65. Ciaran

65

CIARAN

A s soon as Joan's car came into view, something in my chest tightened. I wasn't sure if Matty and I would need to stick around to deal with the embassy guards.

I didn't know if I could process the fact that I'd inherited up to twenty million dollars on the same day I'd lost my virginity while also bravely facing armed soldiers who might actually want to shoot me over a sixty-five-pound statue.

Call me a coward if you want, but my nervous system couldn't handle such an overload.

If anything, I could barely handle Joan's enthusiasm as we pulled up next to her on a side road off of Santa Monica Boulevard.

"My darling Ciaran," Joan crowed when I exited Matty's car. "Whoa," she exclaimed, and then I saw her mouth move as she counted: one-two-three-four.

"Hey Joan," I said sheepishly.

"Four visible hickeys…my my my…" Her gaze danced to Matty who, facial bruises aside, looked pleased with himself. "Someone was busy." With a conspiratorial whisper she asked me, "Does Andy look worse than Matty?"

She beamed up at me when I said, "Much worse."

Decked in all black, she looked like she was on her way to rob a bank. Her cheesy yet calculating grin could stop a serial killer in their tracks and make them question everything.

Lifting herself on her tiptoes, she hugged me, and kissed my cheek with an audible smack. She smelled of minty lip balm, strawberry gum, and the salty ocean.

"I'd hoped you looked sated and dicked out," she said, "and you do…but as pale as you are, it's almost as if you've seen a ghost."

"I literally never know what you're going to say each time I see you. It's amazing. Scientists should study you."

"Aw, thanks, babe."

"It wasn't a compliment."

She winked at me. "And yet I took it as one."

At least she didn't press me about the dicking out part so I considered it a win.

With eagle eyes, Joan peered into the backseat to make sure we'd brought the statue, and also maybe to check to see if we hadn't tied up Drew and brought him with.

She seemed happy about the first and bummed about the second.

At the driver's side, Matty and Filipe were talking about the meeting tonight with the swim team.

"All set?" Matty asked after they'd broke apart from their obligatory sideways bro-hug.

"Yeah, man," Filipe said. He wore his usual attire of board shorts, a black tank top, and flip-flops. His bronzed swimmer's shoulders glimmered in the sunshine. "Got replies from everyone. They'll be at the guesthouse at eight. Some only agreed to come if you offered food."

"I'll order pizza and wings."

"Good man," Filipe said in his laid-back manner. "Any word from Zoey?"

"I'll call her after we're done here."

"Sounds good." Filipe looked over the hood at me. "How's it hanging, Ciaran?"

The man was succinct and I liked him for it. "It's all good, thanks, Filipe," I said.

"No, you're not good," Joan contradicted. She whirled on Matty. "What'd you do to make Ciaran look like a haunted man?"

"Why does it mean I did something to him?"

"Listen, Joan," I started. "I like that you're protective of me. It's like you're my big sister or something, which is cool. Don't get me wrong. But it's nothing to get worried about, okay? Matty revealed news that surprised me. It's still surprising me, but like I said, I'm all good."

"Bullshit," Joan said, looking back and forth between us. "Spill the beans."

Matty sighed. "Apparently there are no secrets between the four of us. Ciaran discovered that there's no prenup with our parents' marriage and that my dad will in all likelihood establish a trust fund for him to the tune of ten or twenty million dollars."

Filipe whistled. "I'd be seeing ghosts, too, my dude. Stefon's a great man, Ciaran, and I can see how something like that might mess up your head. He's putting me and many others through college. Been doing that kind of thing for years. It's not easy to accept gifts of money, but as long as you don't spend it all on blow and hookers, man, you're all set."

That was the most amount of words Filipe had ever said to me. I was near speechless.

"No, it's all the streaming services that keep jacking up their prices that eat up your inheritance like that ," Joan said, snapping her fingers.

I started laughing. "I will avoid blow, hookers, and streaming services. Anything else?"

Joan grinned at me. "If I know you at all, you'll end up giving it away. Research it first, okay? Lots of scammers and vultures out there, babe."

"I will."

I didn't offer anything more beyond that because I didn't actually have real evidence of the account. If it ended up being true, then I'd look into foundations that worked to improve literacy in adults and charities that fed hungry children.

Filipe looked at his phone. "Time to go, Joan. Your point of contact agreed to meet us in ten minutes."

I held my breath the entire time Filipe carried the statue to Joan's backseat.

"Are we free to head home?" Matty asked. "We can stick around in case things go sideways."

"Not necessary," Joan confirmed. "My contact was emphatic that they see only me and Filipe. If they spot you, things might go sideways." She gave Matty a quick, but hard hug. "You'll know everything turned out okay at the embassy if you see us at the team meeting tonight. I like my pizza with mushrooms."

"Yes, ma'am," Matty said dryly.

Joan kissed me on the other cheek. When she stepped back, I said, "If they need to distinguish between the replica and the real statue, the authentic version is fifteen pounds heavier."

She beamed at me. "That is excellent information, my friend. Thanks!" Sliding into the car and revving the engine, she called out, "See you at eight."

Matty came to stand beside me as they peeled out of the parking spot.

"Is she always so much of a tornado?" I asked as we got back into Matty's Ferrari.

"Pretty much."

"I just don't get them as a couple. Filipe is so laid back and Joan, well, she's this constantly lit firecracker. Is it an opposites attract kind of thing?"

Strangely, it didn't bother me that he used to be intimate with them. Their friendship was deep and I had no plans of disrupting that. I trusted Matty and that was that.

"It's like I always say: they defy labels. All I know is, they fit together. Just like us."

Just like us.

He drove toward the pier before heading north on Palisades Beach Road. Palm-tree-laced hills rose to the right as the sun glittered off the ocean on our left.

As the salty ocean wind blew in the warm scent of the Pacific, I thought about Matty's answer, and wondered, how did we fit? What did we even have in common?

Sure, Matty grew up in this glittering wealthy world and I grew up struggling in Las Vegas. But I think we had more in common than not.

My dad died when I was kid. Matty's mom died when he was twelve.

He'd been taken advantage of by his swim coach.

Drew took advantage of me.

We both had dreams and aspirations and were determined to make those dreams come true.

We trusted each other.

We'd fallen for each other, despite our differences and backgrounds, because we saw in the other something we needed to fit in our lives.

Matty and I fit together.

No other analysis was even required.

All of a sudden I felt lighter.

Matty took my hand and laced his fingers with mine. "Now that we've returned the statue, I think I'll have a talk with Joan and Filipe about retirement. Our cause was a noble one, but I can tell we went about it the wrong way."

"How so?"

"Our contacts at LAX were racking in some serious cash and I have to wonder if they were already the middlemen for the sender or receiver. Either way, they'd be cashing in, and all I was doing was putting me and my friends in danger."

I shuddered as I imagined the worst-case scenario. "Sooner or later the authorities would have caught on, Matty. With Drew sabotaging your efforts, I'm shocked none of your contacts snitched on you."

"Andy—Drew—was mainly playing with his food, though look at what that got him. He'll be hobbling around for a while. As for our LAX informants, there was a reason I was paying them well over black market value for their services. Not ratting us out earned them a bigger fee."

"That makes sense," I said. "Would you be upset if I told you I'm relieved you're considering giving up a life of crime, even if it was to return stolen artifacts to their rightful owner?"

He squeezed my hand. "No, it wouldn't upset me."

"Instead of enriching a middleperson, donate your time and money to organizations that work to restore stolen artifacts."

"Solid idea."

"However," I added with a cheeky grin, "if you orchestrate a casino heist, maybe bring me into the fold so I can get firsthand knowledge for my novel."

"So we're changing the script on the fly now? Casino heists are in, illegal contraband is out. Got it."

When I'd first met Matty, on the night he brought me out to LAX, I'd asked him what he was chasing. As we hugged the Pacific Ocean, it felt like Matty was on his way to finally figuring it out. Whatever he was chasing, it certainly wasn't located at the end of an illegal contraband trade.

No, this was merely a symptom of whatever his bigger problem turned out to be. I just didn't know what it was.

Part of me wanted to ask him about it, but it didn't feel right. One problem at a time, Ciaran . Our next issue was Zoey. Would she help Matty or not?

And how would the swim team react when they heard Matty's news?

I couldn't help but be worried.