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“I have no plans to make this a real marriage in terms of love. Isabella will learn to accept this, if she hasn’t figured it out already,” I say with a firm jaw.
“Aye.” Patricia bows her head to me. “I’ll go welcome the next Mrs. O’Rourke.”
I hike to my office, those words ringing in my ears. The smell of corned beef lingers in the hall, and when I open the door, my brothers are devouring several stacked sandwiches and drinking Guinness.
“Congratulations!” Balor says to me with his evil-genius grin.
“We filled him in.” Riordan hands me a plate.
I think of Isabella upstairs hungry. But Tricia will take care of her. I don’t even know if she likes corned beef. She’s Italian. I’m starving, so I take a bite and inhale half of the sandwich before I even sit down.
With my brain working again, I say to my brothers, “I have to call Shea to plan the wedding.” I hadn’t bothered giving her a heads-up, on the off-chance Parisi pushed back enough for me to change my mind.
“Long live the queen.” Lachlan chuckles darkly, putting his feet up on my desk.
“And God save the king.” I sit down, the familiar squeak of Da’s old chair comforting me, bringing me back around to who I really am. “Eoghan, I need some kind of prenup for her to sign.”
“Who gets to tell Ma you’re getting hitched to a Parisi?” Lachlan takes out his knife like he’s going to use it to play darts on the back of the door.
Jaysus, I hadn’t even considered my parents’ reaction. They expected me to marry Norah. Then Ma’s MS diagnosis stole all of Da’s attention. For years, we were strong enough and didn’t need to make arranged marriages with an enemy. Ma and Da’s marriage was made out of a different kind of necessity back in Ireland. Survival.
“I’ll tell Da when they get back,” I answer gruffly. I made this decision. It also means confessing how serious the problem has grown with the Russians.
“This cruise they’re on is three weeks,” Balor tells me. “The Arctic, whale sightings, and watching glaciers melt from a cabin with glass walls. So Ma doesn’t have to…” He trails off.
“Aye.”
So she doesn’t have to walk around too much.
Balor holding his phone reminds me I took Isabella’s and how she reacted. Getting my breath in check, I dig into my pocket. “Balor, this is Isabella’s phone. Get her another one on our account.”
“Sure.” He takes it, looking at me. “What am I doing with this one?”
I snap my fingers to get everyone’s attention. “Listen up. Isabella told me she had a relationship with an Ivan Petrov. Koslov’s nephew.”
“His sister’s kid from Russia?” Riordan says. “We know about him. He’s a low-level bagman.”
“What’s she doing with him?” Lachlan asks.
“I don’t know.” I shake my head. “His number should be in that phone. Check him out, Balor.”
“Will do.” He starts scrolling and then eyes me above the top of the phone. “There are pictures in here.”
“What kind of pictures?”
“Selfies.”
I snatch the phone from him, and when I look down, I see skin. Lots of skin. What the hell is this? Who the hell am I am marrying? I swallow and say, “Delete these.Allof them. Wipe them clean from the cloud before you start going through her calls and texts.”
“I’m gonna get Ewan on this,” Balor says, taking the phone back from me. “Have them do a workup on everyone in this phone.” He manages our contract with Quinlan Investigations, Ewan’s PI firm.
“Good.” I finish my sandwich, glancing out the window. I have a fiancée who is a blank slate. An open book. Living under my roof.
The last roof she lived under exploded.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kieran
