Page 68 of The Irish Redemption

I nod and as I turn, Cian slides the second drawing onto the table.

“Even if you don’t know his name,” I say as Holly takes the picture. “If you happen to know what Russian family he belongs to, that would be amazing.”

Holly’s face changes in an instant and anger pulls her brows tight. “This guy?” she snorts. “He’s not fucking Russian. This prick’s Italian.”

27

CORMAC

Italian?

The urge to call Holly a liar rises like vomit, and I clench my teeth in order to prevent it. Seeing Evie talking so casually to Holly almost had me dragging her out of here for fear that Holly was somehow a danger. I’m still a little stunned that Evie has managed to get her talking, and it’s lucky that Cian was a bit more level-headed about this than me.

“Italian?” Evie asks. “Are you sure?”

“Hundred percent,” Holly says bitterly as she lights up another cigarette. “Fucker’s as Italian as they come.”

“You know him well?” Evie presses gently.

I grip the back of her chair, biting my own tongue to remain quiet. There’s so much I want to say, so much I want to demand, but I know one word from me will cause Holly to clam up.

“Too well,” Holly mutters. “He was a client, and then we used to date for a while, but he couldn’t shake the jealousy of my work. Although I was always pretty clear about my reasoning for this work.”

“Money?” Evie asks.

Holly snaps her tongue. “Got it in one. And a pimp whose name is on everything I own so I have nothing and no one. So yeah, Noah and I dated for a little while, but I broke it off with him six months ago.”

Behind me, Cian darts out of the room with the information. I stare hard at Holly, trying to find a lie in her words. Could this be a Russian trick to shove blame onto the Italians? Or have I been looking at the wrong family this entire time?

“I’m so sorry.” Evie reaches for Holly’s hand. “I can’t imagine what that must be like, living like that. Is there anything we can do for you?”

Evie offers help like it’s hers to give, but I find myself following her lead. Her way is working and at this point, I will give Holly anything just for the truth.

“Ironic,” Holly murmurs around her cigarette. “Brenden said the exact same thing.”

“What?” I can’t keep quiet this time, as much as I kick myself for speaking. “What do you mean?”

Holly flicks her cigarette. “I met Brenden not long after I broke up with Noah. It was a complete accident, but we met at a cafe near that motel and he took my coffee. We argued, sort of, until he drank it to prove me right and his black coffee was my vanilla latte.” Holly smiles wistfully “He was quite the dramatic actor. Anyway, I won’t bore you with all the details.”

“You loved him,” Evie says suddenly, and my heart stalls in my chest.

Holly nods and she gives a sad smile. “I did. We started dating not long after that, and we?—”

“Liar,” I bark out, moving past Evie to the edge of the table. “Don’t you dare say something like that!” If Brenden was dating someone, I would know about it. We shared everything. He was my confidant and I was his, and if he had found love, I would have known.

“You think?” Holly moves to put her hand in her bra, drawing the attention of every gunman in the room. She pauses, raising her other hand palm upward, then rummages in her bra. She withdraws something and opens her hand. On her palm sits a gold lighter, and the sight of it makes my heart drop down to the dark pit in my stomach.

Brenden’s lighter.

I know it because it’s the exact same as my lighter. “Why do you have that?” I ask thickly.

“Brenden gave it to me. He told me it was to prove he loved me,” Holly replies. “I told him not to be such a sap and so he told me it would be a symbol of my safety.” When she blinks, her eyes shimmer and she shakes her head. “What a fool he was.”

“Safety?” Evie prompts. “What do you mean?”

Holly sniffles and returns to her cigarette while my mind reels from the revelation. These lighters are precious to us and they would never leave us. But to an outsider, they look normal and if Holly had stolen it, there’s no way she’d know the importance of it. But since she does, Brenden must have told her.

She’s telling the truth.

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