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We paid him well for his talent.
“I’ll have a glass of Tullamore Dew, from the eighteen-year-old bottle.”
“You have good taste, sir,” Angus replied.
“Thank you,” Shane replied. He smiled, watching as Angus reached to the upper shelf to grab the dusty bottle. He poured a double shot into a glass and slid it over to Shane, who nodded with respect. Angus smiled politely and moved on to serve someone else once again.
“The Midleton Very Rare is better,” I said, testing him a little with my typical brashness.
“It is very good, I agree, but the notes of vanilla and honey in the Tullamore Dew 18-Year-Old brings out a very interesting flavor. You can even catch a hint of the bourbon, sherry, and the Madeira casks they use in the aging process.”
The man knew his whiskey. That was a good sign.
“Where did you say that you spent the last seven years?”
“I didn’t, but I was staying with family back in Ireland. We have a plot of land on the border of Don Laoghire, right on the coastline.”
“I’ve been to that area. It’s really beautiful,” I murmured.
“Have you now?”
“Yes. I even remember walking along the beach, listening to the water. I had my first kiss on that beach, a few minutes down the way from Claremont House,” I replied wistfully.
“Is that lucky boy still in the picture?” he asked, raising his eyebrow just the tiniest bit. Was that a hint of jealously? I didn’t know him well enough to tell.
“No. I’m a bit much for most men, him included,” I said bluntly, making no effort to hide my sense of pride.
“I see.” He sipped his whiskey. This time, I saw a glimmer of a grin, and I took that as a sign that he wasn’t afraid of my confidence.
Maybe there was hope after all.
“I grew up near there, but to the north, in Dublin,” I offered.
“Is your family still there?”
“No. My parents died ten years ago, and I moved here after that,” I replied.
“Do you ever think of going back?”
“I’ve gone back a few times since then, more for business than pleasure, though.”
“What kind of business?”
“Shipping,” I answered, being vague on purpose. I wasn’t really worried about giving away our family’s illegal activities to the cops or the feds. We’d had our hands in their pockets for years now. They needed us as much as we needed them.
I wanted Shane to figure out I was someone to fear all on his own.
“I deal in shipments, too,” he replied, his own answer equally ambiguous.
“Why did you spend so long in Ireland? Were you doing business with your family?” I leveled him with a glare as I spoke, assessing his reaction more carefully now.
“I needed to get out of the States for a little while. There was a little too much heat for me to stay here,” he answered.
“Too much heat? A woman, I take it?”
“No, the much less exciting kind of legal heat,” he chuckled.
I glanced at him with keen interest, giving him a quick once over. Had he been on the run from the law for something illegal? Had I happened upon a psycho serial killer in my own bar? The more he alluded to, the more I wanted to know about him. I had a knack for figuring people out, especially if I was going into business with them. It paid to get a leg up on potential associates like that. Men were particularly susceptible to my strategy, and I used it to my advantage whenever I could.
