Page 80 of The Irish Redemption

“Thank you! That fucker. Maybe he was jealous of me, I don’t fucking know. Used his fancy status to ruin my business deal so when I saw him with my girl too, I told him I knew his game. I understood now, y’know? He wanted my life, but I wasn’t gonna let him take it. He called me crazy, said I was insane, but I could see what he was doing. He couldn’t just take Holly from me. She’s mine, y’see? All mine. Stupid slut doesn’t even know it.”

I shake my head slightly, trying to chase away a wave of dizziness that swept over me. Did he really think Brenden was trying to take over his life? I can’t imagine he had any idea about the secret Cartel deal and it was terrible timing, but in Noah’s eyes, it's all connected.

“You… Do you still want to be with Holly? After everything?”

“She’s mine. Are you fucking deaf?” Noah sucks on his teeth and points his gun at me again. “She’s always with me, she just doesn’t understand yet. But I’ll show her. I’ll show her she’s mine. I just need to explain. Explain to my boss that I was just protecting my life, y’know?”

He was jealous. And crazy.

All this time, Cormac had been searching for the reason Brenden died. He’d accused the Russians and then the Italians, preparing for a war ignited by Brenden’s murder, and this entire time, it was Noah. And he did it because he was jealous. Somehow, that’s so much worse.

“I understand,” I say, wetting my lips. “You have to take care of what’s yours.”

“Exactly,” he mutters. “Exactly.”

A terrible idea comes to me painfully quickly. If Noah is this unstable about Holly, maybe I can send him out to find Cormac. Tapping into that jealousy is my only chance because I need Noah to face Cormac.Cormac would win. I know this for a fact. And then he’d learn where I am.

It’s the only chance I have.

“Weird, though, because now Cormac is with Holly,” I say cautiously. “I guess she still hasn’t learned.”

“The fuck you say?” Noah is back in my space and my pulse races fast like a bunny against a drum. “The fuck did you stay?”

“Holly,” I gasp. “She’s with… she’s with Cormac. Why do you think he hasn’t come for me? He’s busy elsewhere. And Holly, I spoke to her. She’s just confused. Maybe he’s taking advantage of that.”

“Holly…” His face softens slightly. “She’s so… fuck. Cormac.” And just like that, the cold anger is back. “I thought you were Cormac’s bitch so I thought if I take you, then he’ll leave me alone. I can use you to make sure he doesn’t tell my boss any shit.”

“Sure,” I reply, and my voice trembles. “But that doesn’t get you Holly, does it? You need Cormac off the board for that. Fully.”

Noah nods, his eyes darting rapidly back and forth. “That fucker.”

“Although it’s been a while, who’s to say he’s not already with her…”

Noah suddenly turns and hurries toward the heavy metal door that stands between me and freedom. “I’ll kill him this time,” he mutters to himself. “I’ll fucking kill both of them, dumb fucking bitch. I’ll kill him.”

He repeats it like a chant as he hauls the door open with a chilling screech of metal, and my heart finally begins to calm. I have to pray he finds Cormac soon and that somehow, Cormac doesn’t kill him.

“Though…” Noah hesitates at the door, then he glances back at me. “You'd better hope I win, or you’ll die in here.”

A pulse of confusion spreads through my chest. The door slams shut with a final bang that echoes around me, and I breathe as calmly aspossible. What relief solitude brings is immediately erased by the sudden chilling clunk of old pipes groaning and creaking.

“Oh, no.” The holes above me that I’d been distantly curious about suddenly show their purpose as a gush of cold water sprays out of them and rains down on me like shards of ice.

“Shit!”

32

CORMAC

The air in the Black Ox has never been so tense. Hazel stands at the bar with her shotgun, loaded, on the bar and a warning look in her eyes. It doesn’t faze me. There’s only one thing keeping me from diving across this table and strangling Matteo Barati and it’s not Hazel’s shotgun. It’s the fact that I have no idea where Evie is and killing the man I suspect won’t get me any closer.

Cian and Saoirse flank me, though Saoirse chooses to sit under Cian’s watchful eye. He’s silent on his anger about our leaving the hospital too soon, but we’ve wasted too long already.

Matteo sits across from me puffing slowly on his cigar while his son, Rocco, stands off to the left watching me with his dark brows pulled low.

“You have shown me a great deal of disrespect,” Matteo begins slowly. “And still I grant you the chance to apologize to me in person.”

“Apologize?” My fist slams down onto the table, making the glasses jump sharply. “I’m not here to fucking apologize. I’m here to give you one chance to tell me the fucking truth.”

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