Chapter Fourteen
“No way!” Anna said, her voice nearly a shout.
Several other diners sitting near them turned to look in their direction. Claire focused on the meal in front of her. She’d been picking at her chicken for the past twenty minutes, and it just didn’t seem to be getting any better. Everything from the day had built up, and her stomach didn’t seem to be able to keep up with things.
“I can’t believe Conor would set you up like that,” Anna said and stabbed a carrot. “After everything that happened, sabotage and betrayal are about the worst.”
Claire leaned forward. “He seemed worried that what happened to Harriet might happen to me.”
Anna raised a well manicured blond brow. “And could it?”
She shrugged and leaned back. “Yes?” Uncertainty filled her voice. “I don’t know. Most of the time, I’m the one hearing about these stories afterward. I don't really know all the fine details. Boris is a bad man. There's no question of that, but Ennis was never that bad.” He shrugged. “At least he used to not be.”
“I don’t know.” Anna wrinkled her nose. “They all sound pretty bad to me.”
Claire nodded. If she thought about the situation and the players much, it did all sound bad.
“So, what about Conor? He was just trying to save you,” Anna said.
“He was,” Claire said softly. “I just don’t know. It seems like every time we have something good, something bad happens to fuck it all up. I don't know if I can have a relationship that's that much of a roller coaster. Even ignoring all this political stuff.”
“Men,” Anna muttered.
Claire nodded. Between the two of them, they had certainly had their fill of men.
“What are you going to do?” Claire asked.
Anna shrugged. “Keep working. Keep ignoring my phone.”
Claire hesitated before going forward. “Are you going to file for divorce?” It seemed an obvious course of action, but one never knew.
Anna set her fork down. Claire hoped she hadn’t overstepped.
“Yes, but I need to think about my options first. Jason is at a very powerful firm. This is not going to be pretty,” Anna said.
Claire nodded. She had thought as much. Jason didn’t seem like the kind of person to just let her go without going for everything. He'd already idly suggested having Anna killed after all.
Claire sighed. “This sucks,” she grumbled. “I want my chocolate cake now.”
“It will be fine,” Anna said. “In the end, I’m relieved.”
Claire was slightly surprised to hear it.
Anna smiled. “I know it seems weird, but he was making my life hell. Without him, I’m a whole new me. With my recent job change and this, I have more opportunities than I've had in a long time. Now, I’ve just got to find out who that me is.”
“You don’t know?”
Anna shrugged. “I was still in school when we got together. So, all our friends were through him since we had to make the right kind of connections.”
Claire frowned. “I didn't realize.”
“I didn’t mind,” Anna went on. “I had no family here after my mother died, and we were never great at making friends. Jason needed my support, and I offered it. I only wish I had demanded the same support from him. Instead, I always just rationalized it away. Telling myself he was just too busy, under stress or whatever.”
Claire hated hearing that. Anna was a great person who deserved so much more.
“But now I don’t have to worry about a lot of things. Laundry for one is easy. I can make whatever I want for dinner, without any weird dietary issues.”
A few tears slipped out of her eyes, and Anna seemed surprised by this.
“Here.” Claire offered a tissue from her purse.
Anna mopped up the tears. “I don’t even know why I’m crying.”
Claire took her hand. “It’s a lot of changes. Give yourself a little time to adjust,” she said. “Maybe you want to come to my place tonight?”
Anna nibbled her lower lip and then nodded.
“It’s so quiet,” she said. “I guess I never thought of it.”
Claire gave a small smile. “You’ll get used to it. Sometimes I have trouble.”
Anna took in a deep breath and let it out. “Thank you,” she said.
“That’s what friends are for,” she said. “Now, let’s have some damn chocolate cake.”
Anna giggled as Claire called for the waitress, and she smiled. In the end, they were both strong women who could overcome this.
* * *
Conor and his sister sat quietly outside Claire’s apartment. She still wasn’t home, and he hadn’t seen a sign that anything had happened since they had shown up.
“So, this is where she lives?” Teagan asked.
Conor nodded. He didn’t know how his sister felt about everything with Claire, but it was best not to push. They both were under enough stress as it was.
“It’s a nice neighborhood,” she said and looked around.
Conor groaned. He had debated even mentioning a few facts, but there really wasn’t going to be much a choice if she and Claire were ever going to get along.
“She wanted us to live with her,” he said.
Teagan’s head snapped toward his.
“What? When?”
“When Mom left,” he said. “She didn't want just to help out with the bills, you see, she wanted us to move in.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded.
He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Because I said no,” he said. “I just couldn’t let her help like that. You have to understand, once Mom left, I vowed to never have to depend on anyone else. It wasn't just pride. It was your life. At least that's what I kept telling myself.”
Teagan’s face fell. “So, it was better for you to work yourself to the bone?”
“How was I supposed to just take her money?” he demanded. “All our lives there was a separation in this family between those with money and those without. I couldn't be sure, and I had to be sure.”
“And she was crossing those lines,” Teagan countered. “Of course, that's why you really left her, to take care of me.”
He fell silent.
“All these years, and I continue to be a burden on my family,” she said quietly. “Without me, Mom would still be here.”
Conor opened his mouth to say something but stopped when she held up a hand.
“No,” Conor continued.
Teagan nodded sadly. “I knew what a burden it would be, and yet I couldn’t stand the idea of never having even the slightest happiness.” She looked out the window as tears streamed down her face. “So, I told myself that you were better off without our mother. That we didn’t need her. But I was wrong.”
Conor shook his head. “You weren’t wrong. We didn’t need her, and she wasn’t much of a mother if she was willing to abandon her only daughter who was sick. What kind of mother does that? She claimed to be godly. What kind of godly woman does that? She's the selfish one, and we're better off without her.”
Teagan smiled slightly. “We might not have needed her, but we did need her money.”
He couldn’t argue. Not having her money meant that things were far more difficult.
“I think some things need to change,” she said.
Conor’s head whipped to her. “You don’t need to be admitted anymore.”
“For now,” she said. “But Ennis is going to stop the treatments, and my condition will likely worsen. There's no cure, Conor. There's only treatments.”
“I won’t let you be admitted anywhere,” he said with such force it echoed in the confines of the car. He took a deep breath. “Let’s just try to think of a solution that we can all live with.”
Teagan stared at him for a minute before wrapping him in a crushing hug.
“You are a good man,” she whispered. “Claire is lucky to have you.”
Conor gave a hollow laugh. “I don’t think she’s feeling so lucky right now.”
Teagan pulled back to look at him.
He shook his head. “I’ve been helping ruin her campaign.”
Teagan frowned. “Why?”
“If she’s not elected, they wouldn’t need her,” he said. “Ennis won't.”
Teagan sat back in her seat and thought for a long time. “She’ll forgive you,” she said.
Conor stared at her in shock. “What?”
“If she can forgive all the other shit, she’ll forgive this,” she said.
“But what about the election?” he said.
Teagan pressed her lips together.
“We’re waiting outside for some crazed murderer in order to protect her,” she said. “She’ll forgive you.”
Conor gave a small smile.
“When did you get so smart?” he asked.
“I might just be your big sis, but I still know women better than you,” she said.
Conor smiled fully. It was nice to have some solid advice for a change.
He jumped when his phone rang, and when he pulled it out, he was even more hesitant to answer.
“Yeah,” he said over the line.
“You’re at the wrong location,” Finn barked over the phone. “Claire and Anna stopped by the office. Riley just spotted them on surveillance. They also just spotted Boris outside.”
“How did you—”
“Do you really need to fucking ask?” Finn shouted through the line. “Move! We’re all on our way, but you’re closest, dumb-ass.”
Conor had the car started and was peeling out before Finn had even finished talking.
“Roger that,” Conor said. “What’s your ETA?”
“Riley and Noel are closer. Maybe fifteen?” Finn said.
“I’m ten out. Five if I don’t stop.” He looked to his sister. Her face was pale, but she nodded her understanding. “We’re five out.”
“Thank God,” Finn said. “Just hurry.”
“You don’t have to tell me,” Conor said and pressed down on the gas pedal.
* * *
“I’m really sorry about this,” Claire said to Anna. “I just had to check it out before we went to the apartment.”
They looked around the place, and she had to admit, her cousin was pretty amazing. He could turn her living hell into something manageable in just a day's time. If there had been more time, she wondered what else they were capable of.
“This is awesome,” Anna said quietly. “There’s still a ton of work to do, but at least we won’t have to deal with broken glass.”
There was still time to make this work. All she had to do was work a little harder. Maybe a few press conferences. She would remind the public that she was the one that came out in the first place rather than let corruption continue. It could still all work.
She jumped at the sound of breaking glass.
“Claire,” Anna whispered.
Claire placed a finger to her lips and pointed to the closet.
Anna nodded and silently they walked over.
“Get in,” she said to her when they were near it. “Feel around on the wall near your head. There’s a panel that slides. Inside is a gun. It should be ready to go. Just flip the switch and fire.”
Anna’s eyes widened. “You aren’t getting in with me?”
Claire shook her head. “They want me,” she said. “You are my surprise. Someone opens that closet, you come out shooting.”
“But I’ve never shot a gun,” she said.
Claire grinned. “All the better. I’ll just have to duck then. Really, the shooting is easy. It's the hitting that's hard.”
She could hear footsteps down the hall and pushed Anna.
“In!” Claire whispered and shut the door quietly behind her.
She raced to her desk and pulled out the top drawer.
“Looking for this?” Boris stood in the door with her gun in a gloved hand. “Such nice gun. You should keep better eye on.” His deep laugh chilled her to the bone.
“It is a nice gun,” she said with a smile. “Would you like me to give you a demonstration on how it works?”
Boris shot the floor beside her foot.
“It work fine, bitch.” He smiled. His men filtered in behind him. “Where’s your friend? The blond-haired bitch.”
Claire shrugged. “She ran off.”
Boris held up a finger and tutted. “You know we’ll find her,” he said. “Then, we make her suffer for your lie.”
Claire bit her tongue. It was better if she just didn’t say anything.
“Anton,” he said to the larger of the two men. “Look around the room for her.”
Anton nodded his head. A lock of greasy hair came loose from his pony tail, and she prayed he didn’t find Anna. A man like that just might be able to take a hit and keep standing.
“So,” Boris said and stepped closer to her. She noticed the large cross tattoo on the side of his shaved head and nearly laughed at the irony of it. That such a sadistic man would even play at religion seemed like a mistake.
She stood her ground as he stepped closer, and one of his eyebrows rose, perhaps in respect. She wasn't sure.
“Your boyfriend, he is not such a great protector,” he said from in front of her. “He very stupid too.”
Claire glanced around him at the other man at the door. His attention seemed torn between what his boss was doing and his actual job. She could only hope that someone would be coming by on patrol. Noel was thorough in his work, and she hoped that this would be one of those times.
“Seems to me like he is a great protector,” she retorted. “I don’t remember you making any attempts when I was with him. What’s the matter? Does Conor scare you?”
His face twisted in rage, and he said something in Russian she could only assume wasn’t flattering to women.
“You think you can be mouthy with me, you stupid bitch?” he yelled. “Do you fucking know who I am? I'm not pussy-whipped coward like those Irish bitches in this town who play at being men.”
She nearly gagged at his terrible breath and stepped back.
A wicked smile appeared on her face at his retreat.
“You should know the true me,” he said and chuckled. “I'll show you. Iosif,” he said. The man at the door turned to him. “Get my pack.”
She watched as the man lumbered away. All around the room, she could hear Anton crashing about but kept her eyes on Boris. He was the true threat in all this.
“Do you know what I do to people?” he asked. “Especially those who disrespect me and get in my way?”
She nodded.
“And what do I do?” he asked.
She struggled to get the words out. True terror ripped through her. It was one thing to be shot but another to be tortured.
“What do I do?” he shouted.
“Hurt people badly.” Claire shivered as she spoke. “Like Noel,” she said. “Like the burns on Noel.”
Boris laughed.
“Oh, that was good, but it wasn’t me,” he cackled. The sound chilled her. “Oh no, that was all Anton,” he said. “Very good work. Never seen flesh melt like that. Good work indeed.”
Her stomach rolled as she struggled to keep her food down.
“No, I prefer knife over chemicals,” he whispered and stepped closer to her. “There’s nothing like that feeling.” He breathed in deeply. “The screams for me to let them go. And they all beg for it.” He smiled widely at her, and she held her breath. “No matter how tough they are, they beg in the end.” He tilted his head and grinned. “You’ll look so pretty begging me for your life.”
“Found you,” Anton said from across the room.
“Duck,” Anna yelled.
Claire slammed to the floor as Anna shot off the gun wildly in front of her.
She rolled under the desk and watched as both Anton and Boris took cover on the other side of the wall. If the gunfire did anything, it would attract at least someone else. Maybe Anna would even get lucky and manage to hit one of the men.
“Anna,” she shouted over the gunfire. “Get the other mag!”
Claire nearly cried when Anna shouted back, “What’s a mag?”