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“Is that why he enlisted?”
She lifts a shoulder. “Your guess is as good as mine there. Look, Castle’s one of the most important people in my life. Like the brother I never had, or a really close uncle, you know?”
I nod as she continues.
“But he really is a pretty private person. I mean I’ve known the guy for ten years and I’m still not clear on his path to becoming Cillian’s number two and now head. Or how he even got appointed our bodyguard, to be honest. I mean, you know our dad ran things here in New York. But technically he still reported to Cillian, who was the head of the whole organization back in London. And after what happened to me…”
She looks away.
She doesn’t have to finish that sentence.
Neve was kidnapped by a psychopath named Seamus O’Conor when she was like nine—in retaliation for what the one-time Irish mafia hitman perceived as a slight on the part of Neve and Eilish’s dad.
Long story short, Cillian ended up saving her.
“Sorry, we don’t have to talk about—”
“No,” she smiles, distractedly running a finger over the scar she still bears on her wrist. “No, I’m okay. Seamus is dead and gone,” she says flatly. “But, after that whole thing, Cillian decided our father wasn’t really doing enough to protect his family. I remember he flew to New York and had a bunch of loud arguments with Dad in the study.” She shrugs. “A week later, we met Castle, and the rest is history. But for real: ten years later, I still have no idea what he did in the service, or why he joined in the first place, or—honestly—why he left, either. He simply doesn’t talk about it.”
I look down into my coffee, swirling the contents of the mug absently before realizing Neve is looking at me curiously.
I flush. “What?”
“Oh, nothing…” She bites her lip. “Okay, sorry, I have to ask.” She drops her voice even though we’re the only two people in the apartment. “Are youintoCastle?”
My face hearts terribly, which I try to cover with a massive slug of coffee.
“Me?” I squeak, forcing a laugh that doesn’t sound real even to me. “Oh,no. No.” I shake my head. “No. Definitely no.”
“Sooo… You’re saying that’s a no?”
I groan as my face turns crimson. “That’s a no.”
Neve grins, eyeing me. “I mean, Iget it. He’s handsome, he’s got the dark and brooding thing going on, war veteran and all that.”
And my every fantasy for like a year and a half…
She shrugs, grinning at me. “If youareinto Castle, that is…” she eyes me. “I guess I’m notantiit? I mean, I get why you think I might be, but I don’t think I am?”
I laugh nervously. “Yeah, but…no way. Definitely not.”
She laughs, as if the tension’s just been broken. “Yeah. I guess that’d be pretty weird, actually.”
I force a laugh. “Yeah, totally weird.”
Fuck. Me.
* * *
It’s a bad,terrible, horrible, awful idea. It’s actually such a breach of trust that I want to smackmyself. But when Neve leaves, I still pick up the phone and call Elsa.
“Hey!” my future sister-in-law exclaims brightly when she answers the phone. Then her tone immediately switches to one of concern. “How are you holding up?”
“Oh…fine. Just bored out of my skull. Trapped.”
She sighs. “I seriously can’t imagine. Want some company over there? Hades and Nora and I were planning to make pizza tonight. We could do it over at Konstantin’s place with you?”
I smile. “Thanks. But nah, that’s okay. It’s probably best if…”
