A Highland Heist A Contemporary Highland Romance Book Three (20 page)

Her last heartache had been hard-had left her devastated and depressed-but it was nothing compared to how she now felt now that she’d lost Conall. She could feel the darkness closing in around her, and tried her best to push it back. Tried to focus on getting over him.

Conall had made it abundantly clear that things couldn’t go back to the way they were, and she understood why, even if it left her heartbroken. He’d taken a huge leap of faith with her, offered her his honesty, his trust and his heart. And she’d repaid him with lies.

Her eyes stung with tears, yet she couldn’t let the darkness take over. If she gave in to it, if she showed weakness, it would swallow her whole, and she didn’t think she’d ever emerge from it. She had to be strong. Had to focus on the positive. Focus on living each day to the fullest. Even if every breath was taken with a broken heart.

She took another half-hearted bite of her sandwich, washed it down with tea, and was debating between watching a movie or calling it an early night when her cell rang.

Conall. Shite.

She debated not answering it, but Conall didn’t usually call just to chat, which meant he likely needed her for something. With a deep breath, she steadied herself and answered the phone. He was brief, as usual. His friend Thorsen had arrived and had questions for her. About Aidan. With her heart racing, she hung up and grabbed her jacket.

Conall opened the door before she had a chance to knock, her arrival most likely given away by Piper’s excitement and barks. He gave her a hesitant smile that made her pulse race and her heart ache for him. “Thought ye might want to be here from the start.”

She hung up her jacket and put her bike helmet down on the bench by the door, her emotions running high, the more it sunk in that things were over between them. She gave the pup a scratch, trying to settle her mood and gather her strength before turning to face Conall. “I appreciate the call-and the help. I know you’re going out of your way and it means a lot.”

As his gaze took her in, searching her face and her eyes, his lips turned down in a pout. “Are ye all right?”

She let out a laugh of exasperation, though she kept her voice down, knowing Thorsen was in the other room. “How the hell am I supposed to be all right? My brother could easily turn up dead, I’m being pressured to steal a priceless treasure and put my career on the line, and I finally manage to forget my past heartache and fall in love again, only to have it all go to hell and have my heart broken again. My life is completely banjaxed. So
no
, Conall. I’m not all right, and don’t think I will be for quite some time.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was such a fool. What was she doing? What was she thinking? She should have kept that mouth of hers shut.

“Och, Maggie…” He ran a hand down her arm but she shrugged it off, knowing she’d only want to melt into his arms. She’d already made enough of a fool of herself. She didn’t need to make it any worse.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” She forced herself to look into his eyes and smile. “We’ve left yer friend waiting, and after he’s come all this way to help. He’ll be wondering what’s the matter.”

“Maggie…” His brow furrowed, only adding to his look of concern. “I’m sorry if I’ve only added to yer pain. I wish matters were different between us. I really do.”

“I know, Conall. Ye can’t trust me. I get it.” Her shoulders slumped with a sigh as her eyes burned. “Can we just go talk to Thorsen? The sooner we do, the sooner I’ll be out of ye hair.”

“Don’t go making it sound like I find ye a nuisance, when ye know that’s not the case.” His jaw tightened as he gave his head a shake. “And what happened to pretending we’re a couple? I thought ye wanted to keep up appearances.”

“I don’t know that it matters. I ran into Andrew today and I get the impression he knows it’s nothing but a lie. So what’s the point? I’m miserable enough without the constant reminder that things are over between us.” It was overwhelming her to be so close to him and to know it was over, to know there was no convincing him otherwise.

Anger sparked in his eyes as he took a step closer. “Was he harassing ye again? I think it might be time I had a talk with him.”

“I took care of it, Conall.” It was nice that he cared enough to get angry on her behalf, but she didn’t want to drag him into any more of her messes. “I’ve caused ye enough problems already. Now, please…can we just try to get my brother back?”

Conall ran a rough hand through his hair, his head hung low. “Aye, love. As ye wish. Come, then.”

As they moved into the living room, Maggie’s gaze immediately fell on the man who was getting to his feet. Though she hadn’t given Thorsen much thought, she was caught off guard by his looks and presence. She didn’t know what he’d been doing for Interpol, but she doubted being inconspicuous had been in his job description. There was no way the man standing before her could go unnoticed, even if he tried. He looked like a Viking hankering for a fun pillage and raid.

The first thing that caught her attention were those eyes. The color of a tropical lagoon, they held her captive, making it difficult for her to turn away. He was also
very
tall and muscular, but in a way that made her think he could still move lightning fast and that those big, strong hands of his could be deadly-or absolutely perfect. Add to that a smattering of light freckles, ginger stubble over a strong jaw and longer hair worn loose, and she’d be swooning-if Conall hadn’t broken her. Broken her heart and killed any interest she might normally have in a man.

Before Conall, she would’ve happily flirted and teased and hopped into bed with the man-should he be willing. Yet now? All she could do was long for Conall’s touch.

Thorsen reached out and shook her hand, his smile totally disarming, so she couldn’t help but forget some of her troubles and smile back. “I’m Thorsen. It’s a pleasure to meet you, though I wish it was under more pleasant circumstances.”

“Maggie. And the pleasure’s mine. I can’t thank ye enough for coming all this way to help get my brother back and on such short notice, too. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay ye.” With her hand still in his, she felt a heat flush her cheeks.

“I’m just happy to help. It’s not every day I can come to the aid of a pretty lass.” They all took a seat as Thorsen continued with a tilt of his head towards Conall. “We took another look at the video and the information you’ve gathered. They seem to have a fair amount of experience being criminals, but I’d venture to say that they haven’t done a whole lot of abductions.”

“So what does that mean for getting my brother back?” Maggie wasn’t sure if she should be scared or relieved.

Conall took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “Thorsen thinks he can pull in the connections he has and not only get yer brother out of there safely, but could also bring down the Flaherty crew so they’ll not be bothering ye again.”

Hope mingled with relief, even if they were tentative. It was the closest she’d come to possibly getting her brother back. “I can’t thank you enough-both of ye. If there’s anything I can do to help-if there’s anything ye need-just say the word.”

Conall looked at their linked hands, and then, as if remembering himself, let go, sending another pang straight to her heart. “There’s a good chance we’ll need to tell Iain. Thorsen’s connections might need the jewels-or something that looks an awful lot like them-if they’re going to try to make a trade.”

“I guess we’ll have to.” She’d been hoping to avoid telling Iain.

Though she didn’t have many options before she’d confided in Conall, she couldn’t get away from the fact that she would have stolen the jewels if there hadn’t been another way to get her brother back. She felt horrible about it. Not only because she’d always led an honest life, despite her father’s early ventures into thievery, but because this could now ruin her hard-earned reputation. Still…she’d sacrifice it all for her brother, and with luck, Iain and Cat would understand.

“Dinnae fash, love. Above all, Iain puts family first.” Conall swept a stray curl from her eyes, his touch lingering. “He’ll not hold it against ye, and we’ll only tell him if it becomes necessary to the plan.”

It took all she had to not lean into him, and it was killing her that he kept doing this to her. It was hard enough for her to keep her distance, let alone when he kept touching her. Yet he was the one pushing her away. He was the one who wanted to end things. He was the one who couldn’t trust her or give her another chance.

She was tempted to show him what it would be like if she were no longer his. No longer in his life. No longer his to touch and hold. Maybe then he’d realize that he’d made a mistake and what they had was worthy of another shot. Yet she wasn’t one for playing those sorts of games. She just had to find the strength to move on, and once she did, that would be it. She’d lock away the love she’d felt for him and bury it deep. It was her only defense against a broken heart.

“So, what do we do next? I desperately want this nightmare over with and my brother back.” She forced herself to focus on the task at hand, so she’d be less tempted to fall into Conall’s arms. “My parents are beside themselves.”

Thorsen gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m thinking it might be easiest to just go in covertly and raid the place rather than try to trade the necklace. I’m working on putting together a team that specializes in this sort of thing. It’ll be your brother’s best bet for getting out of there safely. Time is of the essence whenever there’s a hostage involved, so I’d like to think my contacts will be moving on this pretty quick. It helps that the Flahertys are known to the authorities. It’s been hard to get enough evidence to press charges, and this would be enough to bring them down.”

“They said not to involve the police. Are you sure this is safe? And the cost…I don’t know how quickly I could get the funding to pay your team.” Not that she had many other options.

Thorsen nodded with a reassuring smile and confidence that set her at ease. “Interpol’s happy to finally have something against the Flahertys, so they’re taking care of the cost. As for the team, they specialize in this sort of thing. The Flahertys won’t know what hit them until it’s too late.”

She nearly burst with relief. “I can’t believe this nightmare could soon be over.”

Conall gave her a small smile that lit his amber eyes from within. “Aye, love. Maybe then things will get back to normal for ye.”

Except she didn’t want to return to the life she’d led before coming to Dunmuir. Not when that life didn’t include Conall.

Chapter Twenty

Conall took a long draw from his pint, happy to have talked Maggie into joining them for dinner, even if he should be trying to distance himself from her. He just couldn’t quite manage it, always drawn to her like fog to the heather.

Not wanting to run into Sean for fear he might wonder about Thorsen and get suspicious, they opted to go out to dinner in one of the neighboring towns. It was a nice little gastro-pub he’d been intending to bring Maggie to when they were still together.

He threw her a sideways glance, as his heart attempted to overrule his head, leaving him still longing for her. Even Thorsen seemed smitten by her charms-and he was always a hard one to impress.

A pang of jealousy sparked in his chest as Maggie laughed at one of Thorsen’s stories, and Conall poked at his perfectly cooked steak. He should be happy that she and his friend were getting along. And he was-as long as their getting along didn’t turn to flirting. Or worse.

Not that he had any claim. Maggie could do whatever she wanted, with whomever she wanted to do it with, and truth be told, Thorsen was a great guy. It made no difference that he still had feelings for her if he wasn’t going to pursue them-if he was going to let her go.

As beautiful and smart as she was, she’d not remain single long. That was for sure. So why not be happy that she’d at least be hooking up with someone he knew would treat her right?

A gentle hand on his arm pulled him from his thoughts, as he looked up into Maggie’s kind eyes. “Are ye all right? You were scowling at your steak like it’d gone and
moo’d
at ye.”

“Sorry. Just distracted.” He shook his head to try to clear it. Maybe if he turned the conversation back to getting Aidan home, it’d keep their flirting and his jealousies to a minimum. He turned his attention to Thorsen. “Will ye need us to head to Dublin with ye?”

Thorsen shook his head as he took a long draw from his pint. “No. I want you to continue going about your business as if nothing has changed. I’ve got a room booked not far from here for tonight so as not to draw any attention and then will head to Dublin come morning. With luck, this will all be over in just a day or two. We’ll get your brother back to you, Maggie.”

“I can’t believe it and can’t thank ye enough.” Her smile reached her eyes, making them sparkle as Maggie reached across the table and grabbed Thorsen’s hand, giving it a squeeze. It was for no more than a moment, but it still had Conall second-guessing himself.

She turned to him, just a heartbeat away, her gaze locked on his as she took his hand and held onto it. “And you-I owe ye everything, Conall.”

He wanted to kiss her. Desperately. To hold her face in his hands and kiss her until there was nothing else, until everything around them fell away. Yet pushing her away these last few weeks now left him with a wall up and he was having one hell of a problem tearing it down. And by all accounts, she could see it in his gaze. Sorrow and disappointment glazed over her ice blue eyes as she let go of his hands, her shoulders slumping before she looked away.