Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 93929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93929 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Mal doesn’t move. He stares at me, visibly struggling against the idea that I have any defense against him. He doesn’t move, but he doesn’t pull back either.
Until my dad speaks up.
“Stop bickering, you two idiots,” he says like we’re having a friendly sibling spat. “We need to come together.”
Mal eventually pulls back. He’s still watching me with pure shock and confusion on his face. “He’s right. We shouldn’t fight.”
I say nothing, only hug myself and glare at him, while inside I’m burning with a righteous hate and fury, but also with a strange, newfound power.
I’ve never been able to make Mal back down before. Not once, no matter what I said or did, no matter how much I begged and pleaded, Mal always followed through with his threats.
Now, I have leverage. I have protection.
He can’t hurt me without suffering for it anymore.
I want to laugh in his stupid, nasty face, but I’m pretty sure that’ll only make him lose his mind and kill me.
“We’re going to inform the Whelans about this problem,” Dad says, ignoring Malachy as my brother lights another cigarette. “Dermot’s putting together all the evidence he has. We’re going to ask for their help.”
“Good idea.” I’m shaken, but I do my best to keep my voice steady.
“They have resources we can use. I want you to talk to your husband about this problem too. See what he has to say. Maybe use your influence to help the family. You want to help the family, right, Caroline?”
I almost laugh in his face. Nothing sounds worse. “Of course I do.”
“Good, then make sure this is a priority for them. Declan’s been busy lately, but I want this to be top of mind.”
Oh my god. These bastards. That’s why they called me here.
They want to use my influence over my husband to get what they want. They don’t care about warning me. Which makes sense—they didn’t actually call until the attack was already days old. I’m an afterthought at best until they want something.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Do this for me, Caroline. Prove you’re useful.”
I nod once. I hate him so much, it’s terrifying. “I’ll try, Daddy.”
His lips curl. “Good girl. I always knew you had the family’s best interests at heart. Go ahead, go talk to your husband for us, and make sure the Whelans take this seriously.”
I back away to the door. I want to scream and laugh. You stupid fuckers. You sick, stupid bastards. I’ll talk to my husband, all right.
I’ll tell him to keep on killing you all.
Mal shoots me a look as I go. It’s pure loathing. He’s twitching as he pours himself another drink, and I can smell the stink of fear in the room, hanging over all three of them like a cloud.
They’ve never been more vulnerable.
And now I know what we have to do.
30
FINN
Exercising with a gunshot wound isn’t easy. If I were smart, I’d probably stick to rest.
But there’s no fucking way I’m going to be able to sit still for the next three weeks of healing.
Only Seamus knows the truth. Not the full details though. I had to tell someone on the inside, just in case shit goes sideways. Fortunately, he didn’t ask too many questions. Just laughed and told me to enjoy the painkillers. He’s been shot enough times to know how this goes.
Our story’s simple. I have a bad flu for a while and after that, I’m on a business trip overseas. That’ll account for three weeks hiding out.
Which I fucking despise.
I float on my back and kick my feet. Above me, the afternoon sky is speckled with floating, fluffy clouds. One looks like a duck. Another’s like a car ripping through a mountain. It’s peaceful in the pool today, even though I really shouldn’t be doing this. But the bandage is waterproof and the sling keeps me stable, so it’s not that bad. I do a weird, awkward backstroke, gritting my teeth against the occasional painful jolts.
This is my fucking fault. I never should have gone into an operation half-prepared. I knew from the start that it was a massive risk, but I got greedy. I wanted to take down Dermot too badly, and that blinded me to the holes in the plan.
Worse than all that, I put Caroline at risk.
I deserve the pain and worse.
After a while, I notice her sitting in the chairs near the sauna. She’s in a black bikini, dark against her skin, with her hair up and her sunglasses on. Caroline’s watching me, or at least I think she is. Her lips are pink and pressed together, and she doesn’t look happy as I paddle my way over and awkwardly climb out with one arm.
Her eyebrows quirk when I stand in front of her. Water drips off my body. She tilts the sunglasses down.