And then she started to flirt with other men. At first, he believed Brenda was simply being friendly, but she started staying out late and not calling. They’d argue and she’d cry and Seamus would end up buying her something nice because he’d feel guilty for getting angry with her. And then one day he came home from a trip out of town to find her in bed with his father.
His father had laughed and told him that he didn’t know how to satisfy his woman. Seamus had wanted to kill them both. He kicked Brenda out but he should have known someone like her would land on her feet. His father took her in and for the next several months, Seamus had to deal with his father basically rubbing salt in the wound. It was clear that Patrick Haggerty had also fallen into Brenda’s trap. The cunt was using both of them to secure a comfortable life.
But one thing his father obviously hadn’t drilled into Brenda’s head was that any woman connected to him would have to be discreet. Besides her extravagant spending sprees, she started throwing Patrick’s name around town to get what she wanted. It drew a lot of unwanted attention toward her and the organization. The Feds had come down on Patrick because of it. They’d threatened Brenda with jail time and deportation if she didn’t tell them what she knew about Patrick’s dealings. The old man had been devastated to the point where he’d nearly become despondent. Despite not being particularly close to his father especially after what he’d done, Seamus had made sure that Brenda ‘disappeared’ ensuring that she’d never be heard from again.
And the kicker of it all was that his father never recovered from Brenda’s betrayal. Patrick had been so stressed that he had a massive stroke. He died weeks later. The doctors said it was from natural causes but Seamus had known better. It was from a broken heart. Seamus had learned his lesson. No good could come from falling in love. Brenda and his father had taught him that. It was why Seamus preferred the company of the women at the club. He knew what their game was. He could fuck them and send them on the way without emotions getting involved.
Yet Tamryn had managed to get to him even in a way that Brenda never had. Maybe he was a coward for not allowing himself to give love a chance anymore, but he was certain that Tamryn would land on her feet. Women always did.
Even though the thought of her being with someone else, giving that sweet pussy to someone else infuriated him. Fuck. He had to go. The further away from here, he was, the better he could function.
He pushed Nicki off of him and stood up and adjusted his pants. “You can leave.”
She looked up at him with obvious surprise. “But I wasn’t finished. You didn’t come.”
Seamus was in no mood to placate her. He grabbed his jacket and shrugged it on. “Don’t worry. You’ll still be compensated for your time.”
She turned bright red, clearly embarrassed by his response. Seamus didn’t wait around for her response because he simply wasn’t interested. As he walked through the lobby he was intercepted by Natalia, almost as if she’d been waiting for him.
“Seamus, I didn’t expect to see you come back down so soon.”
He glanced at his watch to calculate how much time it would take for him to get home if he left now. “How would you know? Were you watching me?”
She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s my job to know what’s going on in this establishment.” She ran her hand down his chest. “I’m glad to see that you’ve finally gotten that street rat out of your system. I was beginning to question your judgment.”
His relationship with Natalia was complicated. Even though they’d dated briefly, he believed their parting had been amicable. They’d been lovers off and on over the years because Natalia presented herself as the type of woman who could handle a no strings attached affair. But when she opened the Devil’s Den and he’d become her silent investor, it seemed to give Natalia the idea that she could question his comings and goings. He’d ended anything physical with her when she started to make a big deal about him utilizing the services of the hostesses. After letting her know in no uncertain terms that if she didn’t back off he’d withdraw his financial support from the club, that seemed to keep her quiet.
For the most part, Natalia had kept her opinions to herself until recently. It didn’t go unnoticed by him that she’d make sly remarks about Tamryn and how she didn’t seem to be a good fit with the rest of the girls. When Seamus quizzed her about it, Natalia had said that the other girls believed that Tamryn was getting special treatment. Seamus had to admit that he’d rarely taken the girls outside of the club and none of them had ever seen the inside of his private apartment upstairs. And he’d never spent the night with any of them. Even though he’d told Natalia to mind her business, it started him thinking that perhaps he was spending too much time with Tamryn. It wasn’t healthy that she’d consumed so much of his time and thoughts. Things in his life were stressful enough as he was in the very precarious position of severing the remaining ties he had to his father’s legacy.