The Fey (16 page)

“
What about your
date?”

She looked up into his face then shook her
head.

“
Marry me
Alex.”

She groaned.

“
I’ll get this sorted. I
promise. I’ll take a DNA test. I’ll deal with Eimilie. Marry me
Alex.”

“
You’ve had twelve years
to work this out. Instead you’ve just given her money, my money, no
less.”

John shifted so that he was on top of her.
He kissed her.

“
Our money. Marry
me.”

“
No.”

“
Your mouth says ‘no’ but
your body says ‘yes.’”

Alex pushed at him and slipped from under
him. He held her in place. They lay face to face staring at each
other. Alex searched his eyes, his face, and his heart for
answers.

Should she hold on, fight for him, for
herself or run away from the betrayal? He was right. Her mind said
run away but her hands and arms held onto him, unwilling to let go
of what had been hers for twelve years.

When he pulled her back to him, she
succumbed to the overwhelming desire to have him, at least one more
time, before she had to let him go. Pressing her arms above her
head, his mouth worked down the sides of her neck and to her
shoulders. She gasped when he caught her nipple in his mouth.
Arching her back slightly, he began to move his hips against her.
She rose again to his insistent press.

“
Marry me
Alex.”

“
No.” She slipped just
over the edge.

He moved with increasing pitch as her climax
spread throughout her body. She began to rise again. He plundered
her mouth with his teeth and tongue. They crested releasing in
waves of intensity and bliss until they slipped off the edge.

“
Marry me.”

“
No.”

“
Why? Alex, give me one
reason why?”

“
Because I’m already
married to you,” she said.

He laughed. Wrapping her in his arms, he
rocked her with his laughter.

“
I love you
Alex.”

“
You’d better.”

F

CHAPTER TWELVE

August 19 – 6:17 A.M.
Denver, Colorado

“
They are here,” John
said.

“
Cool,” Alex said. She
hopped to the entry way of their home where she hugged Raz. “Good
morning.”

“
Still unmarried?” he
asked.

“
Sort of. How was the
shooting range?”

“
We worked on this stuff
instead.” Raz caught her eyes then kissed her cheek. “Are you all
right?”

Alex shrugged.

“
Thanks for taking care of
this crap.”

“
It’s my job.” Raz scooped
her into a hug. “I’m so sorry.”

Alex took a breath and nodded. He stepped
back and touched her face. She smiled.

“
I brought some bagels,”
he said. “We made them sit handcuffed in the car while I went in.
They are not very cheerful.”

“
Great. John made some
fruit salad. I can make…”

“
That’s all right. I’ll
make breakfast,” Raz said. “I’d rather not die today.”

“
I’m not that bad. I took
that class you gave me for Christmas. I can…”

He raised an eyebrow and she pretended to
punch him. He laughed.

“
How about if I take care
of the PIRA and you get breakfast?”

“
Good,” Raz said. “Hey
John.”

The men hugged in greeting.

Alex walked out to the SUV where three
Homeland Security agents waited with Cian Kelly and his red haired
friend. The IRA members were sitting in the back seat with black
hoods, their heads and their hands cuffed in front of them. When
Alex approached the vehicle, two agents stepped out of the SUV and
dragged the men from the vehicle. Alex walked with the men up the
porch and into the house. With a nod, the Homeland Security agents
unlocked their handcuffs and left the house. Alex waited until the
SUV pulled away before removing their hoods.

“
Welcome to our home,” she
said.

Ben walked in the door. He leaned in to give
her a kiss on the cheek, then squeezed her arm. He moved past them
into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.

“
Breakfast is almost
ready,” Alex continued. “Would you like some tea?”

“
What the fuck is this?”
Cian Kelly asked.

“
In this country, when
family comes for a visit, we invite them to a meal,” Alex
said.

The red haired man laughed. “That’s it then.
Spend some time terrified by the American government, then it’s
come in. Have a cup of tea.”

Alex raised her eyebrows.

“
Do come in,” John said.
He came and put his arm around Alex. She looked at him and he
kissed her nose. “We understand that you’d like to
talk.”

“
What the fuck? I was just
in handcuffs,” Cian said.

Alex smiled.

“
Come on, Cian. I’m hungry
and the food smells delicious,” the red haired man said. “I’m Eoin
Mac Kinney.”

“
I’m Alex Drayson. Nice to
meet you. This is my husband, John Drayson. And my brother Max
Hargreaves.” Max was walking down the hall from the kitchen. He
hugged Alex then they pressed their foreheads together. “Max, this
is John’s brother Cian.”

“
Hey, nice to meet you.
Come in. “ Max led Cian and Eoin to the dining room table. “Make
yourself at home. I’ll get some tea.”

“
Please have a seat,” Alex
said.

Cian made a face then sat down.

“
I can always send you
back,” she said.

“
We’re happy to be here,
Mrs. Fey. Thank you for having us to breakfast,” Eoin said with a
laugh.

Max brought a pot of Irish Breakfast tea and
set it in front of Cian. Eoin poured himself a cup of tea.

“
How do we know it’s not
drugged?” Cian sniffed at the pot of tea.

Raz came in carrying a plate of eggs and
sausages.

“
And the Homeland guy is
making breakfast?” Cian pushed himself away from the
table.

“
I don’t know what your
problem is, brother, but please, eat with us,” John
said.

“
Hey, don’t start without
me,” Matthew said coming in the front door. Alex stood to greet him
in the entry. She hugged him ‘hello’. “Sorry I’m late. I was…” he
cleared his throat and shrugged his eyebrows,
“detained.”

“
Sounds like you are
enjoying your new off-base status,” Alex said.

“
I love my new job
pleasing your sister. I mean, working with you,” he
said.

Alex kissed his cheek. “Come meet John’s
brother and his friend.”

Matthew reached for her hand. “You OK?”

Alex nodded. Holding hands, they walked into
the dining room.

“
Hey, I want to be greeted
like that,” Eoin said.

Cian rolled his eyes at Eoin. “They’re
trying to fool us into revealing more than we want to. Well you
won’t get anything from me.”

Alex laughed. “I don’t need to get anything
from you. I know everything there is to know about Cian Kelly. It’s
my understanding that you have some questions for us. That’s why we
are here. To answer your questions.”

Alex and Matthew sat down. Breakfast was
passed around the table. Ben came in from the back deck and sat in
the chair next to Cian. Alex passed the coffee in Ben’s direction.
They chatted and ate while Cian and Eoin watched them. Finally,
Eoin put some eggs on his plate and began to eat. Cian watched
Eoin, then filled his plate as well.

“
Would you like to ask
your questions?” Alex asked.

Cian’s eyes shot over to her. He swallowed
the food in his mouth, then cleared his throat.

“
Before you start, we
already talked to the IRA. If there’s something you want to know,
you can ask. Then we have a problem that we think you can help us
with.”

“
Who are these guys?” Eoin
asked.

“
To me?” Alex asked.
“That’s Arthur Rasmussen. We call him ‘Raz’. He’s my partner when I
work for Homeland Security and our boss is called Ben. My mother
calls him Benjamin. He trained me. This is my twin Max. And this is
my old friend Matthew. He’s just started working with
me.”

“
Why are they here?” Eoin
continued.

“
Curiosity,” Ben said.
“I’ve known John since he was Max’s roommate at university. We have
a couple questions to ask.”

“
And you?”

“
My boss told me to be
here,” Matthew said.

Alex laughed.

Cian Kelly looked at Alex, holding her eyes
for a full minute, then nodded slightly. He glanced at John, then
looked down at his plate.

“
You sorted this
with…”

“
Yes,” Alex said. “John
spoke with him this morning. He is satisfied.”

“
What did you tell him?”
Cian’s voice shifted in a way that made Alex look up. Cian saw her
look and added, “He’s my brother first.”

Alex smiled.

“
He asked about Da,
mostly,” John said. “He wanted to know about me–what I was doing,
what kind of a person I am. I guess because of Alex. Then he told
me that some of the people I used to interact with would be happier
if I didn’t remember those interactions.”

“
The troubles are over,
Johnny,” Cian said. “It’s strange for us natives, but many of our
old friends are legitimate business people now.”

“
Native?” John
asked.

Cian, Alex, and Raz opened their mouths to
reply, but Ben spoke first.

“
Native IRA. You and Cian
were born into the high ranks of the Provincial Irish Republican
Army.”

“
Some groups you can
join,” Raz added. “The upper ranks of the IRA? You have to be born
into that.”

“
We take care of our own,
Johnny,” Cian said. “What about Eimilie?”

“
It’s one of the questions
we have for you and Eoin,” Alex said.

She nodded to Raz. Raz reached into his bag
and pulled out a stack of photos.

“
Who is this man?” Alex
asked.

Raz handed the photos one at a time to Eoin
who passed them to Cian.

“
Isn’t that Johnny?” Cian
asked. “It looks like him.”

“
It’s not him,” Alex
said.

“
How can you be certain?”
Eoin said.

Alex looked up to see Ben watching her. He
smiled then nodded to encourage her to proceed.

“
I’ve been John’s lover
for more than twelve years. This is not John,” Alex said. She
picked up a photo. “You might have to be a woman to notice it but
John is right-handed and this man is left-handed.”

“
The rings are the same,”
Cian said.

Alex pulled John’s wedding ring from the
middle finger on her right hand and passed the gold band to
Cian.

“
This man is wearing a
plain gold wedding band and John wore a plain gold wedding
band.”

“
Look at that,” Eoin said.
“The rings are the same, but different. Cian I think this
is…”

Eoin looked at Cian. Cian shook his head
slightly.

“
No holding out,” Ben said
in even tones. “You are free men at the will of an upper level
Homeland Security agent. It’s wise to be forthright.”

“
The man you spoke with?
He has a son called Néall,” Eoin said. “Néall is very…
active.”

“
Does he look like John?”
Alex asked.

Eoin and Cian shared another look.

“
I’ve known Cian since
primary. We grew up together but Néall… he’s.…”

“
There’s a rumor that
Johnny has a different Da,” Cian said. “Da was in Maze for most of
the year before Johnny was born. Ma visited, but…” Cian
shrugged.

John looked at Cian, then Ben. Ben did not
look up from his coffee cup. Ben’s lack of eye contact told John
all he needed to know.

“
That’s why they thought I
killed Da?” John asked. “That’s why they beat me. They said I
killed our father.”

“
Did you?” Cian
asked.

“
I don’t think so,” John
said. “No. It’s not that I didn’t want to kill him. He could
be…”

“
Cruel. He was especially
cruel to you,” Cian said.

John looked over to Alex. Holding her eyes,
he said, “I was capable of killing him, but… I mean, I think he was
dead… I know I did not set that bomb. Alex said that intelligence
believes that Da set the bomb. But bombs were also your work,
Cian.”

Cian nodded.

“
Why would Néall blackmail
John?” Alex asked.

“
It’s probably just
Eimilie,” Eoin said. “She probably tried to catch Néall but Néall
couldn’t give a crap. His wife would just point her toward the back
of the line.”

“
Of lovers?” Raz
asked.

Eoin nodded. “He’s a busy boy.”

“
It’s a small island,”
Cian said. “We all share a look. Johnny and Néall look a bit alike.
Johnny is taller than all of us…”

“
Combined,” Eoin
added

“
He was always more
aggressive, smarter. Ma used to say that he was the best of all of
us, which is probably why he’s supposed to have a different
father.”