Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Irish tapped his finger on the tablet in front of him, not really reading what was listed, nor listening to the conversation going on around him. He should be paying attention, but his mind was down the hall, on a certain brunette.

He’d spent most of the night watching over her. Watching her sleep and making sure that she wasn’t about to drift off into another nightmare and start speaking Spanish again.

From the second Cass had said she didn’t have any memories before walking into first day of school when she was eight, Irish had alarm bells ringing in his mind. Not to mention the fact that the file she’d cracked had listed her as eight years old.

Why had the CIA pegged her when she was eight? Had she done something then to make them sit up and watch in interest?

Her listed parents were two CIA agents, but there was that notation that said chosen as guardians, which had to mean her real parents had died.

He had so many questions. So many answers he needed. No doubt, Cass wanted those answers. too. Not to mention the way she’d reacted, as if she’d seen a ghost. What else had she seen that Irish hadn’t? Or understood that he didn’t?

“Irish, you going to be good to go on this mission with Fox and the others?” Ox’s voice pulled him from the merry-go-round his mind was currently joyriding on.

“Sorry, what were the dates again?” Irish met his boss’s gaze, ensuring he’d pulled his professional mask on and his inner turmoil was undetectable.

“We’re looking at the next two weeks. Julian’s finalizing the details,” Fox said.

The addition of Fox and the three others was a good move by Ox. It gave everyone the flexibility of being able to say yes or no to the missions they did for the FBI—also a new addition to Alliez’s bow.

Normally, Irish would jump at the chance to get out and rid the earth of some of the scum, but after last night and what he suspected was going to blow up even bigger, he didn’t want to leave. However, if he didn’t say yes, there’d be questions he needed to answer. Questions he wasn’t ready to answer.

Questions that weren’t his alone.

“I should be good to go,” he said, meeting Fox’s gaze.

“Perfect, you’re a great asset on these trips, Irish. Your instincts are second to none,” Jag said.

Irish inclined his head, blowing off the compliment. He wasn’t used to them. Working for Alliez was completely different to being a Delta.

Here, his past wasn’t known. More than likely, the other guys in the room were aware of his dishonorable discharge from the Army, but they didn’t judge him. They took him on face value, and they trusted that if Ox was okay with him being there, then they would be, too.

Irish kept his distance. No point getting too attached when shit could turn things upside down.

He'd lived through it once. Didn’t want to live through it again. The cloud of suspicion and hate that’d surrounded him the last few weeks of his time in the military had been more than he could bear sometimes, but he’d born it because he’d promised a dying man he would.

He wasn’t going to think about that time .

“All right, I think we’re done here. Fox, keep me posted,” Ox said.

Fox had taken on the lead role with the new guys. A role that fit him well, and the other guys were more than happy with him at the helm.

Everyone filed out, but Irish remained seated because Ox wanted to speak to him. His boss had given him a look that asked him to wait.

“What’s up?” Irish pre-empted when the door had closed behind Angel.

“Want to tell me what’s going on? You were physically here during the meeting, but your mind was somewhere else.”

That was one thing he liked about Ox. The guy didn’t bullshit or tread softly. He went straight in and asked the hard questions.

“Not my story to tell,” he said. It wasn’t. It was Cass’s, and he’d support her, whether she decided to keep what she found to herself—or share it with everyone else.

“Cass?”

Again, he wasn’t surprised Ox had narrowed in on what—or who—his “issue” involved.

Irish shrugged. Not the response his friend and boss would want, but it was the only one he was going to get .

Ox sighed, a sign he knew Irish was going to remain tightlipped. “At least tell me you have her back. Although I probably don’t need to ask it.”

“Always.” He could give his boss something. “I plan to make sure that she doesn’t walk this path alone. And I’ll encourage her to share, but if she doesn’t want to, I’m not going to force her.”

Ox nodded. “Noted and appreciated. Look after her, yeah?”

Cass was special, not only to Irish, but to everyone at Alliez. For a while, it had just been the three of them—Ox, him, and Cass. They’d muddled their way through building the business. Then Angel had come aboard, along with Yolanda. Followed by Growler, and now the new guys. Alliez was expanding and growing, and Irish was proud to be a part of the team from the beginning.

“I will. Anything else?” he asked, eager to get back to Cass.

Had she looked further into that file?

He couldn’t deny that he’d be a little upset if she had because she’d made a promise to call him if she needed him. Maybe she hadn’t needed him after all. Irish couldn’t put his finger on how he felt about that.

Was it arrogant to feel that way?

Definitely, but he cared about Cass.

More than he should.

“I think we’re good. We’ve got yours and Cass’s six, right?”

“Believe me I know. And so does Cass.” Irish wouldn’t break Cass’s confidence, but it wouldn’t hurt to give Ox a little something. “She’s going to need us. That’s all I’ll say.”

“Understood.” His boss got up and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I don’t think she realizes how important she is to us. Not just as a valuable staff member, but she’s part of our family. Whatever she’s going through, we’ll go through it with her.”

He nodded. “I’m sure she knows that. Perhaps she doesn’t quite believe it, though.”

Ox studied him for a second before a chin lift, then he walked out.

Irish blew out a breath and headed straight to Cass’s office. When he reached it, feminine laughter halted him, despite his burning need to see her.

Eveline and Teresa were visible through the crack in the door, surrounding Cass as they looked at something on her screen.

“You cannot call the baby Adonis, Teresa. That’s a ridiculous name.” Cass scoffed.

“I don’t know. It means ‘handsome man’ and, well, his dad is very handsome,” Teresa mused .

“Ugh, please.” Eveline fake gagged. “That man does not need anything else to inflate his ego. Besides, isn’t Adonis of Greek origin when Angelo is Italian?”

Irish should walk away, leave the girls to their conversation about baby names, but he loved seeing the way Cass was smiling. The stress that had lined her features the previous evening and this morning was missing.

“Irish what do you think?” Cass called.

Damn, he’d been caught eavesdropping, and he’d been a Delta. His stealth skills should’ve been much better than they were.

He couldn’t walk away now. Not after she’d called him out.

“I’m not sure this is a conversation I should contribute to,” Irish said as he walked into the room.

Cass rolled her eyes. “You seemed interested while listening in as we chatted.”

There was no anger or annoyance in her voice, and a teasing smile played at her lips.

“What can I say? I was walking past, and it wasn’t like y’all were whispering.” He bantered back, noting that Eveline and Teresa’s eyes had widened so much it was almost comical.

“Umm, who are you?” Eveline asked and slid closer, putting her hand on his forehead. “Are you sick?”

Irish shook her hand off. “I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not because the Irish I know doesn’t tease. He grumbles and grunts.”

Did he really do that?

Probably.

Definitely.

Except when he was with Cass. Sometimes he let this side of him show.

“Caught me on a good day.” He shrugged it off, but in ten minutes, the rest of the office would know there was a lighter side to him.

“I think it’s more than that,” Teresa murmured and rose from her seat.

His gaze drifted down to the slight swell of her belly where Angelo’s baby was nestled safely.

A picture of Cass walking toward him, with her belly softly rounded, slammed into his brain, and he sucked in a breath, capturing the image but also shoving it away at the same time.

Never before had he imagined himself being a father. Irish just hadn’t believed it was in the cards for him. There’d been no reason for these thoughts. It was just how he’d expected his life to go after leaving the Army. He’d been drifting until Ox had found him and lifted him from the hole he’d fallen into.

“Are you having a boy?” he asked when Teresa drifted past him.

She laughed. “We won’t know until this baby is born, much to Angelo’s annoyance.”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “You’re torturing Angel. I can get on board with that.”

Teresa laughed. “I’m sure you could. Come on, Eveline, let’s go tell Angelo about my name choice. He’s going to love it.”

Both women waved and headed off down the hallway.

The moment they rounded the corner, out his line of sight, Irish swiveled back to Cass.

She sat upright, her easy smile from only a few moments ago gone. She watched him with what seemed equal parts dread and happiness.

Hopefully, the dread wasn’t because he was there, but she likely knew the reason for him turning up in her doorway when she hadn’t summonsed him, or he hadn’t sought her out for some information about the client he was currently working with.

“Do you need something?” she asked, tapping her pen on the table.

Irish stepped over the threshold of her office and closed the door behind him. “I came to see how you are.”

Cass’s eyes narrowed, and she sat up straighter, as though preparing to battle him. “As you can see, I’m fine. Now if that’s all, you can open the door and walk out again.”

“Have you looked?” Irish didn’t need to elaborate on what he was asking her.

The fight dissipated, and her shoulders slumped. “No. I don’t know what to do.”

“Whatever you decide, let’s do it together.”