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I zipped my mouth as an elderly woman walked by us, holding back the obscenities that hung on the edge of my tongue.
Frankie grinned at me and joined the crowd.
I was free.
Now I needed to go hit something.
* * *
“I won’t be in for the rest of the week. I have other business to attend to,” I told John.
I had slipped back into the office later in the day, knowing that almost everyone would be gone except John. The workaholic.
I’d spent a few hours at a nearby gym. It was one I’d never been to before—I wanted a place where no one would recognize me. The last thing I wanted was to run into Frankie again, or any of his maggot friends.
“Sean is busy, so I need you to cover the meeting with the Jensen Group tomorrow. Can you handle it?” I asked John.
John removed his glasses and held them in his hands, studying me, his brows pulled together. Oh Jesus, not him, too.
“I’ve known you since you were a teenager, back when your da dragged you around the office.”
As if I hadn’t already had enough from my brothers and sister.
“Are you fighting again?” He set his glasses down and straightened in his seat.
I rubbed my temples, taking a second to think about how I wanted to respond. I’d been working for Da’s company since high school. He’d groomed all of us to take a role at the company. It was a family business, and he wanted to keep it that way.
But I’d also started learning to fight when I got out of high school.
I had lived in two different worlds, and I became two different people as a result.
“Do your ma and da know?” John asked, not waiting for a response. He’d already drawn a conclusion, and I almost didn’t mind. I didn’t want to answer.
I released a deep breath and took a step back from his desk. “How is it going with the interns?” I deflected.
John frowned at me and pushed to his feet, shoving his hands in his slacks pockets. Disappointment was etched in the lines of his face. “I like a few of them, but I have concerns about one.”
At least now we were talking business. I eased up a little in my stance. “Who?”
“Anna.”
I hadn’t expected that answer. “Why? I thought she and her partner won the pitch.”
John angled his head at me. “I’m worried whether she would be a good long-term asset if anyone finds out about you and her. She has a lot of potential, but I can’t offer her a job if people think it’s because she’s with you.”
“What the bleeding hell are ya talking about? Anna and I—”
John faked a laugh. “Give me a break. I saw how you two were looking at each other in your office last week. You look at her every time you pass by her. If there isn’t something going on now, there will be.”
I had always valued John’s opinions in the past, but right now I was ready to blow a fuse. Maybe it was the fighting—it always put me on edge. “I think we’re done here.” It was one thing for John to give me shit about fighting, but talking to me about Anna? That wasn’t going to fly. I turned to leave his office.
“I’m trying to look out for her, Adam,” he called after me, and that stopped me in my tracks. “Especially if you’re fighting again. If you’re going down, don’t bring her down with ya.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
ANNA
I stood inside Heuston Station with the kids gathered in a group off to the side, waiting for Adam to arrive. I hadn’t spoken with him since Tuesday night, although I’d heard he’d been in the office Wednesday for a few hours, on and off. But he didn’t show up for work on Thursday or Friday.
