Irish Billionaire's Lost Daughter

by Nicki Jackson

  For what? There was no security in this existence. With Calum in Newport, it was beautiful and serene, yes, but it was also extremely wishful thinking.

  My attention snapped to the laptop screen as I scrolled through my new emails.

  Myles Walsh.

  The sender’s name stood out as if it was glowing in bright neon. I clicked on the email. The body of the email was short and to the point:

  You’re not taking my calls. I think it’s time you see this.

  I clicked on the attachment, resting my chin atop my left palm. My gaze scrolled over the document and my elbow buckled. I jerked upright, sliding forward on the seat. My eyes widened as I saw images, phone transcripts, and photos of Calum around identified members of the Irish mafia syndicate, operating in Montreal, Canada.

  That explained everything.

  The explosion at the warehouse in Montreal.

  Why Calum had spent the last three years hiding out here.

  “Oh my god.” My breath hitched. I glanced out the window.

  Zoe.

  I’d brought my child to the hideout of a criminal. A man who belonged to a mafia syndicate.

  Fear ran up my spine. Never in a million years had I imagined this. Never had I ever thought that the truths I’d come here looking for could risk my daughter’s life and mine.

  Your life is in danger.

  That’s what Calum had warned me about to convince me to join him in Newport.

  At the time, I’d assumed Calum would say anything to get me to Newport, to get to spend some time with his child, to have a chance to rekindle the lost relationship…

  But Calum hadn’t been lying. He was telling the whole entire disgusting truth about me being in danger. My blood chilled, and I jumped when I heard footsteps behind me.

  “Here’s your tea, sweetheart.”

  His arm appeared out to my right, and he placed the cup of tea on a coaster next to the laptop. I flinched. He kissed my cheek and I jerked sideways as if I’d been burned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I snapped the laptop shut and my eyes darted toward the empty beach outside the window. “Where’s Zoe?”

  “She’s in the kitchen with Mom. They’re planning their next baking project. I’m sure I’ve gained six pounds ever since Zoe and my mom discovered their love for baking.”

  My gaze snapped to his. I was disoriented and confused at his behavior. How could he stand there and be so casual and normal? He was a member of the mafia.

  Was Myles mistaken?

  Those photos in the email were real. The identities of the men he hung out with were confirmed. There was no doubt that Myles was telling the truth. I stood up so abruptly the chair rolled back several feet.

  Calum’s brows snapped together. “What’s wrong?”

  My fear of him evaporated. I felt something else: fury.

  “How could you?”

  His brows snapped together. “What are—”

  “How could you! How could you put my life in danger like this? And Zoe’s? Have you no sense of shame or responsibility?”

  The Adam’s apple bobbed in his neck. “That’s why I brought you two here. Because your life was in danger.”

  I scoffed. “And who exactly is responsible for putting said lives in danger?”

  A dark shadow crossed his eyes. I couldn’t keep it in any longer.

  “Who?” My voice rose to a sharp pitch and broke as I yelled. “How could you not tell me that you’re involved with the Irish mob?”

  He paled, but I derived no satisfaction from his shock.

  Slowly, he got off the bed. “Nina.” He reached for me.

  I jerked away. “Don’t touch me! You lied. You told me you brought us here to protect us. And I thought you were exaggerating. But now… you’ve put us in worse danger. Why did you have to contact us?”

  “Believe me, it’s safer for you here.”

  “Stop trying to trick me. You’re not concerned about my safety. You took me to that warehouse three years ago. It almost got me killed. But what I fail to understand is how you’re so unconcerned about Zoe? She’s your child!”

  “That’s why I want you to stay. So, you’re safe—both of you.”

  “How could you not tell me?” I yelled.

  He cringed. “I wanted to tell you but I was waiting for the right time.”

  I couldn’t believe this.

  “The right time?” I hissed. “The right time? How about when you took me to the lighthouse? How about when you had your hands all over my body, and all my attention?” My voice betrayed me, breaking as a helpless sob burst from my chest. “How about when we took walks down the beach, or went off on that damned boat of yours? Or when we lay in bed at night. All we had was fucking ‘right’ time to talk, Calum.”

  “Nina, please.” He reached for my hand, his fingers brushing my wrist.

  I wrenched it away. “Don’t touch me. Never touch me again. And you’ll never touch my daughter!”

  He seemed to crumple before me. “Don’t.”

  I spun toward the door. “I never should’ve believed you. I was such a fool.” I grabbed the bedroom door knob and turned. “I should’ve trusted Myles.”

  I yanked the door open and strode out, only to spin around when his fingers wrapped around my upper arm.

  He looked ashen. “Who is Myles? What did he say?”

  “I don’t owe you an answer.” I cried, pulling free of his hold and heading toward the kitchen. Zoe was tapping a big wooden spoon into a bowl with pink, thick batter. I pulled her off the kitchen counter and rushed to my room.

  He was right behind me.

  “Nina, listen to me. Don’t take her back. Don’t go back just yet.”

  I turned to the room Zoe had slept in for the last six nights, and shoved our belongings into one suitcase. Zipping it up wordlessly, I held Zoe close and walked out through the living room. I didn’t glance at Calum even once, even though I heard him call out my name. I muttered silent gratitude to Isabel, who kept trying to hold Calum back.

  “Let them go,” Isabel said, over and over. “Let them go. Calum, don’t make this more difficult for Nina.”

  Tears were streaming down my face when I got to my car. I smiled through my tears at Zoe and kissed her cheek before getting behind the wheel. Despite my rush to get out of there, I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at the rearview mirror. It was the last time I would ever laid eyes on this beautiful cottage.

  I was never, ever coming back here.

  Zoe was asleep when by the time I got us home to NY. I carried Zoe to her bedroom and placed her on her bed on her side. As quickly as I could, I walked right out and fast until I reached the living room couch. My hands on my knees, I sat at the very edge of the seat, staring at the dark TV screen.

  The last four hours of my life had felt like a really scary movie. I’d spent the entire drive looking in the rearview mirror, terrified that someone was following us. That someone would… try and kill me and my child. I swallowed in fear, and once again got up to check the locks on the front door. My suitcase was still in the car, but I didn’t dare go down to get it. I wasn’t ready yet. I need some time to register Calum’s truth.

  The drive had been panic-ridden. Terrifying. I couldn’t shrug off the feeling that someone was watching me. I curled up on the seat of the couch on my side and stared at the pattern on the rug. I was such a fool. I missed Calum. Even after everything he’d done, I missed him like with a physical ache in my chest that radiated over my torso.

  I squeezed my eyes shut to fight the pain, and rested my cheek on my clasped hands. I felt vulnerable and agonized. I also felt pathetic curled up on the couch, pining after the man who had lied to me, manipulated me, and put my life and Zoe’s on the line for his own gratification.

  Stop thinking about him.

  How could I have let myself fall in love with him?

  Even as I berated myself, a part of me defended my gullibility. Calum Lynch was extreme
ly easy to fall in love with. A member of the Irish mafia syndicate was the kindest sweetest man I had ever come across. He was always polite and respectful. He noticed the little things and tried his best to make me comfortable. He entered the room with a big smile on his face. It was a contagions giddiness that swept everyone he was around. How could someone like him be involved with the mafia? What the hell was he doing with them?

  I tried but failed to picture Calum holding a weapon. Or hurting anyone. Or dealing dangerous illegal substances.

  What did he do?

  But an attachment in an email told the truth—backed with facts. Myles had enough proof to send Calum to prison for a long, long time. In trying to get to me and Zoe, Calum had peeked out of hiding. Myles would make sure it wreaked havoc.

  Calum could go to prison. Zoe and I could be killed.

  Would it be another explosion?

  Sharp knocks on the front door made me bolt upright. My heart raced.

  I glanced at the clock. I’d fallen asleep, but only for a few minutes. My mouth was dry and parched. I jumped as the knocks grew more urgent. I was already at the door, so I peered through the peep hole.

  It was Myles.

  Clutching my chest, I drew in deep breaths of relief and pulled open the door.

  He looked stern, like a teacher does when the student has done wrong.

  “You disappeared on me.” Myles shook his head in disappointment. “Can I come in? The hallway is not the right place to have the conversation I came here to have.”

  Still disoriented from being woken up, I let him in. “What happened?”

  He strolled to the center of the living room on long legs and scanned the wall, which was decorated with framed photos. He was expressionless now.

  That scared me even more. He had bad news. Was Calum dead?

  “Is something wrong?” My voice shook.

  “When you consort with criminals, things go very wrong.”

  A hot blush stained my cheeks. I crossed my arms over my chest in defense. I was an adult. I could do whatever I wanted with my life, including making life-threatening mistakes. I would not allow a man to come into my house and speak to me this way. “Whatever it is you have to say, say it and be done with it. I’d like to go to bed. I’m tired.”

  Myles sighed. “I’m sorry for my tone. Really.”

  I nodded in acknowledgment.

  “You have to understand the gravity of the situation. We have reason to believe a hitman has been hired to take out you and Zoe.”

  My brows snapped together. “Take us out?”

  His jaw clenched. “To kill you both.”

  My hands shot to my mouth, my eyes wide. “What? Why?”

  “There’s no time for all these questions. You need to pick up Zoe and come with me right now. I’ll explain when we get to the safe house.”

  I tried to compose myself, but the fear chilling my blood was the thought of Zoe. My innocent child. “I need to drop Zoe off somewhere else. We can do it on the way to the safe house.”

  Myles grimaced. “No, that won’t work.”

  “Of course it will. No one will find her at my friend’s house. Or at a work colleague’s of mine. Wouldn’t that help to keep her safer?”

  He grew visibly agitated. “I’m FBI, Nina. Let me do my job. I’ll keep you safe and bring Calum out of his rat-hole. Both of you are safer with me.”

  I headed toward the bedroom door, but stopped. “Why does anyone want us dead? We have nothing to do with the mafia. They won’t want us.”

  “There are people—very bad people—who want Calum. You and Zoe are going to be used as bargaining chips. Leverage.”

  My heart pounded erratically.

  “The mafia is planning to take you two so they can get to Calum.”

  I didn’t have words. I could barely breathe. The fear of the unknown was choking my breath in a deathly squeeze.

  “If you are in the mafia, you have enemies. An opposing mafia boss wants Calum, dead or alive. By taking you hostage, they will get Calum out of hiding. He’d come for you two, wouldn’t he?”

  My gaze snapped to Myles’. I didn’t want to have more of this conversation.

  “We’ll have to leave now, Nina. I promise you, you and your daughter will get to the safehouse safe and sound.”

  No matter what I did from the point on, Calum was going down.

  If the syndicate got ahold of me and Zoe, Calum would come after us and be killed.

  If the FBI took me and Zoe to the safehouse, Calum would investigate and go to prison.

  My voice was a bare whisper. I couldn’t do anything to help him.

  “I’ll get Zoe.”

  I checked my phone again. There was no Wi-Fi. For some godforsaken reason, also no network signals, in the safe house.

  When Myles said he was taking me to a safe house, I’d pictured a dinghy, dank, dark space. But this safe house as a sprawling mansion in Montclair. The bedroom was almost as big as my entire apartment. But dark shutters were secured to the windows, and they couldn’t be pulled up. There was no natural light. I didn’t know how long I was going to be here. But it was better than being shot by the Irish mob in an alley.

  I despised Calum for this mess he’d trapped me in.

  I still missed him. The only person I wanted to turn to, to complain about what was going on, was Calum. Ironically, he was also the only one who had done me wrong in the first place. I forced myself to stop thinking about him and watched Zoe playing a game on my phone. There wasn’t much to do without internet, but I was glad to be alive and safe.

  The door opened and Myles entered. I got up with a shaky smile and froze when I saw another man right behind him.

  He was a man with reddish brown hair and deep green eyes. A man that I knew well. It was Ronan, Calum’s uncle. When I was pregnant with Zoe, Ronan had supported me financially. He’d gotten me a place to live and the food in my fridge.

  My heart twisted in my chest. Something wasn’t right.

  “Nina, meet Ronan.” Myles smirked in a cold, evil way.

  I gaped in confusion at Ronan, who laughed sardonically.

  “How are you feeling this afternoon, Nina?” Ronan drawled.

  “What’s going on Myles? Ronan, what are you… ?”

  Myles chuckled and walked toward Zoe, stopping a few feet away. I chilled to the bone when Myles smiled cheekily at Zoe. Clueless Zoe smiled back.

  “Will you tell me what’s going on? Ronan, how do you know Myles?”

  “You keep asking that question. But judging from the look on your face, you’ve connected the dots.”

  My heart was beating loud—too loud. I didn’t respond. I couldn’t be right. I couldn’t afford to be right.

  Ronan took a few steps toward me. I didn’t back down. From the corner of my eye, I was watching Zoe like a hawk. Myles was too close to her.

  “I’m afraid you’ve been too naïve, Nina.” Ronan reached for my face and I lurched away.

  “Don’t touch me.”

  “Oh, come on. There’s no point fighting now. You’ve been played.”

  “No.” I refused to believe that. The consequences were too terrifying to even consider.

  “Myles told you that the mafia is trying to get Calum out of hiding.” He laughed.

  I swallowed. I saw it then. The cold evil in Ronan’s eyes. His presence was disturbing.

  He lifted his arms by his sides, grinning widely. “Here I am. I’m going to get Calum out of hiding. And then I’ll give him exactly what he deserves.”

  Even though I was shaking inside with fear, and my knees threatened to give way, I lifted my chin. I couldn’t let Ronan see how afraid I was.

  “Why do you want to hurt Calum? What has he done to deserve this?”

  “Deserve this? Everyone enters the syndicate of their own free will. But they can’t just up and leave. I mean, I’m not running a fucking IT company here, you know?” He guffawed, glancing at Myles, who chuckled at the quip.
>
  Ronan reached for my shoulder but I wrenched out of his reach.

  “Calum decided he wanted to be lover-boy to you, and wanted to say goodbye to the mafia. But he knew too much.” His smile evaporated to be replaced by cool, frigid calm. “So, I decided to get rid of both of you in that warehouse.”

  My throat went dry.

  Ronan lowered himself onto the couch, his arm casually spread out over the back. “But Calum got out, and you got out. I knew exactly what had happened. I tweaked some things around the scene to make sure Calum thought you were dead.”

  I clutched my stomach as my body retched violently at that piece of information.

  “Calum investigated the warehouse and sure enough… he believed what I wanted him to believe: that you were dead.”

  “What on earth could you have gained by making him believe that?”

  “You’re kidding. You don’t get it?” he asked with a horrible, teasing smile. “Well, first, I thought he’d come back to me and forget about being the lover-boy. You were technically deceased. But just my luck, he figured out that the explosion was no accident. So he disappeared. I got some satisfaction from knowing he was devastated over your death, while I followed your every move. It just made me so happy that he’d lost the woman he’d wanted to leave me for!”

  “You say that as if he was married to you!”

  His jaw clenched. “Entering the syndicate isn’t a temporary agreement, you can’t just leave. You fucking stay put, until I put a hole in your head.”

  I grew pale, and I could tell he saw it. He smirked in satisfaction.

  “I’ve been trying to track Calum down for a while. He’s coming today. Give me your phone.”

  I stiffened as Myles snatched the phone out of Zoe’s hands and handed it to Ronan.

  I need to get out of here with Zoe. Before Calum gets here and Ronan kills him.

  Tears burned my eyelids as Ronan took the phone. I watched, helpless, engulfed in tender emotion.

  Calum had wanted to leave the mafia—for me.

  We’d gotten caught up in Ronan’s game. We hadn’t even known. But now I knew that Calum had chosen to be with me, to make a commitment to me three years ago. It made my heart long for him.