Page 16 of Twisted Secrets
But the alley was empty.
She found his phone easily and hurried back into the bar, relocking the door behind her. Cillian was exactly where she left him, and he relaxed when she walked back into the room. “No trouble?”
“None.” She wished she could chalk his concern up to self-preservation, but he seemed genuinely worried about her. It was…strange. She passed over the phone. “Call your people in.”
“You’re awfully sure I have people to call in.”
“You’re an O’Malley, aren’t you?” The question came out harsh—harsher than she intended. It was as much to remind herself as anything else. O’Malley, Halloran, Romanov—it didn’t matter. They were all the same. Dangerous and selfish and willing to do horrible things in the name of some higher cause that usually boiled down to power and money. She’d left that life behind, and she wasn’t about to let it sink its claws back into her again.
Not even for this man who she was starting to see wasn’t completely like she’d expected.
You’ve known him a grand total of a few hours. You don’t know a damn thing about him. He could be even worse than Dmitri.
He shifted, leaning against the table as he paged through his phone with one hand. “You sound like you’re holding a grudge. Did someone in my family hurt you?” The question came out deceptively simple, but there was tension in his shoulders.
Would it matter if they did?She managed to keep that thought internal, but she couldn’t let himthink that she’d been wronged by one of his family. It just wasn’t right. “No, nothing like that. I just know the type.” Men like Dmitri. Men like Sergei.
She palmed her phone, cringing when she saw the time. There was no chance she’d make the last train now.I’m going to owe Mrs. Richards in the worst way for this one. “One second.”
“Sure.”
Mrs. Richards answered on the first ring. “Olivia, dear, is everything okay?”
The worry in the woman’s voice made her feel even worse. But then a horrible thought struck.Maybe I’m wrong about why Sergei is sniffing around. Maybe he was just waiting for me to leave the apartment to take Hadley. She gripped the phone tighter. “Have you had any trouble?”
“No, of course not. Hadley wasn’t too keen on bedtime, but a few times throughGoodnight Moonwas enough to change her mind.”
Her breath left her in a whoosh, and she fought dizziness. Everything was okay. She was overreacting. Again. She cleared her throat, and tried to bring some calm back into her voice. “Good. I had a problem come up at work, so I’m running late.”
“Don’t you worry about a thing. I’m holding down the fort just fine. Do what you need to do.”
Thank God for Mrs. Richards. She didn’t know what she’d do if she had to leave Hadley with anyone else. No one in the world seemed as capable and able to deal with whatever complications arose without it ruffling her feathers. “Thank you.”
“No need to thank me. Now, go takecare of what you need to take care of. We’ll be here and waiting for you when you’re done.”
Olivia hung up, feeling slightly better. Whatever else came of tonight, her daughter was safe. That was all that mattered. She turned back to find Cillian watching her with an unreadable expression on his face. “Problem?”
“It’s really none of your business.” But she relented almost immediately. He’d bled all over her, and told her about the men who attacked him. The least she could do was answer a question or two. “It’s my daughter. I had to let the person watching her know that I was going to be late.”And make sure Sergei hadn’t done anything shady in the meantime.
He blinked. “You have a daughter.”
It wasn’t quite a question, but she answered it anyway. “Yeah. She’s fourteen months.”This will send him running for sure. In her experience, the best way to turn away a man interested in hooking up was to mention that she had a kid. She didn’t particularly like using Hadley as a barrier between her and those idiots, but it was a foolproof method.
“Cool.” Just that. Nothing else.
Guess he can’t hightail it out of here when he can’t actually walk.Way to go, Olivia.She checked the towel he had pressed against the back of his head. It wasn’t quite soaked through. At least the bleeding was slowing down. “Call your people, please.”
He pressed a button and handed her the phone. “Tell them what they need to know.”
The last thing she wanted was to becomemoreinvolved, but she couldn’t exactly hand the phone back when a gruff woman’s voice answered. “What do you want?”
“Uh, I have Cillian O’Malley here with a head wound. He needs someoneto come get him.”
“Where the hell ishere? I’m not a mind reader, girl. Speak up!”
Wow.She was tempted to hang up, but that would create more problems than it would solve. “Jameson’s on Charles.”
A pause. “Hold tight. I’ll be there in a few.” The woman hung up.
