She frowned. “Luca made sure it was found in case Sebastian doubted the dental records he’d had fabricated.”
Luca. He was the last person I wanted to think or talk about tonight of all nights.
“I wonder what they’ll name him,” I deflected.
“I’m sure they’ll give him a strong name.” A smile lit her cheeks, and it was the beautiful sight I needed. “We’re going to be okay?” I hated that it was a question and not a statement. I needed to hear her conviction, to know we were on the same page.
I brought her close to me, holding on to her shoulders as she lowered her elbows and pinned her arms to her chest, her hands tucked beneath her chin. I kissed the top of her head, her jasmine-scented shampoo hitting my nose. “We fit, remember? Together, we’re unstoppable.” I closed my eyes, allowing the pain, the noise, the worries, to fall away.
* * *
“Braden Adam McGregor.” Adam had a massive grin on his face as he revealed his son’s name the next day.
We couldn’t all go see Braden since he was in the NICU, but he was doing great, and Anna was much better. Her parents and sisters would all be arriving from the US tomorrow.
She was getting rest right now, but we’d all remained at the hospital over the past twenty or so hours, crowding the waiting area, unable to leave.
“Not Adam Junior?” my cousin Ethan joked. He was the youngest of us.
Sean had picked Ethan up from the airport an hour ago. My sister had wanted to be here, but she was wrapping up filming in Montreal, so we’d Skyped with her instead.
“Anna wanted a junior, but we settled on a new name. Fresh start.” Adam cleared his throat, emotion choking him up. “That’s why it took so long to share this name,” he added with a small smile.
“Happy for ya, brother.” Ethan slung an arm around Adam’s shoulders. “He’ll be the best of all of us.”
Adam’s eyes watered, and Holly nudged Ethan out of the way so she could hug Adam. Holly had changed since meeting Sebastian. The ice she’d had around her heart, along with her walls, had vanished. I was happy for her, and as I glimpsed Alessia with her back to the wall opposite me next to her brother, I couldn’t help but hope I’d find happiness, too.
Sebastian checked his wrist, his eyes meeting mine. It was time.
We’d wanted to cancel our plans tonight given Braden’s birth and Anna’s surgery yesterday, but we weren’t sure if we’d get a chance anytime soon to nail the arms dealer, Ronan. We’d discovered this week he lived in Northern Ireland and only came to Dublin once a month.
Sebastian tipped his head toward the exit.
“I’m sorry. We have to head out.” I braced Adam’s shoulder once Holly had stepped aside.
“You’ve only been here all day,” Adam said with a laugh. I think he aged a year in the last day. “You should all go. Anna and Braden are resting. I’ll crash in Anna’s room soon, anyway.”
“You sure?” Sean asked, hesitant. He didn’t want to leave his twin’s side.
“I’m good.” Adam smiled. “Promise.”
“We’ll be back tomorrow. Let us know if you need anything,” Holly said.
We exchanged our goodbyes and made our way to the parking lot.
“Give me a sec,” I said to Sebastian and motioned for Alessia to follow me to my car.
“How are you holding up? I know spending all that time in the hospital couldn’t have been easy for ya.” I leaned against my Aston Martin, and she tightened the knot of her knee-length coat, fidgeting with the belt a touch. Stalling to look me in the eyes.
“I’m okay.”
Still no eye contact. “Alessia.” I held her chin, guiding her eyes to mine. “You can be honest with me.”
“There’s just a lot on my mind.”
I could see the walls going up. The door closing in my face. “Can I see you tonight? Maybe we could have a late dinner at my flat since we didn’t get around to it last night?” It’d be a pretty late dinner—like ten at night, but I needed to see her. Spend more time with her.
“Holly asked me to grab a bite to eat with Sean and Ethan.”
“We don’t need to eat, then.” I swallowed. “I can pick you up after I’m done. We can even watch a movie if you want?” We didn’t have to have sex. Of course, now I was remembering the feel of her tongue in my mouth. The taste of her. How slick with desire she’d been when I’d touched her two nights ago.
“Okay.”
Okay? Maybe I’d misread her. Maybe she wasn’t pulling back. “Yeah, okay.” Find a better word. “Great.” I swear I was acting like a fifteen-year-old virgin again.
I let go of her chin to reach for her wrist. I wanted to hold on to her. To never let go.
“But nothing heavy tonight?” She half-smiled. “I mean, heavy conversation.”
“I do have one question.” I held up an index finger. “Are you planning on sleeping over?”
The tiniest of smiles, a naughty and seductive one, met her lips. “Of course.”
Chapter Thirteen
Cole
“I think we’re finally making progress,” Sebastian said as I pulled onto the bridge, leaving North Bull Island. The arms deal meet had gone down on a golf course of all places. Never thought I’d see the day when I’d be taking down a criminal on the eighteenth hole.
J.J. had come through, and Ronan was now in League custody, being transported to a warehouse for interrogation by a few of Sebastian’s men. The goal—to “persuade” Ronan to share the names of the men he reported to. We wanted to target the upper echelons of Ronan’s organization.
“I hate to see that arsehole J.J. go free.” I held a hand up, letting Sebastian know he didn’t have to explain. “I know, I know. We need to use him as an informant.” Didn’t mean I had to like it.
“This is good,” he added while checking messages on his mobile. “We should be ready for that meeting in London on Friday. People are falling in line now.”
Once we were back on the main road, I took advantage of the Aston Martin’s maneuverability, weaving around cars and driving a bit like Vin Diesel in Fast and Furious—one of Alessia’s favorite flicks. The memory of watching that movie with her back in the day brought a smile to my face. But the thought of leaving her for London had my lips flatlining. “I don’t like that Alessia will be in the city without us.”
“And that’s why Emilia is staying here longer to look out for her. But why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me.”
Because there’s something I’m not telling you. The man always seemed to know my thoughts.
He adjusted his seat belt. An uncomfortable awareness filled the small space. He wanted answers. An explanation. So did I.
“Luca.” The name burned like acid on my tongue. A punch to the gut along with it.
“What about him?” Sebastian’s free hand tightened on his leg. “Did Alessia say something to you? Do I need to take further action?”
I gripped the wheel even tighter, working through my thoughts, trying to figure out what in the hell to say without betraying Alessia’s trust.
“Cole,” he snapped as I slowed and stopped at a red light.
I glanced over at him, catching that familiar angry tic of his jaw.
“Something big happened there. Something more significant than her incarceration. She won’t tell me what, but it wasn’t good.” Sebastian’s eyes narrowed, and I knew what he was thinking, so I rushed out, “Not that.”
His shoulders relaxed a touch before I returned my focus to the road and started driving again.
“I’m worried about her, but she’s opening up to me. I’m trying to give her space. Doing my best, but it’s hard.”
He was quiet for a minute. Maybe even two. “I wish I hadn’t let Luca live.”
“Holly didn’t want his blood on your hands, and Alessia asked you to leave The League for similar reasons—she didn’t want any more violence and death on your conscience. So as much as it pains me
to say—”
“Sorry. Holly’s calling.” He brought his mobile to his ear. “Hey, we’re on our way back. Where can I meet you?” He shifted the phone to the side to give me the address of a pub. “What do you mean, Alessia left?”
I lifted my foot from the pedal without even realizing it, then blinked a few times and pressed my foot down again. “Where is she?”
“No, I’m not mad at you. I just prefer her not to walk alone. She should’ve let my driver take her.” They exchanged a few more words before he ended the call. “Holly said Alessia took a call, then came back to the table, and a minute later said she was tired and left.”
“And she refused your driver?” Something didn’t add up, and a hollow pit began to form in my stomach.
“The pub was only three blocks from the hotel, and she wanted to walk.” He dialed a number. I had to assume Alessia’s. “No answer.” He cursed and brought the mobile back to his ear. “She’s not picking up the suite phone, either.”
“Call the front desk. They’d most likely have seen her walk through the lobby, right?” I tried not to panic. Alessia had only been down the street from her place. Maybe she’d gone back to her room to get an overnight bag since I’d asked her to spend the night?
“You see Alessia Romano come through the lobby?” Gone was the normal calm in Sebastian’s tone, a sense of frantic urgency having taken its place. “No? Okay. I’m on my way there. If you see her, call me.”
“Maybe she’s not answering because she’s in the shower.” I got us to the hotel as fast as possible while Sebastian phoned Alessia a half dozen more times. Where in the hell was she?
“I’m sure everything is okay,” I said, trying to convince myself of that fact when we hurried through the hotel lobby.
Sebastian checked in with the front desk. No one had seen her, but it was a busy night. Maybe they missed her.
“You still have a key?” I asked once we were in the lift.
“Yeah.” He opened his wallet and took it out as the doors parted, and we bolted to her suite, my pulse thundering, worry shooting through me.
We knocked a few times. No answer.
Sebastian shoved the key card into the lock and pushed the door open. “Alessia?” he called out.
I pointed to the yellow wingback chair that had her jacket on it. “She had that on earlier.” She made it back. Thank God. “That the shower running?” My shoulders sagged with relief. We’d overreacted, and I’d much rather that than the alternative.
“Can you go in there to see if she’s okay? Just to be sure?” Sebastian tucked his hands into his jeans pockets, eyes on her closed bedroom door.
“You want me to go in there? And if she’s naked?”
Sebastian’s eyes thinned. “As much as I’m not thrilled with that idea, I’d prefer not to see my sister naked.”
Right. “Give me a sec.” I tossed my car keys on the kitchen counter and went to her room.
The door was unlocked. The bedroom empty. “Alessia.” I opened the door to her en suite.
Steam filled the room, but she wasn’t in the shower.
“Alessia?” Something was wrong.
“Cole?”
I tracked her voice to the closet and pushed open the door.
My heart broke at the sight of her.
She was on the floor in front of her bench, knees to her chest, arms hugging her legs. Her face buried against her knees. “What’s wrong?” I whispered, kneeling on the floor in front of her.
She slowly lifted her head, and when her eyes met mine, I almost fell backward onto my arse.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, and a fat, purple bruise bloomed around her right eye.
“What the hell happened?” I asked, stunned. Then I roared Sebastian’s name. I needed him to step in before I lost my fecking mind. I was blinded by anger. And I wanted to kill whoever had laid a hand on her.
“I was attacked on my way to the hotel,” she said in a shaky voice. I reached for her right arm, noting a massive bruise there as if someone had grabbed hold of her too damn tight.
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian was behind us, but I couldn’t move. Couldn’t blink. “Oh my God.”
“We need to get you to a hospital.” I had no idea if there was more damage to her body because she’d pulled her arm free of my grasp to circle her legs again. If she wouldn’t let me see her without a shirt on last night, I was pretty sure she wouldn’t now, but she needed to be examined by a doctor.
“No doctors,” she said around a sniffle. “Please. I’m okay. Just a little banged up.”
A little banged up?
A. Little. Banged. Up?
Rage filled me. This must have been how Sebastian felt when he located those human traffickers Luca had led him to believe were responsible for Alessia’s death. He’d used his knife and taken down every last one of them. Merciless.
A week ago, I didn’t know if I was capable of killing another human being. Now, here I was, wondering if someone would even be able to stop me from murdering whoever had touched her.
“Like hell.” Sebastian crouched next to me and tipped Alessia’s chin to study her. “We need to get you checked out.”
“I won’t go. Find someone to come here if you must, but I can’t leave.” Her eyes went back to her knees, which were still covered in the jeans she’d had on earlier. A tear in the right knee, blood beneath as if she’d fallen down. “And not the nurse that came to your place,” she quickly added.
Feck. I pushed up to my feet and tossed a hand through my hair, unable to think clearly.
“I’ll get Emilia here. She can check you out. She’ll know if you need to go to a hospital.”
Sebastian’s words had Alessia looking up, and she nodded. No argument. Good.
“Can I carry you to the bed?” I asked, hating the sight of her sitting on the floor, scared and broken.
“Okay,” she agreed.
I bent down, and she hooked her arms around my neck. Sebastian’s gaze was on me as I lifted Alessia into my arms. A look of thanks in his eyes.
I carried her out of the closet while Sebastian shut off the shower. And as I gently set her on top of her bed, my eyes locked on to the front of her blouse, to droplets of blood there.
“That’s just from my nose. It was bleeding,” she said quickly, noticing my horrified stare.
As if a bloody nose would somehow make me feel better, lessen the fact that she’d been brutally attacked.
“We need to find who did this,” Sebastian said after ending the call with Emilia a moment later. I’d yet to move from my frozen state next to Alessia’s bed.
I’d covered her with a blanket when she refused to let me help her into clean clothes.
“What’d they look like? Any distinguishable tattoos? Accents?” Sebastian asked. At least he was thinking straight.
Seeing her roughed up like this launched my heart into my throat. And until this was over, until she was truly safe, I didn’t know if I’d breathe freely.
“No. Two guys. Ski masks. They wanted money.”
“They didn’t just want your purse? Why’d they beat you up?” What kind of monsters attacked a woman like this? And now, more than ever, I understood the need for The League. But the men who’d done this to her had no respect for rules, and they’d feckin’ pay.
“I resisted, which was stupid, I know. I, um, thought I could use the self-defense techniques I’d been learning.” Her fingers went to her collarbone, and I realized the necklace I’d given her was missing from her neck.
“God, no. You’re not ready for that,” Sebastian seethed. “We just began training.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice breaking.
I dropped to my knees to be eye level with her.
“My necklace broke at the pub tonight. It fell on the floor after I got up to take a call, and I freaked out about it. I put it in my purse so I wouldn’t lose it.”
“What exactly happened after you left the pub?”
Sebastian asked softly, albeit through gritted teeth. The painstaking control he displayed for Alessia’s sake was clearly costing him. I saw the fear in his eyes—fear of what she was going to say next.
“It happened so fast. They shoved me into an alley where no one could see us. I fought back. They, um, hit me. Threw me around.”
My hands bunched on the bed at her side.
“They grabbed my purse. My necklace was in there.” Tears trekked down her cheeks. “I asked to keep it. Said they could have the money, but please not my necklace. They just laughed at me,” she finished with a sob.
“You have me.” I smoothed the back of my hand over her forehead. “You don’t need the necklace.”
I twisted around to see Sebastian leaving the room, giving us a moment alone, which was probably hard for him to do given what happened to his sister tonight.
“I should have been there for you.” The pain in my chest kept stacking up cinder block by cinder block. Stone by stone. It was getting worse.
No, maybe it wasn’t pain.
It was anger. Skull-crushing anger. The kind I felt for Luca.
“This isn’t your fault. Not even close.” She lifted her hand and feathered her palm over my cheek. Her touch, her caress, did something to calm that storm inside me. To slow down my racing heart.
“It is my fault. I should have been with you. And if I was a stronger leader, they would never have gone after you.”
“You’re one of the strongest people I know.” She lowered her hand to her side, her eyes remaining fixed on me. The most gorgeous shade of brown I’d seen in all my life.
“I’ll find whoever did this to you.” I lightly squeezed her hand, delivering a promise with my touch along with my words.
Alessia gently removed her hand from mine, and the pain in my chest immediately reappeared. But it was when she rolled her head to the side, away from me, and fixed her gaze on the curtains, that nearly gutted me.
What was she keeping from me about tonight’s attack?
The Inside Man: A Dublin Nights Novel Page 13