Page 66 of Villainous Soul

“Don’t take too long. You have guests waiting for you,” Donovan said.

I hurried to the back. Patrick put my suitcase in the office. I grabbed it and went into the bathroom, locking the door.

I was going to be sick. All the anxiety from my time with Keir and the current situation with Cormac and his father came out as I threw up in the toilet. Now I had Aidan to worry about also. I had to talk to him before he decided to speak to Cormac. I looked down at my wrinkled clothes and quickly changed into a fresh outfit. Pulling on a pair of cream trousers and a white dress shirt, I checked myself in the mirror. My skin was still heated, so I splashed cold water on it and rinsed my mouth. It would have to do.

I returned my suitcase to the office and went out, scanning the crowd. Keir was talking to Patrick at the bar, but his eyes were on me. I looked away.

“Can we talk?” Aidan said, appearing behind me.

Cormac was drinking with friends, and Donovan was still at the booth, deep in conversation. I nodded. “Yes, follow me.”

I maneuvered through the crowd to a table in the back hidden by the bar and sat down. Aidan took the seat across from me. If I looked pale, he looked like he hadn’t slept for a week. Dark circles rimmed his eyes, and his cheeks appeared gaunt. “Thank you for not saying anything,” I said in a low voice, looking around to ensure no one was listening. Keir had managed to keep his eyes on me and glowered at me from the bar.

“What’s going on, Evie?” Aidan asked bluntly.

“I know it looks bad.”

“Evie, it looks more than bad, darlin’. Two weeks ago, I watched you marry another man. My cousin really loves you. This will crush him.”

“I know.” I felt a massive wave of panic rise up in me as tears flooded my eyes. “He can’t find out.”

“I can’t keep something like this from him. He’s family.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be a real marriage.”

“What wasn’t supposed to be a real marriage?” Keir said, sitting down.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Aidan asked, looking shocked.

“I could ask the same of you,” Keir demanded. “I thought I told you to find yourself somewhere private to deal with your shite.”

“Easier said than done. Evie was just telling me about your supposed marriage.”

“Was she. Well, it’s not supposed. You’ll be sorry to hear that it actually went through. We are indeed married.”

Aidan started to stand up. “I’m sorry, Evie, but I need to tell Cormac.”

“Sit down,” Keir ordered.

“Or what?”

“You want answers? Don’t you?”

Aidan returned to his seat.

“I’ll answer your questions and give you the use of my plane and my island, so you’ll have a private place and all the time in the world you need to figureitout.”

“And?”

“And in return, you’ll keep your mouth shut about Evie and myself.”

“I don’t know,” Aiden said.

“The only one who stands to get hurt here is Evie. Cormac is a boy. He’s not worthy of her.”

“Neither are you,” Aidan insinuated.

“Aye, neither are you,” Keir shot back. “Give me some time to work this out. No one need be the wiser.”

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