Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
He closed his eyes, praying for patience. “I’m glad my sister is okay. But her being there changes nothing.”
“What would you do in my position?”
He wanted to lie, to tell whatever convenient truth he could come up with to get James to stay out of it. He couldn’t. “I’d do exactly what I’m planning on doing and make an example of this piece of shit so that no one comes gunning for my fiancée or my sisters again.”
“Exactly.” James hesitated and then grudgingly said, “I’m willing to hold off and work together since our purposes line up. That’s as far as you can push it. Don’t fucking cut me out of this.”
Fuck. He considered his options. There really weren’t any. James would move forward on his own if he didn’t agree to these terms, and they’d likely be stumbling over each other in their effort to get to the Eldridges—or whoever was responsible—which would weaken them both. “Fine. Don’t move until I contact you.”
“Your sister wants you at that fundraiser tomorrow night. Don’t fuck this up, Aiden. You keep saying that you’re not your old man—now’s the time to prove it.”
He’d totally forgotten Carrigan’s comment about the fundraiser. It couldn’t be worse timing. He opened his mouth to say exactly that, but the image of Charlie’s face imprinted itself on the back of his eyelids. A chance to fix things. “We’ll be there.”
“Good.” James hung up.
“That went well.”
Liam snorted. “It sounds like it. Can you blame him?”
“No, but the situation just gets more twisted the further into it we are. The last thing we need is more complications.” The words were barely out of his mouth when his phone started ringing. He stared at it. “Check the porch for bugs. Now.”
As Liam moved to obey, he answered. “It’s awful late for a chat, Dmitri.”
“And yet you’re awake.”
He stood and stalked around the perimeter of the porch. “Our next meeting isn’t for several days. Why are you calling?”
“You know why.”
Yeah, he did. “If you had a warning about the attack, you should have warned me instead of Keira.”
“That unnecessary step would have wasted time the women didn’t have.”
He couldn’t argue that point, no matter how much he wanted to. It was entirely too easy to lay every single sin he could think of at Romanov’s feet, but the unfortunate truth was that the man had moved to protect Keira in the most efficient way possible. “There had to be a better way.” A way that didn’t include Charlie and Carrigan getting cut all to hell as bullets whizzed over their heads.
“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 a 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?”