Page 63 of Until Ireland

“How’s the Aston doing?” I sat at the desk and patted my knee in invitation.

Ireland didn’t hesitate. The slight weight of her body against mine was perfect. “Good. Landon is almost done with the transmission. We ran into a bit of issue with the clutch plate, so we ordered a new one. It’ll be here in the morning. Once that’s done, Hunter will give the car a quick paint job. You should be good to ship by Monday at the latest.”

I nuzzled her neck. “Impeccable timing.”

“Oh?” She arched a brow. “How’s that?”

“Cobi called before I left the restaurant. We’re good to go at the auction. Tomorrow is the day,” I said. “Are you sure you want to be there?”

She didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I know that place better than anyone. I’ll get Cobi’s guys where they need to be.”

I hated this. I didn’t like the idea of putting her in harm’s way, but she had a point. She knew where everything was located and how to find more cars, since we assumed there were more than just those in the garage. “I’ll be inside bidding on the car.”

The car was a 1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider. I had a feeling I might know the original owner of the vehicle, and that was why I chose it. There were exactly twelve of the Lungo Spiders made, and if I was correct, this particular one sold at Sotheby for almost twenty million dollars. The owner would neverwillinglypart with it. A quick search of the vehicle through the database showed a theft report out of Malibu, California. It was indeed my acquaintance’s vehicle.

“What time tomorrow?” Ireland asked, drawing me from my thoughts.

“Ten. We’ll get there about twenty minutes before the auction begins to set up.” I twirled a strand of her beautiful red hair around my finger. “Got a wig?”

“No, but I’ll figure something out.” The suggestive wink she gave turned me on. I couldn’t wait to see what she’d do.

“Perfect.” I grinned.

The next day,my gut churned with anxious energy. I’d gone over every possible scenario where things went wrong and we had to get Ireland out of the auction without her getting caught. Horrible way to plan out the mission, but I couldn’t sit back and believe nothing could go wrong either. When a person got lazy, that was when shit went south—fast.

Stepping into our bedroom, I gazed at the back of the woman who sat at the vanity doing her makeup. I knew it was Ireland. My dick knew my fiancée. However, the woman who stared at her reflection in the mirror didn’t look like Ireland. Instead of buying a wig, she went to one of the local salons to have her hair temporarily darkened to a shade of port wine. The dark richness went well with her skin tone and turned me on. Of course, she rolled her eyes at me when I told her I couldn’t get enough of her.

“Almost ready?” I asked, stepping up behind her.

For the moment, she wore a silk robe while she finished up her makeup and her hair. On top of changing her hair, she’d also bought herself something different to wear. If she went in any of her street clothes, she’d be easily recognizable. Ireland stood out in a crowd, not just because of her red hair or her myriad tattoos, but also because of her unique style. However, I had a feeling what she’d purchased would still draw attention. Jealousy warred with arousal within me as I stood there gazing at my impeccable, beautiful woman.

“Almost,” she answered, blowing me a kiss. I swear if we had time, I’d fuck some of the anxiousness out with her. “This is going to work.”

The sureness in her tone settled the nervous tick of my jaw. “I know it will.”

She turned to face me. “Really? Because you look like you have a bear’s paw gripping your junk right now and you don’t want to move.”

She painted a lovely picture for how I was feeling. “Something like that.”

“Look, your sexy ass will be inside spending tons of Uncle Sam’s money on a car we both know belongs to your friend. You’re killing two birds with one stone—helping your friend get his car back and closing down a theft ring. Happy the fuck up.” She shrugged. “If you go into the auction like you are right now, they’ll be onto you. This will be over before it starts.”

Again, she had a point. “You’re right. You’re absolutely right.” I blew out a breath. “Are you sure I can’t convince you to stay home?”

“Oh no you don’t, Mackinley Redman. I did my hair for this and bought these clothes. There’s no way in hell I’m not going.” She stood then and crossed to the bed where her tank top lay. “The quicker we get in there, the quicker you can take all this off of me and fuck me like you mean it.”

“Fuck yeah I will,” I snapped. “Have you seen yourself? You’re fucking gorgeous.”

She laughed. “Been staring at this face my whole life.”

I rolled my eyes and chuffed a laugh. “I’ll grab us some coffee for the drive.”

She stood and pressed a kiss to my cheek before cleaning the mark off with her thumb. “Sorry, not sorry.”

I patted her ass before heading down to the kitchen. We were going to meet up with Cobi at the station then load into specific vehicles used in situations like these. I would arrive first and get set up inside the main auction hall, then Ireland and Cobi’s team would make their walkthrough of the lot. Since the Alfa Romeo would be one of the first cars up for auction, the mission altogether should take less than an hour, however Cobi had put a three hour timer on it.

Once Ireland joined me—wearing jeans, a grunge band t-shirt, boots and a flannel—we headed out. The drive to the police department was quiet. We’d said everything we needed to, and now it was mostly time to reflect on what our jobs were. I couldn’t let someone outbid me for the car. I knew the worth and how much Ashbury paid for his. I couldn’t go higher, but lower was a good thing too, especially since I’d bought the Aston at a steal—pun intended.

When we pulled up to the station, Cobi was waiting on us, along with Jax and Franks. There were three other men there as well, all wearing plain clothes. Their keen gazes landed on us. I kissed the back of Ireland’s hand before we both got out. Cobi’s gaze locked on Ireland, and his mouth fell open. I’d have chuckled if I hadn’t wanted to knock the shit out of him for staring at my woman.

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