Page 15 of Bartered Innocence

I blow out a long drag, exhausted from being back in this city. “As far as he can. Something doesn’t sit right with me.”

“Like he was too familiar? Someone could have fed him the information,” Aodhan offers.

Nodding, I crack my neck to the side and then my knuckles. “Yeah. We can all slip into each other’s territory occasionally, but not on a whim while avoiding all the cameras. So either someone knows our cameras intimately enough to guide them or they have eyes on our systems.”

Declan’s affronted voice rings out in the air from Cormac’s phone. “No one is in our system. And what am I looking for exactly?”

“Anything. I’ll send Cormac, he knows all about moving unseen in the shadows.” I smirk and then laugh as Cormac punches me hard in the arm.

He shakes his head and nods at Aodhan to drive him over to Declan’s and hands him his phone. Walking over to the car, he pauses and looks back over at us. “I think it will be fun.”

I raise an eyebrow.

A smile flirts on his lips. “To have a woman bring you to your knees.”

He slams the door closed before I can comment while Aodhan snickers under his breath, and Declan lets out a low whistle before I grab the phone and end the call. I punch Aodhan in the stomach, pushing him away so he can’t say anything else. He dodges the next swing of my fist before heading back to the car, not containing his laughter.

“I hate you fuckers,” I mutter and walk into the house.

* * *

"It’s officially been arranged. I’ll marry Isabelle in a few weeks.” I settle in my chair, resting my ankle on my knee as I watch the nurse help my father with his medication.

He waves her off, drinking down the pills before handing her the glass of water and nodding her dismissal.

She gives me a small smile before hurrying out the door and shutting us in.

“Yeah? How’d she take it?”

I lick my lips, rubbing away the grin that threatens to form and shake my head. “Pissed, but she accepted. Her family seems overjoyed, already planning to spend meals together.”

“And Luca?”

Shrugging, I run my hand down my face. “Doesn’t trust us, but was civil enough.”

“You think he’ll show up to the family dinner?”

I nod, tired of the political games we’re all forced to play. It’s times like this I wish I had a sibling to share the responsibility. Cormac, Cillian, Aodhan, and Declan are my brothers but they aren’t my father’s heirs. And I can’t just hand over the keys to the kingdom.

“Of course. Do you expect him to leave me unsupervised?”

My father’s lips curl in amusement. “It would be a show of good faith.”

I study the tired lines etched on his face. The heavy rise and fall of his breaths as his lungs fail him. His bloated stomach from his recent chemo treatment. My throat aches and I glance away, hating how hard it is to look at him sometimes. “Yeah, well…we would do the same,” I finally answer him.

We sit in silence for a few minutes and I’m sure he’s fallen asleep, but when I look up, our gazes meet.

“So, tell me about her.”

“Isabelle?” I ask, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

He nods.

“I don’t know her.”

My father rolls his eyes. “Son, I’ve known when you were lying since you were five. Try again.”

I scoff. “I don’t have a tell.”

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