Chapter Twelve
Keegan
I strode down the hallway. The walls closed in. Suffocating me. A woman hadn’t had this effect on me since Grace.
I needed air. Needed to get away. Needed to think. My feelings for Tessa were growing into something more than I could handle. Something more than I wanted. If I was merely passing the time, why did my heartbeat triple whenever she was near? Why did my hands ache to hold her, stroke her? Hell, I could even tell when she walked into the room. I’d allowed my cock to control my brain.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. But it was too late. My heart had put blinkers and earmuffs on. My body craved only her.
The phone clasped in my hand vibrated. I glanced down. A blocked number. Only one person would call me from a blocked number. Shane Gorman. Perfect fucking timing.
I answered. “You’re a gobshite. What’s your game, Gorman?”
Shane chuckled. “How’s the beautiful Tessa? I believe the two of you are playing happy families.”
“You’re nothing but a bastard. Still up to your old games, I see. Bleeding people dry.”
“Revenge is a bitch, isn’t it?”
I laughed, but it was cold and humorless. “Unbelievable. This is about your nose? You set this whole thing up because of something that happened years ago?”
“Not all of it. But when I saw your name in her emails, I couldn’t resist. I knew you’d be fuming that someone got what you wanted. Not used to losing, are you?”
“You’re lucky your nose was all I broke. If my brothers hadn’t held me back, you’d be six feet under now.”
“Temper. Temper. Simmer down.”
“Stay away from me and stay away from Tessa.”
“Or wha’?”
“Don’t push me.”
“I have a proposition for you. Could make both of us some cash.”
“Save your breath. I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” Blood pulsed through my skull. I should’ve known. This was all about money.
“I think you do. A hundred grand in my bank account by the end of the day and cameras in every room. If not, the papers will hear everything. How you and Tessa came up with a story to extort one of the world’s biggest movie stars.”
“What proof do you have?”
“Enough.”
It’d be a cold day in hell before I did anything the lowlife wanted, but for now, I would play along, call his bluff.
“If I do what you want, you’ll disappear? Leave Tessa alone?”
Silence crackled over the line.
“I need your word, Gorman.”
“You have my word.” Shane’s word was as transparent as a tissue that had landed in a puddle. “I’ll email you where to wire the money and where you can pick up the equipment.”
“You come to me.”
“No deal. Wire the money and come pick everything up, or I’ll call one of me journalist friends right now.”
Shane was goading me. Trying to scare me.
“What will a journalist give you? A couple of hundred. If you’re lucky. And I know you’re not far from here. You always keep an eye on your marks. You come here.”
I could almost hear the wheels turning in Shane’s head. He must be up to his eyes in debt and trouble if he was considering coming anywhere near me.
“Tomorrow morning. Eleven.” There was a pause. “No funny business. I’ll text you when I’m on the way. Have my money.”
“I’ll wire you the money when I have it in writing you’ll walk away.”
“See you tomorrow.”
The bastard hung up.
I would call my cousin Niall, have him here when Shane showed up. But I wouldn’t say a word to Tessa. She had enough going on. Keeping my relationship with Gorman a secret was for the best. What a fucking mess. I should never have left New York. I slapped my palm against the wall so hard it stung.
“You two have another lover’s tiff?” Barb asked from behind me, her words slurred.
I turned to face her. Max, who she carried like a baby in the crook of her arm, wore a black bow tie and gazed up adoringly.
“Not at all. Everything’s fine. You look a little unsteady there. Need some help getting back to your room?” And wine.
“We need food, don’t we, Maxie Moo?” She lifted the dog until they were eye to eye. “My stomach’s ready to cannibalize itself. Be a gent and help us down these damnable stairs. Don’t want to fall and crack my skull open.”
“With pleasure.”
Barb hooked her arm around mine and clung on like a limpet.
“Have you talked to Violet ?” I asked. “Does she know about the weather situation?”
“Oh, she knows. Let’s just say she’s not happy. Not happy at all. If she’s not happy. I’m not happy. And that means no one will be happy.”
In the kitchen, the mouth-watering smell of simmering soup and freshly baked bread caught my nostrils and pulled me toward the stove. Brendan dozed on a chair by the blazing fire, blissfully unaware a con man demanded I plant secret cameras in every room and ruin the castle’s reputation.
I wouldn’t let that happen, and I would do everything I could to stop Shane from destroying Tessa and Brendan.
“Smells divine.” Barb inhaled deeply.
Brendan jumped up, his eyes befuddled with sleep. “Sorry. Didn’t hear you come down.”
“You made this?” Barb lifted the lid from the soup pot and inhaled deeply.
“That I did,” Brendan replied with a smile. “Tomato and basil.”
She scrunched up her nose and placed Max on the floor. “Won’t poison us, will it?”
I ladled out two creamy bowls and pushed one toward Barb. “Brendan used to be one of the best-known chefs in Ireland.” I tore off a hunk of crusty bread and dunked it into my soup.
Brendan blushed and then
