“Yes. I needed a few things while I was in town.”
“You don’t live in the city?”
“Just outside of it,” Deidre replied, though it wasn’t necessary as Miriam was now looking at her address on the application and could see that if she was familiar with the area.
“Listen, I don’t usually hire people without experience, but there is something I like about you. I think you deserve a shot at it.”
“Really? That’s great,” Deidre gasped, overwhelmed at getting lucky on her first attempt at employment.
“I can’t give you the busy shifts, not right now. You’ll have to start the afternoon and evening shift and learn the ropes. It’s slower than, so you aren’t going to make as much in tips, but you’ll do okay. We’re a small cafe, but we are in a perfect place for good traffic in and out of the city.”
“Sounds perfect,” Deidre told her.
“Okay. Well, let’s get you all set up to start. Tomorrow okay?”
“Tomorrow is perfect.”
Miriam walked her through a few things and had her complete some more paperwork, but she walked out within the hour, gainfully employed and on her way to some form of success in this new place. She still found herself wishing she could tell Niall, but that wasn’t an option. Instead, she went home and set up her new computer, getting ready to grab this new life by the horns.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Niall
“We’ve hit a snag,” Ronan said.
Niall towel-dried his hair. Things had been quiet since they’d arrived at the D Hotel in Drogheda. They’d been hyper-focused on how they intended to go after Trill and then take out his clan. It had been a welcome distraction to the thoughts still rattling around his head about Deidre.
In fact, he’d spent most of the night lost in a dream about her and what they’d shared together before she’d had to go. He’d awoken to an emptiness that seemed to pervade every fiber of his being, an almost debilitating loss that had forced him out of bed to try to wash away the remnants beneath a steamy shower and self-pleasuring to relieve the ache for her.
“What’s that?” he asked Ronan, shaking the thoughts loose again.
“They’ve got Andrew.”
“Fuck me,” Niall groaned, dropping the towel and getting dressed. “What do we know?”
“Just that Trill turned up at his house and gave him a choice of either coming with him or dying on the spot with his family.”
“They killed his family?”
“No. That was the trade. Him for their lives spared.”
“You think he’ll keep that promise?”
“Doubtful. They’ll get what they can from him and then come back for them, either because they didn’t get what they wanted or because they’re just ruthless assholes.”
“We have to get him out of there before he sings like a bird.”
“There is nothing he can tell that they don’t already know.”
“Probably not at this point, but we don’t know what they do or don’t know, and he might add just enough for the penny to drop,” Niall said. “Plus, how will we look to the people we’ve talked into helping us if we leave the first one who got nabbed to fend for himself?”
“Aye. What do you suggest we do then?”
“Shit.”
“What?”
“Shit or get off the pot. It’s high time we shat.”
Ronan laughed and shook his head. “What’s the play then?”
“We know that the one time he is away from the rest of the clan and vulnerable is when he visits his mother.”
“You’re really going to take out a guy while he’s at a retirement home?”
“Desperate times, desperate measures.”
“What about the elderly people in harm’s way?”
“No. I’m not going to hit him while he’s inside. I’ve got a better idea. Get a shower and let’s hit the road. I’ll drive, and you can make calls on the way. Get everyone who has been waiting for the go sign headed in.”
“We’re doing this now? Today?”
“Yes. It’s visitation day, and I want to be there well ahead of him to visit Mom first.”
Ronan looked at him for a moment and then shrugged, sauntering toward the shower. Niall focused on his idea for drawing Trill out while packing his things. Niall returned and watched as he put everything in a suitcase and set it at the foot of the bed, quickly getting dressed and packing his own things.
They swept through the breakfast bar on their way out, grabbing some bagels and cheese, cartons of juice, and bottles of water for the trip. They’d not bothered to check out of the room. They could call later if they decided not to return. If they were unable to return, well, it would sort itself out.
Niall knew he should be focused on the task at hand as he drove, but he found himself returning to last night’s dream. As Ronan called in the cavalry next to him, he let his thoughts drift, barely even aware of the miles that were passing by outside as he found himself in her arms again.