East Rising (Naive Mistakes #2) by Rachel Dunning

the
bathroom, and he asked me, 'You like?' and then pointed at the door
she'd just gone through.
    "Of course, young and fucking idiotic as I
was — hell, I probably even blushed — I said, 'Yes, very much.'
    "Then the smelly fuck sat back, hands
crossed by his protruding belly, and gave a grin. 'She is nice,
yes...' he said.
    "He'd shown a lot of interest in us. Fuck
me, the congeniality was straight out of a Sandra Bullock
movie...
    "I don't know that he wasn't involved in
getting her drugged over the next year or so — I mean, here, In
England — before he finally took her. As if it had all been planned
over time. I mean, I know my brother gave her the drugs at first,
but what kept her on them? And was Francis maneuvered to being with
her in the first place?
    "Who knows? We'll never know.
    "But this guy... He was like the fricking
Joker or something. Mad, methodical, fucking insane. I think you
have to be totally insane to be that high up on the criminal food
chain. I think the lower guys are just, well, I don't know, morons,
idiots. Like that Raphael prick — Oh, has he given your friend any
more shit?"
    I shook my head.
    "Good." He tried to sip some wine, but his
glass was empty. He looked at it, looked at the bottle. "Fuck it,
I've had enough of this shit. I can't drink more than a glass or
two before dehydrating completely." He put the glass down.
    "Leora, you have to
understand something: Alex will never be the same again. Years of
abuse — both her own, you know, the drugs, and then from others.
She... The first four months I had her staying here. I had experts
over here getting her off the drugs, without using other drugs to do it!
None of this 'swop one opiate for another' crap. I mean, real rehab.
    "She woke up screaming most
of the time. Leora, I did sleep in the same bed as her. Next to
her, over the blankets, looking up at the ceiling, and thinking of
you. Sometimes...she held me. I'm telling you this because you
deserve to know it. And I won't defend my position on it. I would
do it again, because she needed help. And I had caused it. My
stupid mouth... But I was absolutely faithful to you,
completely.
    "I kept you away because I couldn't risk you
being taken as well."
    I made a confused frown, tried to piece the
things together, then had the odd sensation of knowing something
because Conall had spoken of this "Istvan" always in the past
tense.
    "C — Conall... Is, um, this...whatever his
name is... Is he...dead?"
    Conall's eyes looked at me but his face
looked straight ahead. Then his eyes returned their gaze forward.
He gave a nod so tight that I could hardly discern it. In the
moment of realization that came afterwards, I suddenly felt a
strong need for another glass of wine. I poured one. "I think I'll
also take one," he said. I gave it to him.
    "Conall, did you, um...?"
    He put his hand up to stop me, shook his
head. "Don't ask. I might've turned a blind eye to something...or
not. It's taken care of, that's all you need to know. Your safety
is all I care about, nothing else.
    "Leora, some men don't
deserve to breathe the same air as the rest of us. Especially those
who commit crimes against women that...that are unspeakable.
Just...don't ask. I did what was right. And that's all I'm saying.
And Alex is out of there. But, more importantly, Istvan 'Joe or
Johnny' Vajda won't be interested in the girls I have a
relationship with anymore. He won't be interested in you. Ever.
Because he can't be. That was priority number one for me, Leora.
Make you safe. No
matter what it cost. No matter if... There was no fucking ways you
would ever go
through something like that. Not on my watch."
    Mother... fuck !
    "When...did he...die?" I still wasn't sure
the guy was dead.
    "A few days before I texted you asking if
you'd come to London." OK, so dude was definitely dead.
    "And why did I have to come alone?"
    "I have to confess, Leora,
that...I could've waited longer. No, I should've . This slimeball out of the
picture