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“Whiskey and a red wine,” he spits at me, him and his beauty pausing at the bar.
He doesn’t specify a type of red wine, so I go for a pinot noir. That’s a safe pick. My eyes dart over Paddy’s companion again. She’s dressed…weirdly. For a strip club, anyway.
She’s in a tailored button-down top, a pencil skirt, and closed-toed pumps. I wouldn’t be surprised to run into her in an office building. But she looks wicked out of place here in a mafia-owned strip club. Where did Paddy find her?
He nods to me as they take their drinks, leading her to where Connor is seated, watching Tahlie shake her shit on the stage. Paddy holds out a chair, and I bite back a smile, thinking of how Niall always holds the car door for me. What is it with mobsters and being gentlemen?
When I next glance at them, Connor is sitting alone again, sipping his whiskey, staring absently at nothing as his fingers drum on the table. Across the room, the door to the back area opens, and Paddy slides out, striding across to the bar. I have a whiskey waiting for him when he arrives.
“You’re worth more than they pay you, Mellie,” he mutters, snatching it up and striding away. I grin. I know that. Especially more than the absolute zero I get in tips from Irish mobsters who don’t pay for their drinks. At least Niall drives me home – that makes up for a lack of tips.
Paddy drops into a seat beside Connor, who laughs, snapping out of his reverie and chatting with Paddy. Where did Paddy’s date go? He seems happier now she isn’t around, which is weird.
I keep serving, my eyes coming back to Paddy and Connor frequently. I wish Niall were here. But he’s probably with Seamus Fitzpatrick’s annoying wife.
While I’m watching them, Connor and Paddy look across at the door to the back area, which opens, and Seamus Fitzpatrick walks out. My mouth drops open as my eyes land on Paddy’s date, holding Seamus’s hand, her hair significantly less coifed than when she first walked in.
Oh. My. Freaking.God. That’s not Paddy’s date. She has to be Seamus’swife. They’reholding hands. I have never seen Seamus Fitzpatrick even look tenderly at a woman, and now he’s holding his wife’s hand? Niall said Seamus wasn’t happy about the marriage…. This is so confusing.
Seamus reaches Paddy and Connor’s table at the same time Tahlie does. She’s dressed in one of her slutty dresses, smiling and batting her lashes up at Seamus, who barely glances at her. Silly, desperate woman. Does she not see the hand-holding situation going on?
My jaw isn’t the only one hitting the floor as Seamus releases his wife’s hand, sliding his fingers into her hair to tug her head back and lowering his mouth onto hers. Christ! The man practically devours her mouth. Tahlie looks like she has sucked a lemon, Paddy looks disgusted, and Connor snorts into his drink in amusement.
I’m doing none of those things because something has occurred to me. My eyes narrow on the wife’s face as Seamus lifts his head. She looks dazed, just kissed, andgorgeous. And Niall has been with her twenty-four-seven for the last two weeks. A woman that stunning. I’m freaking annoyed. No. I’m more than annoyed. I’m fucking fuming.
Michelle, one of the waitresses, looks stunned as she crosses to me.
“That was different,” she whispers. I turn my eyes on her, tamping down on my anger that Niall has been spending all his time with a goddess of a woman and not with me. It’s irrational, but it’s how I feel. “A whiskey and a red wine.”
Nodding, I pour drinks for Seamus and his wife, setting them down on her tray. My eyes follow her as she takes them over, setting them on the table.
Fiona has come on stage, working the pole, and Seamus takes a seat, drawing his wife down with him onto his lap. Christ. The man must be smitten. Niall better not be. I’d cut a bitch.
Niall
By the time I’ve finished “warning” Connor’s gamblers – putting the fear of God and the Irish Mafia into them – I’m contemplating heading back to Oracle. It’s still Paddy’s turn to watch Fitzy’s little wife and Mellie’s working tonight. I could check her head and make sure she isn’t suffering any after-effects from her bird attack.
Sliding into my SUV, I hit the ignition, clipping my belt. Before I can pull into traffic, the car fills with the chiming of a Bluetooth phone call, Ronan’s name lighting up the screen on the dashboard.
“Ronan?” I grunt, wondering why the fuck he’s calling me at this time of night. If Liam has got himself into a spot of trouble, they’re on their own. I want to see Mellie’s eyes.
“Get yer arse to Fitzy’s place,” Ronan growls down the line. “Bulgarians have just hit Connor’s car. He and Paddy are all right. But they got into a wee shootout on the motorway.”
Jesus fuck. A shootout on the motorway? What does he mean, Connor’s car gothit? I’m glad the lads are okay, but if Paddy was in the car, there is someone Ronan hasn’t mentioned. Someone rather important in the grand scheme of things.
The tires of the SUV squeal as I fishtail a U-turn, peeling toward West Roxbury, leaving a trail of honking horns and irate drivers in my wake.
“And Fitzy’s little wife?”
Jesus fuck. I leave her with Paddy for one night, and he gets her in a shootout. Ronan hesitates, drawing a frown to my brow.
“Some broken fingers, but she’ll be grand,” he says at last. So, not in the pristine condition I handed her over in.
I hit the button to end the call, pressing my foot to the floor. I can be at Fitzy’s house in twenty minutes if I hurry.
I must be closer than them all because no one is there when I reach the house.
Pacing the foyer, my head darts up as the front door creaks open. I stalk over to Tiggy, where she’s pale and shaken, huddled against Seamus’s side.
