Page 47 of My Irish Mafia King

“This wonderful lady must bring it out of you,” the lady replies. “Oh, you remind me of me and my husband in our youth. How you look at each other… it’s simply sublime. How did you meet if you don’t mind me asking?”

I loop my arm around Lucy’s waist. She looks up at me, a smile on her face. She seems to enjoy it when we present as a couple… as long as it’s to the right person, without the risk of what the mob will bring.

“It’s actually a pretty crazy story,” Lucy says.

The woman grins. “My favorite kind…”

I watch Lucy as she talks about getting lost as a kid, thinking she would be out there forever, and then finding me. My heart swells when she talks about taking shelter in the cave with the storm lashing. “When the storm stopped, he called me his lucky charm. I still have the ring he gave me… and after my mom passed, I thought about that time a lot. I wore it around my neck. Then, by chance, by luck, he walked into my bakery one day.”

By the end of the story, the woman’s eyes are glimmering. “Oh, how wonderful,” she says. “Thank you for sharing that?—”

“Killian?”

The sound of Uncle Frank’s slurred voice shatters the mood. I turn. Lucy steps away from me, disentangling herself from my embrace. Frank’s eyes are glimmering, just like the old woman’s, but not with emotion. Behind him, Owen leans on his walking stick.

“Are you going to introduce me to your date?” he says.

Owen watches with a calculating expression. But that’s nothing new for him. That’s how he always looks. Still, it piques my suspicion. If he’s behind everything, then he already knows who Lucy is.

“This is Lucy Cassidy. Lucy, this is my uncle, Frank, and my old friend, Owen. Lucy runs a bakery called The Celtic Crust. I’ve been thinking about investing for quite some time. I was at the bakery, in fact, when those low lives attacked us.”

“Nasty business.” Frank scowls. “I’m sorry that happened to you, Lucy. We’ll sort this out.”

He almost sounds like he believes it. Owen flinches. He tries to hide it, but I spot it, less than a second, a tell like he fears giving himself away.

“Thank you, Uncle Frank,” I say. “I thought it’d be polite to bring her here tonight just in case they try anything else.”

“Good thinking,” Frank replies. “Anyway… shall we?” He waves a hand toward the lighted entrance.

“Sure.” I turn to the elderly woman. “It was lovely speaking with you, ma’am.”

“Good luck,” she calls after us, no idea how badly we need it.

Once we’re back in the ballroom, Frank does what he always does at parties: gets wildly drunk. Owen sits in the corner with a group of his men. I stand at the bar with Lucy, careful not to show too much affection, though it’s difficult.

When she sips her champagne and hiccups, I want to tease her playfully so badly. She sees me looking, smiles, then forcibly wipes the smile away like she’s annoyed at herself.

“I’ll wait for Owen to leave the room, then go after him. If he doesn’t leave, I’ll approach and ask to speak about something delicate. At first, I’ll make out like it’s about Shane and the mob, then I’ll go from there.”

“I’m still not sure about this.”

She stares at me. “It’s a good thingI’msure then,” she says fiercely. “You protected me. You saved me from Shane. Now it’s time I did my part.”

“You’ve got no clue how badly I want to kiss you right now.”

She bites her lip. “I want that too. But we can’t.”

“Remember, I’ll be right outside. If you need me, all you have to do is call out, and I’ll be right there. And I’ll be listening the entire time.”

I turn as Colm approaches me, leaning in, speaking in Gaelic. “Half the men in here are already loyal to you, Killian. When it’s time, let us know. We’ll end this before it begins.”

“You’re going to be listening on your phone, right?” Lucy asks, the nerves making her cheeks turn red.

I nod. “The listening device links to my cell. I’ll be with you every step of the way.”

She swallows, looking across the room as Owen moves slowly toward the hallway, to use the bathroom. “Then it’s showtime.”

Lucy brushes her dress down and then walks across the room.

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