Eddie listened to everything without interrupting – even when Connor and Murphy told him about their calling. When it was all on the table, Torrin put on another pot of coffee. Eddie reached out to brush his daughter's cheek with his hand.

"I wish ya'd told me sooner," he sighed.

"I know, Da. I'm sorry."

Eddie shook his head. "I've no regrets for where it's ended me, daughter, only where it's gotten you. I do hate seeing you like this. You took the path ya did because ya wanted to do the right thing. To protect people. Thing of it is, your uncle thinks he's doing the same thing. Ta sé fear deacair."

Aven nodded. Indeed, her uncle was a difficult man; complicated might have been a more accurate description. She let out a deep breath. Her face hurt, her ribs hurt, her heart hurt. She just wanted to go to bed.

"Your little cousin is in your bed," Torrin informed her. "And your da is gonna need somewhere to sleep."

"I've got a hotel," Eddie informed them.

"I'll take you there, sir," Murphy offered.

Aven handed him her keys and lifted her face for a kiss. "We'll sleep on the pull-out sofa tonight."

"Be back soon. Keep that ice on your face."

"Be careful," she warned, tears burning the backs of her eyes. She felt like she didn't know anymore what could happen to anyone close to her. Letting the two most important men in her life out of her sight for even a short time seemed like the worst decision she could make then. Still, it wouldn't do to have her father stay with her.

"Everything's going to be all right, love," Murphy assured as he left with her father.

Aven let out a deep breath. She needed to take a shower and go to sleep, but she was too tense. There was too much on her mind. She had gotten her father mixed up in her Uncle Peter's work again. There was no telling how pissed Gavan would be – had she put Torrin in danger? She groaned and got up to throw the ice pack in the sink.

"I'm going to take a shower. Tomorrow, I'm having a long talk with Rori about changing her fucking mind about this business. It ain't worth it," Aven grumbled.

"I'll put sheets and blankets out for ya," Torrin called after her.

Aven waved her thanks before going into the bathroom and locking the door. She let the water warm as much as she could take it and stripped her clothes down. Her beaten body was stiff from head to toe, and the water felt good against her skin. She stood under the stream and let the water pour over her face. How had she gotten to this point? Where did she stand anymore? She wasn't with her uncle, she knew that. But was she really with the agency? Dragging people she loved into danger had never been her intent.

Feeling confused, angry, and scared, Aven leaned against the shower wall, and cried.

.&.

Torrin checked on Rori one more time; her younger sister was curled around a pillow but somehow still hogging the bed enough that Rocco had made an incoherent move to the floor with a spare pillow. Torrin chuckled to herself and found a throw blanket to spread over him.

Once she was certain that she had done her best to make everyone in the apartment comfortable for the evening, she joined Connor in her room. He was leaning back against the pillows, dozing off to the late night news.

She smirked. "Make yourself at home."

"Sorry," he replied, smirking right back at her. "Figured since Murphy and Roc were already here, I'd stay, too."

Torrin motioned for him to turn on the lamp next to the bed, and she turned off the overhead light. She crawled into the bed next to him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Do you think that if you knew all of this craziness before you walked into the bar that day, you'd still have gone in?" she asked.

"Yes – and I would have dragged you out with me. We'd have run away together."

Torrin laughed. "If only we could go back."

"Running away is still an option, mo chroi," Connor assured her. "You just say the word."

"I'll keep that in mind," Torrin scoffed. "It's been quite a night. Can we please just go to sleep?"

"Whatever you say."

Connor turned off the lamp and pulled her close. Torrin huddled under his chin, feeling for now that the world around her wasn't absolute chaos.

.&.

Murphy poured a beer for the fellow at the counter then went about filling an order Alana had brought in. Torrin came down for her evening shift and frowned when she saw Connor helping Alana wait tables. Rori and Rocco were seated about the bar, talking about anything and everything, Torrin guessed. With a deep breath, she got behind the bar to help Murphy.

"Gone again?"

"Gone?" Murphy repeated. "Tor, Aven hasn't left the church since she entered it three days ago."

Torrin stopped in her tracks. She had thought her cousin had come home while she was at work, but apparently she was wrong.

"I saw her clothes moved around. Are you sure that she hasn't come home?"

Murphy shrugged. "I brought her clean clothes. She waited for everyone to be gone then changed in a confessional. I can't convince her to leave."

"Has she eaten?"

"She'll take water during the day, coffee at night and in the morning to keep her awake."

"She hasn't slept?" Torrin replied incredulously. "This cannot continue. I'm going down there."

After picking up a bag of fast food, Torrin grabbed a cab over to the church. She told the driver not to wait, handed him a twenty, and headed into the church.

Aven was in the third pew back, kneeling with her hands clasped under her chin. The priest came out of the confessional, waved at Torrin and headed in her direction.

"She prays most of the time," he informed her. "Sometimes she'll look up at the icons, sometimes her head is bowed. Sometimes she prays out loud, sometimes she murmurs to herself. Sometimes she cries, sometimes she just stares. She's searching for answers."

Torrin pursed her lips. "Answers she may not want. Thank you, Father."

She walked quietly up to the third pew, leaving the fast food bag outside of the sanctuary. She knelt next to Aven but did not pray. Her cousin was pale, her hair thick with grease from not bathing. Torrin could see Aven's eyelids weighing heavily, but Aven fought to keep them open.

"Aven, you cannot keep on like this."

"You can fill my place at the bar. I need to be here."

"Until when?"

"Until I have answers. Until I know why all of this is happening." Aven pushed back into the pew. "My father was forced back into a line of work he never wanted to look back on, and it's my fault. Thank God that Dermot puts family before work because he could have me dismissed from the agency if they knew that I had access to your father and my father and all of those other men and I didn't do a thing about stopping them. I'm stuck in this in-between place, and I hate it here. So, I need answers. Answers I cannot come up with on my own."

Once again, she kneeled, mumbling prayers under her breath. Torrin said a quick prayer of her own before pulling Aven's attention back to her.

"Aven," Torrin said softly, holding the girl's face in her hands. "Listen to me. Níl sé seodo locht.God has a will for you, He always has. You have always done His will. This is no different. Maybe you stumbled on the path – we all do. You will find your answers, Aven, but not by starving and exhausting yourself."

Aven opened her eyes, looked at the crucifix hanging at the front of the church, and nodded. She crossed herself and stood, with Torrin's help.

"Come on," Torrin told her. "I've got a bag of food for you, then we'll get you home to bed."

.&.

Aven slept for the better part of the following twenty-four hours. The morning after she pulled Aven from the church, Torrin went to her father's Boston office. She dressed professionally, hoping that her father would take her appearance into account as how serious she was about her request.

The woman at the front desk was middle-aged and polite. When Torrin gave her name, the woman didn't hesitate to tell Peter that Torrin was waiting for him, and offered her something hot to drink while she waited.

"I've had my coffee for the morning, thank you," Torrin declined. After a few minutes, her father came out from his office and motioned for her to enter. Torrin closed the door behind her. She carefully sat in the chair opposite her father and tried to sit up straight, have some air of confidence, and not let on that she was expecting to be entirely disappointed.

"Good to see you," Peter smiled from his side of the desk. "I'm sure your cousin told you I was in town. Things have been so hectic, I hadn't had the opportunity to tell you or your sister that I was here."

"I'm glad you're here, too, Da. I need something from you."

Peter's smile fell. "I can only guess what that might be."

"I've asked for very few things in this life. I've been immensely grateful for everything you've offered and given. I never wanted to ask you for anything again, but it's for Aven's sake that I'm asking you to drop the deal with the Russians, and return to Ireland. Take Gavan with you."

Peter held eye contact with her; an intimidation tactic Torrin was familiar with. She sat up a little straighter and did not falter in holding his gaze. She had come here determined, and her father would not break her.

"You're overstepping your place," Peter told her through clenched teeth. "You've no idea what this deal with Russians will do for our empire. Your mother and I, and you girls, will have security for the rest of your life. The deals that I build today will be the foundation future generation stand upon!"

Torrin swallowed hard. "I don't want any part of it. Not if it means tearing our family apart. You accepted Aven back, yes, but at a price. That is not family, Da! Do you know she nearly had to be hospitalized for exhaustion and starvation because she spent three days straight in the church, trying to find answers? She fears that Uncle Eddie is heartbroken over having to take a place with your company again, and that it is her fault. She's caught in between her sense of duty and her sense of family. And what am I supposed to do, caught in the middle of you two? You're my father, but she is like a sister to me. She came here, helped me start the bar, and has protected me. Now it's my turn to attempt to protect her."

Peter threw his hands in the air. "Things are already in motion. We would all be in serious danger if I backed out now. The whole organization could crumble. You don't understand what the consequences would be!"

Torrin took a deep breath and stood. "And you do not understand what the consequences will be if you do not fulfill my request."

"Is my own daughter threatening me?"

"Simply stating what I feel in my gut," Torrin shrugged. "If you let this go on, your empire may stand tall and strong, but your family will be in pieces at your feet. The decision is yours, Father. I hope you make the right choice."

.&.

"For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer."

Aven heard the words plain as day. She woke with a start, her chest heaving and her skin wet with perspiration. She looked around, trying to gain her bearings. It took a few moments, but she realized she was in her own bed.

Murphy was next to her – a Godsend, she realized. The words that she had heard … she didn't know what kind of answer Murphy was just then, but she knew now that he was part of it.

"Glad to see you awake," he teased her. "I thought you'd gone Sleeping Beauty on us."

Aven kissed him hard and good. "You're an answer to my prayers, Murphy MacManus. I'd keep my ears open if I were you; God's gonna be calling soon."