Page 49 of Reckless Seduction
She is grumbling,but it is kind of cute. Her little nose is scrunched up, making her look like a kitten. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of her when she first walked into the room.
Bailey holds her coffee tightly in both hands, clutching the warmth to her chest. It isn’t freezing in the basement of the bar, but it isn’t exactly Hawaii either. Her raven hair is bundled at the top of her head in a messy bun, errant strays framing her heart-shaped face, blue eyes piercing me through her obvious irritation.
It isn’t a secret that Kiernan and I have been through many women. Owning our first club at twenty-one, plus our devilish good looks, gave us no shortage of available cunts, but Bailey is different.
Special.
And completely forbidden.
Maybe that is part of the appeal.
Our father hasn’t pushed us when it comes to our plans for the blue-eyed vixen, but there is no mistaking the frustration behind his features whenever she is mentioned. Even at breakfast this morning, the air was thick with his restrained tension as he watched her smile and talk with Nan.
We are short on time.
If we keep Bailey for much longer, we will miss our chance to use her as a spy. The gala is less than a week away. Time is limited, and Bailey’s family will soon begin to get suspicious about her absence.
But letting her go is a risk.
She is our biggest weapon against Crowe, and even though she appears to be on board with our plan on the surface, Bailey is holding back. There is still a part of her that doesn’t believe that her father is capable of the things we’ve accused him of.
Even with the proof provided to her.
“Nice vision board you’ve got,” Bailey teases. She is standing in front of the large movable whiteboard, staring up at the plan we have put together so far regarding the gala. Having Bailey with us changes some of the aspects of it, but it isn’t anything we can’t handle. The biggest problem is ensuring she stays on target.
“It’s a war board,” I grumble. “Not a vision board.”
Bailey smirks.Brat.“If you say so.”
“I do.” Strolling toward her, I add a small blue pin to the board where Kiernan has attached his bid token, signifying that his item has been accepted. The pin represents Bailey. “Now, the purpose of the gala is for Ava to help identify Elias’s top players. Her identifying the men Elias allowed into his home on business should narrow down the potential list of people who were supporting him prior to his death. This will also be where we can exchange the information on your father without being suspicious.”
“And you believe that person is helping support her brother now?” she asks hesitantly.
I nod. “That’s our theory,” I confirm. “Whoever was bankrolling Elias no doubt became fed up with his incompetencewhen it came to Dashkov. Especially after he took down the port.”
“I thought Elias had Ava locked away?” Her face scrunches in confusion as she continues to study the board. “How would she know who Elias met with?”
Bailey only has bits and pieces of Ava’s story from the time Ava ran away initially. She has no insight into the life my sister led before she was caught and brought back to Seattle. It makes sense that she is puzzled about how someone who had essentially been a prisoner in her own home would have insider knowledge.
Might as well start at the beginning.
“I’m going to give you the abridged version. Otherwise, we could be here for years.” I pull out a chair and motion for her to sit. Like a good girl, she does. “Okay, Ava’s mother and our father were childhood sweethearts who grew up in Boston. Katherine, her mother, was the daughter of Seamus McDonough, billionaire shipping tycoon and head of the Irish mob. When my grandfather expanded to Seattle, they followed him, deciding to attend college at the University of Washington.
“They were in love. Yada. Yada. One weekend, while my father was away on business, Katherine went missing. My father searched everywhere for her. Never gave up. A few months later, she showed up on his doorstep without an explanation, and then two weeks later, she was gone.”
“Kidnapped again?” Bailey asks, a horrified expression pasted across her pale face. I shrug my shoulders.
“Who knows,” I admit. “Ava says she was caught by Elias and dragged back to him. Father says she left a note stating she couldn’t be with him. That she no longer loved him. So he drowned his sorrow in my mother.”
Bailey smiles. “And that’s how you were born.”
I chuckle. “Exactly.” My expression sobers as I think about everything Ava told me about her mother. “According to Ava, Katherine found out she was pregnant and managed to escape again with some inside help. No one knows who. When Ava was eleven, someone broke into their house to rob them and ended up killing her mother. And the rest you kind of know. Somehow, Elias managed to bribe the police and social welfare and had Ava declared as his daughter. Except he never told anyone about her.”
“So what does that have to do with how much information she knows?”
Right, I kind of forgot to mention that.
I pause, thinking over how to explain the situation without dragging on forever.
