Page 130 of Forbidden Need

“Seeing Lupe changed that.”

“Exactly,” she said, searching his eyes. “They were part of each other’s lives every day. Some part of me can convince myself Henry is still out there because I didn’t see him all the time. But Lupe, she’s lost her world and I feel that. Wasn’t exactly the same, but when we ended us and I was without you…”

“It’ll never happen again.”

Closing her eyes, she sank her arms around him to hold herself tight against him. Life without him just didn’t bear thinking about.

The office door opened. She heard it and tried to pull away, but Conn held her in place.

“We’ve gotta go over those numbers.” Niall’s voice. “When Bluebell’s—”

“She’s working in here today.”

Leaning back, their gazes met. “I am?”

“Be grateful.”

Oh, she would be. For every second they spent together and to him in the night. He listened. Understood. Took on board her concerns and her happiness. Being near him, being with him, there was no better reality.

FORTY-THREE

HER PIECE WAS coming together. The police investigation made for interesting reading. Not that she’d include anything from it in her introductory article. It had to be real, to contain some humanity, but she wouldn’t give the world her vulnerability.

Nope, that belonged to the man at the desk.

Work went on around her. Her perch on the chesterfield kept her immediately out of view of anyone who came in. They’d notice her when deeper inside, but Conn never offered an explanation. Why should he? Her being there, around him, with him, was the most natural thing in the world.

Sure, it might take his people, friend and foe, time to get used to her. That was their problem. She had no intention of going anywhere. And although Conn didn’t dilute or censor anything those in the room said during their meetings, she wasn’t paying much attention. His work was his business, and she trusted him to take care of it.

With her laptop on her knees, she edited the introduction and read through a few more lines. The office door opened, but she didn’t look up. Just someone else who—

Swerve.

Shit. Unexpected.

Niall and the other guys present stiffened with wariness, on alert, ready for anything.

Their guest put something heavy in the middle of Conn’s desk, right in front of him. Keeping her head down like she was working, her eyes tracked him backing off a step.

“To replace the one you lost,” Swerve said.

“Lost?” Conn asked.

What was it? Oh, with a slight lean, she saw it. Whiskey. McDade whiskey.

“Yeah, the arson report wasn’t specific, but we hunted it down. The glass of the incendiary matches the McDades’ signature brand of whiskey. Subtle.”

Her lips pulled back in a grimace. Thank God no one was looking at her.

“The Carlyle fire? I don’t give a fuck about your hotel,” Connel said. “That bullshit’s a Manzani mess.”

“This is your warning. First and final. You come for us, Irish, we come for you.”

Swerve didn’t wait for an answer and strode on out.

“What the fuck is that?” Niall asked his boss.

“They’re chasing their tail,” Connel said. “If they’re gonna cause trouble… find out who set that fire and why. Maybe their cause matches ours.”

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