Mafia King (Young Irish Rebels #2) - Vi Carter Page 0,33
around the stove.
“Sit down, Emily. Your food is ready.”
I’m tempted to sit on the other side of Shay, but instead, I sit at the head of the table away from them but where I can watch them. I drag my chair out, and Shay pauses in running his bread around his plate to gather the yolk of the egg, the remaining beans, and some red sauce.
“How did everyone sleep?” I direct the question at Shay as Michelle puts a plate in front of me. “Thank you.”
Her eyes soften, and she nudges my shoulder gently. “Eat. If I had you for a week, I’d put some meat on those bones.”
“Delightful. How did you sleep?” Siobhan answers, and I’m glad she bit.
“It was a tight fit; the bed is small. But I managed.” I smile as I take a bite of the sausage on the plate. I can’t help but look at Shay.
Is that amusement I see in his dark eyes?
“It won’t always be so tight, Emily.” Siobhan smiles just as sweetly back at me. Shay picks up his mug and drinks from it like this isn’t bothering him at all. If anything, he seems entertained.
“One morning, you’ll have all the space you want.”
We hold each other’s stare, and I get it. He left her high and dry. She’s hurt. I drop her gaze and focus on my food instead of annoying her.
A ringing phone breaks the silence. We all look to Shay as he starts to pat pockets in his red checkered shirt. He looks like a wood-cutter this morning. My mind springs to him in the bathtub under the moonlight. I snap out of my memory as he pulls a phone from the front pockets of his jeans and leaves the table.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t let him out of my sight,” Siobhan speaks while staring into a fire that’s been recently lit. The dust from cleaning out the ashes still rests on the black marble of the large open fireplace. The wood has only started to burn. I wonder if Michelle ever sleeps.
“Same happened to me. I was sitting here ready to go, and poof, he disappeared.” Siobhan looks at me, and my stomach squeezes. I’m tempted to turn and look at the door, but I don’t want her to see that her words are getting to me.
I’m straining to hear his voice, any sound, but there is silence. I cut up my sausage as worry starts to grow. What would happen if he just left me? He wouldn’t.
“Something must have come up,” I tell my plate.
“Yeah. You keep telling yourself that when he disappears on you. It makes it easier.” Siobhan moves past me with her plate and mug in hand and places them in the sink.
Michelle has been busy wiping down counters and tidying up. Her pace slows.
“He won’t leave me behind,” I say more to the room than anyone else.
But the longer I sit here, the longer the silence stretches.
Fuck. He’s left me.
CHAPTER TWELVE
EMMA
“You’ve been quiet since we left Michelle’s.” Shay’s words cut off my thoughts.
He had returned to the kitchen after I had thought he had left me. It was a stark reminder that I had no idea who he was. Or what he wanted with me now.
I had really thrown myself in at the deep end, and I didn’t want to start to sink.
“Just thinking.” I shrug but don’t look at him, not even sure if he saw the gesture.
“Having a go at Siobhan wasn’t wise.”
He has my attention. His beard has grown longer, making him look more dangerous, and I kind of like that.
“Will I be seeing her again?”
This time Shay glances at me. “I don’t know.”
“Will we be returning to Michelle’s?” I ask, already missing the warmth and food. How easily a place can grow on you.
“I don’t know.” Shay turns back to the road.
“Where are you going? Oh, hold on, you don’t know,” I answer my own question.
“No need to get all funny, love. We are going to a fight.”
My spine straightens, and I’m trying to shuffle forward, but the seatbelt keeps me in place. “Like a real fight?”
Shay’s dark gaze narrows, and I reel in my excitement.
“It’s dangerous, Emma. So no matter what, stay with me. It’s uncharted ground. If anything happens, I can’t protect you.”
I sit back in my seat, but his words don’t douse my excitement. “What do you mean uncharted?”
“It’s ruled by no one. It’s a no-man's-land. Everything goes.”