Total pages in book: 18
Estimated words: 16787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 16787 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 84(@200wpm)___ 67(@250wpm)___ 56(@300wpm)
The seat’s plush and comfortable, so I settle into my seat and pull out my phone. I scroll through emails and smile at the one my mother sent me.
From: Mom
Subject: GOOD LUCK!
My darling Mia,
I can’t be with you today, but I know you’ll do splendidly. Remember I am with you always, and to follow your intuition.
Have a great day, my love.
Mom
My mother is American in every sense of the word. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and how she bagged my stepfather, I’ll have no idea. She was a single mom with hardly any money. Part of me thinks she was a bottle girl at a club, and he happened to be infatuated with her, but my mom has always stayed rather quiet on the matter. All I know is that she was a ‘waitress,’ but I don’t know if I believe her. She always shuts the conversation down whenever I bring it up, so after all of these years, I’ve stopped.
“Miss Russo, you can come back now,” the security guard says, and I rise, then walk over to him. He hands me back my passport first, and then he hands me my badge. It’s on a thin, black lanyard that has ‘Row Interiors’ embellished on the side.
“Thank you,” I say to him.
“No problem. Now, what you’re going to do is head over that way and then do what you saw the others doing earlier. You’ll go down the hall, make a sharp left, and then get on the lift. Your floor is number three, and your office is 368, so you’ll be on the right side.”
I stare at him in confusion, not understanding one thing he said. “Um, I apologize for my confusion, but what’s a lift?”
“Uh, erm, would you call it an elevator, maybe?”
“Yes, thank you for clearing that up, and thank you again for all your help,” I pause for a second and look for a nameplate, “Arthur.”
He simply smiles, and I head in the direction he told me to go. It’s my first day at my dream job, and I’m going to love every waking minute of it.
CHAPTER THREE
CILLIAN
As much as I didn’t want to leave Italy, I had to. Being there after getting such horrible news wouldn’t be easy, but more than that, I was given a direct order. My father wants me to tell Keenan about our bloodline, and while I doubt, he’s lying to me in any sense of the word, I have to find out for myself. Which leads me to where I am today in Dublin, Ireland.
Anyone who’s anyone knows the Mackenzie’s run things here, and while they have roots in other countries, it’s not nearly as prominent as their grip here. Given who my father is, I was able to secure a meeting with Liam, the man who’s been the head of the family for years.
I wasn’t invited to his family compound, which isn’t overly surprising to me. I’m not a known ally, so he’s agreed to meet me at a pub the family owns called Maeve’s. It looks just like every other Irish pub in this country, only the features are a bit more thought out. It’s more industrial, and there are live plants between the booths, which must drown out the noise and provide privacy.
I walk inside, and a man in a black suit approaches me. “Come with me.”
I follow him, and he takes me to a back room. He pushes the door open, and I walk inside with him, then he proceeds to pat me down, checking for weapons. “I’m clean,” I tell him, but I know he’s going to continue to check until he’s satisfied.
“Liam will be here soon. Sit and wait,” the man tells me before he walks out through the door we came in, and it clicks shut. This must be some sort of storage room. It’s dark, and the walls are painted black. There’s one single light hanging from above, while two wooden chairs sit in the middle of the small room. If it weren’t in the middle of a public establishment, I’d think this was a torture chamber.
I sit and wait until five minutes turn into ten, and then ten turns into thirty. I’m about to get up and walk out the damn door. I care for my brother, Keenan, but I don’t need to deal with this bullshit. Only, as the thought’s run through my mind, the door opens.
Low and behold, Liam Mackenzie enters the room. His eyes lock with mine, and he unbuttons the front of his suit jacket as he takes a seat. “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting a Bernardi to ever request a meeting with me.”
I take a short breath and give him a curt nod. “I’m here on family business, cousin.” I keep my eyes firmly locked on his, and he cocks a brow.