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“A time lapse of what?” I snapped.
“We can pinpoint when you started to look ancient.”
“Beating the shit out of you would be one way to ease my goddamn mood, Kid. Watch yourself. What the hell are you even doing?”
Warily, I eyed the console where the speaker was then looked up at the magic eye in the ceiling.
He sniffed. “I was doing routine updates.”
“Nothing’s routine about you.”
“That didn’t sound like a compliment, Finn.”
“That’s because it wasn’t.” As the elevator approached the lobby, I growled under my breath with impatience as, barely thirty seconds later, the doors opened.
I saw her immediately, and everything about her put me on edge. I wasn’t sure how Aoife didn’t see it, but I sure as fuck did.
The first time I’d had the misfortune of meeting her, she’d had blonde hair.
Now, she was auburn, and she wore green goddamn contacts too. She’d started wearing her hair in a similar style as Aoife, and the clothes weren’t exact replicas because my wife’s wardrobe was expensive, but Louise did what she could within her budget.
The second she saw me, she smiled and strolled over to me.
“What’s Aoife doing in the lobby?”
Conor’s voice was softer now, as sotto voce as he got, and that he’d mistaken her for Aoife pissed me off even more.
“Louise,” I greeted curtly.
“Finn.” Her smile dampened down as she gave me an apologetic look. “I was so sorry to hear about Aoife and the baby.” She reached out and pressed her hand to my arm. “If there’sanythingI can do, just let me know.”
In the background, I heard a gagging sound.
How I managed not to smile, I’d never know.
Louise jerked in surprise. “What was that?”
I shrugged, but primarily, it was to get rid of her hand on my arm which was clinging on like she’d stuck it there with Gorilla glue. “What was what?”
Her brow furrowed, but she pinpointed me with her attention. “How are you doing, Finn?”
“My wife just lost our child, Louise. How do you think I’m doing?” Though she flinched, I ignored it and demanded, “Aoife said you had some accounts for her?”
“Yeah. Here they are.”
As she handed me a box, she gave me a limpid smile that I also ignored as I asked, “Why couldn’t you email these over?” I opened the lid and peered inside. “It’s just a bunch of receipts.”
“The system isn’t online.”
I nodded my understanding and retreated into the elevator. As I did, she joined me. Her audacity had me snarling, “Did I invite you in here?”
“Well, no, but I wanted to visit Aoife…” Her voice waned.
“Not today,” I dismissed. “Maybe some other time.”
“Oh, but I’d really like to catch up with her.”
“She’s not feeling up to it.” Whether Aoife would agree with me or not was another matter entirely. Regardless,Iwasn’t damn well capable of dealing with her cooing and simpering over a coffee. I dismissed her by saying, “I’ll pass on your well-wishes to her.”
