Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
I ran through things in my head that I might have missed, but nothing seemed like an overlooked red flag. We’d had a good marriage. I’d thought we were normal.
“The real estate firm in Boston is real. I’ve been there. I’ve gone to galas it hosted,” I said, not able to fit what I was being told into our life.
Brady nodded. “Yes, it’s very real. Murphy International Realty handles the selling of high-end commercial real estate to those who need a location to funnel their money through. Just like we use the realty firm to funnel our profits through.”
I held up a hand to stop him. “Wait. You’re telling me that its purpose is sell real estate to drug dealers?”
He threw back his head and laughed. Nothing about this was funny. I wished he’d stop being so freaking jolly.
“They’re a bit more grand than drug dealers, Salem. They’re the buyers who then distribute to the drug dealers and they need a business to launder the money through.” He pointed at himself. “We are the top of the food chain. We’ve had a few test runs in the States, and they went well, except the feckin’ CIA has connected some strains of hash as being the same as what we supply in Europe. They’ve heard of Rí but they can’t pin anything on us. That’s why ye had to leave,” he said, then took a drink of whiskey from his glass. “Ye should be thanking me. They’ve already gotten into yer close circle of friends once. They can do it again. I can’t have ‘em finding out any more than they already know.”
“What? Who? There is no one in my circle of frie—” I stopped.
Marlana. Holy crap.
He raised an eyebrow. “I see ye remember th DEA agent. They can’t touch us but they’ll help the CIA if they can.”
“But she was after Kendrix. Not me. She was my friend.”
He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. “She manipulated the entire thing. She’s the reason ye found out about the job and applied. Kendrix was a fucking mouse. She wanted the lion. Ye were married to him.”
Was there anything in my life that was real? Had everything and everyone in it been a lie?
Feeling the ache of sorrow, I knew there had been one truth. Rome. He was my only real.
Brady leaned back and pointed at my earrings. They were small sapphire studs that Eamon had given me for my birthday several years ago. I’d had them tucked in my purse, and when Liam had Micah take my purse because of the tracker in it and he left the contents of it for me, I didn’t realize the earrings were in there. I thought I had lost them. Not wanting to lose them again, I’d put them on and left them on.
“Those came in handy, by the way,” he said. “The only tracker that wasn’t taken to the Landiagos’ restaurant. I didn’t check for ye in its location first because it was one tracker. I assumed ye had left them there since all yer other things were at the new location. One of the Landiagos told me last they’d heard the Judgement MC had ye in exchange for his life. I shot him in the head, but only after he was useful.” He paused and took another drink.
“I thought I’d have to sneak into the building and take ye in yer sleep. Possibly kill a few obstacles in the process. But I found ye outside, talking to that rough-looking character at the pond, and waited for ‘im to leave. Then decided to draw ye over to me by playing a little tune. I picked out one of Eamon’s favorites, nice and low but loud enough that ye could hear it, and there ye came. Right to me.” He winked. “Nosy little chit.”
He seemed so pleased with himself.
“Saved yer biker’s life. If I’d had to sneak inside during the night, he probably would have woken up, and I’d have had to put a bullet in ‘im. So, you see, it all worked out rather well.”
“Bran, give Maeve a ring. Let her know our arrival time,” Brady said to the tallest of the three other men.
I’d heard Brady call the ginger Tiernan. He’d not introduced me to any of them, not that I cared. I didn’t want to know them. I wanted to go home. Back to Rome’s room at the club. That home. But my being there would put him in danger.
“Yer gonna like Maeve. She keeps the house runnin’ smoothly,” he informed me. “She’s been the house manager for almost twenty years now.”
Nothing mattered. I didn’t care. My past had been a lie, and my future was bleak.
“Will I ever get to go home?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know yet, but ye might not want to go if and when that time comes.”