a Touch of Revenge (Romantic Mystery - book 6): The Everly Gray Adventures (31 page)

I blew out a sigh. “Not even close. But I will be. If your team searched, there’s no need for me to repeat the process.” I shuddered. “And I definitely don’t want to touch anything. Can I go back to your parents’ house, or am I needed here?”

He crushed me in a hug. It was good, and my breathing evened out some. “Go, Belisama. I’ll be there as soon as they pick up the body. Shouldn’t be any question it was suicide, so that’ll smooth things along and keep the Garda off my ass.”

Annie gave me a quick hug. “Go with Everly, Pierce. I can take care of this, and I have the guys for backup if needed. You want me to send them off duty after Grady’s body is picked up?”

“Yeah. Thanks, A.J.” Pierce slid his hand down my arm and captured my hand. “Let’s go deal with the fallout, Belisama, then I’m taking you home.”

“Aren’t we on our way home?” My mind wasn’t fully functioning.

“Home to Hawaii. Where we belong.”

We. He said we. And my revenge was settled. Well, more or less settled. I should have been relieved, but there were still a few touchy questions, like where did I go from here? But that could wait. Right now was what mattered. “I can’t tell you how good that sounds.”

We didn’t hurry back to the Pierce household, just strolled along, holding hands, doing nothing but being with each other. “I don’t want this to end,” I said when we reached the back door.

“No choice but to face my family and Cait. After that, we’ll take all the time we need.”

I loved hearing that, but as soon as we opened the kitchen door, all thoughts of rest and relaxation fled. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

Cait cleared her throat. “We heard the ambulance…what…?”

Oh. It was just that they were one step behind on the latest news. Exhaustion chased the tension out of my shoulders, and I brushed Cait’s hair away from her forehead. “I’m sorry, Cait. He’d saved a stash of some variation of my mother’s formula and he drank it.”

Her eyes were dry. “It killed him?”

“Yes.”

“You’re hiding something, El. I can always tell.” Her hands had curled into tight fists.

I wasn’t ready to say it, but she deserved the truth. “Grady implied that he and my mother…” Damn, I gagged again. Forced my stomach to calm down. “That I’m his daughter.”

Cait blinked. “We’re sisters?” It was the first genuine smile I’d seen for days, but she quickly covered it with her hand. “I’m sorry. That must be terrible for you. I know it is, but if it’s true, if we’re really sisters, well, I’m thrilled. All I have left is Aunt Nolla, and—”

“Nolla is your aunt? Your mother’s sister?” My brain needed time for a reset.

“Um-hmm. Fion absolutely forbade me to call her aunt, but now I can. Nolla is older, but Fion wanted to inherit, so she attacked Aunt Nolla, mentally mostly, really undermined her self-esteem, all through their childhood. My grandparents died young, and they’d doted on Fion. You know how manipulative she was, and she’d been forcing Aunt Nolla to work for her as an employee. Anyway my grandparents left the estate to Fion instead of Nolla. It’s been a sore point between them forever. But now that it’s
my
estate, I’m going to make sure Aunt Nolla takes part in planning and running things.”

Pierce hunkered down next to Cait’s chair. “You knew Fion had plans to marry Murchadh?”

“After she killed me, you mean? Yeah, I knew. It’s one of the reasons I’m here. I wanted to talk with Eamon about it. See if he could stop them. I knew he wouldn’t like it, because there was some financial thing he had going with Fion.” She shrugged. “But he wasn’t interested. Even wished them luck. I think they promised him a share of whatever scheme they had going, because he was all about getting rid of me.” She smiled, bittersweet. “Damn, but it’s good to be an orphan.”

Pierce and I smothered her in a group hug. “You’re not ever going to be an orphan, Cait.” It was a promise I meant with all my heart.

She broke free, and sucked in an unsteady breath. “Girl’s gotta breathe, people. But, thanks. I love you, too. You know I have an estate to see to, so we’ll have to do the family thing long distance…um, are you going to do DNA testing, you know, to be sure?”

I didn’t need to think about it. “No. James Gray was my father…in every sense of the word.” I wrapped a red curl around my finger. “If you’d ever seen us together, you’d know. I have the same hair he did, the same smile, and I move like he did—kind of lanky and uncoordinated.”

She nodded. “Eamon was nothing like that. Not that I ever saw.”

Siofra reached across the table and skimmed her hand over my hair. “Your paternal grandmother had hair like yours, but Eamon was always more like his father. You’re Jayme’s daughter through and through, Everly. There’s no doubt.”

Pierce had retreated to the corner to make a phone call; he tucked the cell in his pocket and smiled. “We’re out of here. Plane’ll be ready for us in an hour.”

Siofra slumped in her chair, eyes shimmering, and Lorcán lifter her onto his lap. “He won’t stay away this time,
mo stór
.”

Pierce shook his head. “How about we fly you to Hawaii?”

Siofra perked up, she literally bounced on Lorcán’s lap. “When?”

“Soon as I can manage it.”

Their conversation was in some kind of family code, and my brain was too tired to decipher it. “I should pack, then. Wait. You said an hour. There’s an airport that close?”

Lorcán nodded. “Cork. It’s about forty to forty-five minutes away. We’ll drive you.”

I looked around the kitchen. The table was still strewn with papers, there were dirty dishes in the sink, and everyone looked completely exhausted. “We’ll need to pack all this. And we really should take a taxi. I mean, this has been horrible for all of us. And I need to see about fixing the hole in your guest cottage. And…”

Pierce planted his fingers against my lips. “You’re babbling, Belisama. Tuatha Dé Danann is self-sufficient, and doesn’t need our help. I’ve already had funds transferred to my parents’ account to cover the cost of the repair, and—”

Siofra patted my hand. “It’s my job to clear Eamon Grady’s house energetically so that it will be habitable by another family. It’s what I do, Everly.” The complete confidence and assurance that radiated all around her squashed my concerns. It would have been insulting for me to say anything else.

We were packed and ready to leave within twenty minutes. A bit slow, according to Pierce, but I thought we’d made excellent time. And we couldn’t leave before a few more things were settled. “How are we getting Cait back to Torquay?”

Siofra was adamant. “Lorcán and I will see to it. We’ll take her home and stay with her until the Connor estate is in order.”

Cait paled. “Really, that isn’t at all necessary. I’ve been alone all my life, really. I’m not at all sure how to behave with…family. Really, I’m not.”

I nudged her. “Really?”

She blew out a breath. “I’m nervous.”

“I don’t want you to be alone when you tell your Aunt Nolla about Fion’s death.”

Pierce scowled. “Sorry I Tasered your aunt.”

Cait’s lips twitched. “Extenuating circumstances and all. I won’t mention it to her.”

I pushed on. “And there will be questions from Scotland Yard.”

“I’ll take care of that on the flight to Hawaii.” It was a Pierce Pronouncement—decision final.

Annie had busied herself preparing another cup Siofra’s special Indian coffee that was. “When did you learn to do that?” Yes, I was jealous. Siofra made fabulous coffee, and I wanted to be able to duplicate it at home. Pierce would teach me, but it would have been…special to learn from Siofra.

“Long night. Siofra and I had some girl-time. They have an excellent computer system…”

Pierce stifled a snort. “Cost me.”

“Yeah,” Annie said. “Looked like you’d set it up. Anyway, I spent the night following some of the leads from this mess.” She raised her steaming mug over the table. “Oh, and I made copies of everything. There are things hidden in there, and you know how I am when I can’t find answers.”

I did. Annie’s curiosity was on a par with mine, and we had a colorful history of getting into trouble that proved it. “Thanks. I would have asked, but you’ve been so quiet since you got here. And you were obviously up all night.”

She grinned. “You’ve got that guilty look. I stayed up to Skype with Maddie and Sean, and then Siofra made coffee, and I wanted to learn how. It took a few tries, and we drank all of them so I could learn from my mistakes. Anyway, we were wide awake, so started going over the papers you so artfully collected from Connor’s car.”

I turned to Pierce. “You’re not going to mention that part to Scotland Yard, are you?”

“Nope. Your revenge. Your business. You about ready to roll, Belisama?”

“Yes.” It was a complete and simple answer.

Pierce stood, and held out his hand.

There was no need to think about it, I threaded our fingers together, watched the images playing through his mind, and heat spread through me. The man had things planned.

For the future.

Our
future.

SOME TIME LATER…

THE SOFT HAWAIIAN BREEZE WAFTED
through the windows of my condo. Home. Except Pierce had been called out of the country almost as soon as we arrived, and it hadn’t been something he could blow off.

I smiled every time I thought of how upset he’d been that he had to leave me, how we texted several times a day, and how he was determined to keep me in the loop no matter how wrapped up in business he was. We shared our emotions, talked things through…except there was
no sex
. Not even phone sex, and it was making me nervous.

I’d been giving him space, reminding myself about his status as an emotional virgin, and doing my damnedest not to jump his bones and screw everything up. To my way of thinking, we were on the edge of diving into a truly spectacular relationship, but I hadn’t told him I loved him yet. And he hadn’t told me. What we had was beautiful and frustrating and complicated and simple and clear and muddled, all at the same time.

This thing between us was good, and strong, and we should be having sex every day. At
least
every day, preferably more than once a day if I had my way.

He treated me with respect and patience, almost like I was breakable. Understandable, since he’d seen me break. But I wasn’t that woman now, and his concern about wanting me to be completely sure our relationship was the right thing was precious to me…really, it was.

Still, a girl could only wait so long, and I’d jumped that hurdle even before we left Ireland. It had been weeks since my mind and body were primed and ready…and well over a year since I’d had sex. Yep. The lack of male attention was beginning to addle me.

And to top it off, Annie was hiding something she’d found in her research into the Connor-Grady papers we’d confiscated. I glanced at my watch. She should have been here ten minutes ago. Annie was never late, tended to be on the early side. Well, before Madigan… Oh, damn, how had I missed it? She’d been quiet. Pale.

She rapped on the slider, scooted inside, and gave me a big smile. “Hi, honey. I’m hooo-ooome.”

“I see that. What’s in there?” I pointed to the portfolio she had tucked under her arm.

“Interesting news. This took me weeks to find, so you owe me big.”

I reached for the portfolio.

“Huh-uh. Not until you pour me something to drink.”

It was easier to pour a drink than argue with her. “Diet Coke?”

“Ah, no. How about water?”

I shook my head. “And when were you planning to tell me you’re pregnant again?”

“Just peed on the stick last night. You’re the first to know after Sean. But that’s not the big news.”

“Say, what? How could that not be the big news? There’s nothing bigger.” I waved a bottle of water toward the sofa. “Sit down and put your feet up, expectant mama.”

When she was settled, I tossed her the water. “So what’s in the portfolio?”

She pulled out several sheets of paper. “Looks like you’re the owner of a rather large estate over by Manoa.”

My stomach lurched. “That’s crazy. How?”

“It’s been in trust, so was a bear to dig out, but it was all there, deep under the covers. Your grandparents set it up before you were born, and, if my guess is right, you actually lived there for several years.”

A sharp pain pierced the right side of my neck, made its way into my skull. I rubbed at the spot. “You up for a ride?”

Annie waved a hand down her body. Comfortable cargoes, t-shirt, and…hiking boots.

“We need to hike in?”

“It’s not readily accessible.”

Without another word I changed into cargoes and hiking boots, and within five minutes we were on our way.

Just as Annie backed out of the driveway my phone pinged with a text message from Pierce.
Found Fred.

A note from L. j.

Thank you for reading
a TOUCH OF REVENGE
. I hope you enjoyed it. You can reach me…