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I leapt in fright, falling forward over Larry as the chair spun. Larry grunted as he caught me. We whirled around to face the door where Sean stood holding a gun, his handsome face a mask of fury.
11
Saturday morning, Cian brought me frustrating news from one of our suppliers, and I was still dealing with it as I buttoned up the collar on my wedding shirt.
“You need a buttonhole.” Trixie, my housekeeper, came bustling into my office without knocking.
“I could have been killing someone in here, Trixie,” I growled, not in the mood for her mother-hen routine.
She clicked her tongue. “You wouldn’t risk getting blood on your precious books.”
Despite acting like everyone’s grandmother, Trixie knew what happened in this house. She snatched my suit jacket from the chair and fixed some white flowers surrounded by blue-green ribbon to the buttonhole on my jacket.
“You need a teal tie today. The wedding party is wearing teal.” She handed me a statin tie.
“Jesus wept,” I muttered.
“Don’t be like that, young man. This is a joyous day. A little birdy tells me you have found your girl. Don’t take too long before you bring her home. You need to show her you are serious.”
“Shall I kidnap her today?”
“Shall I set the guest room up?” she asked hopefully.
I shook my head as I tied my tie. Trixie was a special kind of crazy.
“You can still come today,” I said.
Her sunny smile slipped. “I’ve got too much to do. Cian promised to take some pictures.”
I didn’t tell her I wouldn’t trust Cian to get a picture of the inside of his jacket pocket. Neither did I call her out on the fact that her agoraphobia prevented her from going to the church, not the house jobs. We all had baggage. Despite being a bunch of deplorable criminals, she took good care of us and kept us fed and watered, so if she never wanted to leave, I was okay with that.
“How do I look?”
“Like you need a woman on your arm.” She straightened my tie.
“Working on it,” I said, grabbing my gun and jacket.
The church service was mercifully short, and surprisingly, Father Torin had got through it without shitting himself. Most of the time, the fear I invoked was helpful, but not always. I was happy for Loch and Rada, but the need to return to my hummingbird itched inside me. They were disgustingly lovey-dovey. I was wondering why I even returned to the house with them. Loch, the lovesick eejit, had tattooed Rada’s name across his chest. And she was gazing at him like he hung the moon. I snatched a bottle of whiskey off the shelf for a toast, not in the slightest bit jealous.
“He’s never tattooed my name anywhere, so you ought to be proud,” I said, passing them both a filled glass.
“Feck off. Why would I want your name tattooed on me?” Loch said.
“Touché,” I said, toasting them.
Dashing back the whiskey, I enjoyed the burn and considered the merits of tattooing Amy’s name on me. Which name would I use?
“I’ll leave you lovebirds to it.” I knocked my knuckles on the bar and headed out.
I didn’t wish to be nearby for the marriage consummation.
Ian drove to the club, and my mood had soured by the time we arrived at the car park. Kia texted me that Amy had arrived for her shift. I told her to send her to the VIP room. It seemed my exotic little bird hadn’t heeded my warning yesterday, so I would need to be more explicit in my directions. I might be resisting the urge to snatch her off the street, but that didn’t mean I was okay with her dancing for other men.
Outside the club, there was no sign of Niko lingering around, so I headed for the office. I needed to speak to Kia before seeing my hummingbird. Throwing the door open, the scene that greeted me tightened my throat.
Amy was leaning over a guy in a chair. Her hair fell around them, hiding both their faces, but her tits were threatening to fall from a string bikini. Blood pounded in my ears, and my gun was in my hand in an instant.
“What the fuck is going on?” I bellowed as my usual cool evaporated.
