Conned

by Jessica Wilde

  Son of a bitch.

  ***

  Emily

  Emily locked the deadbolt behind Conall and leaned her forehead on the door as she waited to hear his footsteps walk away from her. It was several long and agonizing seconds before he did and she took a deep, cleansing breath.

  She couldn't take it anymore. The man was under her skin and driving her insane. Now that she knew he was attracted to her, the urge to jump him was even worse. She wouldn't be able to handle it much longer. A man like Conall Brannock was a man who would rip her heart right out of her chest and run with it.

  She felt him staring at her when she cooked, when she was reading, when she was watching television. She felt the little brushes of his hand when he squeezed passed her in the kitchen or in a doorway and her traitorous heart fluttered every time he smiled.

  That damn smile.

  So rare.

  It was difficult to avoid him over the last week, especially after he had taken her to dinner and she had spent the best night of her life laughing and talking to him, but he had done his part and the two found themselves in, surprisingly, comfortable silence more often than not. There was one morning that they had collided when she was rushing into the bathroom and he had just finished showering. The memory made Emily flush.

  He had been naked except for the towel wrapped around his hips and held in a fist to keep it closed when she ran into him. She got a better look at the tattoo on his chest and could only make out the Celtic symbol for family and the beautiful vine that looped through it before he quickly stepped away and cleared the door so she could enter the bathroom.

  She already knew that the Brannock's were close, but his sense of family and the love shared between them was much deeper than she could ever know. At least to him.

  When she hadn't moved into the bathroom right away and stood like a statue staring at his naked torso, he placed his hand on her back and gently pushed her in before shutting the door behind her. No man should be that sexy. It had to go against nature or something.

  She finished seasoning the chicken, her mind jumping back and forth from Conall to Rayce. Two completely different men in more ways than one and both of which meant more to her than she wanted to allow.

  She was opening the oven when the sound of footsteps approaching their apartment made her pause. Was he coming back? Was he thinking along the same lines and decided he couldn't take it anymore?

  Yeah, because you're just that lucky, Em.

  Maybe it was paranoia, but she stopped what she was doing and strained her ears, holding her breath when the footsteps stopped right outside the front door.

  One breath, in and out. Two. In.

  The door burst open and crashed to the floor and it took her an embarrassing second too long to realize that it wasn't Conall and she was in danger. She needed a weapon and flicked her eyes back and forth across the kitchen in search of one. The only thing that would be effective was the butcher knife in the sink… five steps away.

  She didn't have a chance to move before a man who looked like he belonged in a motorcycle club stepped into the kitchen with a gun pointing right at her. The pounding of her heart stopped altogether and bile started to rise up her throat. This was it. They had found her and she was dead.

  "Don't move," he growled, his voice like sandpaper.

  She stayed frozen, but her body began to tremble like a leaf as her eyes locked on his. Muddy brown and cold and, oddly, so very familiar. His face was covered in a thick dark scruff and his dark hair was long and pulled back into a low ponytail. A jagged scar ran across his cheek at an angle and it looked somewhat new, still red and slightly swollen. Her mind was too jumbled to flip through the images of people from her past and when he stepped closer, it took all her effort to concentrate on not passing out. She couldn't place him and immediately stopped trying.

  "W-what do you want?" she stuttered, her voice weak and shaky.

  He smirked, so unlike the smirk she had started to look forward to every day. Conall's was warm and teasing. This man looked like he was going to rip her to pieces, but only after he took what he wanted.

  "Now that I've seen you, I can understand why he wants you alive." He licked his lips and looked her up and down slowly with a tainted smile.

  She felt dirty under his perusal and the bile in her throat was burning more with every passing second. He wasn't going to kill her, but dying would be a mercy compared to all the other things he could do to her.

  Her only thought was that Conall might still be close or Luke should be able to see the broken door and would come to check on her. She had to bide her time until one of them could get to her. If she could just get passed this disgusting bastard, she could make a run for it.

  Maybe Conall was still in his truck going through the radio stations like he always did. If she could get outside and yell for him…

  She glanced toward the door and back before she could stop herself.

  "Don't even think about it," he sneered and took a step closer.

  Her back hit the counter behind her as she moved away from him. He waved the gun, gesturing for her to come closer to him.

  "You're coming with me. You fight? I stop you. Got it?"

  A flash in the doorway made her breath catch, but she nodded her head and kept her eyes on the gun still being aimed at her.

  "Don't move, asshole," Conall's voice growled and she was finally able to focus on what was behind her attacker.

  Conall's blue eyes zeroed in on the back of the guys head, exactly where his gun was aimed and she bit her lip to stop from crying out in relief. He hadn't left yet and he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. She wanted to burst into tears of happiness.

  The man didn't drop his gun, but he stiffened and his eyes darted around from side to side looking for an escape. She suddenly worried that his desperation wouldn't bode well for any of them and she stayed frozen against the counter, staring at the two men before her. The slightest movement from anyone could end in a gun being fired and any one of them being killed. She wasn't about to make a move to get away when the risk was too high.

  Conall's eyes moved to her and warmed when he met her stare, making the tension in her body ease just a little. He was there to protect her and she trusted him with her life. How could she not? His eyes roamed her body quickly as if he was making sure she didn't have any injuries and it took everything she had to keep her feet planted firmly where she stood and not run to him.

  Those fierce blue eyes moved back to the man in between them and the warmth she saw in them disappeared. "Drop the weapon and put your hands on your head," he demanded.

  "You're making a big mistake," the guy chuckled. "Either way, you're both dead. Ripley won't stop."

  "We'll see. Now drop it."

  The man slowly lowered his arm as if he was going to drop the gun to the floor and Emily relaxed a little more with every inch. Just before the gun touched the ground, he crouched down further and lunged for her, locking her in his arms and spinning her in front of him before she could get out of his reach. She sucked in a breath of surprise, the man was huge and shouldn't have been able to move that fast. When she felt the barrel of the gun press into her temple, her knees buckled and the threat of tears was back, burning in the back of her eyes. For the first time in her life, she felt pure terror.

  Oh God, I'm going to die.

  Conall jolted toward them quickly, his face a mask of fury, but his eyes looked just as fearful as she felt. He stopped abruptly when the man tsked in her ear and his hot breath slithered down her neck.

  "Ah, ah, ah. Drop your gun or she gets one in the head."

  She saw another flicker of panic in Conall's bright blue eyes and her stomach dropped. If he was unsure, she was totally fucked.

  "Please," she whispered.

  The voice at her ear chuckled evilly. "So polite," he muttered.

  "What the hell do you want?" Conall growled, his gun still pointed at the guy and his eyes dartin
g back and forth between him and Emily. The mask slipped and his face crumpled for just a half a second before he schooled his features and pointed that intense glare back at the man holding her.

  She knew he wouldn't fire. He wouldn't risk her life like that and this guy had just told her that he needed to bring her back alive. An idea flickered through her mind and she took a deep breath and focused on Conall and the determination on his face. No way was she going to let this guy take her to Lucien Ripley, so she had nothing to lose. She would rather die than be taken from Conall so there really was no other choice.

  "I'm no good to you dead," her voice shook and she bit her cheek to keep her tears from falling. Her breath was coming in quick but wavered with every exhale and her hands trembled uncontrollably.

  The grip around her tightened and squeezed the breath from her lungs. "I would shut that pretty mouth of yours quickly before I find something to fill it with," he whispered in her ear. He had meant for Conall to hear it and she knew he had when she saw the ferocity in his eyes.

  "He's not going to kill me," she said to him, her voice stronger than she thought it would be. "He has to take me back alive and they'll probably kill him the minute he hands me over."

  "Shut up!"

  "Emily…" Conall said with a warning.

  He looked like he wanted to throttle her for egging the guy on, but she had to distract him enough to give Conall a shot.

  "I'd rather die anyway," she whispered, her eyes pleading with him to take the shot.

  "Shut the fuck up, whore!"

  She stared into Conall's eyes and the slight twitch of his lips told her he knew exactly what she was doing.

  "What? You don't work for him right? You're just a hired goon to clean up the loose ends. He has no need for you once the job is done."

  The hold around her waist was painful and the gun pressed harder against her temple. He was upset and only getting angrier. Any second and he would lose his control.

  His hot breath blew in her ear and his gravelly voice made her cringe, "I have nothing to do with Ripley and the people I work for might want you back alive, but they never said anything about untouched."

  That's when he made the mistake she had been waiting for. His hold on her loosened and his hand moved to her breast and squeezed it… hard.

  A disgusting shiver ran straight down her spine and made her stomach roll. She shot a hard look at Conall, gathered all her strength and lifted on her toes before dropping down hard with all her weight. The gun slid through her hair before pressing against air and she crashed to the floor as Conall fired. Before she could crawl away, the man landed on her back, sending her sprawling and forcing out the scream she had been holding in, certain he was about to get the upper hand once more.

  The weight of the man was like a car and she couldn't get away from him no matter how hard she pushed, but she couldn't stop trying.

  "Hold on, Emily," Conall said as he moved toward them.

  She relaxed at the sound of his voice and realized why the man wasn't grabbing her at all and why his weight was so immovable.

  Conall had shot him in the head. He was dead.

  And on top of her.

  His blood was streaming down her back and over her shoulder.

  She started shaking violently now and was about to vomit when suddenly the weight was lifted off of her and she was able to drag herself away.

  The feel of Conall's arms wrapping around her waist was like being reborn. He pulled her into his chest and sat down hard on the tile floor, dragging her with him to lean against the door of the oven. He held her tightly and buried his nose in her hair while she sobbed into his chest.

  "It's alright. I've got you. You're okay," he whispered into her hair and it only made her cry harder.

  Sirens sounded in the distance and the smell of blood was overpowering, but the only thing she could focus on was Conall's hard chest and the iron band he had formed around her body.

  "I've got you, baby. You're safe now," he mumbled softly.

  She raised her head to look at him and his sapphire eyes were anxious as he stared down at her. He moved a hand to her cheek and pushed the hair out of her eyes before cupping her jaw and running his gaze over every inch of her face.

  A catch of her breath was all she heard before his lips crashed against hers. The kiss was demanding but gentle and she didn't hesitate to kiss him back. When he ran his tongue along her bottom lip, she opened for him and he greedily accepted her invitation, her tongue eagerly meeting his. Strong fingers tangled in her hair and pulled her face closer, allowing him to consume her the way she wanted him to since that first kiss they shared weeks ago. She reached up and raked her fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck and he groaned, the sound causing the heat inside of her to flare into a raging inferno.

  "Please," she begged, not sure why she was begging, just that she needed to.

  He continued to kiss her, his fingers tugging her hair before moving over her jaw and down her neck. She was only vaguely aware that this was extremely bad timing. She didn't care.

  "Con! Talk to me!"

  He tore his lips away, both of them gasping for air, and pressed his forehead against hers for a moment before turning his head to shout toward the open door.

  "He's down. We're good."

  In the next moment, Luke came charging into the kitchen with his gun raised. When he took in the body lying in the middle of the floor, he lowered the gun and turned to look at them.

  "What the hell happened?"

  Emily turned her face into Conall's chest once more and took deep breaths, not wanting to look at the man who would have taken her and done things she couldn't imagine if it hadn't been for Conall. His arm held her firmly against him as he spoke to Luke, but Emily couldn't process any of what they were saying and by the time she looked back, there were three more officers that had entered the apartment.

  "Emily."

  She looked away from the hard faces of the men standing there staring at her, and up into Conall's eyes. "Yeah?"

  "We need to get you cleaned up and out of here. He may not be the only one around," he said gently.

  She nodded and started to pull away, but his arms constricted around her and he spoke quietly into her ear.

  "Let me carry you, please."

  Her response was the tightening of her fingers around his broad shoulders and he shifted to lift her into his arms and stand. Her head immediately fell against his shoulder and the adrenaline that had been pumping through her minutes before was now long gone, leaving exhaustion in its wake.

  Luke stepped right up to them and spoke in a low voice, "Should I call Ash and have her meet you at the house?"

  Conall shook his head and mumbled something about it being safer to find a hotel. Then he moved out of the kitchen and down the hall to the bathroom. Once inside, he kicked the door shut and somehow locked it while still holding onto her. She wasn't sure how she was going to be able to stand on her own when she could barely keep her head up, but Conall didn't put her down. Instead, he sat on the edge of the bathtub and kept her cradled in his arms.

  Her tears were all dried up and her hands and feet were numb along with her senses. She had always taken this whole situation seriously and never once thought it would be simple to do what she had agreed. Now, the urge to back out was overwhelming. Her life had been in danger for a while now, but tonight was too close. It was too much.

  "I don't want to let you go," she heard Conall say under his breath and his lips brushed her forehead softly.

  She raised her head off his shoulder and met his eyes. She was sure hers were swollen and red and that her face was splotchy and not at all attractive, but he studied every inch of it with a tenderness in his eyes that made her shiver. Not the disgusted shiver she had felt with that bastard holding onto her and breathing down her neck, but a pleasant jolt of electricity that traveled down her spine and between her legs.

  "I don't want you to," she whispered
.

  He moved a hand up and down her back and she felt the stickiness of the dried up blood on her skin where it had soaked through her shirt. He sighed and shifted her on his lap so she was sitting sideways across his thighs.

  "Hey Con?" Luke's voice was muffled through the door, but she could hear the worry in his tone.

  She started to stand but Conall held her down on his lap and called out to his friend, "Give me a minute."

  Luke didn't reply and she assumed they were doing that thing they always did where they understood exactly what was going on after only exchanging a few words. Conall just kept his eyes on the door and ran his fingers through her hair for a minute before he looked back down at her and spoke firmly. "I'm going to grab your things and bring you a change of clothes. We leave in ten minutes."

  "Okay."

  He lifted her off of his lap and, once she was steady on her feet released his hold on her and walked swiftly to the sink. He washed the blood from her shirt off of his hands, then headed for the door.

  She meant to call his name and tell him thank you for saving her life, but she couldn't find her voice and the moment his touch had left her, all the anxiety and fear she thought was over and done with returned with a vengeance. The door shut and in the next second, she was on her knees trying to catch her breath.

  She couldn't do this anymore.

  It was time to come clean and deal with the fallout.

  The devastation she felt at the thought of Conall getting hurt protecting her was well overshadowing the grief she felt at the thought of Rayce possibly being suspected for murder.

  The tears came quickly and she hurried to the toilet as the nausea consumed her. How could she feel that way? Rayce was her family.

  Rayce hasn't been your family for a long time now, Em.

  She retched into the bowl and prayed that she would just stop feeling altogether. She was alone and that's how it would always be. She was done, now she had to suffer the consequences.

  Chapter 10

  Conall

  "Where you gonna go, Con?"

  Luke followed me into Emily's bedroom and watched as I packed some clothes for her. I had no idea how to pack for a woman so I just threw in the stuff she had worn in the past few weeks. "No idea. There are some hotels by the airport, may need to spend the night there in case we need to take off."