Page 25 of Shattered Veil
If Wes was a decent cop—and bydecentI don’t mean honorable, I mean not fucking clueless—he should know the O’Rourkes are mafia. And if he bothers me, he’ll see I’m associated with them and back off.
End of story.
The Uber pulls up in front of one of those quaint restaurants with low ceilings and exposed brick. Dad holds my arm as we descend a few steps down to the entrance, but I’m nearly knocked over by the wonderful smell of basil and garlic.
“Ah, I see him,” Dad says.
My phone vibrates, and I’m conditioned like a dog with a treat to look at it.
When I see it’s an email from Fredricks Elementary, I open it immediately, not even thinking.
“Estella,” Dad whispers in my ear, leading me into the restaurant. “Put your phone away.”
“Just a second, Dad. I have to read this one email.” I keep walking, eyes down, my fingers scrolling.
Ella, hi!
I heard you’re back in New York. I’d love to meet with you about a part-time aide position for the rest of the school year. The kids miss you so much. I hope to hear from you.
Sara
My heart pounds. I don’t need this job with Dad!
By now, he’s let me go. I glance upward to search for his shock of intense dark hair and wide shoulders, ready to tell him my news. I rush to catch up and stop when I see my father open his arms, greeting the man who I suspect is his new boss.
All this trouble Dad went through and now I have to tell the guy I can’t work for him?
I expected a man who’s my father’s boss to be hunched over with wrinkled skin. At the table, a much younger man with adorably messed-up shaggy hair, sharp jaw, and dark rimmed glasses stands up from a curved booth and my stomach drops.
Every muscle tenses, and I can’t breathe.
No...
No, no.
I freeze and nearly fall over in my stiletto-heel boots.
Green eyes land on me and the handsome face morphs, mirroring the same shock rolling through me. Until the look of surprise melts into a glare.
It can’t be him. The man on the plane was a breathtaking god. This is Manhattan, though. The place is crawling with gods.
Balor...
His piercing stare drags back the memories of how he took me in that hotel bed. Sure, we only did it from behind. But the memory of him and his grunts when he thrust into me, his face pushed into the back of my head with one hand around my throat, whispering the filthiest things in my ear, crashes back to me.
Every night since, I relive how he buried his face between my legs and licked me until I came again and again, wringing me of every sane thought. The shower we took, still from behind, flashes at me. How he slid so deeply into my ass. Even though it was my first time.
He thought I was an escort, and an escort doesn’t sayno so...
He thinks I’m an escort!
How am I going to sit here and have dinner with him and my father?
My father. Oh, God.
I slept with my father’s new boss, who’s also my boss,andIrish Mafia! Dad can fly into a rage on one of his typical reckless impulses and some guard somewhere will shoot him.
Trace. I spin around looking for the six-five bodyguard, but don’t see him. Perhaps that’s on purpose.