Page 76 of Possessive Mafia Vows

There’s no reaction from Terry, but snippets of my conversation with Sienna flash into my head. She heard her father come home in the wee hours of the morning, which was confirmed by Seamus, but her father insisted that he was back by midnight. Why did he lie about it? Or did he?

“Are you sure you’ve got his building covered?” I ask Terry.

“What are you thinking? You want him checked out?”

“If you owed the big boys a whole load of cash, would you still be showing your face in the casinos?”

Terry’s quiet. Then, “Reckon I’d be slumming it underground.”

“So, why isn’t he? Is he depending on Sienna sharing an insurance payout from the gallery with him?” This doesn’t sit right with me either though.

“Three days after a twenty-year self-imposed hiatus?” Terry sniffs loudly. “Smells more to me like he wanted an introduction to the Murrays.”

“That makes two of them.” My voice had dropped and the hair on the back of my neck is standing to attention.

“Him and the surgeon?” Terry asks.

“Do you still have a tail on him?”

“Do you really need to ask?”

“Tel, can you get an exact location on them? I mean can you make sure they’ve not left via the laundry chute while your men were eying up the front door?”

“I know exactly what you mean.” He ends the call.

Fifteen minutes later, Terry calls me back to inform me that neither man is at home.

My next call is to Nick’s clinic, where the receptionist informs me that he is still on compassionate leave.

“Like fuck is he,” I mutter under my breath.

I’m not expecting to see Caleb, but I almost let out a sigh of relief when the door to my office opens, and he walks in. He’s wearing a suit, and the widest grin I’ve ever seen on my brother’s face.

“Did you miss me?”

This is the thing with me and Caleb. We’re close to the twins, but they have their own connection which comes from sharing our mom’s womb, so our bond is different to the one that we have with them. Caleb has always had my back. Ever since we were little kids cowering from our father’s fist, it’s as if he instinctively knows when I need him and pops up like a guardian angel sporting his brotherly halo at a jaunty angle.

“Does Victoria know that you’re here?” They have a new baby, and I’ll send him back upstairs if it means keeping Victoria happy.

“I’m here on her orders.”

I can’t help smiling at the mental image of Victoria shoving him into the elevator and warning him to get out from under her feet. I remember Mom doing the same to Terry when Emily was a baby.

“She wants me to make sure that Sienna is safe.”

“Safe?” I arch an eyebrow. “Is that a euphemism for in my bed?”

Caleb laughs out loud. “I distinctly recall you insisting that she should take your guest room.”

“She did.” I raise my hands in mock surrender. “This morning.”

When Caleb speaks next, his tone is serious. “What’s the deal with the asshole surgeon?”

“Terry’s currently hunting him down. Sienna’s father has conveniently vanished as well.”

“So, the sooner we get her away from here the better. Then we can resolve this without any distractions. Can you be ready to leave tonight?”

“You managed without me for three months. Another couple of days isn’t going to make much difference.”

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