Crown of a Prince (Finn Shelby)

22.

"You look tired" Charlie commented, his shrewd eyes noticing how Ailbhe had yawned three times since she got to the yard and how her eyes looked tired, beneath her make-up.

Ailbhe shrugged it off but she was exhausted. It had taken her hours to fall asleep and at that, it was a restless and uncomfortable night. She had been tossing and turning forever, trying to forget Finn and the way it felt to be so close to him again. Despite the chill in the air, she felt incredibly hot and she couldn't find a position that was comfortable. Her boobs ached and her sex throbbed no matter what way she lay. It was all his fault and she felt her frustration grow for him even more. She hated him. And yet she knew that the only thing, the only person who would stop her from feeling like this was him. Eventually, she fell asleep but woke in the morning feeling like she had barely rested at all.

She had washed and dressed, knowing that she had a meeting in Charlie's yard with May Carlton who was collecting a racehorse belonging to the company. Ailbhe wore her hair down her back, as usual, the brown curls loose from the way she had tied them up at night but gathered with a clip. She was pulling on her blue coat that had a thick fur collar when Liam came bounding down the stairs. He was always close to running late and yet somehow he always made it just in the nick of time. Liam was walking her to the yard since he had plans with Charlie too.

"Where did you and Finn disappear to?" Liam asked, pulling on his peaky hat and fixing his holster as they set off in the direction of Charlie's Yard.

Ailbhe panicked for a second but Liam had stumbled in around three o clock in the morning with Ada and Niall, laughing and shouting in their telling of stories about John in his prime. She doubted he had a very clear memory of the night in any case.

"I went home, remember? Finn walked me" she told him, keeping her eyes on the road and trying to sound very casual.

Liam swallowed the lie as easily as if it was the truth. Ailbhe really was too good at lying sometimes.

"What about Mr Gold?" Ailbhe asked, raising an eyebrow at her brother.

Whiskey was good proofing water and Ailbhe knew that if Mr Gold had hidden motives the whiskey would reveal them.

"He's clever, he's a lot cleverer than we gave him credit for" Liam admitted, shaking his head and acknowledging that Aberama Gold was too clever to just be a hired gun.

Ailbhe had realised this too. Aberama Gold was a smart man who wanted something from the Shelby Kennedy clan and he knew they could give it to him. That's why he had agreed to help. A man like that had no want for money or wealth, he wanted something else. And Ailbhe was going to find out what.

Curly had already prepared the horse that morning for travel. Ailbhe came to meet May Carlton and to make sure everything was in order. She was waiting by the stables when May arrived. She stepped out of the truck, looking around, noticing that nothing had changed.

"Hello Curly" She smiled, walking around to the front of the stables where she noticed the young woman.

"Miss Kennedy" May Carleton smiled genuinely.

Ailbhe had met May many times over the last two years while in London and before that since Ailbhe was almost exclusively in charge of the racing side of the company.

"Please May, forget the formalities. God knows we've no need for them here" she laughed, rolling her eyes.

She wasn't used to being called Miss Kennedy, certainly not in Charlie's Yard where she had been called a lot worse.

May raised her eyebrows, an amused look on her face as she laughed

"I would if I could even begin to pronounce your name"