Page 103 of Twilight Tides
The room was a large twin with Victoriana purple and pink wallpaper, brass accents, and a kind of over-the-top floral and brass glam. The light feature in the middle of the room was a huge brass dome with brass feathers attached around the rim. It was boutique and moody and should have been a cool backdrop to a special weekend.
“Are you ready to tell me exactly what happened?” Taran asked as she dropped down onto the end of one of the king-size beds.
Shaking my head, I sat on the old-fashioned velvet sofa opposite her. “I think I should keep it between me and Nee for now. She’s already pissed at me for telling Murray before I told her.”
My friend frowned. “Should I be worried about you?”
“No.” I let out an angry huff. “Which is why that controlling bastard should have kept his mouth shut.”
Taran’s eyebrows practically hit her hairline. “Whoa. You are bloody angry at Murray, eh?”
“Uh, yeah.” I pushed up off the sofa, not wanting to discuss that either. “I need to pee.”
Locking myself in the stylish bathroom, I sat down on the toilet seat and curled my hands into fists, breathing deep. Inand out. Slow. Easy. I refused to cry and I concentrated on my breathing to stave off another panic attack. My gaze caught on the stunning turquoise and diamond engagement ring Murray had slipped onto my finger several weeks ago. Longing and hurt rose up within me. I’d been so proud to walk around Leth Sholas wearing the ring; a more perfect piece for me didn’t exist. How could a man who seemed to know me so well go behind my back and drive a wedge between me and my best friend?
A sob caught in my throat and I covered it, taking a few deep breaths.
Two minutes later, after using the bathroom, I discovered I was bleeding.
My period had come three days early.
Great. Just what I needed for a girls’ weekend that involved trying on dresses with a best friend who wasn’t talking to me.
MURRAY
Staring down at the burner phone DC McCubbins gave me, I read over our text messages from today as I sat on the deck off the music room. The evening was mild, despite the lack of sun, and the sea breeze grounded me. Or at least I imagined it did. I grasped onto anything to make me feel sane so I didn’t roar all my frustrations out into the night.
Everything was set for us to execute what Fraser had started calling “the mission.” In five days’ time, I’d be on a boat traveling to Southport to entrap a criminal gang. While a set of officers would arrest Russo and the men on his boat after we were out of sight, another set, in conjunction with the Gardai, would arrestSiobhan, and another were going to raid every single Walsh-run residency, including the Walsh brothers’ own home.
It was a big operation for a small organization. Well, two organizations, if you counted Siobhan Cosway’s.
And hopefully it would mean the end of the threat.
At the sound of tinkling piano keys, I tucked the phone out of sight in case Kelly saw it and wondered about it. My chest felt like a sack of concrete laid on it and I pushed it out, trying to ease the weight, to no avail.
London was in Glasgow and we hadn’t said goodbye.
Hurt and resentment mingled with my guilt.
I shouldn’t have done what I did, and I regretted not fully thinking it out before I opened my big mouth … but what London … comparing me to … it was fucking wrong and shitty.
Worse still, it had me questioning our entire relationship. I’d put Kelly through one marriage of constant disagreements and tension. I would not put her through another. I wouldn’t put myself through it. The idea of being compared to that bastard Nick Huston anytime I made a mistake chilled me to the bone.
The French doors opened behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to find my daughter there. Kelly gave me a small smile as she padded across the deck in thick socks pulled over the bottom of her joggers. She sat down beside me, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her cardigan around her knees. The cardigan was one of London’s. An oversized blue thing she wore around the house a lot. I was forever finding it draped over furniture in different rooms. That tight feeling compressed on my chest at the sight of Kelly in the borrowed clothing.
We sat in silence for a while, lost in our own thoughts as we stared out at the water.
“Are you okay, Dad?”
“Fine, m’eudail.”
“Hmm … you know I know you and London are really together now, right?”
“Because of the date? We’re just taking that slow.”
“Eh, the heavy snogging I saw in the kitchen last week didn’t look very slow.”
Embarrassed, guilty, I squeezed my eyes closed. “Kels, I’m sorry?—”
