“Yeah, I thought you were turning tricks behind bars tonight,” I said.
“My mother bailed me out,” Angelina said. “Thanks to you, I now have to pay a fine and I have a record.”
“You already had a record,” I pointed out. “Didn’t you score the most points with the football team off the field one night?”
“I’m going to smack the crap out of you, Aisling,” Angelina seethed.
“If you touch her, I’ll smack you,” Griffin countered. “I don’t generally hit women, but if you touch her, I’ll make an exception.”
“And I’m going to kick you in your hoo-ha when he’s done,” Jerry added. “Although … I’m afraid I might lose a shoe up there. Maybe I should kick you someplace else.”
“Shut up, Jerry,” Angelina said. “No one is even talking to you.”
“No one is talking to you either,” I said. “Why are you here? You’re ruining surf and turf night. Someone throw her out! We’ll get you a shot of penicillin to ward off the Chlamydia before dinner.”
“Stop saying things like that,” Angelina howled. “Some people believe you when you spread that nonsense. While we’re at it, stop telling people I stuff. These are all real.” She grabbed her boobs and hiked them up. I couldn’t help but notice she left a lump of something behind.
“Your all-natural boobs dropped below your bra,” I said, pointing. “You might want to fix that in case someone thinks you’ve been stabbed in the boob … or needs to blow their nose.”
“I hate you,” Angelina muttered, shaking her head.
“Then why are you here?”
“I need to talk to you,” Angelina said, sobering as her gaze bounced between faces. “Alone.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Griffin said, immediately shaking his head. “You two can’t communicate without attacking one another, and Aisling can barely walk as it is. I’m not risking her getting another injury.”
“If you have something to say, Angelina, you’ll share it with the group,” Dad said.
“But … it’s private,” Angelina whined.
“So why would you want to share it with me?” Seriously, did I accidentally walk into an alternate universe? Is up suddenly down? Is left really right? I’m so confused … and I want my lobster.
“Aisling,” Angelina whimpered. “I really need to talk to you in private.”
“You don’t do anything in private,” I scoffed. “That includes showing your privates to the masses. That’s what your pimp put on your business cards, by the way.”
“Oh, my!” Barbara fanned herself as her cheeks reddened.
“You’ll become used to it,” Dad said. “Angelina, Aisling is not leaving this room with you. Tell all of us what’s going on or leave. I don’t care which.”
“I care,” I said. “I want you to go. It’s lobster night. You have crabs. They don’t mix.”
Griffin pressed his eyes shut and chuckled. “I just … your mind is a wonder sometimes.”
“Fine,” Angelina snapped, shaking her head. “I want to talk to you about John.”
“Oh, you mean your client who lies about where he works and who he is? What do you want to know?”
“I want to know if you were telling the truth,” Angelina said. “I … is he really not who he says he is?”
She looked sad at the prospect.
“Angelina, we ran John Anderson because we didn’t like his interest in Aisling,” Cillian answered for me. “We couldn’t find him. The place he claims to work for went bust years ago, and no John Anderson ever worked there. He’s a fraud.”
“But … .” Angelina clasped her hands and paced. “He’s disappeared.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I mean the phone number he gave me has been disconnected and the apartment he was living in on the west side is empty,” Angelina replied. “I’d never been to his apartment before, but he gave me an address when he filled out his initial paperwork to start looking for a home. I went over there about an hour ago, and it was completely empty, almost as if no one was living there at all.”
“When did you first meet him?” Dad asked, leaning forward.
“About three weeks ago.”
“Did he ask about Aisling?” Redmond asked.
“If he asked about Aisling I would’ve sent him to another agent,” Angelina said. “I like money, but I hate Aisling. The hate beats the love in this scenario.”
I could see that. “Did he suggest checking out the house that first day we met, or did you?”
“I did,” Angelina replied. “I thought he would like it. All he could focus on once we saw you and your big bag of porn was you. He has to be crazy or evil. There can be no other explanation.”
I could see that, too. I felt exactly the same way. “Have you been dating him?”
“Not really,” Angelina hedged. “I’ve let him know I’m open for offers, but he’s basically been more interested in seeing houses and asking questions about my childhood.”
“And there’s the connection,” Braden said. “He asked about Angelina’s childhood because he knew the conversation would eventually turn to Aisling. He didn’t want to tip Angelina off – or alienate her – so he pretended to be looking for a house.”
“What did you tell him about Aisling?” Dad asked. “Did you tell him about our family? Did he seem curious about our family?”
“I … don’t know,” Angelina said, shrugging. “He asked about growing up in Grosse Pointe. He wanted to know about my friends. He did ask about enemies, but I never mentioned Aisling for obvious reasons.”
“What reasons?” Griffin asked.
“Because she’s crazy and I swear like a sailor whenever her name comes up,” Angelina answered. “It’s not very professional.”
“Did he keep harping on your enemies?”
Angelina nodded. “I never brought up Aisling until the day we saw her outside of that house with her Playboys, though. Then all he could talk about was her.”
“What did you tell him then?” Cillian asked.
“I told him the truth,” Angelina replied. “I told him she was slow, slutty and smelled bad. Trust me. I didn’t want to dwell on Aisling. Every time he tried to steer the conversation to her, I changed it to something else. I didn’t say anything but the usual unflattering truth I usually spout about Aisling.”
“And now he’s gone,” Dad mused. “That’s … interesting.”
“It could’ve had something to do with those threats you lobbed at him at the police station,” I said. “Maybe you frightened him.”
“Or maybe he’s trying to cover his tracks so we can’t find him,” Griffin said. “I’m going to have his fingerprints run through the national database to see if we can get a hit. They didn’t pop locally, but we usually don’t run a national search for disturbing the peace cases.”
“That’s a fine idea,” Dad said. “Until we have answers, Aisling, you’re to go absolutely nowhere on your own. You’ll either be with one of your brothers or Griffin. Don’t bother to argue.”
“That should make going to the bathroom a fun adventure,” I muttered.
“What about me?” Angelina pressed. “What am I supposed to do about John?”
“Thank your lucky stars you got away from him and move on,” I suggested. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, and if you ever repeat it I’ll deny it, but you’re actually too good for him.”
“Oh, wow! Hell just froze over,” Redmond said, shaking his head. “All of the signs were there and I didn’t believe it. Everyone duck and cover. The world is coming to an end.”
“Ha, ha,” Angelina intoned, making a face. “I guess that means he’s not going to buy a house.”
“You surely are a quick one, slutbag,” I said.
“And we’re back,” Redmond said, sighing. “Whew. That was a close one.”
“All is right in our Aisling world again,” Griffin said, offering me a fond smile. “I was wor
ried there for a second, baby.”
“How is it that Aisling gets you and I get stiffed?” Angelina complained.
I opened my mouth, a really nasty play on words about Angelina getting “stiffed” on the tip of my tongue, but Dad cut me off.
“You can let some of them go, Aisling.”
Could I? I wasn’t so sure.
21
Twenty-One
“Oh, man … kill me now.”
I rolled to my side the next morning and rested my fingers on the carpet as I tried to ready myself to move. Griffin suggested sleeping in the new townhouse again – he kept calling it a “test run,” but I think he really liked the privacy – and I was secretly glad I didn’t have to move too far to get to the floor. Pulling myself to a standing position given my back pain was another story.
“Hold still,” Griffin murmured, slipping his arm under my waist and tugging my body on top of his. He pressed a kiss to my forehead and rubbed his fingers into my lower back, immediately sending me into a state of bliss. He was warm, and the idea of cuddling like this the entire day appealed to me.
“Oh, now this moving in together thing is even better than I thought it was going to be when you first told me about it,” I said, moaning as he dug his fingers into the tender tissue. He was gentle but firm, and if I didn’t already love him I would fall head over heels thanks to his massage skills. “You can do this every day for the rest of my life.”
Griffin chuckled. “Are you saying you want to hire me as your personal masseur?”
“I’m saying … oh, baby! Right there.”
“Oh, gross,” Aidan said, taking me by surprise as he padded into the room. Thankfully I was dressed for this visit from the friendly neighborhood brother fairy – and no, I don’t mean that in a derogatory way – so I didn’t have to scramble to cover myself. “Do you know you can hear Aisling moaning from the front porch?”
“I’m starting to regret giving you a key, man,” Griffin said, keeping at his finger ministrations even as he shot a dark look in Aidan’s direction. “First you loaned it to Redmond and Cillian to surprise us yesterday morning and now you’re dropping in unannounced. This is why we need separate places.”
“I’m sorry,” Aidan said, although he didn’t look it. “I didn’t want to risk knocking in case Aisling was still asleep. She’s a bear when you wake her.”
“My teddy bear,” Griffin teased, kissing the tip of my nose.
“Oh, you two are so sick,” Aidan muttered. “I’m extremely glad we’re switching from one household to two.”
“Me too,” Griffin said pointedly. “With that in mind, what are you doing here?”
“I came to make sure you still want to do what you suggested last night,” Aidan said as I practically purred my satisfaction with Griffin’s magic fingers against his chest. “We have a big list and I need to know how to separate it.”
“I still want to do it,” Griffin said. “I called my boss and told him I couldn’t come in today. I don’t have any ongoing cases, so he was fine with it.”
It took me a moment to realize they were talking … and quite possibly about me. “Wait, what are you guys talking about?”
“Oh, you finally stopped rubbing yourself against Griffin long enough to realize we’re having a real conversation,” Aidan deadpanned. “How nice.”
I made a face. “I’m not rubbing myself against him.”
“Pretty close, baby,” Griffin said. “In fact, if you don’t stop it, Aidan is going to see another kind of a show in a second. He won’t like it.”
I forced myself to remain still even though it was the last thing I wanted to do. “What are you guys talking about? Why is Griffin taking the day off work? And why would he care how you divide what list?”
Aidan and Griffin exchanged a look, and I felt my temper flare, though I had no idea why. I had a feeling something was about to go very wrong.
“You can’t go on jobs alone because of your back … and shoulder … and face … and your lingering hip issue,” Griffin said, choosing his words carefully. “So, today I’m going with you when you do your list.”
My mouth dropped open. “You can’t do that! It’s against the rules.” Only reapers are supposed to collect souls. Regular people? Yeah, that’s a no-no.
“Yes, well, I don’t really care about the rules,” Griffin said. “I care about keeping you safe so you can rub yourself on top of me for more entertaining reasons in the future. I talked to your father about it last night when you were eating your third lobster tail, and he agreed that I could watch you.”
“You’re getting easy jobs … and they’re all in one place,” Aidan said.
“That means I’m getting a retirement home, right?” Just great.
“Actually, no,” Aidan countered. “You’re getting the hospital. There are three people expiring within a three-hour window. That’s in public, so you should be relatively safe. You can take your ring and your bodyguard, so you should be fine.”
“But … .” This was freaking unbelievable. “I don’t need a babysitter.”
“Yes, you do,” Griffin and Aidan said in unison.
I decided to try another tactic. “Griffin, you can’t take a day off work just to watch me,” I said. “It’s not fair to you.”
“I have days banked,” Griffin replied. “Before you, I didn’t want to take a lot of time off. What better reason to burn them?”
“But … days off are supposed to be fun and relaxing,” I prodded. “How is this going to be fun and relaxing for you?”
“I’ll be a bundle of nerves worrying about you all day if I’m not with you,” Griffin said. “This way I’ll know where you are … and that you’re safe.”
“We’re all worried about John Anderson going off the grid,” Aidan said. “We still don’t know what he was after or why he chose to go after you through Angelina. That’s cause for concern.
“We have to get through all of our charges, and that means we need you to pull your weight,” he continued. “Griffin can act as your bodyguard and lookout.”
“And make sure you don’t mouth off to the wrong person,” Griffin added.
“I’m totally insulted,” I groused.
“You’ll get over it,” Griffin said. “I’ve always wanted to see how you do your job. Now I get to do that and keep you safe at the same time.”
“How thrilling!” I pasted a fake smile on my face and rolled my eyes.
“I’ll also buy you breakfast and lunch and take you to furniture stores to look around when we’re done,” Griffin offered.
Crap. That was something of an enticement.
“Can we look at stuff like dishes … and towels … and sheets, too?” Hey, if I’m getting forced into a bad situation, I’m getting my money’s worth.
“Yes, that sounds like a thrilling afternoon,” Griffin said. “We can also go to that bookstore you love to have coffee, and you can browse to your heart’s content. That’s only if you agree to this arrangement without complaint, though. If you complain, I’m still going and I’m taking all of my offers off the table.”
That didn’t sound like I had much negotiating room. I was still open to trying. “Can we sit in those massage chairs at the mall for a half hour when we’re shopping?”
Griffin smirked. “Yes.”
“You have a deal,” I said, resting my head back against Griffin’s chest. “Now I need you to rub my back until we have to get in the shower. Aidan, leave the list on the floor and get out. I’m about to start rolling around on top of Griffin again.”
“I can’t decide whether Aisling has been a worse influence on you, Griffin, or if it’s the other way around.”
Griffin laughed as I moaned, and Aidan frowned. “I think it might be one of those mutual things in which we’ve been a bad influence on each other.”
“OKAY, what should we do first?” Griffin looked a little too excited about his first day on the job with me as we climbed out of his Ford E
xplorer in the hospital parking lot shortly before ten. I tried not to hold it against him.
“We go to the coffee shop and buy coffee.”
Griffin frowned. “I thought we were working?”
“We are working, but my first charge isn’t due to shuffle off the mortal coil for another twenty minutes,” I explained. “There’s no reason we can’t get coffee to tide us over.”
“So, basically you’re saying this job is a lot of screwing around and about three minutes of work. Am I right?”
“It’s a good thing you’re handsome,” I muttered, fighting the urge to sigh as he pushed me in front of him to make sure my back was covered. “You’re kind of a pain otherwise.”
“Yes, well, you already love me so it’s too late to complain about things like that,” Griffin said, his eyes busy as they scanned the people walking to the hospital entrance. “Give me a rundown of how this goes. You have to wear that ring thing when people are around, right?”
I nodded. “That means you’ll have to hang out in the hallway and do your best not to look suspicious,” I said. “The ring makes me invisible, but it won’t cover you.”
“I can live with that,” Griffin said. “I’m kind of excited to see you disappear.”
I wrinkled my nose as I slowed my pace. “Excuse me?”
“That came out wrong,” Griffin said, chuckling. “I mean I’m excited to see the magic part. It’s kind of like you’re Harry Potter.”
“That makes you kind of a pervert for what we did this morning. Harry Potter was a child.”
“What I did,” Griffin clarified. “I did all of the work.”
“Yes, well, I’m in pain,” I said, grinning. “You did a good job, if that helps.”
“Maybe a little,” Griffin conceded, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. “I know you’re probably not used to fraternizing on the job, but I’m looking forward to our day together. We’ll spend three hours in the hospital and then we’ll have an entire afternoon just to us.”
“I’m excited for our afternoon, too,” I said. “I’m almost giddy about all the shopping we’re going to do. Just so you know, though, I fraternize on the job all of the time. I’m a very popular girl.”
Grim Reunion (Aisling Grimlock Book 4) Page 18
