Page 82 of Redemption

I’m lying out on the pool deck next to Cam, drinking martinis as Aria splashes around in the pool. Kilian and Bastian haven’t come out of the office since they walked away a few hours ago.

“So how long have you known Kilian?” Cam asks me.

I sip my martini, I can already feel its effects. I never drink vodka. And on top of that, I’ve barely eaten anything today despite Lucia bringing out a tray of snacks an hour ago. “That feels like a loaded question.”

Cam pulls her sunglasses down to the end of her nose. “It is.” She glances at Aria, then back at me. Her voice quiet. “Considering that man is technically dead. I figure there is quite a history there.”

I chew on my lip, not really sure where to start. Not to mention I have no idea if she knows who I really am. Would Kilian tell them a mob daughter was staying at their house? Then again, they know about Kilian, know he isn’t dead, which has to mean they are involved with The Partners.

“Look,” Cam says after taking a large sip of her martini. “We both live lives full of secrets. I don’t need to know all yours and you don’t need to know all mine. But whatever you have to say will not leave this house.” She pauses, finishing off her martini and setting it on the table next to her. “I met Kilian when he was still ‘alive.’ Bastian’s family were involved in a scandal. You probably heard about it. It happened three years ago. Anyway, The Partners were responsible for it. And you must know about them if you are walking around with a living dead man.”

I nod. I look over at Aria and smile as I watch her splash around. To be oblivious to this all must be so nice. “I don’t even know where to start,” I answer honestly.

Lucia walks out with two new martinis for each of us. Cam thanks her then turns toward me. “Wherever you feel comfortable.”

I take a sip of my martini for courage. I’ve never told anyone about my time with Kilian in Dublin. I never had girlfriends. Even back then, the girls I hung out with weren’t worthy of my secrets. But there is something about Cam that makes me feel comfortable.

“We met nearly twelve years ago in Dublin.”

“Oh, I love Dublin!” Cam exclaims. “I made Bastian take me to Ireland last year. I wanted to stay in a castle.”

I smile at her. “It’s beautiful there. One of my favorite places. I went to college at Trinity.”

“How did you two meet?” Cam’s energy is infectious. “Was he a professor? He never told me he was but that would be hot. Or maybe he was doing business and you were someone’s secretary and he stole you away.”

I laugh. “No, nothing like that. I was a bartender. I worked at a pub a few blocks from Kilian’s townhome. He frequented the place whenever he was in town.”

Cam’s eyes roam my body. “I’m sure he went for the whiskey,” she remarks sarcastically.

I let out a soft laugh. “He gave me the same once-over the first time I met him. I actually ended up making him buy me five of his favorite drinks that night. A hundred euro a drink.”

“Chump change to him,” Cam snorts.

“But yeah, we hit it off and he kept coming back for two years.”

“You mean he kept coming for two years,” Cam says, raising her brows up and down suggestively.

“You could say that.” I laugh. “We were just… friends with benefits.”

“Then what happened?”

I don’t miss the glance she makes toward Aria from under her sunglasses. I guess she figured it out too. “I left. Family emergency. I didn’t see him for ten years. Not until…” I trail off. I almost said he broke into my house and tied me to a chair. Maybe I should say it. Cam would probably get a kick out of it.

“Until what?” she asks in anticipation.

I sip my martini and go for it. “He broke into my house and tied me to a chair.”

“Hot. So hot. I’ll have to tell Bastian…” She looks up and a smile hits her face. “Wow, I thought you guys would never come out. I thought I was going to have to break up with you because you decided to fall in love with Kilian.”

Kilian throws his head back in laughter while Bastian gives her a look that even makes my thighs clench. That man is dangerous.

“Well take that stuffy suit off and join us. No more work for the day. I have declared it a day off!”

“I think the martinis have decided that. Did you forget you work for me and I make the decisions?”

“Oh stop being a broody asshole. Live a little.”

Kilian takes a seat on the end of my lounger, lifting my feet and setting them in his lap. “I was going to head to London today but I can’t turn down a night with Cam.”

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