“I’m sorry.” I lifted my head, my eyes catching sight of the white gold Celtic cross she always wore before my attention landed on her face. “I don’t think we should be seen together in such a public place anymore. We shouldn’t even be here together right now.” It pained me to say those words, more than she’d know.
I had enjoyed getting to know my sister and all her quirks. She was also a savvy businesswoman, and I’d been impressed with her negotiating skills, but her love for partying worried me, and running a club would most likely feed into that.
Partying could also lead to drugs, and I was goddamn terrified I’d lose her the same as Ma.
“Sebastian?”
Had she said something? I hadn’t heard a word. “Yeah?”
“I thought my identity as Josie protected me from anyone finding out we’re related. Why do we need distance?”
“Because it’s no longer safe,” I snapped, unable to hide the anger in my tone. Angry at myself for being so careless as to allow anyone to discover my relationship with her.
She snatched my 12-year-old Redbreast whiskey and tossed it back in one quick swallow.
“You don’t need me at the club, anyway. You can run it just fine without me.”
Even if I was beginning to regret buying the club, it was with her money. Everyone believed “Josie” was management and not the owner. But officially, the club was hers in every other way possible.
I’d been damn foolish to think I could keep her identity from The League. And worse, what if The Alliance ever got wind of my sister? Maybe the pact was the only way to keep her safe from them?
“I want you there with me. The point of us running these businesses was to do it together.” She set the glass down. “What is it you aren’t telling me?”
“It’s nothing.” More lies. And I’d have to keep them coming if I wanted to keep her safe. “Why don’t you tell me more about this guy you’re dating?”
“How do you—”
“Spies,” I said with a wink.
“Funny.”
I wasn’t even remotely kidding.
“Well, if you’d come to the opening last night, you would’ve met him.”
Meeting some guy she was sleeping with wouldn’t be a grand idea. “Would I like him, at least?”
“You’ll never like anyone I date.” She lowered her voice. “No leg-breaking if you ever do meet him.” She waved a dismissive hand. “But really, he’s a notorious flirt and not the kind of man to settle down.”
“If he hurts you, I’ll do a lot more than break his legs.” I meant every word. If anyone ever so much as touched her the wrong way, I’d torture them to death.
“The scary thing is that I kind of believe you.” There was a touch of humor running side by side with a hint of serious.
She should believe me, though.
And if I accepted Moreau’s offer, I’d be more feared than ever.
Powerful. Unstoppable.
A deal maker.
A fecking devil among men. Well, that’s how people would perceive me, at least. They wouldn’t know the truth. They couldn’t.
She reached for her necklace and clutched the cross, and her lids dropped. “Your protectiveness reminds me of someone I used to know. He liked to play big brother.”
Cole McGregor? “I like him already.”
“You probably would.” She tucked her necklace beneath her top and opened her eyes. “You know, you can try dating, too. Maybe it’d help you relax. Stop being so broody and tense all of the time.” Her lips quirked into a grin. She was becoming an expert at hiding her emotions like me, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted that for her. “I’m sure you’re hooking up, but maybe you should try something real? Find someone who’d put little hearts in your eyes. Someone who gets your blood pumping.”
“I really don’t want to talk about my sex life with my little sister.” I drew in a deep breath and let it go. “But I’m also just not capable of more. I’d feck it up.” The honesty from my mouth surprised even me.
“Sebastian.” Her voice grew small.
I snatched my mobile when it vibrated. Another message from Luca. He’d been blowing up my mobile all weekend after he’d learned “Josie” was my sister. “Sorry, I have to make a call.”
“You sure you’re going to be okay?”
I didn’t answer, because I honestly had no idea.
Chapter Nine
Present Day
Holly
My hands were going to hurt tomorrow. I had absolutely no idea how my brother used his knuckles like weapons daily, jabbing and punching not only heavy bags but people.
Then again, I was there to wear myself out to the point I’d be too tired to continue obsessing about Sebastian’s kiss. After an hour, no such luck. I was beginning to worry the touch of his lips would remain a ghost in my life forever. And I wasn’t into threesomes, so how could I ever date someone new with Sebastian lingering, even if only in my mind?
Adam slipped off his puffy gloves and tossed them aside before catching the heavy, swinging bag between his palms to stop me from killing it.
I was panting. I didn’t ever pant. I thought hot yoga was hard, but this was next-level stuff.
I rolled my shoulders back a few times and turned toward him. Behind him, two fighters were pummeling each other in one of two cages, and a few other guys were doing some Kung Fu-like moves on a mat a few meters to our left.
“I need to learn self-defense, and I want you to teach me.” I hadn’t come to that realization until I’d watched the guy on the blue mat get flipped onto his back and pinned beneath someone nearly half his size.
“Why now?”
My gaze drifted to the back wall, where McGregor’s Gym was painted in red letters, and beneath it in ancient Gaelic were the symbols for family. Those same symbols were also part of the tattoo inside of Adam’s forearm.
“Well, I got to thinking, and I’ve started traveling more for work, and what if I’m ever, I don’t know, mugged or something when I’m out of town.”
There were plenty of valid reasons to want to hit something and to learn to self-defense, but I couldn’t tell him most of what was on my mind. He’d go crazy with worry.
Adam and Anna were expecting a baby in a few months, and after everything he’d gone through—Anna’s abduction, making the difficult decision to leave the family company—I didn’t want him shouldering any more responsibility.
“If someone ever laid a hand on you, I’d feckin’ kill them.”
Sebastian almost did on Friday.
What was it with the men in my life wanting to kill people?
Shit. No, Sebastian wasn’t a “man in my life.” He was the enemy.
“You’re not that man anymore,” I reminded him, hoping I was right.
Anna had saved him. She brought him out of the dark hole he’d been hiding away in and helped him realize he was a good man.
“When it comes to family, you know I’d do anything to keep you all safe.”
“You wouldn’t kill.”
He grimaced. “Yeah, well, I almost killed Anna’s ex.”
“That was different, and you didn’t go through with it.”
“If Anna hadn’t stopped me, I would’ve,” he admitted, his voice steady. The events of the past still clinging to his mind even though it’d been two years.
“What’s your point?”
Adam wasn’t Sebastian. Sebastian barely knew me, and yet, he’d almost murdered a kid for trying to steal my coat. Adam protecting the love of his life from her abusive ex wasn’t a fair comparison.
“The point is that I won’t let anything happen to you, even if—”
“You have to kill someone for me?” I tightened the knot of my ponytail and eyed the heavy bag again. If he wasn’t going to teach me any moves, may as well go for round two.
“Holly.” The plea in his voice had my focus skating his way.
“Adam. You’re going to be a father. Your son needs
you. Your wife. You can’t shadow my every move and keep me safe. You won’t always be around to watch over me.”
You weren’t on Friday. Then again, I probably shouldn’t have walked alone in a park at night, even if our city was much safer than it used to be.
His blue eyes narrowed as he studied me. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
I lifted my hands between us, making fists. “Just teach me.”
“Fine.” He grunted, or maybe it was more of a snarl. “But do me a favor?”
“What?”
“If you’re really worried about your safety when you’re traveling, maybe hire a bodyguard to go with you?”
Great. I didn’t need Adam to become even more overprotective. “I’ll be fine.” I forced a smile. “Now, show me what in the bloody hell to do.”
He shook his head. “Yeah, okay. But so help me, if anything ever happens to you—”
“I get it. I get it.”
“Stubborn.” He flicked his wrist, motioning for me to follow him to one of the other mats off to the side of the two men fighting.
“Where do ya think I got it from?” I asked before he surprised me by sweeping his leg beneath mine, bringing me down flat onto my back in one quick movement.
“First lesson,” he began. “Always expect the unexpected.”
* * *
After dabbing the towel at the back of my sweaty neck beneath my ponytail, I grabbed my mobile from my purse and checked my messages.
Harrison: I’ve been calling but you must be busy.
Harrison: I need to fly to Amsterdam and put out a few unexpected fires. I’m so sorry.
Harrison: I’ll be back Thursday or Friday. Deal and a celebratory dinner after?
“You okay?” Adam pulled a black tee over his head and stepped in front of me.
I clutched the mobile between my palms, almost grateful I had more time before I had to see Harrison again. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine.” He cocked his head. “This about that Reed guy?”
How’d he . . .?
“Anna saw you and Reed dancing at your party. She thinks you two would make a good match.”
My brows shot up in surprise. “And what do you think? Never mix business with pleasure, right?”
He brought a hand between us, cutting it through the air with one eye closed. “Never talk about you and a man like that around me. I’ll—”
“Nah, you’re all talk these days.” I grinned.
“Don’t try me.” He wrapped a hand around my waist, and I leaned into my big brother. “Also, I’d be a hypocrite if I said don’t date the guy because of work, given Anna was an intern at our company.”
“True.”
“But.”
“Isn’t that one of your least favorite words?” I tipped my chin to the right to look up at him.
“This but is important.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I don’t think you two should date, and it’s not because of the deal.”
“Why?” I stepped out of his grasp to face him.
A contemplative look crossed his face. “I don’t like Renaud, you know that.”
“But?” I almost choked on the word.
“I’ve seen the way you act around him, and how off-kilter he seems to make you.” He lowered himself onto a folding chair outside the second fighting cage, which was empty.
“That’s anger, not anything else.”
He smiled. “Liar.”
There was no way Adam was suggesting I date Sebastian, so what in the hell was he getting at?
“There might be attraction,” I admitted since I hated lying to him.
Might was such a shit word. There was an insane amount of sexual chemistry even after he’d informed me the Limerick deal would happen no matter what.
His elbows went to his thighs. “Sean told me Renaud will relinquish his seat on the board and get rid of his shares—at some point—but can we trust he’ll do that?”
“The only thing I know about him is that he seems to be a man of his word. If he makes a deal, he sticks to it.” He had his reputation to maintain, I supposed. “I don’t understand what this has to do with my not dating Harrison, though. I’m fairly certain he does want more than a friendship or a business deal, but—”
“Yeah, well, you shouldn’t lead Reed on. More importantly, you’re my sister, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Dating a guy who doesn’t make you feel, whatever it is that Renaud does, would weigh on your conscience.”
Sean had been worried Harrison would hurt me given his reputation with women, but here Adam was concerned I’d do the heart breaking.
I didn’t think any man, not soon, at least, could ever make me feel even a tenth of what I’d felt when Sebastian had kissed me last night.
Growing up, I’d rarely gone to Adam for dating advice. Sean had always been my go-to. He wasn’t the best at giving advice, given his lack of long-term commitments, but I’d felt safer talking about the opposite sex with him. Okay, more like the guys I dated would be safer. I didn’t need Adam scaring my dates to pieces with a bunch of not-so-empty threats.
But somehow, Adam could read me better than even Sean could when it came to Sebastian.
“For the record, I don’t want you with Renaud, or anyone like him for that matter. I just want you to find someone who”—he waved a hand in the air, uncomfortable and not practiced in talking about such matters—“makes you . . .”
“You’re right,” I cut him off, saving him from having to talk about sex with me. “Harrison and I should only be friends.” And hopefully, he wouldn’t hate me for it.
“And Renaud?” He rose and braced a hand over my shoulder.
“Easy.” I squeezed my eyes closed. “We shouldn’t be anything at all.”
Chapter Ten
Holly
The lobby in Sebastian’s hotel was as elegant and gorgeous as one of his Brioni suits. The place also had a touch of Rome in the architectural design. Columns, arches, and other breathtaking reminders of one of my favorite cities. But the Celtic music softly playing in the background was a reminder of where I was.
I didn’t want to like the place. To feel at home in a building he owned. But I did.
I planned to head straight for the lift and go to his suite, demand he drop the Limerick sale, and leave the company now. I didn’t want to wait even a day. I needed him gone from my life. To reclaim a sense of who I was before he took over my every thought.
But before I reached the lift, I spotted something, or rather someone, that stopped me dead in my tracks.
“You.” I forced my boots to carry me to the eating area off to the side of the bar.
Hoodie Kid, without the hoodie right now, sat at a table with a younger version of himself. Same messy light brown hair. Blue eyes, too.
“What are you doing here?” I stepped up to their table and crossed my arms, trying not to feel bad at the sight of the bruises Sebastian had left on his face.
“Do I know you?” He glared at me, his eyes tightening.
Oh, he recognized me, but he didn’t want to acknowledge the fact in front of the kid.
“Do you take me for a fool?” I rolled my eyes. “Cut the act.”
He stood and tipped his head to the side, motioning for me to follow him away from the table. “You his girlfriend or something?” He tucked his hands under the armpits of his long-sleeved shirt. A much better quality material than the hoodie he’d been wearing on Friday.
“No, I’m definitely not.” Never would be.
“But you know him?”
I nodded. “And do you?”
“He’s not giving me much of a choice.” His hands fell to his sides when he glimpsed back at the boy sitting at the table eating a sandwich.
“What do you mean? Did he hurt you?”
“He’s making me live here and get my shite together.”
I took a step back, surprise winging through my body so fa
st I nearly lost my footing.
“He threatened me.”
Now that sounded more like it. “You need me to get you out of here?”
“What’s with you people wanting to help me after I tried to steal from you?”
My hand went between us. “He’s helping you? I thought you said—”
“He’s basically blackmailing me. If I behave, he’ll give us room and board and won’t go to the Guards about what I did to you.”
Us? The kid was probably his brother.
“Making me work at his club, though. So, it’s not all a handout.”
Sebastian nearly murdered the kid in the park. No way would he give him a home and a job. “How’d he find you?” My hand went to my forehead and I applied pressure, a headache stirring.
“He stole my wallet mid-punch on Friday.” A hint of a smile, as if actually impressed by Sebastian’s quick hands, touched his lips.
I would have laughed if this situation wasn’t insane.
“Says he used to be like me.”
My jaw about fell all the way to the pretty marbled floors. “What?”
“He wants me to have another chance.” He held his palms open. “Like I said, it’s crazy. But my brother needs this place, so I’ll scrub these rich arsehole’s floors with a toothbrush if I have to.”
“I, um.” I had to talk to Sebastian. “Stay out of trouble.”
“If I hurt you on Friday,” he began when I’d sidestepped him to get to the lift, “I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.” I entered the lift a few seconds later, clutching the handles of my Prada bag and mulling over what the kid had shared as the lift quietly climbed floors.
I rapped at his door a minute later. Then two more times when there was no answer.
I checked the time on my watch. Five o’clock.
He wouldn’t be at his club at this time on a Sunday, right? Of course, he could be at Les Fleurs.
I knocked one more time and nearly fell inward when the door opened.
And shit.
Sebastian shirtless was going to wreak havoc with my ability to speak around him.
The Real Deal: A Dublin Nights Novel Page 9