Excerpt
Copyright 2024, Wendy Million
He chuckles and again his gaze roves over my face as though he’s trying to
piece me together. My hot-pink dress is garnering little attention from him.
Should I be pleased or offended?
“You got any
mates? I’m looking for someone like you.”
Carys tightens
her grip on me and sips her whiskey. “She’s taken. Keep your mitts off her.”
He raises his
glass, eyeing me over the top. “People who can be bought aren’t for me, Carys.
You know that.”
She scoffs. “Not
true, Lorcan. I do know you. I’ve
played this all wrong. I should have told you she was thinking about leaving my
organization.”
“I am terribly unhappy.” My gaze connects with
Lorcan’s, and I offer a mischievous smile.
An answering
smile spreads across his face. “That so? Now, Carys, you need to treat your everything woman a touch better
before someone swoops in and sweeps her away.”
“As long as you
aren’t the someone, Lorcan.” She
glances at me. “I appreciate the effort, but I’m afraid once he’s on the hunt,
he can’t be deterred.”
“You make me
sound terrible.” Amusement pours out of him.
“I used to like
you,” Carys says. “Finn, on the other hand…”
“… is an acquired
taste.” Lorcan’s grin fades. “One I’ve gone off recently.”
She glances at me
and then back to Lorcan. I’ve seen that look on her face before. She’s trying
to figure out the best approach.
“Sorry to hear
that,” I murmur, surprised by the sudden chill in the air.
His lips quirk
up. “You wouldn’t be sorry if you knew him.” He empties his whiskey. “It’s been
a pleasure, ladies. Thank you for the drink. You know me well, Carys.” With a
nod to his men, Lorcan drifts into the crowd, leaving me and Carys to finish
our drinks on our own.
“Shit.” She sighs
and taps her glass with a fingernail. “I should have left Finn out of it.”
“Can’t ask him if
he wants a deal without letting him know there’s a deal to be done.”
“Their
organization buys arms, just not from me.” Carys purses her lips. “It should be
me. It’d be a good time to slip in there. Maybe we can still salvage it later.”
“Are you doing
that or…”
“If you get a
chance to ask, fine by me. Plant a seed, see if it grows.”
Lorcan breezes
through the crowd with his two burly security guards trailing behind him. He’s
a small fish in an arms world. Carys does much bigger, more ethically comprised
deals than this. She hasn’t let me near those yet. If I get out of here tonight
with what I want, I’ll never see them. I’m going to need to work fast to
recapture his attention. His late arrival means there are two hours until this
event finishes, and he’s cut our conversation short.
“I’ll see what I
can do.”
“You’re not one
to be charmed,” Carys draws out the words, and I think she must be watching
Lorcan like me.
I smirk and raise
my eyebrows. “Is there a but?”
A smile plays on
her lips. “No, I suppose there isn’t.”
“You’ve got
nothing to worry about,” I say. “If I can get him to consider a deal, I will.
And, if not, it’s been a pleasant evening. We haven’t been to an event like
this in a while.” I knock back the rest of my whiskey and wiggle my glass at
her. “Another?”
“No, I have
people I want to connect with. Tonight is bigger than I expected.”
“I’ll be at the
bar.”
Carys and I move
in opposite directions as she heads off to make or solidify her contacts. I
sidle up to the bar and place my empty glass to the side. This end of the bar
is for standing, but farther down, there are a number of stools with people
perched on them, chatting away to each other. The ballroom is vast and airy,
though the perfume and cologne circulating are enough to cause an asthma
attack. Above the bar, pendulum lights are set low to match the rest of the
mood lighting. Most of the charitable events I’ve attended with Carys have been
dimly lit. It must seem too intrusive to ask for money with the brightness
turned to full.
I’m waiting for
the bartender, wondering how I can slip myself into conversation with Lorcan
when a shoulder brushes mine.
“Be a shame for
someone as talented as you to be unhappy with your employer,” a deep voice says
in my ear. His lilting accent is a sound I could get used to. It calls me back
to the hours my father spent devouring anything Irish.
He’s so close,
Lorcan’s hazel eyes are piercing in their intensity. The musky scent of his
cologne floods my senses, and I’m glad for my training. Cool. Unaffected. “How
do you know I’m talented?”
“Carys isn’t one
for bigging people up who don’t deserve it.” He turns away to signal the
bartender with a finger. “Two whiskeys.”
In this business,
men are everywhere. But there’s something in the curve of his shoulders, the
slant of his jaw under the goatee, which makes him familiar. Part of his appeal
has nothing to do with appearance and everything to do with the way he carries
himself. Confidence seeps out of him, oozing over everything he touches.
The bartender
passes the two glasses to us, and I pick mine up with my fingertips, swishing
it around, letting the ice clink against the sides.
His back is
against the bar railing, and his elbows are on the wood, so he can stare out
across the wide expanse of the room. When he shifts toward me, his gaze
connects with mine over the rim of his glass. “When are you heading home?”
“Tomorrow
afternoon. Carys offered to show me some sites around Boston.”
One side of his
mouth twitches as though he’s holding in his amusement. “Sounds grand.”
“Does it?” I
avoid looking at him directly, keeping my back to the room.
“Not quite as
grand as coming round to mine for a meeting.”
“What would we be
meeting about?” I peer into my glass, hope rising in me.
“See if one of us
can make the other an offer they can’t refuse.”
“I get offers all
the time. I refuse them all.” Our little game of cat and mouse amuses me, but I
keep my features smooth.
“You never had
one from me.”
Somehow, I’ve
managed to finish another drink. “I guess we’ll see what you’ve got then. I’m a
tough nut to crack.”
He places his
finished drink onto the bar. “I’m counting on it. Tell Carys to call me.”
When I turn
around, he and his men are gone.
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