I consider that for a moment. Something in her past—or someone, more likely—has hurt her enough that all men are now the enemy in Renata’s eyes. Drago is the obvious culprit. But something Renata said at dinner has been circulating in my head, too. He sold me to a monster. What could that mean?
“Did she say anything else to you when you helped her dress for dinner?” I ask, trying not to stay on track.
“We spoke a lot,” Aisling says. It’s another reason she was perfect for the job. She engenders trust. There’s something about her that coerces people to open up a little more. “She wanted to know how I had come to work here for you.”
“And what did you tell her?”
“The truth. That you were the one that saved me.”
I suppress a smile. I couldn’t have planned the conversation better myself. But I wonder how much of an impact it has had on Renata. She still seems to look at me like a… what had she called me?
A predator.
The insult still fucking stings. Worse, she keeps associating me with her dumbass of a brother.
“She did seem surprised.”
“Surprised?”
“By what I told her about you,” she says. “Not just that you saved me, but that you’re helping me look for my husband and daughter. That you gave me a job here in the meantime.”
“Of course she was surprised,” I say, mostly to myself. “I’ve always been the villain in her life.”
Aisling’s jaw twitches and I catch the expression flit across her face. “What?” I ask.
She sighs. “I told her about her father’s involvement,” she explains. “I told her about the money he pumped into them.”
I raise my eyebrows. “You told her that?”
Her expression turns resolute. “She deserves to know. I would have wanted to know. Especially if I were loyal to my family.”
I search Aisling’s face for any sign that she might be a danger to Renata—or to me. But I see none. She’s as trustworthy as ever. “How did she react?”
“She was shocked,” Aisling says. “But still in denial.”
I nod. “I want you to develop a relationship with her,” I tell her. “Don’t overdo it, but it’ll benefit her to have someone to talk to while she’s here.”
“Of course, Master Kian.”
“Thank you, Aisling,” I say, dismissing her.
She doesn’t stand immediately, though. Instead, her expression turns almost pleading. “Master Kian, have you managed to find anything about…?”
“Not yet, Aisling,” I tell her, disappointed that I can’t give her more. “My men are still looking.”
She bites her bottom lip. “Shouldn’t there be some record of them? A paper trail? Something?”
“The fact that finding them has proved so difficult suggests that your husband wanted to disappear,” I tell her. “He made sure there was no trace of where they went, paper or otherwise.”
“Why would he do that?”
“You did disappear on them,” I tell her straight. “Perhaps he was afraid of staying in one place. Perhaps he felt threatened. It could be a number of different reasons.”
She looks down. The disappointment weighs on her shoulders.
“Don’t you worry,” I tell her gently. “I gave you my word I’d find them, and I will. It’ll just take time.”
She nods slowly and stands weakly to her feet. “Thank you.”