My body is pleasantly warm now, all tingly, and Klara’s face looks as if it’s surrounded by an aura.
“You look like an angel right now,” I say, my words strangely slurred and distant. She frowns, but quickly schools her features and rolls her eyes.
“Listen to me.” She takes my shoulders and gives me a half shake. She sighs. “Do I have your attention now?”
I nod. “Aye. Spit it out, I need to sleep.”
“For a little while, if you’d like. But as I said, you have a chance tonight to make some good money, and so help me, you’d better take it.” She sighs. “And honest to God, Ais, it’s time you came off that fucking shite.”
I wave her away. “Tell me more about tonight.”
“There’s a fight in the town centre. Best of the best, they say, and not only do the winners get good money, but Vivian’s promised both fighters choice one of her girls for the night.”
“No kidding?” I ask, blinking to try to clear my mind, but it doesn’t work.
“Dead serious,” she says. I try hard to get her into focus. She’s got the body of a dancer, petite and willowy. In fact, I think she might have been a dancer back in her time. I can’t remember, to be honest, and I’m angry at myself that I can’t remember much about her at all in the moment.
Her short hair is dyed vibrant pink, and it matches the hot pink gloss she’s brushed over her lips.
“You’re pretty,” I murmur. “You look like cotton floss.”
She laughs and rolls her eyes, then playfully reaches down and smacks my cheek.
“Sober up, darling,” she says, and though she’s teasing me and the little smack doesn’t hurt, the seriousness in her eyes does sober me a little. I sit up.
“Tell me more.”
“Now you’re talking. Listen, Vivian owes me a favor, and I mean to cash in. Tonight will be worth it. Think on it, Ais. You get to watch one of the brawls, and woman, you know how hot those guys are.”
A sudden memory assaults me, and I’m pulled away from the present. Oh, I know how hot those guys are. I swallow hard and try to shove the memory away, but I can’t. I had a crush on a fighter once, but the memories of his family pains me.
“They are,” I say with a sober nod. “So fucking hot I can’t even stand it.”
She laughs. “Right? All muscled and inked and sweaty. And young.”
I know why she notes their ages. It’s not uncommon for us to be paired with older men.
“Jesus, tell me about it,” I mutter. “If I have to suck the dick of one more cheating businessman—”
She rolls her eyes. “Or a fucking politician…”
I sigh. “Exactly.”
Politician. Why does that ring a warning bell in the dimmest part of my mind? I can’t place it, and it doesn’t matter. I need to focus on what she’s telling me now.
“I’m a fucking mess, Klara,” I say, not able to completely hide the catch in my voice. “Vivian’s lackey assigned me last night and I ended up with a fucking arsehole. I think he even stole from me.”
She sighs. “You must stop letting yourself lose your shite on a job, babe. No more drinking. No more shooting up. I don’t even want you—”
I hold up a hand to stop her. I know she’s right. It’s dumb as fuck to allow yourself to lose your mind when you’re with a client. Men do shite like steal your damn money and fuck you up, if you don’t have your head about you. I couldn’t even prove that he took my money. I couldn’t even tell someone who he was or where to fucking find him.
I know she’s right, but I also know I can’t get through those nights without numbing myself first. One might say it’s complicated.
“Back to the job. You said she owes you a favor?”
“Oh, aye,” Klara says. “So you take a little rest. I’ll be back and we’ll doll you up properly. And I’ll cash in on that favor she owes me.” She reaches for me hand. “You’ll come, won’t you, Aisling?” She leans in, and her eyes go wide. “It pays big, babe. Real fucking big.”
“How much?”
“Five thousand quid.”
Now I think I may be fully sober. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
She giggles and covers her mouth. “Promise I’m not. Let’s do it.”
I shake her hand, which makes her giggle even harder. “Deal. Let’s do it.” I roll over and pull the blanket straight up over my head. “Now let me get some fucking rest first, will you?”
She leans in and tucks the blanket around me. “Of course, love,” she says softly. “I’ll be back later, and I’ll help you get ready.”
But her voice is distant, and even though she’s still speaking, I don’t hear her last words as I drift off into sleep.
Chapter 3
Tiernan
“This is ridiculous. No. No way.”
My older sister Sheena paces outside in the garden, her hand on her hip. Her reddish hair’s pulled back in a messy bun on top of her head, and she’s taken to wearing glasses now, but when she gets fired up, she still looks like the sister I remember back when I was a child. Hell, she seems to think I’m still a child now.
For Christ’s sake, I’ve been a man of the Clan now for years, and a planned fight is literally the least of my concerns. I’ve taken lives for the men of the brotherhood, conducted major business transactions that brought millions into their coffers, and Sheena lost her privilege of telling me what I can and cannot do ages ago.
Doesn’t mean she doesn’t still want to, though.
I sit on the stone bench under the green archway to the garden and cross my ankles. I don’t speak to her at first.
For one brief moment, it strikes me how everything changes here but
