Page 42 of Until Ireland

“Yeah. Ire’s filed a report every time there has been an incident. This is the first time the cops have shown an interest though. I suspect it’s because the bike is a classic and is worth a shit ton of money, plus the insurance company will be getting involved.”

Ireland’s bike wasn’t priceless because of its monetary value. I knew her heart would be heavy, and I realized the pictures she’d been sending me all day might be her way of dealing with the situation.

I wasn’t going to stand for some asshole fucking with her life. It wasn’t like I wasn’t sympathetic to her pain. I was, but she should’ve trusted me enough to tell me what was going on this morning. I shouldn’t have had to call her brother to get the down-low.

“I swear, I’m going to spank her ass for not telling me any of this,” I grumbled, not giving a fuck if her eldest sibling heard. I was pretty sure Hunter knew I was in love with his sister and would never hurt her.

Hunter chuckled. “Yeah, man, listen, that’s a little bit TMI for me, considering your girlfriend is my fucking baby sister.”

“I’m not apologizing.”

“Didn’t expect you to.” Hunter paused. “Listen, Mack, in her defense, trust isn’t something that comes so easily to Ireland. Right or wrong, she’s got her reasons.”

Again, Hunter was right. Because I didn’t know those reasons, it was a source of frustration for me. More than anything, being on the outside of this pissed me off. I’d seen the shadows she tried to hide reflected in her gaze when we were together. I’d made it my goal to remove them permanently.

I sighed. “You know the reasons, Hunter?”

“Yeah, Mack, I do.”

I rubbed at the hair on my neck as it bristled in discord because he knew something I didn’t. “But I don’t.”

Hunter sighed. “Not my story to tell, Mack.”

I gave a humorless laugh. “Yeah, I wasn’t planning to ask you the whos and whys, Hunter. It’s Ireland’s responsibility, not yours.”

“Go easy on her then, her bike, it meant—”

I snapped, unable to hold my anger back anymore. “I know why her bike means so much, Hunter. We do talk to each other.”

“Then you know she’s hurting,” he asserted, adding an edge to his voice.

“I do now.”

“What are you going to do about it?” he prodded.

I looked up at the ceiling in my office, noticing how the lamp on my desk and credenza behind me cast odd shadows.

“Mack?”

“I’m going to handle it, Hunter,” I grumbled before saying goodbye and disconnecting the call.

I tossed my phone on the desk in frustration, no doubt cracking the delicate glass screen. Whatever. I had enough money to replace the damn phone. Decision made, I was going to go see Ireland. Flame could run without me for a couple of hours. If shit came up, they could call me. Or, better yet, they could handle it themselves since they knew how to delegate around here too.

I was in the middle of gathering my wallet and keys when the decision to leave was taken out of my hands thanks to the knock on my door. “Yeah?” I called out, not caring if the person on the other side heard all of my frustrations in that single word.

When the door opened, Sacha stood waiting, his face flushed beet-red with anger. He hadn’t been in our earlier meeting because he’d needed to take care of something in the kitchen. Judging by the expression on his face, it looked as if I wasn’t going to be able to go after all.

I jerked my desk drawer back open, harder than I needed to, and tossed my keys and wallet back from where I just removed them before I waved the irritated head chef of Flame in.

“What’s wrong?” I tried not to take my frustrations on him, but what else could go south today? Turns out, I’d regret thinking those words.

What was going on with Ireland was just the start of what was about to be dumped into my lap.

Ireland

Music was my refuge, especially when I was in a mood. Metal blared from the speakers as I began to pull the Aston Martin apart, piece by piece, before I laid it out on a drop cloth numbered specifically for me to put the vehicle back together. Not that I couldn’t just drop a part and put the new one in—I could. This, however, allowed me to focus on the task at hand, not making sure I had six bolts for a part and only found five.

Underneath the vehicle was Landon. We were working in tandem today. While he removed and replaced the transmission, I did the engine repairs. We’d be more productive this way and hopefully have the repairs fixed sooner rather than later. As it stood, we had three more vehicles show up on the lot for inspection and fixing in the last four hours. I supposed I should be happy about all the work being brought to us, yet I couldn’t shake the upset from my bike being stolen right out from under everyone’s noses. It left a bad taste in my mouth, but thankfully, with the exception of Landon, everyone was giving me a wide birth.

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