CHAPTER 16
Kaitlin
First thing in the morning, the buzz of the intercom startled me awake. I could feel the mess my hair was in and the stickiness of Garrett's come painted on my body, but I felt glorious and it was perfect to look across the bed and see him lying there next to me.
The buzzer sounded again and Garrett gave a groan as he sat up, feet on the floor, rubbing one hand over his increasingly wolfy stubble.
"That'll be your suitcase." He leaned over, kissing me thoroughly before he got out of bed, completely naked, just like he'd been last night.
His body made my mouth go dry, watching the play of his muscles working beneath his skin with every motion. His tight, pert ass made me want to sink my teeth into it, which I guess was the result of him being so involved at the gym.
I could have quite happily watched him prowl around his bedroom naked all day.
"You enjoying the show there?" He smiled over his shoulder at me as he yanked a robe off a hook on the back of a door. I shrugged, smiling sleepily.
"Maybe."
"Don't move an inch."
I stretched lazily, squinting a smile at him in return. "Not even one?”
"No. I'm not nearly finished with you yet."
I watched him tie his robe closed and pick up his gun, before he jogged down the stairs to fetch my things.
It was only a few minutes before Garrett was back in the doorway, eyes gleaming, my backpack slung over his shoulder and my suitcase in his hand.
"Courtesy of Tiernan boys. I think they're coming around to my way of thinking. Where d'you want them? You're not unpacking now."
I knew something was wrong the moment I saw my suitcase. A chill went through me when I realised what the problem was.
"The padlock's gone."
I was up in an instant, clutching the sheet around me like some kind of toga.
"What?" Garrett's temper flared and I could see he was set on storming back after the man who'd dropped it off to demand an explanation. I was already tugging at the zips.
"Jaysus woman, don't open it!"
He flinched as I threw the case open, his warning hitting my ears too late, and I froze for a moment, caught with the realisation that he'd thought it might be worse than someone rummaging through my bag.
I looked at him, counting the silent seconds with far too much creeping awareness of mail bombs, but no knowledge about how they worked. Was that what he'd been worried about? My heart thundered. I could have set something off right in our faces.
Garrett let out the breath he'd been holding and he scrubbed a hand through his hair. He nodded. "Go on then. It looks fine. You're not one for folding your clothes, hey?"
"What?"
I stared down at the rumpled mess of my clothes and a sick, dizzy feeling hit at the visual confirmation that someone had been through my bag. The sense of violation could wait. My biggest fear was that they'd taken the letter from my father to Garrett.
Never mind that it was totally irreplaceable. If they found that, then it wouldn't just be me they'd be coming after. It might only have been a couple of days, but I didn't know what I'd do without him.
Only when I started rummaging did I realise that whoever had done this wasn't playing around.
Nearly every single item of clothing was shredded to ribbons and fell apart in my hands as soon as I picked it up. My breath stuck on the lump in my throat too large for me to swallow around, and I ploughed on, refusing to give in to the sting of threatening tears.
I hadn't cried about my father dying and I wasn't about to go to pieces now because some asshole was trying to intimidate me. I could cry when all of this was over.
I tipped the contents of my case out, hoping beyond hope that in their bid to cause carnage they hadn't found the envelope I'd carefully hidden inside a copy of Vogue Magazine just in case.
My heart thundered in my chest as I unzipped the mesh panel at the bottom of the bag. The envelope tumbled to the floor as soon as I pulled the magazine out and I barely managed to smother my spluttered gasp of relief.
"Oh thank God." The envelope was unopened and the tamper seal was still in tact, but my hands were shaking so badly I nearly couldn't pick up the envelope.
Garrett took it off me when I held it out and the weight of the task I'd come so far to complete hit me all at once. Everything rode on what was in that letter. If they'd taken that, whatever my father had needed to say to Garrett would be lost forever, and I'd never be able to convince him to hand my inheritance over to me.
I covered my mouth with my hand, breathing deep through my nose to quell the rising urge to vomit.
Someone hated me enough to systematically shred everything I owned on this side of the Atlantic. The rest of my things would be repossessed straight out of storage if I didn't keep the locker payments up, and only Garrett could help me get my life back on the track it was supposed to be on. As long as I didn't manage to get us both killed first.
"What's in your backpack?"
I blinked at him, completely dazed. "My laptop."
He set the bag down on the other side of the door like any sudden movement was a bad idea. "Let's not touch that until I get it checked out."
He was fuming, jabbing buttons on his phone,but I was just sitting on the floor surrounded by the tatters of my life, listening to the buzzing in my ears getting louder and louder.
"Oh my God, I can't breathe." My voice was barely a whisper and I was too busy trying to suck air into my constricting lungs to care.
My tears took me by surprise, creeping up the back of my throat and constricting everything. The collision with reality was a sucker punch to the gut.
I flopped onto my back, my hand clamped firmly over my mouth as I tried to keep the tears in.
Lying there breathless and naked apart from the sheet, there was no hiding from the fact that my father was dead and Garrett, the man who'd just shown me what I'd been missing out on by staying celibate, was the only person I had on my side in the entire world. I was so, so grateful for that, but there was a heavy darkness drawing into it too.
Me being here could so easily get us both killed.
"I can't breathe."
Garrett dropped to my side in an instant, pulling me up from the floor.
I sniffed hard, rubbing at my eyes as I forced myself to look at the man who'd rescued me all over again through my tears. Garrett brushed them away with his large thumbs. Maybe he was some kind of hardened gangster, but everything about this felt more right than I could comprehend.
"They really would have tried to kill me in the boxing ring." It wasn't a question anymore. I knew the truth from the way Garrett looked at me.
"I doubt that. They'd have had to get through me first."
I tried for a laugh, but it came out as a deep sob instead.
Garrett scooped me up into his arms, carrying me over to the bed. He got in next to me, drawing me into his arms and pressing kisses to my hair that felt far too intimate for strangers to share.
"It's okay, Macushla. I've got you."
With him I wasn't afraid. The way he touched me, his body arched protectively around me, told me I could trust him. He cared about me, despite his bullet-proof exterior and his usual coolness.
I clung to him, drawing him as close to me as possible as he kissed a path down my body, over my shoulders and arms and the long stretch of my flat stomach, like he knew how to trace my freckles even with his eyes closed.
CHAPTER 17
Garrett
As much as I would have liked to forget about the rest of the world and stay holed up in my apartment with Kaitlin, business had to be dealt with. Both of my associates had questions to answer.
I wasn't one for soaking in the tub, but a bath had been in the layout when I bought the place off plan and I didn't see any point in taking it out. I was glad I hadn't when I saw Kaitlin relaxing into it, her long legs stretched out over the side like she belonged there.
I le
ft her soaking in the tub with a promise I'd be back as soon as I could.
"We still have to talk about my father, Garrett."
Kaitlin had her hair tied up on top of her head to keep it out of the water and her shoulders and knees were visible through the thick bubbles.
"When I get back we'll do all the talking you want." My eyes lingered over her glistening, wet skin, flushed pink from the heat of the water. I tilted my head to get a better view and leaned down, trailing a slow hand down the centre of her chest. My fingers trailed through the bubbles to her nipple and she bit her lip to hide her smile, already squirming.
"Just as long as you don't keep distracting me."
---
"Glad to see we got your attention."
"What do you want Tiernan?"
"Come on, Brannigan, you know exactly what we want."
"Revenge isn't happening. You're not getting her. I thought I made myself clear on that front."
"Ah, you did. But my boys, you know. They needed something. The anger's very real. You know yourself what a betrayal it was when Kearney went off the way he did, taking Maeve Carrigan with him."
"She was already pregnant. You know as well as I do he was saving her life."
"He shouldn't have been dipping his pen in the company ink, so to speak. The Carrigan girl was spoken for."
"They were kids for crying out loud."
"And these are kids who grew up without their daddies because of them. I think you can find it in yourself to understand a little destruction of property to vent some of that anger of theirs, can't you now Garrett?"
I gritted my teeth. The man was talking sense for once. A little explosion to relieve the pressure was far better than letting it build beneath the surface.
"You tell them, no more. That's it. This is over. She's mine and that's all there is to it."
"Brannigan, you're our fixer. We know how valuable a man like you is in this day and age to men like us. Why would I do anything to cross you?"
I didn't trust a word of it, but at least now I had my assurances.
"No more chances, Tiernan. I want your word."
"And you have it, Brannigan. Don't you worry."
Kaitlin
Around lunchtime the buzzer on the intercom sounded. I pulled the robe I'd found on the back of the bathroom door tight around me and padded through the apartment in my bare feet, looking for the interface to check who it was.
Garrett had the whole system linked to his phone through some smart app, but I was going to have to make do the old fashioned way. The small screen worked well enough. Out in the corridor, Nora waved at the camera and I let out a sigh of relief, the tension in my shoulders easing.
I buzzed her in, feeling more than a little paranoid to have been so anxious. We'd walked past a concierge last night, who I'm sure would have kept out strangers, but the incident with my suitcase had me rattled. I might not have to answer the door, but the last thing I wanted to know was that the people who wanted to hurt me could get inside the building.
As soon as I opened the door, she clattered her way inside, bringing an armful of shopping bags with her.
"Garrett said those arseholes did something to your clothes. I brought you some things to wear. And, more importantly, lunch. For a grown man, Garrett's a bit hopeless when it comes to grocery shopping. I'd be surprised if there's anything edible in the fridge."
"There were some eggs," I protested, feeling the need to defend him. But there wasn't much to defend. I'd had to have my coffee black because he didn't have milk.
"Really? Anyway, I brought chow mein. Everybody loves chow mein." She started setting out containers on the kitchen island. "There's chicken or veggie. I didn't know if you were a carnivore or what. Oh, and custard buns, because the weather is too shite for anybody to be worrying about carbs, especially after what you've been through."
She handed me a pair of chopsticks and I snapped them open. "Thanks Nora. You're awesome."
She shrugged, her smile sparkling at the compliment. She was like the big sister I never got to have, and I was so glad she didn't seem to be concerned about me and her uncle any longer.
"You're lucky I like you. I'm never this nice."
"I doubt that."
Only when I'd practically inhaled the first half of the container did I realise quite how hungry I'd been.
Nora squinted at me, chewing her mouthful thoughtfully. "So, Garrett's a pretty rubbish liar. To me. I mean, I'm sure he's ace at it when he's doing whatever it is that he does that he thinks no one knows about. But he was going on about some kind of practical joke and all that stuff at the fight being some kind of dramatisation and you're an actress or something." Her nose scrunched up. "Like I said, it's obviously total shite. I mean, I wasn't born yesterday. He thinks I don't know who he works with, but it's not like I don't read the news."
She shook her head, putting her chopsticks down.
"Anyway. I wanted to know what he's involved with. With you."
I played with my chopsticks, pulling at the remaining noodles in the box. "I don't really know."
"Okay. But it's just he's been trying to clean things up for years, and then you turn up and there's guns everywhere."
I frowned, disliking the thought that I was the one putting Garrett in danger. It had seemed like I'd been the one to tumble into something that was already well underway. But what if I was wrong.
"I don't know. Garrett was my dad's friend. He's the man I came here to find, because - it's complicated, but I can't touch my college fund unless he says so. And then-"
"Yeah, we all know what happened then. Up against the bathroom wall you dark horse, you. Is he paying you?"
"What?" My eyes widened, cheeks searing with heat. "Oh my God. No."
Nora stared at me. "...Your college money. Isn't that what this is about?" She spluttered a laugh. "Oh my God. Did you think I was calling you a prostitute?"
I bristled. "It kind of sounded like that."
She snorted, covering her mouth and vibrating with the force of her laughter. "Sorry. Garrett would kill me for even implying that. Can you imagine? He's so bleeding moralistic when it comes to women. He'd absolutely die!"
"I wasn't expecting any of this. You know that, right?"
Nora nodded and I bit my lip, finally relaxing enough to feel the glow of what she'd told me swell through me. Garrett was a good guy. I knew he was.
"So he doesn't… I mean - doesn't he always have a girl on his arm?"
Nora shook her head, peeling the paper off the bottom of a custard bun.
"Nah. Uncle Garrett's the Lone Ranger. Whole of my life I've never known him in a relationship." She squinted at me again, smile brimming. "You must be pretty special."
"He's just protecting me."
"Oh yeah. And the rest. Come off it. He could keep you safe without giving you a rash of hickies all the way up your neck."
Mortified, my hand shot to my neck, and Nora burst out laughing, just as I realised he'd done no such thing. But I had definitely given the game away.
"Relax. He's too much of a gentleman to have done that. You're adorable. No wonder he's besotted."
I snatched one of the buns up, pulling the bright white dough apart in my fingers.
"I am not. And that wasn't funny."
"Oh but it really was. You should have seen your face."
She popped the last of her custard bun into her mouth and for a moment that same look of seriousness I'd read in Garrett's eyes took over her face. "Just try not to hurt him, alright. He acts tough, and he's got no problem telling the scariest men I've ever met where to stick it, but he's not good at getting close to people. And he's getting close to you."
She picked up her purse, leaving the mass of shopping bags for me to pick through. "Right. Hate to eat and run, but my shift started ten minutes ago and I'm never going to make it to a Michelin starred restaurant if I can't even get a good reference off a hostel. Later Kaitlin. Call me if you need anything
."
CHAPTER 18
Garrett
Most of the day had gone by before I had the privacy I wanted to read Kearney's letter.
In all honesty, I'd been putting it off. The past few years helping the man I'd hero worshipped as a kid resolve a lifetime of bad business decisions and untangle the mess of his investments hadn't been pleasant. But we'd had a plan for the future, together, and it was never going to happen now. Reading this wouldn't alter the fact of that, but some part of me must have thought holding off on reading it would ward off the reality of his death.
Dad's Irish Mafia Friend (A Man Who Knows What He Wants Book 110) Page 13