Page 113 of Lesson In Forgiveness

At least he was saving her some travel time, Tabitha thought. Slowly but surely, he was heading her way. Trying to sneak up on her? Catch her unaware?

No, not her, she realized with a nasty jolt of trepidation. Not primarily, anyway. She was the obstacle standing in Donaghue’s path to Elias—a strong, formidable, intimidating obstacle. He had no choice but to take her out if he wanted Elias dead.

“I’m forwarding photos of both him and his friend. Whatever pertinent data I can scrounge up, I’ll send along. Tabitha…” Aisling blew out a gusty breath. “You’re top bitch in your field; no one else compares. Donaghue doesn’t know the meaning of finesse, but he’s become adept at striking when you least expect it.”

“The fucker’s a coward.”

“A coward with the power of the mob at his back and a tendency to lose his very volatile temper when things don’t go his way.”

Chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip, enjoying the sting of pain from where Grit’s teeth tenderized it before he left, she tilted her head back against the couch. “My guess is, he doesn’t have the backing of the mob. If he did, if he had half the control he thinks he does, he’d have mobilized the New York faction first, regardless of whether they’re terrified of me or not. Soldiers follow orders; they refused.”

“True. Browne’s still boss there.”

“Maybe his former mentor knows more than Donaghue would like. Losing his family one by one keeps him in a cycle of grief, but if the root cause up and leaves, that cycle ends and logical thinking returns. Have any of the Irish members flown over on separate flights?”

“No record of them doing so.”

“That tells me the men are still loyal to O’Shea. Men like that know when a snake is in their midst, and if he’s risen so quickly through the ranks, he’s stepped on a lot of toes to get to O’Shea’s side. Coming here is unsanctioned. If he murders Elias, all he has to do is knock off O’Shea and he’s got everything he’s ever wanted.”

“Dublin will fall,” Aisling said with horror underlying the words.

A man like Donaghue in charge of a network of criminals would tear through a city in no time. No morals, no rules, no one to moderate his decisions. He could flood the streets with drugs, monopolize the prostitute trade, arm his men to the teeth and lay siege to anyone he considered his enemy.

The police were easily bought; the ones who didn’t conform would suffer.

That chaos wouldn’t necessarily remain in Ireland. Browne’s position in New York would fall prey to Donaghue’s greed, and from there… fuck, if he got a foothold in the US, there’d be gang wars stretching from coast to coast.

Poor Elias had no idea how pivotal his existence was in a world he wanted no part of—more than just his life hung in the balance now.

“I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.” Tabitha clicked her teeth together, trying to come up with a plan. “I have to go. Send me anything you think might help.”

“Aye, of course. You should know…”

“I should know what?”

Aisling paused. “I think your brothers might be planning something. I’m not the only one accessing this data, Tabitha; Ashford’s been trolling the same sites, gathering the same intel. One hacker recognizes another.”

Her mouth twisted into a snarl at the mention of her fuckwit brother’s name. She still hadn’t forgiven him. “He can gather what he likes. This is personal—Donaghue came after me, he’s going after a man I consider a… friend.” How weird was that? “Ashford doesn’t concern me.”

“All right then. Good luck, lass. I think you might need it.”

Luck was always appreciated, Tabitha thought as she tossed the phone aside and ran a hand through her hair, but she didn’t depend on it. It was too fickle, too unpredictable to rely on.

Her instincts, her skills, her experience were the only things she needed.

Anger began to bubble inside her as it dawned on her that this was probably what Grit was keeping from her. Maybe he and the Phoenix team had identified Donaghue, maybe they hadn’t, but they had the resources to do so, and to track the Irish asshole the same way Aisling had.

Which meant he was working on actively distracting her from her goal.

She thought of his hands on her, stroking and rousing those disconcerting feelings of arousal under her skin. The skim of his beard as his mouth mapped every inch of her body, the stretch and burn of his thick cock prying her open and laying her bare.

While she’d been stupidly wrapped up in him, he’d known all along that the man who’d put a hit on her was in the country.

Well, no more.

Donaghue was in her territory now. She could track him from coast to coast, trail his ass through every state, without him being aware of the threat. Now he was here, it was doubtful he’d leave until he accomplished a double murder—hers and Elias’s—but she’d be damned if she allowed that to happen.

Shoving off the couch, she cursed the twinge of muscles overexerted with sex. Ignoring the discomfort, she stomped to the bedroom and began the exquisitely intricate process of rebuilding Tabitha Fairfax, legendary bitch.

---