by KB Winters
I’ve always been loyal to Aidan over the years. I’d heard whispers and rumors about him, of course. It was kind of unavoidable given his genetics. Despite all the gossip, I ignored most of it. None of it mattered to me, anyway.
Hell, just in the course of my day to day duties, I’d heard more than enough to go to the feds and turn him in for his involvement with the syndicate. But I’d never betray Aidan O’Brien. Some might say I was betraying my profession by protecting my mentor, but I knew the law was rarely so black and white. Aidan was a good man. If someone was lying dead on his floor, there was a reason for it. He wasn’t a ruthless killer like Flynn was. Aidan didn’t get off on hurting people. He did what had to be done.
And so did I.
“Are you sure, Maggie?” Aidan’s face was masked in pain and trepidation. A look I’d never seen before.
“I’m positive.” I knew it would prove my loyalty and hopefully keep me alive, but also because this was Aidan—a man I’d grown to love over the years. A man I’d do anything for. Even if my feelings weren’t returned. “But we better hurry.”
Aidan nodded, he was already on the phone—probably a member of the syndicate.
“I need a cleanup crew at my office, stat,” he said.
I knew it wasn’t just a typical cleanup crew, either. Definitely not Rosie’s Housekeeping Services. The crew Aidan spoke to would be people who knew how to clean this sort of thing up. Make it disappear entirely. As soon as he was off the phone, Aidan knelt by the body and started looking through his clothing.
“What are you doing?” I asked, a little grossed out by the horrific scene of death surrounding me. The corpse lay at an odd angle across the floor, thick in its own blood—the sanguine fluid coagulating in the seams of the hardwood floor.
“Looking for any identifying marks, trying to determine who he is and why he wanted to kill me.” Bile crawled up my throat and my stomach twisted in knots as Aidan carefully searched the body. Bullet wounds riddled the torso, arms, and legs.
“You don’t know?”
Aidan shook his head. “There could be any number of men after me. If we tried to narrow it down to everyone who’d benefit from me being dead, it would be one hell of a long list. If I can figure out who this asshole is, it might give us a better idea.”
Biting my lip, I paced the room a bit before Aidan turned to me.
“Can you get me some trash bags?” he asked over his shoulder as he checked the man’s pockets.
I walked to the supply closet and grabbed a few large garbage bags and handed them to Aidan.
“Thank you,” he said. “My guys will know what to do, but I’m going to make their job a little easier for them.”
“Did you find anything useful?” I asked, curiously.
“Not a damn thing, Mags.” He shook his head, and I could see his frustration growing. No ID. No tattoos. Nothing we could use to identify him. We had nothing to go on. Nowhere to start.
Chapter Eight
Aidan
“Why are you doing this? Helping me?” I turned to Maggie curious why she’d put herself on the line.
Thanks to the syndicate’s cleanup crew and a service elevator that most people didn’t know about, the body—and all evidence that something had happened here—had been removed from my office. I’d kept Maggie in the conference room and locked out of my office because I knew from experience what the crew would have to do to dispose of the body wasn’t going to be pretty.
I sat on the edge of the table, and Maggie sat in the seat at the head of the table, looking me square in the eye.
“Because that man tried to kill you, Aidan,” she said. “You were only defending yourself. Why wouldn’t I help you?”
“If that’s the case, why didn’t you call the cops instead of—” I started, and motioned to my office door “—instead of all of that? Most people would’ve called 911 right off. But you—you didn’t. And you don’t seem especially shaken up about anything.”
Most people—when it came to something like asserting self-defense—would assume the next logical step after killing somebody—even in self-defense—would be to call the boys in blue. Hell, that’s exactly what I encouraged people to do. Don’t move the body. Don’t do or touch anything before you call the police, and when they arrive, shut your mouth and don’t say a word.
Things get all twisted up and misconstrued in the heat of the moment. So it’s best to keep quiet until your lawyer is by your side. In that case, if it’s truly self-defense and there’s proof, with the right lawyer, they’d be just fine.
And here I was—a defense lawyer doing the exact opposite of what I counseled people to do. Most people would think being a lawyer gave me a leg up in knowing how to deal with the police. But not Maggie. No, her first instinct wasn’t to call the cops. Her first instinct was to help me hide the body, which said something about her. Something that surprised me, which I wasn’t sure was possible after all our years working together. Either that, or it said something about what she thought of me. Maybe both.
“Because, Aidan, I know you better than you think I do,” she said softly. “I knew that would never be an option, not in your—unique situation.”
“My unique situation?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
She sat forward in her seat as I folded my arms across my chest. I stared at her much like I’d stare down witnesses in a courtroom. But this wasn’t a witness I had to cross-examine. This wasn’t somebody I had to break or trip up to make my case. This was Mags. One of the sweetest, most gentle women I’d ever known.
Her hand was shaking—though she tried to hide it—as she took a sip of ice water. Maybe the events of the day had rattled her more than I’d thought, and she was just really good at covering it up.
“Yeah, you know, with the syndicate and all that,” she said. “I’d say that’s pretty unique.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end, and a knot constricted in my belly. “How did you—”
“Puh-lease, Aidan,” she said, rolling her eyes. “How could I not know? I work for you, I’m literally right outside your door every single day. I see who comes and goes in and out of your office,” she said. “And I help you in any way I can. After all this time working together, it would be more of a shock if I didn’t know about your connections. I’m not as stupid as I may look.” Apparently, the shocked expression was still etched on my face, and she didn’t feel as though her response had set my mind at ease, so she continued. “Don’t you see, Aidan? I’m loyal to a fault. Your secrets are safe with me. They have been up until this point, haven’t they?”
I rubbed my cheek, feeling the five o’clock shadow cropping up after a very long day at work. Mags knew things she shouldn’t know, and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t worry the hell out of me. Had I been careless in my dealings with the syndicate while I was at the office? I must have been since she knew about it.
She knew things that made her a threat to not just me—but to the syndicate in general. It was something I couldn’t tell the brothers because that would put her life in jeopardy. Just as she was keeping my secrets—I had to keep hers.
I had to wonder, though—how much did she know? It wasn’t like I discussed business out in the open at the office. For most things—especially the most sensitive issues—I’d always discussed those with the men elsewhere. I never conducted their business here. So, what did she hear, and what did she know?
“Are you going to kill me now?” she asked.
She smiled at me and tried to make a joke of it, but when I looked into her eyes, I saw genuine fear. She tried to mask it and act casual, but I could see that deep down—she was terrified. Terrified of me and what I might do to her.
I paced the room, unable to find an answer to her question. Kill her? Kill Maggie? The one person who’d been by my side through thick and thin while I got my practice off the ground? The one person who apparently knew a lot of my secrets and kept them locked away—even though
she could have easily turned me in and had me thrown in prison, ruining my life and career while advancing her own.
“No, Mags,” I said quietly. “I’m not going to kill you.”
She relaxed a bit in her chair—but only slightly. She never took her eyes off me, and the shadow behind them never dissipated entirely. Her hands were still shaking ever so slightly in her lap.
“But,” I said, “I will keep a very close eye on you. Don’t make me regret trusting you, Maggie. I mean that.”
“You won’t regret it,” she said. “I’ve promised my loyalty to you, Aidan, and that’s a sacred vow that won’t be broken. You have my word.”
I got the feeling there was more to her offer than met the eye. That there was more meaning to her words. She flashed me a sweet smile that let me know I was right about what I’d heard in her voice.
Her secret was out. There was a lot more to Maggie than I’d seen before. She wasn’t as goody-goody as she liked to appear, or else she wouldn’t have been risking her freedom and career for the likes of me.
Chapter Nine
Maggie
“You can’t even tell,” I said, stepping out of Aidan’s office into the reception area. “It’s almost like—well, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. My guys are good at what they do.” Aidan’s voice was flat and distant as he packed up a few things into a briefcase. “Listen, Maggie, I’m going to get one of my guys to watch over you tonight—”
I turned abruptly. “I’m not comfortable with that, Aidan.”
“Not one of the brothers,” he said. “A member of my personal security detail. I’m going to have them sit outside your place and keep an eye on you. I don’t know if the guy who tried to kill me was hired by someone and if he was, that someone could try to make another run—maybe at you this time. I’d feel a lot better if one of my guys were sitting outside, they can be inside in a heartbeat if anything should happen. Not that I think it will, or that they’ll come after you, but I want to keep you safe. I don’t want anything to happen to you because I didn’t take the right precautions.”
Even though he was sticking me with one of his goons, at least he wasn’t sending one of the brothers to babysit me—which was good. I trusted Aidan, but I wasn’t so sure about the rest of the men I’d met tonight. They were a bit thuggish and had a dangerous air about them. The guys who’d come to the office most definitely lived up to their reputation of being more than a bit rough around the edges. And given the fact that I’d witnessed something I shouldn’t have, I didn’t exactly trust them to keep me safe from harm. They might even be more likely to do me harm.
“You really don’t have to do that,” I said.
“I know,” he said. “I want to.”
Aidan stared at me intently, his eyes narrowed and his jaw firm. I knew that look on his face. Knew it all too well—there was no arguing with him.
“I’ve already called them, they’re on their way,” he said. “They don’t know the full story, obviously. But I mentioned a possible threat to you and me and left it at that. They will drive you home and make sure your place is secure before setting up outside and keeping watch on you.”
Aidan’s hand was up, forestalling my argument the moment I’d opened my mouth to speak—he apparently knew me as well as I knew him. He clearly wasn’t having it.
“I personally requested Gerard,” he said. “I trust him with my life. He takes his job very seriously and is incredibly diligent. I have full confidence that you’ll be safe with him.”
There was no way I was going to win. Not this time. Or maybe I was too exhausted to argue.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“No, thank you, Maggie,” he said. “For everything.”
***
Gerard, as it turned out, wasn’t much of a talker. He was a tall man with broad shoulders and short, dark hair cropped close to his head. His face looked like it was chiseled from stone, and he didn’t smile much. The frown lines around his face made him look older than he probably was.
“I’ve never had a personal security guard,” I said to him on the drive to my place.
He didn’t say anything in response, clearly not understanding that I was looking for some tips on security guard etiquette.
“Is there anything I need to know?” I asked him bluntly. “Anything special I need to do?”
“Not really. I look around, make sure the home is secure, and then set myself up nearby,” he said, his voice a deep and gravelly sound. “You do your thing, sleep and go on about your life as normal.”
That was the most he’d said in the entire fifteen-minute car ride to my place. Except for that stunning monologue, he’d been silent, simply nodding and keeping to short, concise answers. He didn’t need to know anything about me—Aidan had apparently filled him in on everything he needed to know. I offered to feed him, and he refused. I offered to pay him, and he said Aidan had taken care of that already.
It was like having my own personal robot who was willing to attend to my every need. He certainly exuded the warmth and charm of a robot, anyway.
We pulled up to my place—a duplex just outside of the city, in a cute little neighborhood that was a lot less crazy than downtown. My neighbor was an elderly man who’d lost his wife last year, so he wasn’t going to be much help in case of an emergency.
“It’s so weird to have a security guard,” I said with a nervous laugh. “Almost makes me feel like I’m famous or something.”
Gerard didn’t say anything. Didn’t even crack a smile or give any indication he’d actually heard me. He simply went to work as soon as we were inside my house. Asking me to stay put in the kitchen, he checked the windows, the doors—he even checked the closets. He walked through the house, investigating every inch before he told me it was clear. After that, he dismissed himself and stepped outside.
“Are you going to sleep out there?” I asked.
“Who said anything about sleep?” he said.
I wasn’t sure how to say that it made me uncomfortable to have a strange man hanging around outside of my house, especially when he was there to protect me. Not to mention the fact that I felt bad making him stay outside in the cold.
“Then you can stay in here if you’d like?” I offered. “Watch some TV—”
“I don’t get paid to watch TV,” Gerard said, his eyes narrowing on me. “I’ll be just fine, Miss Burke.”
“Please, call me Maggie,” I said.
Gerard didn’t respond to that, which wasn’t surprising—he’d barely responded to anything. Everything about him was stiff and cold and yes, it made me uncomfortable having him there. Especially since I knew his presence wasn’t just about keeping me safe from harm. I was smart enough to know he wasn’t just watching out for me—but was also watching me. He was Aidan’s most trusted security guard. He trusted Gerard with his life and probably with the knowledge of his business dealings with the syndicate—which gave me zero doubt that Gerard was reporting back to Aidan everything I did or said.
After giving me instructions on how to contact him if anything weird went down in my house, Gerard stepped outside to begin his vigil. He didn’t think anything bad was going to happen, but he wanted me to know how to get in touch with him as a precaution. Better safe than sorry, he’d said. Gerard was literally steps away from my front door, armed and ready, just in case somebody showed up to take me out. He also told me not to worry if I saw somebody walking around because he’d also make his rounds and patrol the area, watching the perimeter of the duplex all night, so there would be no way anyone would sneak past him.
I thanked him and went to bed, but I didn’t sleep. Couldn’t shut my brain off. I laid there with my eyes wide open, staring at the ceiling. Thoughts went around and around in my head like a hamster on a wheel, eventually circling back to the topic that occupied my mind most nights when I was lying in bed, unable to sleep—my boss.
Ahhh yes, Aidan. He said he trusted me, but did he reall
y? I had to wonder. It was the presence of my bodyguard slash babysitter that made me question the actual depth of his trust. But I argued with myself, if he didn’t trust me at all, I wouldn’t be alive. The syndicate dealt a little more firmly with the untrustworthy.
So far, I’d managed to get out of this whole fiasco alive, so obviously, I’d done something right. But I knew he’d keep an eye on me for a while. Even after he’d called Gerard back to his service, I knew Aidan would have me watched at all times. At least until I’d proven my loyalty and trustworthiness.
A chill went down my spine as I imagined what that might look like. Was this going to be the new normal for me? Having a strange man lurking outside of my house? Following me around all day? Tailing me to the coffee shop or to yoga class? If this was going to be my new reality, how long was it going to last? How long would it be before Aidan trusted me or deemed me worthy?
And while Gerard didn’t bother me—too much, anyway—it unnerved me to think of someone watching me and reporting back to Aidan on what I did or said. Not that I was going to do more than sleep, or toss and turn in bed, but how long would he be here?
How long would my life be strange and oppressive like this?
Those questions and more rattled through my mind all night, and because of all the tossing and turning, I barely got any sleep.
Chapter Ten
Aidan
“Listen up, brothers,” I said, taking a seat in the back room of the Golden Shamrock. “As you’re all aware, there’s been an attempt on me life, and I’d like to know who the fuck is behind it. And I’d like to know yesterday.”
Since taking over for Flynn, I hadn’t sat down and met with most of the guys. Which was my fault, but I’d been busy. I did have a career to maintain. But having someone try to assassinate me in broad daylight called for action.
I sat at a long, narrow table that ran down the center of the room—our room. The bar itself was closed given that it was after hours, but David—the owner of the Shamrock—was a brother and the space was always available for us to use, day or night. Flynn often used an old warehouse for meetings, but since his disappearance and the attempt on my life, I thought it best if the syndicate didn’t handle business as usual.