own vengeance, I almost died that night, too. Almost bled to death.
I’d been lying on the ground, eyes on the sky, and thinking about dying. Justice had been met. I didn’t need to live anymore.
But something, maybe it was Alessia’s voice in my head, wouldn’t let me give up that night.
/>
And if I had died, Holly would be dead now, too. I’d managed to save her life, even if she didn’t know it. But now that I was falling for her—hell, I’d already fallen—I could be the reason she ends up dead.
The world was messy. Entirely too complicated.
“You run Ireland now. You have every League leader’s devotion no matter what you do. And now you have Holly. I say stop mourning and living in the past, brother.” He grabbed hold of my shoulder, but I stepped back and out of his reach.
“Don’t ever tell me what to do,” I said through gritted teeth. “Or our friendship won’t protect you.”
He cocked a brow and held both palms in the air. “I’d hoped getting laid would loosen you up. Guess I was wrong.” He saluted me. “Au revoir, mon ami.”
I set the bottle down and pounded the bar with my fist once he was gone. A moment later, my mobile vibrated on the bar top.
A text from Holly.
Holly: I’m worried. Can we talk?
What would I say? I’d barely spoken a word to her since we left the hotel in Limerick this morning, and then I dodged her calls all day.
Holly: I’m home now. Can you come over?
Holly: Please.
I stowed my mobile in my pocket, dropped both palms onto the counter and bowed my head, not sure how in the hell I’d gotten myself into this situation.
I was the bloody League leader of Ireland. I was feared by everyone who knew my name. And all it took was one woman to bring me to my knees.
* * *
“You came.” Holly stepped out of the way and motioned me inside. Against my better judgment, I entered her home, slipped off my loafers, and tossed my coat.
I knew what would happen, too.
I’d be powerless to stop it—to stop myself.
She stood before me in black sweats and a white tank top, no bra. Fuck, I could make out her nipples. Her glossy lips parted as she prepared to speak, but I didn’t let her get that far.
I gathered the fabric of her tank top and guided her arms up to free her of it before I seized her face between my palms and kissed her.
She didn’t push me away and demand answers—ask me the meaning of the words I’d delivered at the hotel in Limerick. No, she kissed me like her life depended on it.
She wrapped her legs around my waist, and I carried her down the hall and into the kitchen, never losing hold of her mouth.
I set her down in front of the kitchen island and reached back to pull my shirt over my head, then hastily discarded the rest of my clothing while she did the same. I slapped a condom onto the counter and snatched her into my arms, bringing her legs back where they belonged—tight around me, her body pressed to mine.
In seconds, I had her against the wall, her arms around the back of my neck, hanging on as she kissed me.
I was going to take her right there in the kitchen. Then in the living room. Her bedroom. Every room in the house.
I would make her mine, even if it was forbidden. Even if this wasn’t why I’d shown up.
I couldn’t wait any longer to be inside of her. And when her legs suddenly dropped to the floor, and she pushed me away, only to sink to her knees before me—my heart stopped working.
My back hit the kitchen island, and I grabbed on to the counter edge as she worked her mouth over my hard cock. She wrapped a hand around the root, and teased her tongue along the edges of the head.
I clenched my teeth as I watched her nearly choke, tears in her eyes, as she took all of me.
The loud knock at the door, followed by a buzzer, should have stopped her.
“Holly,” I warned when the buzzer went off again.
“Not until you come.” She lifted her chin to look up at me, her gorgeous eyes dilated, her lips swollen.
I nodded, unwilling and unable to tell this woman no—even when a thunderous voice came from outside the front door.
“Who’s here with you? Holly, can you let me in?” A pause. Another set of raps hammering at the door. “Are you okay?”
Her brother Adam. Just grand. That should’ve killed my mood, but I was too close to coming in her mouth, and no way could I back down now.
She continued to suck harder but not quite faster, followed by slow, torturous swirls of her tongue around the head of my cock.
My fists met the countertop on each side of me, my entire body shuddering as I came inside her mouth. She sucked the life and every last drop out of me.
“Holly!”
Adam’s voice. Right.
“Get dressed.” She stood, smiling. Reluctant to let her go, I grabbed hold of her and kissed her swollen lips. “Go in the other room.”
I grabbed my clothes and went through the connecting door, only to find more unopened boxes. Her brother wasn’t some gobshite; he knew she wasn’t alone. My driver, Nick, was parked out front for feck’s sake. So, I got dressed and went back into the kitchen before Adam broke down doors to find me.
I caught a glimpse of him heading my way, quickly snagged the unopened condom off the counter and tucked it into my back pocket.
His eyes seized mine from down the hall. “What the hell are you doing here?” He barreled straight at me, ready to swing.
“Adam, don’t you dare!” Holly yelled from behind and fisted his jacket in an attempt to pull him back.
Adam’s mouth was tight, his eyes on me, ready to unleash the fighter he kept caged inside.
I rested my palm on the kitchen island off to my side, my energy totally spent after she’d drained me of it. “What do you want?” I asked him, trying to maintain my cool.
“Why is he here?” Adam turned as Holly came around to stand between us, stretching her arms out as if trying to prevent the exchange of blows.
“And why are you here?” she asked instead.
“I’ve been calling you. I wanted to make sure you were okay after being alone with this arsehole on your trip.”
“I’m fine.” She lowered her arms only to cross them over her chest.
Now, with her brother present, she wore a jumper over her tank top to hide her nipples—nipples I still needed to lick and bite.
My cock twitched at the thought. Apparently, my energy for round two had already returned, even with her overbearing brother in the kitchen with us.
“You shouldn’t be alone with him in your house. Why is he here?”
“None of your bloody business,” she returned, her voice steady and confident.
She turned and brought her back flush to the marble island where I’d been standing only minutes ago. Images of her kneeling before me would forever haunt my mind long after we’d have to part ways.
Adam stepped closer and glared at me. “You should go.”
“I think that’s up to Holly.” I cocked my head, noticing the angry tic of muscle at his jawline.
“Adam.” She reached for his arm. “We’re—”
“Here for work,” I interrupted. “I was dropping off papers.”
I didn’t need her putting ideas in his head about there ever being an us. An “us” was impossible given the life I led.
“You expect me to believe that?” Every flexed muscle in his body indicated he wanted to rip me to shreds. If I’d ever found some bloke I hated alone with Alessia, I probably wouldn’t have had his restraint.
“I don’t really give a damn what you believe.” Holly extended her arm, pointing to the door. “Now go.”
Damned if part of me felt guilty I was putting a wedge between her and her brother. I’d give anything to have my sister back.
“You know he’s dangerous.” Adam’s voice dropped about as low as it could go.
“Adam, we talked about this. You know how I feel . . . you called me out on it,” she said, her tone softer than I expected. “Don’t act so surprised to discover we slept together.”
Damn it.
“I thought I knew you,” he said, disappointment in his voice, “but I guess I was wrong.”
He turned on his he
el and left the kitchen, the front door banging shut behind him.
She placed a hand on my chest, embarrassment coloring her cheeks to a soft pink. “I’m so sorry.”
She was so beautiful. Her stunning, soft green eyes lifted to mine and pulled me into her world, a place where I wanted to live, even if I didn’t belong.
I held her face between my palms and dipped in, prepared to kiss her, but my mobile began vibrating. My other mobile. The one provided to me by The League that only leaders held.
I released my hold of her and stepped back. “I have to take this, I’m sorry.”
She nodded and turned. The sag of her shoulders, the slope of her spine—classic guilt. But before I could figure out how to help her, I had to answer the call.
“It’s Calibrisi,” Moreau said straight away. “He’s dying. One day tops. We’re assembling in Sicily tomorrow. He’s named his replacement, and we need to vote.”
I hung my head, my heart heavy at the news. “I’m on my way.” I ended the call.
“What’s wrong?”
“A friend of mine is dying. I’ve gotta go to Italy,” I admitted, unable to lie to her.
Her eyes thinned with concern. “I’m so sorry.”
“I knew it was coming. Lung cancer. But I didn’t expect it so soon.” I cupped my mouth, trying to digest the truth.
Calibrisi had been one of the founding League members.
“I need to leave tonight.” I brought my lips to hers and stole that kiss I’d wanted before the call, knowing it could quite possibly be our last.
Chapter Twenty
Holly
I looked around my brother’s gym as I draped my wool coat over my arm, careful not to trip in my heels.
“You can’t fight in that get-up.”
I looked to my left to find my brother’s best friend, Les, exiting the cage. His barrel chest was more muscular than I remembered when I’d made the tragic mistake of sleeping with him. He tossed his gloves onto a folding chair, his eyes moving over the length of my cream-colored wrap dress.
“Not gonna happen again,” I scolded in response to the slow journey of appreciation he’d taken of my legs before landing on the V-neck of my dress.
The Real Deal: A Dublin Nights Novel Page 15
