Page 154 of Dirty Padraig: Dirty Dusters

Today, he looks his full eight years older than his sibling. It’s reflected in the lines on his face and the grey in his hair. He’s lost weight. His cheeks are more sunken than they were.

Why do I care? He cheated.

But you do care, Jaine.

I haven’t seen him since that day in his office. Like Irish, he visits the house to spend time with the kids. They never run into each other. I never run into either of them.

I drag my eyes away from his gaze, and they connect with Roisin’s. I see worry in hers before it’s gone. Worry over what exactly? More deceit? More lies?

Who am I to point the finger?

“I’m not sure what level of detail to go into.” Everyone turns to look at Dylan. He’s not a natural-born public speaker. That’s why it’s best he takes to the floor. It will have way more impact. “We had reason to suspect that Sophia may be involved in what’s been going on,” he continues.

“Who’s we?” Typical Eoin.

“Jaine, Jessie, and me,” Dylan responds. “For those of you who don’t already know, the message that sent Jaine on the wild goose chase to the church was sent from Sophia to Molly.”

“And where is this message?”

I stare at Eoin. “It was on the handset you passed to me, along with my jacket and the music box. The handset and the music box have subsequently vanished from the safe space.” I turn my attention back to his brother. “Go on, Dylan.”

“Anyway, although there were some other instances of wrongdoing on Molly’s phone, there was nothing concrete, so we… Jaine and I that is… thought it might be best if we accessed Sophia’s phone.”

“And did you?”

“Yes.”

“Who did exactly?” It’s Padraig’s turn to ask a question. He’s no doubt curious as to who the intruder was in his apartment.

“Jaine did.”

All eyes turn to me, but I ignore them. Who doesn’t matter right now? What does matter is what was unearthed.

“What the fuck were you thinking, Jaine!” Eoin’s Mr. Dominating. Dangerous. Deadly side has decided to join the party. I’m not sure why he’s pretending to be interested in my physical well-being when it’s clear he doesn’t give a flying fuck about my emotional one.

“I was thinking that I might like to find out the truth.”

“You could have gotten yourself killed!”

“By Irish?” I raise an eyebrow.

“You know very well what I mean. Sophia could have seen you. Luciano would have been baying for your blood.”

I snort. “In case it’s escaped your attention, he already is.”

He glares at me before standing and pacing the floor.

“Go on, Dylan,” he mutters.

It’s clear Dyl would much rather not, but he does anyway. “So, Jessie and I deciphered the information between us as best we could. It’s taken so long because we wanted to be….”

“We’re waiting, Dylan!”

Dylan’s face pales at his eldest brother’s harsh tone. “We have reason to believe that Luc has been working in cahoots with the Colombians all this time. It seems he was attempting to take the Sicilians down the trafficking route. An idea they rejected, hence why they showed him the door.”

Eoin stops pacing. “Jesus Christ. So, the Ruoccos were behind everything that happened in Nevada.”

“Go on, Dylan!” It’s my turn to hiss because, after all this time, I’ll finally have my own truth.

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