Grace

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“May I help you?” I asked.

I used the same tone I did at the bar when someone was on the verge of getting out of hand. In those situations, I was always calm, didn’t worry about what was going to happen.

Tonight, I was worried.

I approached the porch, but didn’t get too close, wanting to seem like I wasn’t afraid, but still intent on keeping my distance.

Aengus didn’t seem to care about that.

He stepped closer to me, closing the distance between us until he was close enough to touch me if he so chose.

Which left me in an awful conundrum.

I could take a step back, but that would only show him that I was afraid, and he had proven so far that he wasn’t above stepping closer to me.

Or, I could stay where I was. But that thought made me ill, and made the nerves that were already threatening to undo me even worse.

There was no reason for him to be here. I wasn’t even sure how he knew where here was, but that he had shown up at this hour unannounced was nothing good.

“Can you help me?” he asked, looking at me, his head slightly tilted.

He was studying me in a way that I was familiar with. He was taking my measure, trying to figure out how much trouble I would be.

And so was I.

There had been a time when I would have cowered, shown my fear, but for some reason I felt buoyed.

I knew he wasn’t a good man, but I also knew I wasn’t afraid of him. But that didn’t mean I was stupid.

He was still looking at me, seeming to think, and then finally he nodded his head. “You always were nice. Quiet. Just like I like. Not like Patrick’s,” he said, shaking his head.

At the reference to Nya I exhaled, but quickly cut it off, hoping he didn’t see my reaction.

He didn’t, or at least I didn’t think so, for he didn’t give any reaction and instead continued.

“Do you know they had a kid, and I haven’t even fucking seen it yet?” Aengus said.

That didn’t surprise me.

Even if Patrick had approved such a thing, and there was no way in hell he would, Nya wouldn’t have.

“That’s interesting,” I said.

He looked at me, smiled, and then shook his head.

“Yeah, that’s one word for it. But what are you going to do? You try your hardest and your kids grow up to be some fucking ingrates.”

I didn’t respond to that, and instead just looked at him. He didn’t say anything either after that, and soon we were locked in a battle that I sensed was momentous.

It might’ve been a mistake, but I refused to stand there any longer so instead I said, “Can I help you?”

That seemed to drive him into action and he snapped his fingers and nodded.

“As a matter of fact, you can,” he said.

“How?” I asked.

“You know, this conversation might be better had in private. Why don’t we go inside to discuss it?” he said.

“It’s a nice night. My neighbors keep to themselves,” I responded.

“I’m sure they do, but I don’t think you understand what’s happening here,” Aengus said.

“What is that?” I asked.

No sooner had I finished the question than his entire demeanor changed. Gone was the attempt at calm, perhaps something like charm, and in its place was an oily, threatening man. One who looked like he could live up to the reputation that I had only heard whispered about.

“You seem to think this is some kind of fucking polite chat. It’s not. Now get in the fucking house or I will drag you in,” he said.

Something about the way he said those words, laced with malice, confirmed for me that he meant it, and if he had done something like that before, which I had no doubt about, he wouldn’t be above doing it now.

For a split second I debated, but then grabbed my keys tighter and walked toward the door.

This might be a mistake, but I wasn’t sure what my other options were. I could run, but if Aengus caught me and dragged me back, that might be worse. And, I couldn’t forget that if my neighbors, who did generally keep to themselves, but wouldn’t be above calling the police if they saw me running down the street screaming, got involved that would bring a lot of attention to Declan, attention I was certain he didn’t want.

I unlocked the door and then turned to Aengus.

“After you,” I said.

He smirked at me as he walked in and I closed the door behind him but didn’t lock it. I stayed put, and watched him as he took in the place.

“What are you doing?” he asked, looking at me with his brows dipped in confusion.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you that question?” I said.

“Of course not,” he said, smiling brightly, the expression chilling because of the malice in his eyes. “We are in your home. Why don’t you have a seat?”

He gestured toward the love seat, and as a person who was familiar with being given an order even if it was dressed up as a question, I walked to the love seat and sat down.

Aengus circled me, walking back and forth across the small living room. I wasn’t sure whether it was a nervous action or his attempt to intimidate me. I figured it was intimidation. Nothing about Aengus struck me as someone who would be given to nerves, and after I decided that, I also decided I would do anything to give away any I might be feeling.

“Heard you and my second boy got a little thing going on,” Aengus said.

I almost rolled my eyes, but instead just looked at him impassively. “I’m close with the entire family,” I said by way of answer.

“Does that mean what I think it does?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.

I didn’t respond, but Aengus just laughed. “Probably not. Those boys never did like to share.”

He continued pacing, and I was certain it was an attempt to unnerve me. What he did was irritate me.

I didn’t say anything though, and instead I just waited.

“You wouldn’t believe how those motherfuckers have treated me,” he said.

Better than he deserved, I was certain now, but I decided not to share that with him. That decision was one that I questioned. From the look of him, I was in store for a long conversation that I had no interest in.

Just as I thought, Aengus continued.

“You’d think they’d cut me some fucking slack. Had to raise those little bastards all by myself after their mother tried to check out. They weep over her, but what about me? Where is my gratitude?” he said.

He looked at me expectantly, and I struggled for what to say. “Families can be difficult,” I responding with the blandest truism I could come up with.

For some reason, it seemed to placate Aengus. “No fucking shit,” he said.

He continued to pace, and I noticed that he was in incredible shape for a person his age. He was wrinkled, and I could see that he didn’t take care of his body, but he was still fit, still strong, and he wouldn’t be a pushover.

Not that I would dare take him on.

I knew my limitations, and even if I had been stronger than Aengus, I didn’t know if I had the capacity to attack someone. I could barely bring myself to kill a bug, so hitting another human being, trying to injure them, even in these circumstances wasn’t something I wanted to risk.

So I would use my brain, play this out. And when I saw Declan, I would tell him he never had to worry. No matter what he did, he’d never be like the creature who stood before me.

“You know some of the shit they’re into?” he asked.

“I work at the pub,” I responded.

“Nice try, but that’s not an answer, sweetheart,” he said.

I shrugged, trying to maintain a veneer of cool. “I’ve heard rumors,” I said noncommittally.

“Well, sweetheart, I’m here to tell you, the rumors are true,” he said.

He paused for dramatic effect, probably hoping his proclamation would upset me. I was completely unmoved.

He frowned and then stopped and walked to the love seat and stood in front of me.

On instinct I leaned back, and he chuckled and then kneeled down so that we were eye level.

“And you want to know the bitch of it?” he asked.

He waited, no doubt expecting my response, so I said, “What’s that?”

“I taught them everything they know. You think they could’ve built their little business without my lessons and my name?”

I was entirely out of my depth in this conversation, and I was especially confused as to why I was even having it. But I did my best to play along. “I’m sure some of the things you taught them were helpful,” I said.

“You’re damn right they were helpful. But do you think those boys acknowledge that?” he asked.

That question was rhetorical, for instead of awaiting my response as he had before, he stood and began to pace again. This time I could see that his movements were driven by anger.

“No,” he said, answering his own question. “They don’t appreciate that. They don’t acknowledge it. They treat me like I am no better than shit on the bottom of their shoes. Won’t even help me out when I need it. What the fuck kind of family is that? Not the one I raised,” he said.

He stopped pacing then and looked at me, and I felt a little sliver of fear in my stomach, more intense than the nerves that had been there before.

“Well, that’s going to change, though,” he said. Then he looked at me and looked around for my purse. “Where’s your phone?” he asked.

“In my bag,” I said, nodding toward the bag I had dropped by the front door.

He walked to it and began dumping the items out as he returned to me.

“You got a lot of shit in here,” he said. “I never understand women and these things. Gotta take your whole fucking house with you when you leave it.”

His commentary on the modern woman and her accessories ended when he found my cell phone.

“What’s the code?” he said.

I gave him the number and he unlocked the phone and began scrolling through it.

The sense of violation was immense, probably outsized given what had happened so far.

I wasn’t sure exactly what I would call this. A low-key kidnapping, perhaps. But even that didn’t feel as invasive as Aengus scrolling through my phone like he owned it.

I kept my mouth closed and waited until he was done.

“Let’s see what we have here,” he said. “Just what I was looking for. Declan Murphy.”

Then he walked toward me, kneeled again, and locked eyes with me. Once he was sure I was looking at him and that I wouldn’t look away, he extended the phone.

“Call him.”

His voice was like an ice shard stabbing into my gut. Without even pausing, I reached for the phone and pressed the button to call Declan.