by Wyatt, Dani
“Lilly.” Flynn said.
His tongue felt thick, filling a mouth so dry it was as if someone had spoon fed him sawdust. He remembered Lilly’s face, she was here. Or was she?
“Lilly? Now, boy, I heard some names before, but I surely don’t think your name is Lilly. Now, try again and you got a phone somewhere here? In your pocket, maybe?”
Flynn blew out a long, slow breath, trying to concentrate on her questions and at the same time, still wondering why she was there and how she'd gotten inside.
“My phone’s over there, next to that clock.” He didn’t realize he knew that.
“Boys! Get in here!”
Flynn squinted as the woman yelled out the open front door. Three young boys appeared, only two wearing shirts and one only wearing shoes. They looked like an urban version of those Russian nesting dolls, each one just a size smaller than the last.
The bright whites of their eyes shot from the woman to the crumpled, tattooed, shirtless man on the floor.
“See if his phone is over by the clock, and go in the bedroom and find him a shirt, a button one.”
The three scattered like they were being chased, one toward the clock and two into the only bedroom, where Flynn kept his closet as organized as any barracks.
“How’d you get here?” Flynn croaked as he cleared his throat, still unsure if this was just another of the many bizarre dreams he’d found himself inside the last few days.
“Your door standing wide open when I came back from the store. I wasn’t goin’ come in, ‘til I seen you slumped down here. Boy, that looks bad. What happened to you? You don’t look like you belong here. You’re too pretty.” She gave Flynn a brilliant smile, and any other time he would have understood the humor.
“I’m okay. I just need some water.” Flynn’s voice sounded like it came out of a shorted-out, drive-through speaker.
“You need more than water.” The lilt in her voice turned to concern.
“Grandma, here’s the phone.”
All three of the boys stood around her, one holding up Flynn’s iPhone and the other two each dangling a shirt in front of the woman, both hoping they would be the one who retrieved the perfect choice.
“Now, boy, you need help. How you work this? I’m going to call someone for you.”
“Here, Grandma, I’ll show you.”
The tallest of the clan quickly took charge of the technology department and fell to the floor, placing Flynn’s thumb on the bottom button.
“There. It’s open, now you jus’ touch here, and you can call someone.”
The woman adjusted the crooked glasses that teetered on the end of her nose. She screwed up her face, and then broke into a wide motherly grin.
“Lilly.” She gave Flynn a wink. “There’s a Lilly in here, I guess that’s who we gonna call for him, boys.”
“No, wait, don’t—” Flynn pushed up on his left arm, and a riot of intense burning pain ignited like Napalm under his skin, then his head fell back and clunked against the floor.
Now that strange mist was back. It covered the four faces that stared down at him, muffling their voices before the curtain closed and the bizarre scene went dark.
***
“I should have left you there.” Colin sat legs and hands crossed in the wing-back chair, watching the maid tend to the fresh bandages.
“Why didn’t you?” Flynn asked.
There still hung a strange fog over everything, although the alternating chills and hot flashes seemed to have abated over the last twenty-four hours.
“I’m not entirely sure. But, it didn’t seem fitting that my own blood should die on the floor of some tenement from a wound inflicted by my own men. Ours is a strange world, isn’t it? If you had only fought back the other night, you could have been dead. Now, here you are, right back into the fold, and I am saving you. I do love irony.” Colin looked at his watch.
Flynn struggled for breath as one of the household staff gave him a sympathetic glance from her place at the end of the couch.
His heart beat again, knowing Lilly was close, somewhere in the main house—walking, breathing, being.
Fuck, this is never going to work. I can’t be this close to her. They’re going to nurse me back to health, then just end up killing me. What a fucked up world.
“Just stay away from her; it’s that simple. When I marry her, she will be your stepmother. A young bride to bring two powerful families together. It’s a marriage that will serve to bring prosperity for the next generation. Your generation. Your children’s generation.”
Flynn curled his fingers into his palm.
The estate’s guest house was impeccably furnished. But, even here in the tasteful, classic decor, Flynn would rather be lying on the floor of his filthy apartment.
“When you are well again, you have a job to do.” Colin raised his hand when Flynn tilted his head in distrust. “Topher is counting on you. He needs you on the inside over at that hole of a gym. He has an investment, you know. Let’s just get a fresh start. All this unpleasantness over a girl is so unnecessary. You’ve never had a problem finding a good fuck for yourself, so stay away from my asset, agreed?”
“You don’t give a shit about her besides her usefulness to your wallet. Why marry her?”
“Because, that is how it’s done.” Colin answered with bored irritation with a shake of his head. “Marriages like ours have kept this family strong and prosperous for generations. You don’t remember the years when the war was raging between the MacGuires and ourselves. I lost three of my brothers and countless other soldiers. These unions keep the precarious truce intact. Besides, Lilly marries me, and she gains her citizenship and gets to save her mother. She provides us with the new platform for our online gambling applications, and we all win. She completes her task, binds our families, and we will bring her mother here as she so desires. She lives a life of luxury she would never dream of back in Ireland. Her mother receives the best medical care my money and connections can buy, and everyone wins. Don’t be fooled by her wit or her provincial innocence. Lilly is as ruthless as I and smarter than will do her good. She is playing our little game just as much as any of us.”
A streak of sunlight crept up from the deep tones of the rug, across the bed and rested on the jagged red of the stitched crevice across Flynn’s tattooed torso. His cocoa brown hair was as tousled as ever, and the emerald green of his eyes deepened listening to his father talk about the woman who still gripped his heart.
“It’s bullshit, all of it.”
“You never did understand. You have too much of your mother in you. She was soft-hearted, a romantic like you.”
“Are we done here?” Flynn asked.
The slight figure of the uniformed maid cleaning up the red and yellow soaked bandages quickly moved to stand quietly by the door.
“Just stay away from her. Do you hear me? I’ve lost my patience with your sophomoric crush. I understand you hate me. It makes no difference, but when you interfere with Lilly, you interfere with profits and plans that go far beyond your reasoning, and men like us kill for far less. This is your last chance—no more pardons, no more last-minute reprieves.”
Colin stood up with an irritated sigh, buttoned his jacket and turned to the door, nodding for the sheepish young woman to take her leave also, which she did, relieved to be free from the tension of their conversation.
Flynn locked his eyes on his father. He sucked a breath through his teeth, his brow inching together as he challenged him with a stare.
“She’ll never love you.”
“Of course she won’t.” Colin laughed louder than Flynn had heard in years. “Just do as you’re told. We’ll put you back to work, get you fighting again and you will feel better. That is who you are, a soldier, a fighter. I understand the dalliance, but you do not want to become mired in some romantic version of Romeo and Juliet. You remember how that ended, don’t you? You’ll heal. Two weeks of antibiotics and good behavior, you’ll be
right back on your feet. Get your head straight. You are my son, but that will not buy you any more favor than you’ve already received.” Colin scrutinized Flynn as he lay staring back at the man who taught him how to be a ruthless, soulless beast both in the ring and out.
“I’ll be back in a few days. I’m flying out to Boston in a few hours. This program Lilly is working on holds our world in its hands. We have families all over the country that want a piece of the pie, and I intend to squeeze every penny out of them.”
Even with his father pontificating in front of him, Flynn couldn’t shake the vision of Lilly's face. Her perfume drifted on the air even though he knew there was no possible way her scent could reach so far. The main house stood across a green expanse of lawn, complete with an enormous pool and manicured garden. But still, even as his father’s voice droned on, it was her scent that captured his attention.
It hurts. It fucking hurts like an exotic virus has invaded every damn cell in my body. Where is she? What is she doing? Why the fuck do I go my whole damn life with barely a blip on my radar and then she comes and blows my fucking world up.
Flynn rolled his eyes as Colin kept on.
“Topher will call you in a couple weeks. Make sure you are ready to take your place, assuming your infection hasn’t spread and killed you by then. You will enjoy your new job, I think. You need to get back in the ring. Who knows, with some new training, you may just be able to use your talent for more than a paid punching bag or an unarmed murderer.”
Flynn shut his eyes and let his father’s voice fade into the buzzing inside his head. When he opened his eyes again, the shadows in the room were longer, and he was alone, shivering.
Fuck. A week ago, I was ready to fucking die — now I’m ready to go to war.
Chapter Seven
Lilly looked around the expansive main lounge of the Belmont Arms at the wrinkled faces, the wheelchairs and walkers. Though the decor was right out of penthouse at the Plaza, there hung a sadness in the air that came from knowing this would probably be the last stop for most of the residents.
A cheerful, plump-faced attendant had shown her to a quiet corner while she waited for them to bring Mac down from therapy. He fell a few weeks ago and broke his hip. It wasn’t a bad break, didn’t require surgery, but still, for a 94-year old, it slowed him down even more.
Mac fought the wheelchair for as long as he could. But, when it became abundantly clear the device would at least give him some freedom, he acquiesced with several terse words for the staff along the way.
They treated him quite well, but he took every opportunity to be fresh with the care staff and came very close to being asked to find other accommodations when he couldn’t seem to keep his hands to himself.
He was one of the only friends Lilly had made since Topher and his father picked her up at the airport and ushered her into her golden handcuffs. Mac was sitting in the back of the limo that day next to his son, and there was something about his faded blue eyes and gruff manner that shielded a warm soul.
Soon, Lilly found in the old man a kindred spirit, a touchstone in this strange new life. A grandfather she never knew quickly became the only person that brought her joy.
She heard ding of the elevator, turning to watch as Mac flung his hands on the wheels to drive himself forward with a grimace as his faded blue eyes met Lilly’s.
“You said you would be here an hour ago,” he chastised with a stern stare.
“Don’t be such a bear. That son of yours keeps me locked up half the time working, and Colin keeps me the other half. It’s a miracle I don’t have scurvy, so back off, old man.” Lilly gave him her hands as she kissed his soft cheek.
“They’re assholes, both of them.” Mac frowned.
Lilly didn’t try to stifle her sad giggle of agreement.
Mac probably never did have much of a filter, but now he said they couldn’t do anything more to him, so he intended to say whatever he wanted until they put him in the ground. It made for ripe and lively conversation.
“Well, I can’t say I disagree.” Lilly fiddled with the hem of her skirt, pulling at it and trying to tuck it under her as she sat. She never could quite get comfortable.
“Stop fussing,” Mac said.
“Sorry.”
“You never told me the end of that story, when you said you broke your ankle.” Mac wheeled himself up the the table and motioned for Lilly to sit.
“Oh, well, there’s not much more to tell.”
“Uh huh, tell me anyway,”
“Okay, well, I was running from the McCleary twins — I told you that right?” Lilly waited until Mac twisted his lips and nodded. “Okay, well they used to throw cow manure at me when I walked home from school. Then, one day, they were chasing and I was running — and I stepped into an old chimney foundation and broke my ankle. When you are eight years old and boys are throwing cow crap at you, you don’t look where you’re going, you just go.”
Lilly stopped and twisted her lips to the side and pulled her ankles together.
“Okay, so most broken bones heel just fine. What happened to yours?”
She fidgeted under his stare.
“Connor didn’t think it was broken. So, I didn’t go see a doctor for three days, so when they finally tried to set it, it just didn’t grow quite right. So, I now have a constant reminder of the McCleary boys. That, combined with a general lack of nutrition, blessed me with the uniqueness of being an inch shorter on one side.”
“He’s an asshole, too. Your stepfather should have taken better care of you.”
“I guess so.” Lilly gave him a half-smile.
“Well, okay.” Mac sounded annoyed. “I ordered us early dinner. Baked macaroni and cheese and strawberries and cream — or you can have my ribeye and baked potato. I know you like the mac and cheese, probably because it reminds you of me.” He flashed her an playful grin. “I was born a few decades too late for you, but I may still have a few goes left in me if you ever decide to give in to my charms. May need to get my hands on some of those blue pills.”
Lilly forced a smile. “I need to have salad, no dressing, maybe some steamed broccoli.”
“Fuck that.” Mac grimaced. “Eat. You’re beautiful. I don’t know a real man who wouldn’t give one nut for a girl like you.”
“Colin will want to know what I ate. If it’s more than 500 calories, he’ll lay an egg.”
“Good, he needs to get whatever is up his ass out, let him lay a few eggs, do him good. I never liked him, even when his father and I ran things, that boy of his stirred the pot, always made things worse.”
“Well, he’s going to be my adoring husband, so I need to figure out how to get along with him.”
“I hate the way he looks at you. My Adeline and I were arranged like you, but I always treated her like a queen. We may not have loved each other at first, but we worked at it and before long, we managed to fall in love. We had a good life.”
His eyes drifted out the window, accompanied by the sadness that always came over him when he talked about his wife. Lilly asked him once how she died, but he just turned and made his way back to his room. Since then, she’d learned that subject was off limits.
A young woman came over with a tray and settled their food on the round mahogany table.
“Thank you sweetheart.” Mac reached over to give the worker a quick pat on her behind.
“You’re going to get yourself kicked out of here,” Lilly whispered as the young woman walked away with narrowed eyes.
“What the fuck do I care? Where else am I going to go? Move back in with Topher? HA! I’m fine right here. My bill gets paid every month; this place costs a fortune. The least they can do is let me get a handful of ass now and then.”
“You’re impossible.” Lilly laughed as she took a bite of her macaroni. “Oh my gawwdddd, this is so good.” She rolled her eyes, letting the creamy goodness tantalize her taste buds. “I’ve eaten too much celery lately; this is ah-maze-zing.”
“How’s your mother?” Mac asked.
“Hmmm, about the same. It’s so hard knowing she could be getting better care here. I’m working my ass off trying to finish this project so Colin will sponsor her and get her here.”
“I’m sorry. I wish I could help. They took away my accounts. I can’t even sign my own checks anymore. There is nothing wrong with my mind; it’s just my body that’s falling apart.”
“I know. It’s okay. If I get this finished in the next month, Colin says he'll bring her here for the wedding, then pay for her treatment. There is a specialist at the University Hospital that is doing a trial of an experimental drug that seems to be having good results. Colin has a lot of connections. I just need her to hang on.”
They ate in silence for a bit, and Lilly couldn’t help think about Flynn, where he was and if he was okay. The image of him sitting in the chair in the darkness and the sound of his words, seared her memory.
I love you, too. I’ll never be able to tell you, but I do. That’s what I wanted to say.
“Eloise came to visit.” Mac broke into her thoughts.
“Yeah? That’s nice.” Lilly did her best to keep her voice even.
“Nice? Not really, Colin sent her over to deliver my medicine. She’s a gossip and a troublemaker. Stay away from that one. She’s got a burr up her butt when it comes to you.”
Eloise worked for the estate and Colin kept her in quarters on the third floor of the Tudor mansion secluded from the rest of the live-in help. Colin had her running errands for Topher now too. A gesture of goodwill he’d said.
Lilly knew better. She was just another set of eyes and ears for Colin.
She spoke to Lilly only when necessary. Lilly watched her stare at Colin, and it didn’t take long to figure out her services went beyond the usual household kind.
