by Kate Kessler
“My aunt did that.”
Davnielle’s eyes widened. “Your aunt is Killian Delaney? Shit, girl. No wonder you look like a scared rabbit. I would, too. Look, if he’s being this nice to you, then I’d take it that he wants you to know he’s not going to take his revenge out on you.”
But he was looking for revenge, and he planned to use her to get it. No matter how nice he was to her, or what kind of fancy clothes he gave her, she had to remember that. Her loyalty was to Aunt Killy, and it was not for sale.
However—that didn’t mean she couldn’t take everything this son of a bitch offered her. She’d give it right back when she got away, but for now she’d do exactly what he expected of her. She could do that because he scared the shit out of her, but it was also what Killy would tell her to do. Let him think he had her under his control. Let him think she was stupid. Stupid was better than raped, beaten, or dead.
The clothes were beautiful—designer. Stuff she’d seen in magazines but never thought she’d ever get to see in person, let alone try on. Did Rank think he could buy her? It was so tempting to let him. When a pair of pants were too long, Davnielle simply pinned them and said, “We’ll tailor those.” Anything that wasn’t perfect was guaranteed to be perfect by the next day.
Oh, and the shoes! She tore into those boxes like a wild animal. It wasn’t until a few hours had gone by that she realized she’d been so distracted by all the pretty things that she hadn’t thought about being raped, not once. She hadn’t thought about being kidnapped, or hit, or put in the trunk of a car. Whatever else happened while she was Rank’s prisoner, she would be grateful for that.
By the time everything that she didn’t want or needed tailoring had been taken away, it was getting dark outside and Shannon was hungry. As if by magic, Dakwon appeared while Davnielle was doing her makeup. She saw the way the other woman looked at the big man and smirked. Everyone wanted a bite of Dakwon.
“Mr. Cirello wanted me to ask you ladies what you would like for dinner.”
“I’m good,” Davnielle replied. “I have another appointment tonight, but thank you.” She fluttered her long eyelashes.
He turned to Shannon. “What about you, sweetheart?”
“I…” She was starving. She’d changed her mind about pizza after seeing that guy’s brain leak out of his head, and now she was almost ashamed that she actually wanted to eat.
Dakwon smiled. “What’s your favorite food in the whole world?”
“Butter chicken.” It was, too. “And rice, and gulab jamun, and pakora.”
He laughed. “I’ll get it all. Anything else? What about to drink?”
“Diet Coke. Please.”
And then he was gone. Davnielle turned to her with a conspiratorial light in her dark eyes. “That man gets finer every time I see him. Mm. You sure are lucky you get to look at him all day.”
Shannon smiled, but then it melted. She wasn’t lucky. This wasn’t fun, and she’d give all those shoes back if she could just go home and play Barbies with Willow.
“Okay, I’m going to leave you the makeup we used as well. My little gift to you.” She closed up the huge case beside the vanity. It was on wheels, Shannon noticed.
“Thank you.”
The older woman hesitated. “Is it okay if I give you a hug?”
Something tight pulled in Shannon’s chest. She nodded. Davnielle gave her a quick but fierce hug.
“You stay strong, little sister. I’ll be praying for you.”
And then she was gone, leaving Shannon with nothing but the scent of her perfume amid all of her new things. What would Rank do if she set the whole pile on fire? Was she horrible for wondering if she could keep some of it? She deserved some kind of payback, didn’t she?
Tears filled her eyes, threatening to ruin the makeup Davnielle had so carefully applied. Shannon blinked them away. She wasn’t going to let Dakwon see her with raccoon eyes. Wasn’t going to let Rank see her weak.
As soon as she thought of him, he appeared. He emerged from a large elevator door against the back wall. As he walked toward her, his limp seemed more pronounced than it had been earlier, and he looked tired. She watched him warily. Even lions lost their edge at times, but they never stopped being lions.
“Did you have a fun afternoon?” he asked. When she nodded, he smiled slightly—not enough to be terrifying. “Davnielle is a lovely distraction.”
Shannon fought to keep her eyebrow where it was and not let it jump up her forehead. She didn’t care if he spoke from experience. Didn’t care what he and Davnielle did together. She supposed anyone could do anything for the right amount of money, and if they kept their eyes closed.
And were drunk.
“Dakwon has gone to get your food. Would you mind if he and I ate with you?”
She shook her head.
Rank sighed. “May I sit?”
“It’s your house,” she replied.
It was painful just watching him lower himself into a chair. Jesus, what had Aunt Killy done to his bones? “Shannon, I know you’re afraid of me, especially after the events of this afternoon. I want to assure you, once again, that you have nothing to fear while you are under this roof. My staff and I have no intention of harming you. You are perfectly safe.”
“Okay.” And then, because she figured he was looking for it: “Thank you for the clothes and everything. They’re beautiful.”
His eyes lit up. He had pretty eyes. Probably he’d been handsome before Killy fucked him up. “I’m very glad. You look lovely. Let me show you to your room.”
“Please don’t get up,” she said before she could stop herself.
He looked surprised. “No?”
“It’s just…I…” Her shoulders slumped. “You look like you need to sit for a bit.”
He laughed then, and nodded. “You’re right. It’s been a long and tiring day.”
“If you just tell me where my room is, I can put all of this away.”
“That closed door over there.” He pointed with the head of his cane.
Shannon gathered up everything she could and took it to the room. It wasn’t as big as the other bedroom, but it was still larger than the one she had at home. The bed was huge, covered in soft blankets. She set everything on the love seat near the window. She’d hang it up later. She had to make three trips to get everything out of the living area.
When she finally returned—it seemed rude to stay in her room—she found him with his feet up on the coffee table, talking on his cell phone.
“So, the package was delivered?” he asked, barely glancing at her. “Good. Has our friend returned home yet?…Just now? Interesting. Let me know what happens.” He hung up and put the phone on the table. “I’m sorry. Business. I was just about to watch a movie. Would you care to join me? Dinner should be here shortly.”
Shannon shrugged. “Okay. What are we watching?” If he said Pretty Woman she was jumping out a fucking window.
“Ever seen Scarface?”
She shook her head. “Isn’t that some old white-guy movie?”
Rank laughed and gestured to the other recliner beside his. “Sit down, girl. I’m going to introduce you to a classic.”
The cleaners came, disguised as department store delivery guys. They brought in a rug a little bit bigger and a helluva lot nicer than the one she had in the living room and wrapped Wex up in the old one. Then they went through and cleaned the entire place, just in case. By the time they were done, her apartment looked better than it ever had and there was absolutely no trace of any DNA other than her own.
“What do I owe you?” she asked the guy, wondering if they had payment plans.
“Nothing. Mr. Clark took care of it.”
Of course he had. He didn’t have to take care of her. She didn’t want him to take care of her. He’d better be open to her paying him back. “Thanks.”
“Hey,” the guy began. “Are you Killian Delaney by any chance?”
She hesitated. Not like
she really had to worry about him talking to the cops about picking up a corpse at her apartment, but still…“Um, yeah.”
He grinned. “Wow. I thought you’d be bigger.”
She nodded. “I get that a lot.” People expected an Amazon or something. She thanked the guys for their help and once they were gone she grabbed some fresh leggings, underwear, socks, and a couple of tops, along with a few toiletries, and shoved the pile into her backpack. She was on her way back to Dash’s when he called.
“Did you get your new rug?” he asked.
“I did. What are they doing with the old one?”
“I gave them disposal instructions.”
“You also paid them.”
“Yeah. We have an account. Is this where you demand that I let you pay me back?”
“You know it.”
“Okay.” He didn’t even argue. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“I am going to repay you.”
“Sure. What do you want for dinner? I’m starving.”
Was this a relationship now? It was, wasn’t it? She’d never been good at those. “I could go for Thai or sushi.” If he said Thai she’d know he was just doing all of this to be nice and suck up to her.
“You know how I feel about sushi. You want me to order, or you want to go out?”
“Order. Call it in now if you want. I can pick it up on my way. Just tell me where to go.”
He told her the name and address of the place and then said goodbye. Killian pulled into the parking lot ten minutes later. The order wasn’t ready when she went inside, so she sat on a bench by the window and waited.
Her phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number.
“Hello?”
“Aunt Killy.”
Her blood rushed from her head to her feet. It was a good thing she was already sitting down. “Shannon. Are you okay?” She had to fight to keep her voice calm.
“I am. Now.”
Now. Killian closed her eyes. “That guy who hurt you won’t do it to anyone else ever again.” Brand would be lucky if he could piss right, let alone get it up.
“Good. Mr. Cirello said I could call you.”
Mr. Cirello. Blood rushed to her head now. Her heart pounded against her ribs. Even though she’d known this was how it was going to go, hearing it was terrifying. “Is he there with you?”
“Yes. We’re about to watch a movie.”
A movie? What the hell? “Has he hurt you?”
“No.”
“Give the phone to him, sweetie.” As much as she wanted to talk to Shannon, she knew the bastard was right there, waiting. The kid was smart enough not to say the wrong thing in front of him.
A second later she heard his voice. “Hello, Killian.”
“Rank.” She practically growled his name. “If you hurt her—”
“No need for threats, Killian. I’m well aware of the gravity of the situation.”
Her grip on the phone tightened. If only it was his throat. “What are you, a walking fucking thesaurus now?”
“Shannon’s a lovely girl. Your sister’s done a good job with her.”
“What do you want, Rank?”
“Did you get my present?”
He killed his own guy. That was cold, even for him. “I did. Hope you don’t mind, but I’m regifting it.”
“I don’t blame you at all. My apologies, though. I would never have given him permission to hurt Shannon.”
So he’d killed Wex as some kind of sign of regret? She didn’t buy it. He’d killed Wex because he wanted to get rid of him and finally had an excuse. If he really cared about appearances, he would have killed Brand, too. “Mm. You still haven’t told me what you want.”
“You know what I want.”
She glanced at the hostess. No one paid any attention to the angry woman on the bench. “Revenge.”
“Something like that.”
“Let Shannon go and you can have it.”
His soft laughter slithered down her spine like a snake. “You’re not the one calling the shots, girl.”
That sounded more like the Rank she knew. “Why keep her if you aren’t going to hurt her?”
“Because it drives you crazy knowing I have her. Because you have no idea just what I might do to her, or tell sweet Shannon about her mother…or her father.”
Spots danced before her eyes. “There’s nothing to tell. Cam and Megan are good people.”
“Yes. They certainly seem to be.”
This had to be desperation, this tightness clawing at her throat. “Don’t ruin her life just to get to me, Rank.”
“She’s suffered enough already. Don’t you think she deserves to know the truth?”
“What truth?” she heard Shannon ask in the background.
Killian’s jaw tightened. “I should have killed you.”
“Yeah, you should have. Or maybe you should have asked yourself why your precious Jason met the end that he did.”
He had the nerve to bring up Jason? “He died because you had him killed.”
“He died because he double-crossed me.”
She wanted to scream, but she whispered instead, “You fucking liar.”
“Ask Dash. He knows. I’m going to hang up now, Killian. Shannon and I have a movie to watch. I’ll call you tomorrow to discuss our meeting.”
“Or I could come there tonight and put a bullet between your eyes.”
“She’s going to be sleeping two doors down from me,” Rank said, his voice suddenly low, as if he didn’t want Shannon to overhear. “I don’t want to hurt her, but if you show up at my place tonight she’ll be the first one to die. Don’t be a hero, Killian. It doesn’t suit you.”
The call disconnected before she could respond.
A scream built inside her, turning the knuckles of the hand holding her phone stark white. She bit her lip until she tasted blood. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Just breathe. A sense of calm began to slowly creep through her bones.
Anger was what Rank wanted her to feel. He wanted her to do something stupid, to be rash and reckless, like she’d always been. Shannon thought she was safe with the bastard, but she had no idea just how much danger she was in.
Her stomach turned. If Rank had found out what she thought he had…She closed her eyes. Jesus Christ. So many people could be hurt. So many people would be hurt. This was true, but nothing mattered more than bringing Shannon home. Nothing.
The hostess approached her with a large paper bag with handles. Killian paid for the food and left the restaurant. Most people wouldn’t be able to even think of eating if they were in her position, but she was ravenous. It was like rage ramped up her metabolism.
Hank greeted her when she walked into Dash’s house, tail wagging, tongue lolling. She petted his sleek head as she kicked off her shoes. Then he followed her into the kitchen. Dash looked up from where he sat at the table, working on his laptop.
“What happened?” he asked.
“Aside from finding Wex’s corpse in my house? Oh, not much. Rank just fucking called to let me know Shannon is with him and that he’s in fucking charge.”
He leaned back in his chair. A little surprise might have been nice. “You’re shocked? We figured this was where it was headed, right?”
“Yeah, but hearing his voice…” She shook her head, too mad even to speak.
“Did he tell you he wouldn’t hurt her?” When she nodded, he added, “If nothing else, he’s a man of his word.”
“Is he?” she asked, remembering what Rank had said to her. “Because he told me I should ask you about what really got Jason killed. That Jason double-crossed him.”
Dash didn’t need to speak—the look on his face said it all.
“Fuck.” Killian shook her head in disbelief. “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
“I promised Jason I wouldn’t.”
“Come on, D.”
“I kept my promise to you; I couldn’t break the one I made to him.”
&
nbsp; He had her there. One of the things she admired most about him was his trustworthiness. She couldn’t honestly be mad at him for keeping a promise to someone he’d known long before she came around.
Killian began to unpack the food, setting containers of sushi on the table. There were salads, too. “What did he do?”
Dash got up to get plates with a sigh. “You know Jay, he always had an angle. I don’t know all of it, but it had to do with guns. He was supposed to sell a shipment for Rank—they’d brokered some kind of deal. Jay tipped off the Crows and they stole the shipment before the buyers showed.”
“Idiot,” she whispered. “How did he explain knowing about the guns to Danny?”
“Told him he’d gotten a tip from a friend.”
She frowned. “And Danny believed him.”
“Didn’t have any reason not to.”
“What possessed him to fuck Rank over?”
“He said he felt guilty about dealing with Rank behind Danny’s back.”
“Of all the times for him to have an attack of conscience.” She began removing the lids from the take-out containers. “We’re going to need extra ginger.”
He got a jar from the fridge and set it in front of her. “Anyway, Rank took offense to being double-crossed and made a fool. And he wasn’t impressed with losing the guns.”
“I can’t imagine why.” She shook her head. “Stupid kid.”
“He wanted to be a big shot. A gangster, old style. He romanticized that shit. You remember.”
She did. She had, too, but it was nice of him not to remind her of that. She picked up a piece of spicy salmon roll and popped it into her mouth. It was delicious. “And so Rank had every right to retaliate.”
“He didn’t have to kill him. That wasn’t retaliation, that was making an example of him. It was Rank needing to have the biggest balls. He’s always been that way. He’s doing it with you now.”
“I don’t care how much he struts and postures. I just want Megan to sleep through the night again. I want that kid home.”
Dash spooned salad with ginger dressing onto her plate. “What did he say?”
“That he’d call me tomorrow to make arrangements.” She tried an avocado roll. “He’s got this idea that we’re going to have a showdown. I meet him on his turf and we finish this.”
