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Despite my past being linked to crime, I’ve never murdered anyone. Instinct took over, and I had to save Oak. He’s my closest friend and I couldn’t watch him be brought down by the very person who fucked him over all those years ago.
“Whiskey?” Oak asks, walking toward me with a tumbler in his hand.
I take it gratefully and down the contents. “I might need an entire bottle.”
Oak sets a hand on my shoulder. “You’ll be okay.”
I look him in the eye. “I killed a woman.”
“Yes, but she was about to kill me and tear Eva away.” His jaw clenches. “I’ll owe you forever. There’s nothing I could do to repay you.”
I arch a brow. “You owe me? I don’t fucking think so. I’d be dead if you hadn’t taken me in.”
“Not sure that’s true,” Oak says, running a hand across the back of his neck. “You have a way of surviving. I think you’d have found a way.”
When Oak recruited me, I was on the run from my family from Dublin who knew I’d fled to America. Oak gave me a place off the radar where I could lay low, and since then there’s been no word of my family getting close to finding me. I’d always been talented with accents and quickly adopted an American lilt, which has become second nature by now, and changed my second name from Monroe to Daniels.
“How is Eva?” I still can’t quite believe that Oak has fallen for the girl he planned to ruin. It’s ironic really. And the shit will hit the fan when people return the start of next week and Oak announces that he’s married a student, but he doesn’t seem worried.
“She’s shaken, but doing better than you’d expect.” He runs a hand through his hair. “It might not surprise you, but she was never close with her mother.”
I nod in response. Until a couple of hours ago, all I could think about is the start of next week in four days and Adrianna’s return to school, but now my mind is a mess. All I can think about is the way Eva Carmichael’s mother’s eyes went wide as the bullet went right through her forehead and then the blood… There was so much blood.
“Try not to think about it,” Oak says, reading my mind.
“Easier said than done.”
“Do you want to come over to the cottage for dinner?”
I swallow hard. “I can’t face going in there right now.”
Oak nods. “Right. How about we go out for dinner? You, me, and Eva.”
I shake my head. “It’s your wedding night. I’m fine here.” I stand and nod toward the door. “Go to your wife.”
Oak looks skeptical, but relents. “Fine, but if you need anything you call me, alright?”
“Of course.” As if I’d call my best friend on his wedding night. I’m more likely to call anyone else. Gav should be returning tomorrow, as he’s been away for the winter break, God knows where. He rarely disappears for the breaks, but every now and then he does, but won’t say where he goes.
Oak leaves and I grab my bottle of scotch off the dresser in my living room and drink it from the bottle. I grab my cell phone and bring up Adrianna’s number, which I’ve refrained from using the first week and a half of winter break. My finger hovers over her name and I wonder whether to call her.
I bite the bullet and hit the button, my heart pounding erratically in my chest. The dial tone sounds and I hold my breath, wondering if she’ll pick up from an unknown number.
“Hello,” Adrianna says on the other end.
The sound of her voice soothes me. “Hey, baby girl.”
A whoosh of air escapes her lungs and I hear it down the phone. “How the fuck did you get my number?”
“School records,” I say.
“Right. Why the hell are you calling me?”
I hate how vulnerable I feel right now and wonder the same thing. “I had a pretty shitty day and wanted to talk to you.”
There’s a few moments of silence on the other end. “What happened?”
I bite my lip. “I can’t actually tell you, not yet anyway.” I sigh. “You’ll learn more when you return from winter beak in a few days’ time.”
