Page 155 of Dirty Eoin

“You know what she had to do, Eoin. I’d suggest rather than worry about what Jaine’s doing, we focus our energies on finding Malky. He’ll have returned to the church to find it wiped clean and his daughter missing. He’ll now be on the warpath a second time.”

“Eoin’s just worried about Jaine, Ma. He just wants to see with his own eyes that she’s intact. She’s still his wife.”

“I can speak for myself, Dylan,” I hiss at him.

“Sorry.”

“You should be.” My tone is accusing.

“You can’t blame me for the secret getting out.” He shakes his head in denial.

“No?”

“You told Molly about Finian. That was your choice, Eoin.”

“Only because I thought she cared about me since she saved my life. That she would never betray me. But it turns out she didn’t, did she, Dylan? It was The Exterminator all along.”

“Enough!” Ma barks as she looks between us. “We can’t change what’s happened. All we can do is deal with the consequences. We have no idea who else Molly has told, if anyone. Jaine has agreed that for the time being both children are to stay here with me and your da. Duke has agreed to move into the summer house, so he’s close at hand and also out of harm’s way. We’ll get through this together. As a family. As we always do.”

“And meanwhile Jaine’s living on her own. What if they target her? If anything happens to her. Jesus Christ.” I’m pacing again.

“She has a company to run. A business that’s located in the same building where she lives. She doesn’t need to leave the property. I’ve also witnessed firsthand what Jaine’s capable of. Trust me, Eoin, she’ll be just fine.”

Eoin's Apartment, Hudson Yards, New York

Swirling the whiskey around the glass, I throw it back in one. At this rate, I’ll be pickling my liver faster than our Paddy.

Two days.

I haven’t asked to see her, so she hasn’t directly said that she won’t. It’s ma who’s been insistent that I give her space and time. It’s obviously something they mutually agreed on before they were picked up by Dylan.

Jaine specifically asked that I not attend.

Reading between the lines, there’s only one reason. They don’t want me to react to what I’ll see, which means the fuckers have hurt her, and badly.

She saved ma’s life. She ended Molly’s.

My moment of reflection is disturbed by a knock on my door.

My phone immediately rings. Dylan. He’ll be even more observant now that we’re not just at risk from this unknown faction but also from Malky and his mob.

I answer.

“It’s Jaine.”

I disconnect the call. I don’t need to know anything else. Why has she turned up here?

I’ve showered but not shaved. I run my hand across my stubble, then through my still-wet hair. Grey sweatpants finish off my not finest look, but I haven’t time to change when she’s waiting at the door.

I open it. Indescribable rage spirals through me as I take her in. Her face is a mass of purple down one side, her eye swollen tightly shut. She’s wearing a grey tank top which does nothing to disguise the bandage wrapped under her arm and across her shoulder.

Did the fuckers cut her?

“What did they do to you, Jaine?” I whisper.

“It’s nothing. It looks worse than it is.”

I pull her inside my apartment, and she grimaces. I’ve hurt her. Guilt spirals through me, followed by even more rage.

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