“Don’t do anything that will make them suspicious. A new thing on the table might trigger them.”
“We used to have small plastic flowers on the table, but I made Mr. Byrne throw them all away. They were older than me and so gross. It’s been a few months, but since we had something on the table for decades, I don’t think they would suspect.”
“I trust your judgment on that. Only do what you can without being noticed.”
She smiled sadly. “Easy enough. Waitresses are usually unnoticed. I’m good at it.”
“Once it’s in, shoot me a text so I can make sure it’s working.”
“Okay.”
“I have to get to work. Call me if you have any questions.”
“Will do.”
“Seriously, Chloe. If anything doesn’t feel right, walk away. Ronan will literally kill me if anything happens to you.”
She rolled her eyes, which still hurt like a motherfucker. “First, nothing will happen. What’s Alan going to do? Second, Ronan won’t be an issue.”
“I doubt that.”
She didn’t remember everything from last night, but she did remember him showing up and being bossy and they broke up. “He showed up here last night and things didn’t go well. That’s part of why I didn’t think you’d be here today. I figured he would’ve told you to stay away.”
“He can be pushy like that, but it’s usually with the best intentions.”
“Doesn’t feel that way. Thanks for trusting me to do this.”
“No. Thank you. This might finally get us some answers.”
She nodded and opened the front door for him. “You might not want to mention to your brother that you gave me the bug. It’ll probably start a fight, and I don’t want to be the cause of a rift between you.”
“We’re big boys, Chloe. Don’t worry about us.”
“Talk to you later.”
She closed and locked the door. Then she ate a few more bites of the sandwich before crawling into bed. Her brain hurt and talking about Ronan and last night made her heart hurt.
But something about her breakup with Ronan hit her harder than when she left her fiancé, which made zero sense. It must’ve been the alcohol still muddling her brain. No way could her brief fling with Ronan Doyle mean more.
As sleep pulled her under, she was reminded of the lesson she thought she’d learned a long time ago: she didn’t need a man.