Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 90919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90919 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
I heaved it back into place.
“As you can see,” she murmured. “Clothes are ruined.”
The dresser was torn apart and ripped up clothes covered the floor. Some of them were wet. I didn’t want to know why.
I wasn’t sure what to say. Either Julian Kitz or whoever he’d sent to do his dirty work had been thorough. I’d known it before I brought Aisling back to her apartment, but I’d wanted to give her the chance to go through the stuff herself.
“We can go,” she announced, bending over carefully to grab her bins and blanket. “I’ve got what I need.”
“I’ll carry those.”
“No thanks.” She crushed them against her chest. “I’ve got them.”
When we got back to the main living area, Bas had already cleaned up a little, and there were five garbage bags lined up along the wall.
“Thanks,” Aisling said as she noticed them. She glanced around hopelessly. “How am I supposed to clean all this up? I’m never getting my deposit back.”
“Saoirse hired a cleaner,” I told her, grinding my teeth together. “They’ll clear it all out and hand over the keys to your property manager.”
“Oh,” Aisling mumbled. “Cool, thanks.”
We didn’t bother locking the door on our way out. If someone wanted to steal empty bottles of shampoo and random pieces of sliced-up clothing, they were welcome to it.
We’d left Aunt Ashley, Aoife, and Saoirse with Gray back at the house. Richie’s family had finally gotten back from their trip and Aisling hadn’t wanted to be there when they showed up. I didn’t blame her. She was having a hard enough time without Richie’s stick-up-their-ass parents gawking at her.
I didn’t want to watch Aoife handing them the urn of Richie’s “ashes.” The whole thing was so incredibly fucked.
Things were getting settled pretty quickly. Aoife and Sean were mostly packed up, Aisling’s apartment would be cleaned and turned over after we were gone, and Ronan had started looking into transferring closer to us in Oregon—it would take him a while longer before he could move.
There was one thing left to do, and I was both dreading it and looking forward to it.
The house was quiet when we got back and Bas walked Aisling inside. A minute later, Gray came out, and we climbed on our bikes.
“Let me do the talking,” Gray ordered as we strode toward a restaurant off the interstate. “Keep your cool, or I swear to Christ—”
“Got it,” I replied.
I didn’t know the man we were meeting, but I still could’ve picked him out of a crowd. He was older, with salt-and-pepper hair and a thousand-dollar suit. He stuck out like a sore thumb.
“Billy,” Gray greeted, sliding into the booth across from the man.
“White,” the man replied.
I just barely stopped myself from reacting. I knew Gray’s last name was White, but I so rarely heard it. We’d given him shit years ago because who named their kid Gray White? We’d only mentioned it once because Gray had lost his mind. His dead mother had picked the name, and it was Grayson, assholes. Leo had shortened it to Gray, which stuck.
“Seems we have a bit of a situation,” Gray said flatly.
“Well, I wouldn’t say—”
“Put your dog on a leash, Billy,” Gray cut him off. “He gets off, and who knows what happens? Could get hit by a car, runnin’ free like that.”
“Kitz is an important part of my organization.”
My hands curled into fists under the table and my teeth ground together, but I didn’t say anything.
“Kitz is a liability, and you know it,” Gray replied.
“Well, agree to disagree.”
“Do I need to take care of this for you?” Gray asked softly.
Billy looked away first. “No, you do not,” he replied stiffly.
“Put him on a fuckin’ leash, Billy.”
“Consider it done.”
“He doesn’t come near a single person in the Kelly family.”
“I thought the dead man was Lewis?” Billy asked dismissively.
It took every bit of willpower I had to keep my seat.
“The woman he kidnapped is a Kelly,” Gray snapped.
“Fine,” Billy said, waving his hand like he was brushing something off the table. “The Kelly family is off-limits.”
“Every single one of them.”
“Every single one,” Billy agreed.
“They’re under our protection, Billy,” Gray said softly. “If he gets anywhere near them, he’s a dead man. My boy Wanker here will take care of that.”
Billy looked at me. I smiled.
“But if that happens—” Gray tapped the table softly with his knuckles to bring the man’s attention back to him. “You’re a dead man, too, Billy.”
“Understood,” Billy replied stiffly.
“That’s good,” Gray said, his expression changing completely. He stretched his arms above his head like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Glad we had this talk.”
After leaving a twenty on the table for the waitress’s inconvenience, I followed Gray back out of the restaurant. I could feel the weight of Billy’s eyes on us until we’d rounded the building.