BrianAn Irish Mafia Romance Novella by Maura Rose

Author:Maura Rose [Rose, Maura]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: TNA Publishing
Published: 2020-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Brian hadn’t wanted to set up the rendezvous at their coffee shop.

That was their coffee shop. Their safe place. Their haven. He couldn’t do that to Kathleen, bring two strangers into the place that they considered to be just for the two of them, a place where Kathleen felt safe and happy.

He didn’t know a whole lot about abusive relationships, he could admit that up front. But he did know that Kathleen didn’t feel safe in her own home or in her family’s territory and this was the place where she was happy, the place she’d chosen as her getaway, and he didn’t want to ruin that by bringing in stress.

But Sean and Bridget were understandably impatient. “If you ask her to meet with us and we set up another meeting time and place, between now and then something might happen,” Sean explained. “Especially if her mother is volatile. The McCourts have tried to start a war with us twice. We don’t know when they’ll try again, but we can be safe in guessing that they will. It’s only a matter of time.”

So here he was, walking up to their coffee shop, to sit Kathleen down and have Sean and Bridget join him and… well… hopefully she wouldn’t see it as an ambush.

Sean and Bridget would explain to Kathleen who they were, and Brian would explain that he hadn’t known who Kathleen was and Bridget had been the one to put the pieces together.

God, he hoped that she wasn’t angry with him. He hadn’t had any idea who she was. Maybe if he’d known that the McCourt woman had a daughter named Kathleen, just maybe… but she hadn’t told him her last name and it wasn’t as though he’d been honest with her about who he was connected to—for her own protection, of course. He didn’t think she’d be angry with him for not telling her he was with the mafia. How did you spring that kind of thing on a girl? But he did think she might be upset, thinking he’d manipulated her, and he hadn’t. He really, truly hadn’t.

He only hoped she would listen and understand.

Brian paused, looking around. Oddly, Kathleen wasn’t there.

She was usually the first one to show up. But she might be running late.

He sat down and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But Kathleen didn’t show up.

After about half an hour had passed, Bridget emerged from where she’d been sitting at one of the reading chairs in the bookstore with Sean. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Brian answered honestly. “She’s always here. I don’t know what would’ve happened.”

“Can you contact her any other way?”

“No, we never exchanged phone numbers or anything. To keep her safe. We couldn’t risk her mum finding out.”

Bridget made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat. “Well we can’t sit around all day.”

“Then don’t. Look, something might be wrong. She’s never not shown up before. I’ll come back tomorrow and see what’s up. Maybe she’ll come then.”

He couldn’t explain it, but his stomach felt like someone had dropped lead into it.

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