Page 112 of Liberating Lily

“Oh, no, no. Of course not. It’s just the way you spoke, it sounded like you might have been.”

“No, we’re not the Mafia. As I said before, Ronan runs the family business. He has a number of guys working for him in security and information, you could say.”

“He owns a security business?”

“Yeah, that’s kind of part of it. On the surface he runs a business that hires people out as bouncers and bodyguards. But secretly, he also deals in information. That part isn’t for public knowledge. In my grandfather’s day it was a bit more complicated and my father wanted nothing to do with it. But when he and my mum died, and my grandfather took us all in, he started preparing Ronan to take over. I guess my brother felt a sense of obligation toward our grandfather. It would have killed something inside us to be separated, which is probably what would have happened if Grandfather hadn’t stepped up.”

“So, Ronan went into the family business because of him.”

“Partly, and because I think he wanted to make some changes. Which he has. Changes that our grandfather doesn’t always agree with, but he also doesn’t complain too much, since Ronan makes a lot of money. Not saying that there aren’t shadier aspects to it, but for the most part, we operate on the right side of the law. All of the work that I do is for Ronan and his clients. Paddy, our youngest brother, is involved in the IT side of it, but Ronan keeps our sisters well out of it.”

“Oh, I see. But I still don’t understand how you guys are going to get Doctor Wallace to talk, though.”

“Ronan can be very persuasive, and some of his guys have some interesting skills. Don’t worry. It’s just a matter of when we grab him and how.”

“Are you saying you’re going to kidnap him?” she asked.

“Probably best that I don’t answer that, baby.”

“It’s all right. I’m not upset at the idea. I think we’ve figured out that he must be complicit in all this, and whatever he did, he did it without my permission.” She wrapped her arms around her. “I don’t have any idea what happened to me in that clinic.”

No, and it made him feel sick to his stomach to think about that.

“What about the other people that worked there? The receptionist, the nurses? There must have been people that saw me or what happened?”

“We’ll get that information,” he promised her. “We’ll take care of anyone who harmed you in any way.”

She nodded, and he watched as a shiver shook her body. His poor girl.

He stood with her in his arms. She was pressed against his stomach, and she wrapped her arms around his shoulders to hold on as he walked her toward the stairs.

“Should you carry me up the stairs?” she asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

“I won’t let you drop, baby.”

“No,” she said. “I’m sure you won’t. I don’t think you’d ever let me drop, would you, Harvey?”

“Now you’re starting to understand,” he said as he carried her up the stairs and into the bedroom. He set her down next to the bed. “Strip off your top half and then lie down on top of the bed. I’m going to find some massage oil.”

“You have massage oil?” she asked, sounding surprised.

“I’m a scout. I’m always prepared.”

Harvey held his hand up with his fingers spread so two went one way and two the other.

Lily grinned widely. “I’m pretty sure that’s the Vulcan Salute.”

“Are you a Star Trek fan?”

She shrugged. “A little bit. I like Star Trek, but I love Star Wars even more. Oh, and my favorite of all is Firefly.”

“This is a whole new side of you I didn’t know existed,” he said. “We’ll have to have a sci-fi marathon.”

“We don’t have to if you don’t enjoy watching that sort of thing,” she told him. “We can watch whatever you want to watch.”

“Uh-uh, no, don’t do that,” he said to her, grasping hold of her chin.

“Don’t do what?” she asked.