SILENT VOWS

17

I picked up my phone, needing a distraction and remembering I’d asked Pip for information on Conner.

Me: You find anything?

She’d know what I meant.

Pippa: Was just about to send you an email.

Pippa: K, done!

I opened my email and clicked on the message as soon as it appeared. Dad had access to my account, but I didn’t think he’d care about Pip sending me info on Conner.

Here’s what I could find. Up until recently, the Byrne family was headed by Jimmy, Brody, and Tully Byrne, along with help from Conner’s dad, Seamus Reid. Two weeks ago, Brody was gunned down outside one of their clubs by Albanians. Tully always had a more passive role, so now it’s mostly Jimmy running things. Rumor has it, the younger generation is starting to take over—Oran, Brody’s son, and Keir, who is Jimmy’s eldest. Conner is right there with them staking his claim. The group operates illegal gambling clubs and runs an underground fight circuit. They’ve scraped and clawed their way back to power. Not gonna lie, they sound pretty ruthless.

I couldn’t find much on Conner individually. He’s in his late twenties. Only child. No police record, which seemed kind of surprising. He’s linked to the gambling side of their operations—runs a club called Bastion. That’s about it.

I hadn’t known about Conner’s uncle. Had they been close? No matter how irritating my fiancé could be, I felt bad for his family’s loss. I knew what it felt like to lose someone close. In my gut, I didn’t think he was so callous as to be unaffected by that kind of cruel turn of fate.

Me: Thanks, honey.

Pippa: Not sure how I feel about this.

Me either, Pip. But it doesn’t change anything.

Me: That’s the world we live in.

Pippa: I guess.

Pippa: I had just hoped after everything that’s happened, you’d find your happily ever after. Not this.

My cousin was intrepid and sometimes even seemed fearless, but I knew inside she worried just like the rest of us. Instead of adding to her burden, which wouldn’t help anyone, I tried to be optimistic.

Me: You never know, Pip ?

If I’d learned anything in the past year, it was that life could change in the blink of an eye.

People died. Fortunes changed.

I preferred having some semblance of control over my life, but if I had to rely on a little luck, so be it.

Never in a million years did I think I’d find myself sitting next to my father while meeting with my wedding planner. He hadn’t attended a single school performance or been present at any of the most memorable events in my life. Planning my wedding alongside him seemed ludicrous.

Then again, so would the prospect of my dad killing my mom.

But Mom was dead, Dad was to blame, and I was stuck next to him in wedding hell. The one silver lining was my soon-to-be mother-in-law. Mirren Reid was remarkably gracious and friendly. Maybe I’d swung too far toward optimism, but I had a feeling she could be a valuable ally for me. Maybe even a friend.

We spent almost two hours hashing out details. Mostly, we gave the planner as much guidance as we could, and she was going to handle the logistics of making it all happen. When we finished, Dad announced he had a meeting to get to and instructed Umberto to drive me home after we made a quick stop to drop off paperwork at Conner’s office.

All traces of the exhaustion I’d felt seconds before vanished.

Would we be going to one of the Irish gambling clubs? Would I see him on our brief visit?

An undeniable sense of excitement assaulted me on the way across town. Was it purely curiosity that set my blood flowing, or something even more destructive? Was I actually looking forward to seeing him? I told myself that if the answer was yes, it was only because I was rarely allowed out of the house. Any social interaction at all was a refreshing change of pace for me. It had nothing to do with the man himself.

Yeah…

Umberto parked in front of a four-story brick building that didn’t look like much from the outside. After fussing at me to stay close and behave, he led us inside. The lobby was admittedly more modern than the outside had been, but it was still nothing to write home about. The walls were painted black, and a reception desk built from the original brick sat in the center. Large artistic photos of the city at night dotted the walls, lit by dozens of small track lights hanging from the ceiling.

“Can I help you?” A beautiful woman with short dark hair greeted us. She was outfitted entirely in black satin—snug pants that sculpted perfectly to her athletic frame and a matching cropped top with one strap sweeping over her right shoulder. It was a confident, bold look that I admired.

Umberto grunted. “Hell yeah, you can.” He muttered the words under his breath but loud enough that he knew we’d both heard him.

I had the clawing urge to kick my foot into the back of his knee and send him careening to the ground. Instead, I thinned my lips and shot her an apologetic look.

The woman flashed a feline grin of amusement. “You here for Reid?”

“Yeah, he around?”

“Let’s see. Follow me.” She led us back through a set of double doors and down a hallway containing a series of offices.

We followed her into the last office, which contained a modern executive setup complete with monitors and a fancy fireplace but no Conner.

“Guess he’s upstairs on the floor,” she said breezily. “If you want, we ladies can wait here while you look for him.”

Umberto peered at me as though he were conflicted, so I shot him an exasperated look that said, what trouble could I possibly get into here?