“I’m fine.” She touched his arm. “Go back to planning. We’ll talk later.”
He watched her walk out as the door closed quietly behind her. Did he do something wrong? His face must’ve shown his confusion because Brendan said, “I think she was waiting for an invite.”
“For what?”
“Nessa’s party, asshole.”
“Why the fuck would she want to come to that?”
“Because she’s your girlfriend and that’s what couples do.”
He hated when his brother talked to him like he was stupid. It hadn’t even occurred to him to invite Chloe. The party would be at his mom’s house. Right across the street from her parents. “We’re not there yet. She said she needs time to deal with her family. They don’t like me.”
“You don’t get women at all. Even if she decides it’s not a good idea or she won’t come because of her family, she wants to be invited. She wants to know you want her there.”
“She knows.”
“You sure?”
He thought so. Hadn’t he made his feelings clear? Dropping the topic altogether, he asked, “How are we going to get Cahill to tell Nolan anything about Dad?”
“I think we should have Nolan show up at the Rose when both Danny and Alan are there. Then he can threaten to blackmail Alan.”
“But if he just asks about Dad, Alan has no reason to say anything. We have no leverage to give Nolan.”
“Nolan’s presence will get them to talk with a bug at the table. When they talk, we’ll hear it.”
“First, I know you’re the FBI and all, but isn’t that illegal? And second, you can’t ask Chloe to do that. She’ll lose her job.”
Brendan huffed. “Yes, it’s illegal. Do you care? Cahill’s been doing illegal shit for decades. If we listen in, we can get the leads we need. Then we can work backwards to find it another way. It’s easier to find a new path when you know where you’re going.”
Ronan sat with that a minute. He couldn’t care less if what they did was illegal, but Brendan should. “If we get caught, you’ll lose your job. And, like I said, so will Chloe.”
“Someone would have to prove we did it. I bet Cahill has a lot of enemies.”
“What does Nolan think happened with Dad?”
Brendan shook his head. “He leans toward him getting caught for skimming, but he doesn’t know.”
“You think Cahill would murder someone skimming? Lightening that envelope is almost expected in this business. It doesn’t add up.” Ronan rubbed his forehead. “I’m going to talk to Mom. See if she has any ideas.”
“You’re gonna tell Mom about Cahill?”
“I’m going to ask her what she knows about Cahill.”
“I’ll touch base with Nolan again and see if he has any good ideas.”
They finished their beers and Ronan stood.
“Make it right with Chloe,” Brendan warned.
“Chloe and I are fine.”
Brendan sighed, and Ronan did what he could to ignore him. As he left, he considered Brendan’s words. Chloe was the one who asked for time. Bringing her to Nessa’s party would be outing them to her family. There’d be no sneaking around there. They might as well make out on the corner.
And as much as he might enjoy the actual kiss as well as watching her mom get her panties in a bunch, he knew Chloe had to do this her way.
Chloe worked on auto-pilot.The bar was busy, but not overwhelming, which left just enough time for her to think about Ronan and why he hadn’t planned on telling her about Nessa’s party. As the night wore on, and business slowed, she allowed her irritation to boil into anger. When it neared closing time and only a few regulars were sitting at the bar, Chloe took a seat in the corner of the bar to do some paperwork.
She waved Johnny over. “I need a drink.”
“Sure thing, boss. What’ll you have?”
With a sigh, she answered, “Something to make me forget.”
He smiled wickedly. “I got just the thing.”
While he went off to mix up some magic for her, she studied the night’s receipts, but her thoughts continued to turn to Ronan.
If she hadn’t been there when the texts came in, he wouldn’t have mentioned it. How could he think that not inviting her was having a relationship? She’d told him she wanted to give it a try. And the first chance he had, he was still keeping her separate. He said he hated sneaking around like he was her dirty little secret, but he didn’t want her at a family party.