Binding Rose: A Dark Mafia Romance(42)

“Why is she still at the hotel? I would have thought you’d have moved her into your apartment at The Avalon by now,” Shay retorts in confusion. “Did you leave her there to pack or something? I don’t remember her bringing a lot of shit with her when we picked her up at the airport.”

“Why would she be packing?” Tiernan asks, muting out most of his brother’s ramblings.

“Huh, I don’t know, asshole. Maybe because she knows she can’t stay at the hotel forever. It has been a week, after all. I would have understood you keeping her there if you were having hot dirty hotel sex, but since it’s obvious you’ve become a fucking eunuch all of a sudden, I don’t see the point of keeping Rosa locked away in a hotel room.”

Tiernan doesn’t so much as flinch at his brother’s provocation. Not that it’s the first time Tiernan hasn’t reacted when his brother provoked him. Shay is the only man breathing that can talk trash to the boss like that. If anyone else dared to do so, Tiernan would have cut out their tongue before they even uttered a word.

“The Liberty Hotel has all the amenities a woman like Rosa needs. She’s fine exactly where she is.”

“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! You cannot leave her caged in that hotel forever, Tiernan. Sooner or later, you’ll have to take your wife home.”

“Then I choose later. Now… is there any more sound advice you wish to give me, brother, or can I get back to work?”

The heavy stilted silence between them as they stare each other down is so thick, you’d need a chainsaw to cut through it.

“It wasn’t her fault, Tiernan. You have got to get over it. You can’t punish her for something that wasn’t in her control. She had nothing to do with Patrick—”

“Enough!” Tiernan shouts, slamming his fist on the desk, silencing his brother once and for all. “I’ve got shit to do, Shay. Actual fucking work that needs my full attention. My wife does not. Since I’m sure you have more pressing things to do than waste your time trying to piss me off, I suggest you get right to it and do them before I lose my patience.”

“Whatever you say, boss,” Shay replies sarcastically as he gets up from his seat. “I have to go to the harbor to check on the shipment that arrived last night and do inventory anyway. When you’re in a better mood, give me a fucking call. If I’m up to it, who knows? I might even answer it.”

When Shay starts to retreat from the office, I’m right at his heel.

“Not you, Colin. My brother can take care of the shipment himself. Alone.”

“Fucker,” Shay mumbles under his breath, since taking inventory of a gun shipment that size is usually a two-man job.

I half expect him to give Tiernan more shit, but Shay surprises me when he doesn’t object and leaves the office without saying another word. I close the door behind him and stand in the center of the room, waiting for Tiernan to give me my orders.

“Have a seat, Col.”

I do as I’m told and take the seat in front of his desk that Shay just vacated.

“I have a job for you,” Tiernan says, not beating around the bush.

“What is it, boss?”

He clasps his hands under his chin and stares at me.

“What I have in mind might not be to your liking. You can refuse to do it if you so wish. I don’t want you to feel obligated to say yes just because I asked.”

“What do you need, boss?” I repeat, unfazed.

“It’s about Rosa.”

His somber tone, more than his wife’s name, takes me a bit off guard.

“I need someone that can watch over her. Just until I can find someone else to do the job. Someone I can trust.”

“You want me to babysit your wife?”

He chuckles sardonically.

“You’re spending way too much time with Shay, ceathrair. You can scarcely call it babysitting since my wife is hardly a child. But I do need someone I can trust unequivocally to protect her when I’m not around. And I don’t anticipate being around her much, hence, why I need you.”

I don’t ask him why he doesn’t want to spend time with his wife. I’m more concerned as to why he feels she needs to have her own personal bodyguard.

As if reading my thoughts, Tiernan leans back in his chair, his palms laid flat on his desk.

“This treaty Athair forged with the other families is still too fragile a thing. Like a newborn, it needs a village to ensure its survival. Someone might have a hard time letting the war go, and killing my wife, while she’s under our care, would make it extremely hard to keep the peace.”

“You think someone wants to hurt Rosa?”

“Not her, but us. Or even her brother, Alejandro. I might be wrong, but it’s a risk I can’t take.”

“What about the men that are protecting her now?”

“They’re good and fine standing outside a door. Not so much when it comes to accompanying her out in the real world.”

“Fair enough. McCarthy and Walsh have experience in doing that type of service. They used to be Iris’ bodyguards when she was a young lass. I’m sure they will be up for the job.”

“McCarthy is a bastard that can’t keep his dick in his pants, known for stepping out on his wife whenever a pretty face is involved. Walsh, on the other hand, is pushing fifty, has a bad knee, and rumor has it he’s become a raging alcoholic in his old age. Neither one is a good candidate to keep my wife safe.”