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***

"When do I get to go back to the club?" I ask with a trembling voice, savoring every bite of bacon, eggs and sausages on my plate.

The mansion cook, Nana O'Grady, nudges fried slices of black pudding in my general direction.

The sleepless night I just spent left me famished and a hearty Irish breakfast is just what I need to recharge my batteries.

The reason for my tossing and turning glances up from his respective meal: eggs and mushrooms on toast. "Ye don't."

"What do you mean I don't?"

Nico and Liam exchange glances. "Told ye, sweetheart. The dance was a one time thing. As was the visit to Angels."

"No way." I ball my fists. "You very well know it's the only source of information I have about my mother!"

Liam leans back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head. "Ye won't need it anymore. Remember what's going down tonight, sweetheart. The warehouse raid."

I cross my arms in stubborn refusal. "I want to go back there one more time."

"If I say you aren't, then ye aren't going."

"You can't tell me what to do. Our deal didn't include that. I could just walk out the door right now," I threaten.

"That would jeopardize our entire plan." The corners of Liam's mouth curve down into a frown as he x-rays me with his emerald eyes. Those hardened irises pierce into the deepest corners of my very soul.

"You can't ask me to just sit around and wait!" I let out a sudden wail, my fingers tensing, every atom in my body boiling. "I'm a wreck. I couldn't close my eyes without my mom's face."

"Alex–"

"No!" I yell.

One Liam's look is enough for Nana O'Grady to leave the kitchen without asking questions.

We both stand up facing one another.

"Can you imagine what it's fucking like for me right now? My grandma's corpse has not even cooled down yet and I am already about to lose my mother, too! On top of it all, I find out I'm the daughter of an Irish mobster? I'm caught in this... this whirlwind of sadness, fear and despair and I... I just want it all to stop!"

"It's going to be alright," Liam whispers, his tone kind. His gaze is cast downwards, but his hand reaches out and his fingers graze my arm with tenderness. "Trust me."

I recoil from the warmth and pleasantness of his skin on mine.

"No! You can't know that. You could never. To have even a minuscule idea of what I'm going through you'd need to have a family. And you... You don't." I shake my head.

I know it's not fair to him, what I'm saying, but life hasn't exactly been fair to me either as of late. And it's not like I'm wrong.

"You're just... just a mobster. A right hand to a mafia lord. Stealing, drug trafficking, and murdering people are day-to-day occurrences to you. You don't care about other people unless they can somehow benefit you. Not like how I care about my mother."

Nico's gaze flits between Liam and me, but he remains as still and silent as a statue.

Liam scans my face, his Adam's apple bobbing as he swallows. "I'm going to rescue yer ma tonight from that warehouse if it's the last thing I do," he says, caressing my cheek with the back of his large hand.

"I want to come too!" I seeth, pushing against his firm chest.

He laughs, and so does Nico. "You'd have the Albanians up your arse in two minutes sweetheart. Do ye honestly think I'd allow that to happen? I told ye I'd protect you, and I meant it. It's a part of our deal, whether you like it or not. Even if that means I have to handcuff ye to my bed, which I'm not opposed to by the way."

"I'm not here to play house with you!" I slam my palms against his torso. "I'm here to get information and to..."

This is not happening how I planned it. He's right about the Albanians.

Yelling and throwing a tantrum are getting me nowhere.

So I attempt to be sweet.

"Look, Liam," I say calmly. "I don't want to be some little clueless girl you stash away in your mansion while you're out there all day saving my mother. I can't just sit around and wait for you, I'll go out of my mind. You promised me you would save her, but please let me help you. Let me do something else if you don't want me to go back to Angels. I can... I can contribute." I plop back onto the chair, tired of all this arguing.

Liam sighs and follows suit. Our legs graze beneath the kitchen table. It's a slight brush, but my body reacts like he slipped his hand under the tablecloth and rested it on my upper thigh.

The mental image of his touch enters my bloodstream in an intoxicating rush.

I swear there must be an invisible thread connecting the fabrication of my mind to Liam's because dark shades bleed into the edges of his eyes like he knows exactly what I am picturing.

My pulse drums.

He gives me a roguish smirk, and I know he's thinking about our touch. As a bonus, it seems like he's actually considering my words, so I throw a cherry on top.

"I promise I'll be on my best behavior. Pretty please?" I bat my eyelashes.

Now he's giving me a boyish grin. Go figure. Nico, however, is even more suspicious of me than ever judging by the scowl on his face.

"I might consider it," finally, Liam drawles. "If you behave." Maybe it's only my imagination but he makes the last word sound so dirty.

My cheeks explode with heat. The memory of us dancing last night isn't helping either.

Nana O'Grady's head chooses that precise moment to peek inside the dining room.

"I am terribly sorry, Mr. Cavanaugh... I was just wondering if you finished your breakfast."

"We have indeed," Liam says, his smile becoming wolfish. "You may take the plates away now, Maggie. And," he adds after a pause. "Alex isn't a morning person. Don't mind her. She's usually a good girl."

I can't tell if the elderly woman noticed the innuendo in Liam's words.

I grit my teeth. This man is obviously quite adept at lying too, considering he doesn't know me well enough to say whether I am a morning person or not.

If my face wasn't already on fire, that 'good girl' remark would have done it.

But I don't want to make a scene in front of the poor cook.

Clearing my throat, I merely ask in a matter-of-fact tone: "So what now?"

"Now, we have business to discuss," Liam says.

After last night, I had no intention of ever doing business with Liam again. If I had the gunpower and manpower to rescue my mom, I would've turned around and left this mansion at this very instant.

"Okay? What kind of business?"

Liam's lips twitch at the wariness in my tone, clearly finding amusement in my discomfort. Few people evoke my annoyance, but Liam Cavanaugh, despite this extremely short time I'd known him, has just made it to the top of my list.

"Let's continue this talk in the library," he says, "It's the heart and soul of almost every conversation, after all."

"Wow." My reverent whisper echoes through the still air as we step inside.

Nico closes the door behind us, cocooning us in hushed silence.

Hundreds of books stretch up and across the walls toward the ceiling like leather-bound wonders, complete with rolling ladders and wooden handrails. Two humongous stained-glass windows stand guard over the lavish seating area lit with vintage brass and emerald lamps.

"It's beautiful." I brush my fingers over an unknown, antique crest depicting a red lion passant.

A small smile touches Liam's mouth but it's gone as quickly as it appeared.

"Nico deserves to know the whole story. Why your ma was abducted. Why our Captain wants her." He turns to Nico. "You see my friend, our Captain, Kieran, and Alex's ma, Zerina, have a certain history."

My gaze flits towards Nico, as I listen to Liam recount the story to him. When it comes to the big reveal, Liam shoots me an encouraging look.

"Kieran Murphy is my father"

Nico's mouth drops open but he quickly regains his composure.

"Indeed," Liam says. A dimple appears in his right cheek as the corner of his mouth tips up. "Alex's ma, Zerina, got pregnant with Kieran's child and then fled the country. But Kieran insisted on finding her and the child. It never happened. Until Alex's grandma's funeral."

"Okay," I say slowly. "I still don't understand why you're telling Nico all this."

"He needs to know what is at stake. How much Kieran wants to be reunited with his heir whom he believes is male. If he finds his 'son' he will probably let your ma graciously lead her new life, despite the shame she brought down on him when she fled."

"And I wonder how he'll react when he realizes his son is actually his daughter." I bite into my lower lip.

"We can deal with that particular problem when it presents itself to us," Liam says with an almost predatory smile. "He might never have to find out if we play our cards well."

"He will not find it out from me," says Nico.

"I know." Liam nods at his confidante and then turns towards me. "You said you wanted to feel more included in the plans. I tell ye what, sweetheart. We might need you tonight, to convince yer ma to come with us."

It makes sense. She wouldn't trust Liam and his group without seeing me.

"So I can come?" My heart flutters hopefully.

"Aye. I'll make sure you're well-protected and not in the middle of the action. Once we get to your ma... I'lI find ye something to do. But if we are to do this, what I say goes." He lifts a demanding finger in the air.

"Of course." I flash him a victorious smile. "Whatever you say, Liam."

Nico rolls his eyes and grunts.

I inwardly stick my tongue out at both men, and outwardly – I grin. I got what I wanted.

***

The Westbrook Park warehouse looms in the darkness, its imposing exterior casting eerie shades that dance in the Dublin night. To me, it appears as a menacing fortress and its very presence sends shivers down my spine.

I've never even been near a place like this.

Armed and masked, Liam's men are stationed all around us, lurking in the shadows, awaiting his signal to storm the place with an air of calculated menace.

Just as he is about to give it, the main entrance door bursts open.

My blood ices.

Around a dozen more force through it, some of them holding assault rifles and others holding guns. One Albanian guard is quickly incapacitated. He's already lying unconscious on the floor as the other is facing down a barrel of a gun, with his hands in the air.

It feels so surreal, like I'm an actress in a movie scene.

"Everybody get on the fucking ground!" One of the men waves his gun while the other smashes the glass of the nearest window. "Get down!"

Nico and the other two of Liam's men comply, their faces leached of color.

"Alex," Liam hisses. "Get down." His warm arms wrap around me like a firm, protective cocoon as he tenderly pushes me towards the ground.

I want to. Every instinct screams at me to crawl into a corner and curl up until the danger is over, but my muscles refuse to obey my brain's commands.

I'd lived in Tirana all my life, for years, but I'd never experienced a mugging or assault. Sometimes, I'd watch the news and wonder how I'd react if I were caught in such a situation.

Now I know.

The short answer is...Not well.

One second, I was standing next to Liam, watching the warehouse entrance. The next, the sight of these armed men had pressed pause on the tape of my life.

All I can do is watch, numb, as the one who'd shouted instructions catches sight of me still standing.

Anger lights his eyes.

Fear ricochets through my body as he stalks toward us, yet my feet remain rooted to the floor. No matter how hard I fight the creeping paralysis, I can't move.

Everything feels surreal. The warehouse, the men, me.

It was like I'd floated out of my body and was watching the scene play out as an invisible third party.

The masked man nears.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

My pulse reaches deafening levels and drowns out everything except the heavy, ominous thud of his boots.

I should be focused on how to escape my current situation, but time flips back with every footfall.

My first camping trip with my mom. Walking across the graduation stage at the uni, head swimming with the illusion of healing the world.

Meeting Liam's dark green eyes. Hearing each syllable of his voice drip with a velvety smoothness.

Life events, big and small, that'd shaped me into who and where I am today.

How many more of those do I have left, if any?

My mind is whirring.

Why, oh why did I even offer to come here in the first place? I could have just waited for Liam to bring my mother to his pre-planned hideout and then...

I close my eyes, waiting for a certain death blow, but something else happens instead.

"Cormac?" Liam's voice is gruff, surprised, but non-threatening.

"Cavanaugh." 'Cormac' nods at us and I glare forth, bewildered.

Do they know each other?

"The raid was supposed to be ours," Nico growls.

"Come now, surely ye won't begrudge me this slight change of plans." Someone else steps through the main warehouse door, and answers instead.

I'd recognize that salt-and-pepper beard anywhere, and the knife scar etched across the man's face.

Kieran.

Liam's lackeys visibly relax, lowering their weapons.

Two other men emerge behind Kieran, carrying a frail and unkempt figure between them and it takes all my willpower not to shout out. I bite into my hand and almost draw blood.

It's my mother.

Her once vibrant spirit sorely dimmed, she appears so emaciated, so disheveled. A haunting reflection of her former self, and she hasn't even been held captive for a week.

My heart yearns to rush into her embrace but Liam restrains me, gently pushing me to stand behind his broad back. I lean my forehead on his suit jacket and inhale his briny scent, careful to remain in the shadow. To obey him.

But if we are to do this, whatever I say, goes.

There is a delicate balance in the air and I know that taking center stage, disrupting it, allowing my mom to see me would ruin it all now.

"A change of plans is always refreshing," Liam says with an air of lighthearted calmness. "And something I most certainly welcome, my Captain."

"I thought you might appreciate it, Cavanagh." Kieran lights a cigar, its fiery tip now the only source of illumination in the entire dark alley. "The Albanians were tipped off. I had to act fast, or you would all be slaughtered. We caught them by surprise from the back entrance."

"Understandable."

My skin crawls with how strained and controlled Liam's voice is. It's so careful, respectful, and mindful of not revealing the slightest hint of surprise.

On the bright side, a handful of Albanians, her captors, have been dealt with, and my mom is finally free.

Yet I can't help but wonder what will Kieran decide to do with her now. The original plan was for Liam to take her to his special hideout, away from my father's eyes.

That's not an option anymore.

"Cavanaugh. Take my wife, Zerina..." Kieran's irises glint with equal parts malice and pleasure as he accentuates the word 'wife', "to your mansion. We can't risk her safety. I want to prioritize her... protection, and you are the one I trust the most."