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My lips part, eyes widening, as he pulls away and straightens, his composure unbroken, completely nonchalant like he didn’t just fill my mind with filth and my pussy with desire.
“Annika, do you want another one?”
I’m startled back into this world when Hanna touches my shoulder.
“Sorry?”
“Another drink?” she asks again.
I turn to find a server smiling at me.
“Actually, just water for me. With a couple of slices of lemon, please.”
He nods and walks away. Between the two of us, Hanna is the cocktail drinker. I’ll have one once in a while if it’s a nice place that does special ones. Other than that I don’t bother.
“I hope you all have a good evening. I’m going to go back to my meeting,” Ekaterina says, nodding to all of us.
We all sit back down after saying goodbye to her.
“So, do they even know about this bar?” Hanna directs the question at Finn, but lifts a curious eyebrow at me like I’m supposed to know what the hell she’s talking about. My mind is still reeling from Ronan’s words.
“Who?” I ask.
“Finn and Ronan’s parents.”
Oh. We haven’t actually spoken about them. Only mentioned in passing.
“No. We stay out of their businesses, and they stay out of ours,” Finn answers.
I turn to Ronan. “Do they know what you do?”
He takes a sip of the amber drink the server just brought over, and his expression turns serious. More so than I’ve ever seen before in his features.
“They have some knowledge, but in our business, the less they know, the better for all of us. That way, no one can be accused of anything, be implicated, or held accountable.”
“Well, if that’s not cryptic, I’m not sure what is,” I say, eyebrows furrowing.
“Let’s just say our parents have never been your typical involved parents. We grew up with a bunch of nannies, chefs, and drivers while our parents skirted at the edge of the law and every tax paradise out there, adding more and more buildings and businesses to their portfolio.”
“It sounds… cold.” I can’t imagine living like that, being cared for by strangers, without my parents’ warmth or love. Yet there isn’t even a trace of sadness or longing in his eyes when he talks of these things… it’s all he knows.
“It was, in most ways. Their involvement was different. They always made sure we had access to every opportunity. They provided, and took care of us, even disciplined us, but… parenting wasn’t quite their thing,” Ronan tells us.
“No, we didn’t learn many things from them,” Finnigan continues. “Except that when it comes to business, turn a blind eye, unless it concerns you. Catherine and Christian Hennessey are quite the pair. To this day, I’m not convinced they actually love us.”
“They do. In their own, detached way,” Ronan states, unconvinced.
“If you say so. I think that if you died, they would just send me a condolences card.” Finnigan says with a laugh, and my curiosity spikes further.
“Where are they?” I ask.
“Not quite sure. They decided to retire early, selling most of their businesses and holding on mainly to the passive ones, like real estate. They’ve been traveling ever since. Last I talked to them, they were on a yacht somewhere on the North Coast.” Ronan shrugs.
“Sounds like a pretty good life.”
I’m not sure what else I can say. I never gave kids a serious thought, but birthing two just to have nothing to do with them at all from birth to… well, now, is a bit odd. Cruel even.
He smiles and wraps his hand around my thigh under the table, his fingers running higher and higher, my pulse too.
