The Good Sister by Diana Diamond

Author:Diana Diamond [Diamond, Diana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2011-03-04T05:00:00+00:00

TWELVE

PADRAIG CAME east the following week when the police lines were down and Catherine was able to get back into her apartment.

“Jay-sus,” he announced when he saw her face. “You look as if you’re made up to play one of Macbeth’s witches. Was it a baseball bat he took to you?”

She wasn’t entertained. “I thought I was looking better,” she said. And she was. She had the remnants of a black eye and a purple cast to her cheekbone. But the swelling was gone, and the awful green bruises had vanished completely.

He took her in his arms, hugged her, and rocked her gently. “You’re a bossy lady,” he whispered, “but I must say I’ve grown fond of you. Like a man who loves his dog even though it pees on the rug.”

Catherine pushed him away, but when she saw the wide grin of his perfect teeth, she had to laugh. “I have been awful, haven’t I.”

“Oh, no! Don’t be talking that way, lass. You’re like butter melting in my mouth.”

“I’ve been a perfect bitch!”

“That’s the word I was looking for.”

She pushed him into a chair, kissed his forehead, and then sat next to him. “Padraig, who could have done such a thing? It’s so cold-blooded. So ghastly.”

“Oh, darlin’, from what I understand, all the hit men were getting offers. Everyone wanted to see you go over the balcony rail.”

“Damn it,” she snapped. “Stop playing the fool. I’m frightened. Someone is trying to kill me.”

He took her hand. “Sorry, love. I was just trying to cheer you up. But I’m frightened myself. All I’ve been thinking about is who might be behind it. And I haven’t any answers. Lots of people have made my bile boil, but I never could kill anyone. I have no idea what it takes to pull a trigger.”

“Or to cut a brake line?” she asked directly.

He was stunned into a rare moment of silence. Then, in a very soft voice with no trace of his brogue, “Is that what you think? That I tried for your sister and then settled for you?”

She looked away.

Padraig reached out and turned her chin roughly until she was facing him. “Don’t turn away from me, Catherine, not after accusing me of murder. Put it straight. Do you really think I tried to kill Jennifer? Do you think I could ever have hired some loser to throw you off your balcony? Because, by God, if that’s what you think, then there isn’t enough money in the whole damn family to keep us together.”

Catherine pulled her face out of his grasp. “I just don’t know—”

“That’s not good enough,” he said, his voice hard as stone. “I’ve put up with your love of the limelight, and I’ve taken insults that I have never taken from any living person. Money, to be sure! Your damn money has made it all possible. But I’ve never sold out for money. The fact is that in my own perverse way, I love you. I love your talent, and I love your daring.

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