Page 111 of Iron Blade

Crystal blue eyes looked back at me with a cold indifference.

“Oh, yes,” Blaine said, filling in the stretching awkward silence. “It seems that my prodigal child has returned to mourn the loss of my beloved wife.”

Flanagan stepped to the side to give me an unobstructed view of the strange woman.

I hardly recognized her.

I don’t know what I expected - that she’d look the same as she had seven years ago? That she’d be unchanged by time, and whatever she had done while out of the influence of Green Fields Enterprises? That she’d be the same little girl that had been like a little sister to me?

I didn’t know.

A thousand questions swam through my head. Where have you been? Why did you run away? Why didn’t you talk to me?

“Welcome back to Green Fields Enterprises,” I pushed through my clenched teeth.

I wasn’t mad at her. I couldn’t be, really. Not when the loss of her had been so soon after my mother’s passing. She had been a good friend through those times, right up until the day before her wedding when she vanished without a word.

A sudden flash of anger lit up her eyes, before she quashed it with a blink. “I won’t be staying.”

I clenched my jaw, wanting to let a thousand questions spill out. But I couldn’t. Not here. I’d corner her later.

I felt a tug on my hand, as though my wife was trying to pull from my grasp, but I instinctively clamped down.

“Have you met my wife?” I asked, coolly, bringing our joined hands up to flash my wife’s green emerald ring.

I knew that Sinead “Shiny” Flanagan would recognize it. She had admired the ring a million times over on my mum’s hand, having taken the position as the sister I never had growing up.

She barely glanced at it, but I did see the small flicker and the slight flare of her nose as she must have understood its meaning. Mine was not an arranged marriage, like hers had been. Kira was my choice.

Why did I want Shiny to know that? I don’t know. Because Shiny reminded me of my mother in a thousand different ways. My mum had loved the Flanagan girls like her own, and that doubled the betrayal of Shiny’s disappearance.

Shiny looked at my wife, the corners of her lips typing downwards. “Congratulations.”

Kira didn’t say anything. Instead, she turned to Blaine Flanagan, and offered her free hand.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” She stepped away from me for a moment, extending her hand palm down. “On behalf of the family, I hope you know that we’re here to help in any way we can.”

Flanagan shook it, with a slight bow, accepting her rehearsed words. Had Aoibheann told her to say that?

It was our cue to move on from this morbid reception line.

I caught one last glance at Sinead, narrowing my eyes when she wouldn’t meet my gaze a second time. What was she doing here? What was she up to? I’d corner her later to find out.

Now, to mingle, wish condolences, and offer support, on behalf of the family.

Chapter forty-one

Husband

Kira

“Eoghan,” Aoibheann said, coming over, and taking my hand in hers. “It’s time that we women went off to do our part.”

She looked at me with great meaning, before giving Eoghan a small, polite smile.

“Thank you, Aoibheann,” Eoghan said. I wasn’t sure what he was thanking her for, but whatever it was, it was profound. “Just give me one moment.”

His eyes bored into me, searching my face for something. I wasn’t sure what. I kept my face neutral, as if we hadn’t fought. As if he hadn’t revealed himself to be the devil I was trying to stop.

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