Chapter One
Austin tucked himself into the pub’s booth, wishing he could fall through the wall and escape the people boxing him in. The alcohol he’d guzzled the night before to kill a throbbing headache had only made everything worse now that morning had come and the drink had worn off. He was one town inland from his ex-boyfriend Connor’s home, fifteen kilometres from the ocean, and too far from both.
He longed for the time a few months earlier. Time by the ocean and within reach of Connor’s circle had left him calmer than he’d felt in years. Sam had ruined it. Austin had ruined it first, but he chose to ignore that part.
Tammy sat in a three-piece grey herringbone suit, folders neatly arranged on the weather-beaten, pint-stained table, and calmly lifted a chipped teacup of coffee to her mouth.
“Are you listening?”
Since knocking on his B&B door that morning, she’d hardly stopped talking long enough to catch a breath. “We dispatched three teams to aid in the oil-spill cleanup in Peru,”and “We’ve begun a ten-year study into the effects of climate change on meerkats,”and jibber jabber polar bears. Austin had covered both ears and groaned, so he didn’t know whether his company was shooting polar bears, dyeing them blue, or saving the vicious beasts. He must have given the B&B receptionistTammy’s information for payment when he stumbled in last night.
“I don’t care what you do.”
It came out sharper than he meant.
Tammy’s eyes widened, her cup wobbling mid-air. The man across from them winced, tilting his head back slightly. The tiny movement caught Austin’s attention.
Most of Austin’s childhood had been spent in labs. Tests, equipment, scientists, and guards. It was an exceptionally boring life outside experiments, and in that maddening boredom, something about Liam had stood out. A child’s instinct, perhaps, to find an adult willing to play. Or a shark scenting blood and an easy meal. Despite his stern exterior, Liam had proven a soft mark. He’d ultimately helped Austin escape Cessair’s clutches.
And screwed up Austin’s relationship with Connor in the process. Leaving Connor behind to die on a sinking ship while Liam got the two of them to safety had thrown a wrench into everything. When Austin inherited Cessair’s assets, he’d ripped Liam’s contract into a thousand pieces and sent him across the Atlantic. Austin had briefly let Liam return to Ireland last year, only to send him packing again immediately after Sam’s “We’re friends?” imploded his voice control.
Austin’s attention snapped back to Liam.
“I told you to get lost.”
Liam’s wince was more pronounced this time. He rubbed his ear, as if Austin had roared into it.
Tammy set her cup down carefully. “I called him in. I thought a familiar face might make you feel at ease.”
“It doesn’t. Get lost.”
Liam made absolutely no move to do so.
“Liam has been hired to protect you,” Tammy said.
“Protect me? Oh, isn’t that rich…” Uneasiness slithered through him, a tiny coiling snake that tightened into fear. “What’s happened?”
His eyes snapped to the papers laid out on the table, then up and across the pub. He hated pubs. Hissing spit-fires like Connor’s stepbrother Laurence tended to lurk behind the counters, and they were always dimly lit. Austin’s eyes picked out little beyond the immediate glow of yellow lights, only vague shadows. None of the shadows resembled people.
“Cessair’s dead.” He locked eyes with Liam. “He drowned.”
“He’s dead. Nothing will ever change that.” A decade in Ireland had muted Liam’s American accent, leaving his voice discordantly neutral. He sounded as if he didn’t come from anywhere. Much like Austin.
Austin had once dreamed that someone threw a blanket over Liam’s emotions, and everything the man felt after that was dampened. Anger didn’t burn, shame didn’t drown, jealousy didn’t twist. Or ruin. Liam’s unflappable calmness made Austin’s mood swings unbearable. On an upswing, Austin didn’t care what Liam was or wasn’t feeling, but on a downswing, which came far more often, he fantasised about murdering the man. How dare Liam look on calmly as Austin fell apart? Sometimes, Austin hated Liam even more than he hated Cessair.
Under a yellow light, Liam looked at Austin very calmly.
“Cessair is a problem that we no longer have to deal with, mercifully.” Tammy muttered “mercifully” under her breath.
Several years ago, Tammy had written a passionate article ridiculing Cessair from the top down. TheOrotund Bastardwas, to her researched, detailed understanding, a blithering idiot with money.
Austin had threatened the board of directors to make her CEO or else he’d dissolve the entire empire. They caved, butTammy had wanted a different job. Austin couldn’t remember what—the weeks after Cessair’s disappearance were an alcohol-fuelled blur—only that he’d threatened hellfire and got it for her.
“What’s happened?” Austin asked.
Tammy squared her shoulders. Her hair was slate grey and fell in perfect alignment with the cut of her jaw. “Some research was seized. I thought”—she slid a file to Austin—“that everything was destroyed last year. The only lab that should have held sensitive information was the one here in Ireland. However, it seems some information was outsourced to a lab in Miami. I believe physical files containing sensitive information were on-site.”
“Go in person and burn it.” Austin whirled on Liam. “You. You go and do it.”
