Love and Shamrocks: Ballybeg, Book 5 Read Online Free

establishment.”
    With her heart pounding against her ribs, Clio glanced at her watch. Five minutes. If this idiot kept delaying her, she’d be late for the meeting with Ray. “I’ll be out of here in a few minutes,” she said, pointing to her watch. “Ten, max.”
    Beefy arms folded across his chest. “I’m asking you to leave.”
    “For feck’s sake,” she snapped. “I’m not a prostitute. I’m here to drop something off.”
    Too late, she realized the implication of her words.
Damn.
    The security guard’s smirk evaporated. “We don’t tolerate drugs on the premises.”
    “It’s money,” she said in a rush. “I’m…delivering it to my employer. He’s staying at the hotel.”
    The unibrow reappeared, and his lips parted as if to argue further.
    Clio plunged her hand into her bag and whipped out the envelope. “See?” she said, opening it a crack. “Can I go now? My boss is the impatient sort, especially when it comes to his hard-earned cash.”
    “What’s your boss’s name?” he asked, hesitating. “I need to check our register.”
    “Bollocks. If a guest has a delivery of cash he doesn’t intend to put in the main safe, the hotel staff have no business knowing his room number.”
    He dithered a moment, uncertainty flickering over his fleshy features. “Go on with you,” he growled, “but if I catch you selling anything you shouldn’t, I’ll have you arrested faster than you can run in those heels.”
    She pushed past him and hurried toward the fountain as quickly as her shoes allowed. Trust her to rush out of the house barefoot, leaving her with the only footwear she could find in the couple of moving boxes still in the back of her car—scarlet open-toed stilettos she’d bought for a costume party.
    She clattered over the slick marble floor and slid to a stop in front of the fountain. She stared down at swirling blue. Koi darted through the water, bright orange and white, glinting like goldfish on steroids.
    And then her mind reached back, and the fountain blurred in her vision. Tammy had owned a goldfish when she was little, back in the days before she’d morphed into a moody teenager.
Tammy…Oh, God.
    There was still time to change her mind before Ray arrived. Not much. A minute, maybe two. She’d retrace her steps, return the money to the safe, and come clean—to her mother and to the police.
    She squeezed her eyes shut and let out a ragged breath. Who was she trying to kid? She could never go to the police. If she hadn’t been let down by the Irish judicial system, she wouldn’t be in this mess.
    The clock chimed the hour. Six o’clock. Clio’s witching hour. She opened her eyes and dragged air into her lungs. Last chance to save her soul. Heart hammering an unsteady rhythm, she spun around and headed for the exit.
    At that moment, someone knocked into her, sending her reeling. She grabbed the edge of the fountain to break her fall but lost her hold on her handbag. It fell to the floor, the contents spilling over the marble tiles.
    “Sorry,” said a gruff Dublin-accented voice.
    The hairs on Clio’s nape sprang to life.
Of course
. Ray wouldn’t come in person. He’d dispatched a minion.
    The stranger shoved stuff back into the handbag and thrust it at her.
    No, I’ve changed my mind
. The words lodged in her throat.
    “Ta,” he said and melted into the crowd.
    Hands trembling, Clio opened the bag and reached inside.
    The envelope containing the money was gone.
    ***
    Seán weaved his way through the teeming lobby of the Sheldon Hotel, mobile phone pressed to his ear. “You can’t make it to Cork this weekend?”
    “Nah, no chance.” His friend’s tone was morose. “If I leave the missus in the lurch, she’ll castrate me.”
    “Far be it from me to put your balls in jeopardy, Frank,” Seán said dryly. Speaking of balls, he needn’t have busted
his
getting to Cork City in time to meet Frank at the Sheldon.
    “Maybe next month, eh? When the kids are better