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“I know it’s an old Claddagh ring,” He looked at her bare middle finger. “I saw you wearing it a few times.”
She clasped her hands together in her lap. “The problem was, I didn’t trust anyone at the FBI. I know my stepfather has federal agents of all types on his payroll. And I had no idea how to tell whether or not Agent Miller was good or bad. But as things spun out of control, I realized I had no choice. I had to trust someone.”
“So you trusted an FBI agent you didn’t know instead of me?”
She sighed and smoothed the skirt of her white dress over her knees. “I didn’tnottrust you, Hawk. I just trusted her first. But when I backed out of the deal, she got annoyed and decided to come to the Powder House to find me and force me to hand her the ring. The ring I hid here in the motel. The deal was, I give her the ring and she puts me into witness protection.”
“Witness protection is a joke,” Hawk said. “It’s not like in the movies.”
“I didn’t know that at the time.” She glanced at him, and he moved closer to the edge of the bed. “Anyway, she came to the Powder House to talk to me. Instead, she found a small war going on. She also saved me after Nine tossed me into an abandoned van.”
“Because you left the basement when I told you not to.”
“True.” She released a deep breath and met his brown gaze. “I do regret that decision.”
He shrugged. “Agent Miller had a warrant, Izzy.”
“A warrant to find the ring. Not anything else.”
“Yet we were all still arrested, and our weapons were taken.” He sat on the edge of the bed, closer to her, and leaned his forearms on his thighs. “We’re out on bail, although I’m not sure how our lawyer found that much money. The federal and state charges—”
“Have been dropped.”
He raised an eyebrow, and she heard his sharp inhale. “Excuse me?”
She stood and paced the room. “My original agreement with the FBI also included a promise to put my father in prison if I testified against him about my boyfriend’s murder and the stolen ring.”
“That’s what the witness protection was for?”
“Yes.” She coughed and kept pacing. “But after your arrests, I negotiated a different deal. You see, I realized I was the one with all the leverage.”
“Izzy?” Hawk stood and took her arm to stop her pacing. “What did you do?”
“I gave the FBI the ring in return for them dropping all the charges against you and all of your brothers.”
His eyes widened, and he frowned. “What about your father?”
“When I left home, I also took paperwork that proved my father was double-crossing his IRA contacts. That information was enough to get him on some kind of U.S. treason charges. I’m not sure of the details.” She waved a hand around the room. “Agent Miller took care of it. She also put me in touch with a special agent in charge of cultural antiquities theft. Because I returned the ring my father stole, the government of Ireland gave me a lovely reward. Not twenty million, but enough to pay your bail until the charges were dropped. And enough to set myself up with a new life, away from Boston.”
“What about your mother?” Now he took both of her arms and pulled her in close enough for her to smell his unique scent. The scent that made her knees weak and wobbly. “And your previous job and life in Boston?”
“I’m done with them.” She traced his chin with her fingers and licked her lips. “There are only two things I want, Hawk Mosby. I don’t want to ever be alone again. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”
He rested his lips on her forehead. “Technically, they’re the same thing.”
She stood on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I never meant to hurt you or the club. I would never, ever betray you. I love you.”
Hawk’s smile transformed his face, and his lips met hers in a passionate kiss that left her breathless and her breasts swollen with need. “I love you, Izzy O’Cleary. But there’s one thing I want in return for all of this trouble.”
She rested her head against his chest. “What is that?”
“Marry me.” He chuckled softly. “And be my old lady.”
She pulled away to look up at him, and his hands held her waist. His brown eyes were filled with so much happiness, it made her own vision blur with tears. “I will marry you. And I will be your old lady.” She kissed him again. “But you have to promise me one thing, too.”
His hands moved up higher, dangerously close to her breasts. “What’s that?”
“No more Saturday nights at the Rebel’s Refuge. From now on, we stay home—wherever that may end up being.” She wrinkled her nose. “Because I’m not sure about living in a moldy hotel with an outlaw motorcycle club.”
