A chill moved down my spine.
Darragh ushered me into his office and closed the door, sealing out the sounds of the lounge. I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
“You know, you’ve caused me much more trouble than I expected. Especially since Tristian is pulling out all the stops to keep his little doll baby safe,” he said, almost admiringly.
He disappeared into the bathroom, saying only, “One moment, please,” before vanishing.
When he returned he carried a porcelain bowl of water and a small, white cloth. He set them down and watched me with an unnerving intensity as he wet the rag and extended it toward me.
I looked at it questioningly.
“For your feet,” he said. “Must’ve cut them up real good, running from that brute out there.”
I took the rag cautiously, my fingers trembling. Slowly, I lifted one foot and then the other, wiping the dirt and grit away in turn. Stones from the street had cut tiny jags into the bottoms, and I grimaced as I washed them away.
Glancing up at Darragh, I muttered, “Brandon said Amber told him I’d be here. Did she…?” I couldn’t bring myself to ask it. It felt so terrible to face up to the possibility that my friend had done that.
“A question for the two of them I’m afraid,” Darragh said. “Not something I have any knowledge of.”
I nodded, my heart still sinking at the thought.
“Why was Tristian here tonight?”
“Ah!” He leaned against the desk, almost pleased with the question. “We were actually having a meaningful discussion, him and I… Who would’ve guessed Brandon would be the one to make it all go to shit...”
“What... what was the discussion about?” I asked softly, my voice barely a thread.
He tilted his head, a small, terrifying grin ghosting his lips. “A business proposal. Seems money is tight for him and he needs it desperately. So he came to me.”
My heart clenched. Tristian was actually going to work for Darragh? I thought he wanted to be done with him.
“I—I don’t understand,” I stammered.
Darragh smirked. “No? It’s not complicated. His daddy is stopping the payments for his mammy’s care. Tristian doesn’t want to work for him, but he can’t cover the costs alone. He needs a little help is all, sweetness.”
He tsked, watching my face fall. “Oh don’t look like that,doll. It’s not the worst arrangement in the world, throwing some fights, playing thebetting odds to our favor. Everybody wins! Except Tristian, of course, but that’s the game.”
“But… but if he doesn’t do what you say, then…”
Darragh quirked a brow. “Then what?”
“Then you’ll… you’ll do to him what you did to Brandon… won’t you?” It wasn’t really a question.
The Irishman was quiet for a moment. When he spoke again, he was quieter, and deathly serious.
“I do hope it won’t come to that again. It’s notnicehaving to discipline my boys, you know. I don’t take pride in it.”
But you do,I thought. I could see it in the way he carried himself from the moment I met him. The belt always front and center. The way he hooked his thumbs in the loops deliberately, a presentation and a warning all the same. He wanted us to see it. He enjoyed every second.
“Ingrid, Ingrid, Ingrid,” Darragh sighed. “Do try not to worry. Together, we can all benefit from this arrangement. Tristian’s mammy gets her hospital bed and machines paid for. Tristian gets to know that you’re safe. And you… well, what wouldyoulike, eh? Think hard now.”
My lip trembled. “For you to leave us alone.”
Darragh threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, petal, that’s a good one! Ah, but no, no, I can’t do that. Think harder. There’s something else you’re looking for, I understand. Something you asked one of my bartenders about this evening…?”
My thoughts went to Camila.
“My—my sister,” I breathed. “He told me she was working here. She got… hooked on drugs. That she might have been—” I couldn’t say the last word. “You know where she is.”
