Page 76 of Beyond Rosy Irish Twilight

“Okay,” I said, curious now more than ever.

When he finally looked at me again, there was a dangerous look in his eyes that almost made me run. Whatever it was, I had a feeling I didn’t want to know. It was safer not knowing some secrets.

“I’m not who you think I am,” he finally said. “None of us are.”

I cocked my head to the side in question. “None of you, meaning Chase, Patrick, Lock, and all his men.”

He nodded, his eyes narrowing slightly. “But you already knew that.”

“I suspected.”

“Why?”

That was a good question, one that was difficult to answer. “You have that ruthless look about you. You’re…doing something illegal, but I don’t know what. You kill men without a second thought. I should be terrified of all of you.” I swallowed hard, licking my dry lips. “But when I’m scared, you hold me like…like you need to protect me. You don’t look at me the way the other men look at their wives, like they’re tools to be used. And Patrick…he jokes around with me. He follows me around like a puppy, but I get the feeling it’s less about his job and more about something else. Chase always has this look on his face like he knows exactly what I’m going through and he’s trying to figure out what move I’m going to make next. And then there’s Lock…When he pulled me out of that motel, there was only compassion in his eyes. I’ve never known anyone in this business that actually cared about another person. It’s always about the job. And on top of all that, you’ve never…”

“I’ve never what?”

“You’ve never forced yourself on me. I’ve heard the men bragging about what they do after they get married, how the women are terrified and they like that. Part of me thought that might happen.”

“I would never do that to you,” he said, his voice gruff as he gripped my hand tight.

“I know. I just don’t know why.”

“Because we’re not like your father.”

“That’s pretty clear,” I said, still watching him carefully.

He sighed and his eyes flicked to the door again, as if he was warring with something in his mind. “What I mean is that…I’m not really the man you think I am. I work for a company called OPS. We all do.”

“Okay,” I said slowly. “What is that?”

He blew out a harsh breath and continued. “Owens Protective Services. I took a job to infiltrate this organization. At the time, a man named Seamus O’Toole was in charge, but his position was weak. It was my job to get in and take over so I could get better intel on the movements of an organization called The Pike Syndicate…an organization your father is part of. He actually holds a lot of power within.”

My mouth went dry with every word he spoke. Then tears pricked my eyes and I covered my mouth with my hand. Asher wasn’t like my father. He wasn’t a bad man. At least, not from what I was hearing.

“And what was your job once you infiltrated it?”

“To dismantle it, or try. There are others working in other sectors—trafficking, drugs—”

“Oh my God,” I said, standing and spinning away from him. “My father was part of this?”

“Yes. He’s a banker, but he uses his connections and his banks for money laundering. All the money used in illegal activities is run through his banks. Without him, it would make life very difficult for the others.”

I nodded, still trying to wrap my head around this. “And what part of the organization do you run?”

“I sell weapons,” he stated plainly.

“To very bad people,” I added, squeezing my eyes closed.

“Yes, but we also sell a portion of the weapons back to the government. It makes it appear as if we’re growing faster than we are. The men get a higher cut of the profits and it keeps me in power.”

I turned around again, wanting clarification. “But you sell to the other members also. You supply weapons to…traffickers.”

“Jade…”

I shook my head. “I’m not…I’m just trying to understand.”

“It’s part of the job,” he said heavily, like this was something that weighed on his mind. “Trust me, it’s not something I like doing.”

---