Page 35 of Líadan's Code

I’m the Banshee, and not supposed to find a happily ever after.

Chapter Eight

Brendan

My girl is confused and overwhelmed by her feelings, though she didn’t tell me about what happened with Jordan. I promised her I wouldn’t ask, and I always keep my promises now to her. If I’m not absolutely sure I can make something happen, I won’t say it.

It’s been two days since Jordan moved in, and it’s been busy. Seán had a laptop delivered to the house, along with instructions on what he wanted him to do. Jordan retreated to his room to work, making himself scarce while Líadan spent her days out of the house.

I continue my work for Seán, attend meetings as his enforcer, and have ready-to-eat meals in the fridge. At least the bastard won’t starve. Whatever happened between the two of them has Lía seeking escape from her own sanctuary, and that frankly pisses me the fuck off.

Driving to a bar now to have a conversation with one of Seán’s colleagues, who wants to buy out his sex club for a night, I call Lía to see what she’s doing. It’s almost four in the afternoon, and I haven’t heard from her all day.

Over the past two years, Seán began to realize the family respected me. The position of enforcer means they are terrified of fucking up, but more importantly, they will not lie to me, because it’s been proven to be bad for their health.

Rumors have begun to spread that I may have a special connection to the Banshee since we work together at times, which has simply increased my street cred.

No one knows Lía and I live together, not even Bruin, Cormac, or Seán’s merry band of hackers. He buried the paperwork under so many different layers of security, it looks as if the home is being rented by some random person.

It supports her father’s agenda to keep that secret, because it would be too easy to connect the dots otherwise. His family and enemies aren’t stupid, just a bit superstitious.

The phone rings three times before she picks up, making my blood pressure spike. If I don’t get to speak to her before I walk into this meeting, I’m very likely to make this man shit his pants.

I don’t even realize how hard I’m gritting my teeth until she picks up the phone.

“I’m fine, Brendan,” she answers, making my hands clench around the steering wheel.

“It’s nice to hear your voice, milseán,” I growl. “I know you’re spiraling a touch, but it would be wonderful to get a text, a call, maybe a photo of your boobs. I need more communication than whatever this is.”

A heavy sigh greets me. Straining to figure out where she is, I hear wind blowing, which means she’s outside. It’s not snowing today, and the weather has improved in a rare spurt of nice weather. It’s sunny today, the sky is blue, so I imagine Lía may be in the park despite the thirty degree weather.

She refuses to miss a nice day, even if she wasn’t having a hard time acclimating to our new house guest. Chicago weather is fucking weird.

“I’m reading and having a snack,” she says. “Daddy had me report on how Jordan is doing. Since I don’t have a clue, I simply said he’s been working in his bedroom. I asked him about why he needed Jordan, since he seemed to be in a good mood.”

“When was this?” I ask her. He didn’t mention he’d spoken to her at all.

“When I took myself out for breakfast this morning,” Lía explains. “Busy diners are the only time he’ll talk business to me over the phone, since it’s harder for people to overhear.”

“This is true,” I grumble. There are times where Seán’s paranoia comes in handy, and this is one of them. “What did he say?”

“Daddy wants to know who people think his heir should be,” Lía says easily.

“Baby, wait, where are you exactly?” I ask. She’s not lowering her voice at all and I’m not sure why. Even if there was no one near her at the park across the street, she wouldn’t talk to me like this.

“I took a little trip to Jackson Park,” she says. “I’m overlooking the water, it’s peaceful, and I don’t have to people. It’s my definition of the perfect day. I took a cab so I wouldn’t have to deal with traffic.”

A pang of guilt hits me because I’ve been working so much. Lía spends a lot of time alone when she’s not doing things for her father, yet he won’t allow her to take any college classes, even if they were online. She’s bored, and now she can’t even hang out at home because Jordan is staying with us and they’ve had some sort of falling out.

“Well that explains things, then,” I murmur, rubbing the back of my neck as I take a deep breath. I’ve been worrying for nothing, but that’s just how I am with Lía. I’m a possessive man, which is what makes Jordan such an enigma. “Alright, tell me everything your dad told you. He didn’t mention he even spoke to you today.”

“The subject of who Daddy’s heir will be is a touchy subject for most in the family,” she reminds me. “Everyone thinks it should be you.”

“Nope, I don’t want it,” I state. “You’re his heir, and no one can convince me otherwise.”

“I know that,” she says, and I can hear the little smile in her voice. Even though she doesn’t laugh or smile, it’ll still show in her tone at times. I want to torture and kill Seán for what he did to her, but can only hope I’ll get the chance.

“Daddy says his newest employee is in charge of finding out if anyone else thinks like that so he can ally with them. Apparently, he wants to have a large party with the family soon, so he is getting ready for any backlash that may happen. There is always some sort of human entertainment for them, as you know.”

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