Page 64 of Ruthless Dream

When I’d placed lunch on Adeline’s calendar, I’d noticed the day blocked off. No information was added, though, and she’d gone to class like usual. Her doctor’s appointments are clearly labeled so I knew it wasn’t that, and important dates and reminders are color coded.

In hindsight, it’d been wishful thinking that the blocked off date had been some sort of error, something incorrectly added. Adeline doesn’t fuck around with her calendar. If anything, she puts too much shit on her phone, with no security protections whatsoever.

She knows Jack Rollings because she’s literally typed out notes that would make any prosecutors drool.

I track her phone, staring at the location. A search result identifies it as a bookstore.

Seamus whistles under his breath, coming into the room. I’m still at Cormac’s place, a multi-room flat that’s ten times nicer than my place.

“You’ve fucked up.” Seamus drops onto the sofa, spreading his arms out wide, with a shit eating smirk on his face. His phone is in his hands.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I hadn’t told anyone about possibly getting close to Rollings, so there’s no way he could know I’ve fucked that plan already.

But what he says might just be worse. He tsks under his breath. “Your girl is not happy with you.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I ask again, a deep coil of dread unfurling in the pit of my stomach.

He holds up his phone. “You’ve clearly not seen Adeline’s latest post.”

“How do you⁠—”

Seamus shoots me his classic smart aleck look. “You think we wouldn’t find out? Nah, Uncle Cormac was bragging the other day about how you’d swept the Akatov princess off her feet. We were just waiting to see if you’d fucking mention it.”

Uncle Cormac knows about Adeline? Then again, a room full of people did see me with her father the other night. Even before that, Cain Murray had somehow known. And if my da had found out, of course Uncle Cormac would too.

“Now I know why you never mentioned it, though.” Seamus points to his phone. “You’ve already fucked it up, you eejit.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I swipe for his phone, but he dodges, the shit-eating smirk growing. I pull up Adeline’s Instagram.

An hour ago she posted a photo of pink peonies, a bouquet quadruple the size of a normal one.

TheAdelineAkatov: I can buy my own flowers thanks

Kick me in the fucking teeth already.

“What, what are you doing?” My scowl grows when I notice Seamus laughing to himself as he types something. I pull his phone away from him.

ShayO: Look Ciaran means well, but you just need a real O’Connell if you know what I mean.

“A fucking winking face!”

Seamus, laughing, grabs his phone back. “I may as well shoot my shot like the rest of them.”

The post already has thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.

Who upset you queen? You need a man, my love. Men don’t play around like boys. Please just give me a chance, I promise we’ll be great together. Girl, I told you to stop playing with men and just become a lesbian.

I use restraint, reminding myself I can’t afford a new phone if I smash this one to pieces. Things don’t go well when the last person I want to speak to calls me.

I grit my teeth. “Hello.”

“Why you sounding so glum, son?” Da asks, his overly thick accented voice grating on me.

I clear my throat. “Heartburn.”

Seamus snorts.

“What’s up?” I ask Da.