by Jane Henry
“Mute it,” he mouths.
“Tiernan, just a minute.” I hit the mute button and look at Nolan. He looks even angrier than before. What the hell is that about?
“You have children?”
“Of course not,” I snap. I sigh. “That’s my brother.”
I want to get to Tiernan. I want to rescue them, but how?
“Then who’s that on the phone?”
I swallow. I hate giving him any truth. “My younger brother.”
His eyes widen slightly. “And you’ve got siblings left unattended?”
“Aye,” I say angrily. “Their mother’s an alcoholic, likely passed out on some arsehole’s couch.”
He holds my gaze for a moment, working his jaw.
“I’ll tell you right now, woman, if I find out you’re lyin’ to me I will flay you alive.”
My heart thumps. I glare. “I’m not lying,” I tell him. Everything else I’ve told him is a lie, so I’m not sure why it bothers me so much that he questions the only truth I’ve given him.
“Son of a bitch,” he curses. “And he’s got no one to watch them?”
I shake my head.
“I see,” he says, stroking his chin. “Alright, then. Get dressed. Let’s go.”
“Let’s go?”
He points back to the phone. “Tell Tiernan you’re on your way.”
Chapter 7
Nolan
This woman is way more complicated than she appears.
So fucking complicated.
When I came into the room just now and saw her in a full panic attack, it took me by surprise. I’ve never seen her lose herself like that, lose such self-control. She’s mastered every emotion. It’s part of her armor.
I couldn’t help but comfort her, to help her calm down. But I don’t trust her, not one bit.
But now I feel a little like a douchebag. I assumed Tiernan was her boyfriend. What the fuck am I, a jealous fucking lover? What the hell?
I don’t trust her, and I need answers, but hell, I’m not a monster. If she’s got children she’s responsible for…
Still, it’s crap like this that pisses Keenan off. I was given a job to do and I have to do it, damn it. He’ll kill me, maybe even step in and do the job himself.
“Suppose you can’t wear that damn dress to go see your brothers or sisters?” I ask, frowning at her. She looks at the dress with chagrin, and shakes her head.
“You got someone you can call that will go to them until we get there?”
She thinks for a moment, then bites her lip. “Aye.”
“Call them.”
Her fingers hesitate over the phone. Does she have to think that hard about it? If I needed help, I’d have an army of support at my fingers. Does she have no one?
Why does this surprise me? Of course she doesn’t. She’s disingenuous and conniving.
She finally dials someone, but it only goes to voicemail.
“I can call Walsh,” I tell her. He’s one of the officers on our payroll.
“Christ, no,” she says. Her eyes flash at me. “Are you out of your fucking mind? He’ll have them in child protection before the day’s out.”
“Then call someone,” I repeat, my voice hardening. I’ve no patience for this.
She calls a second person, then a third. No one answers. No one’s going to help her. She can’t hide the way her face falls.
“Fine, then,” I say, when my phone rings. It’s Keenan. I shove my phone in my pocket. I’m not going to answer.
“Let me go alone,” she begins. “I swear to God you can send a guard with me, I’ll—”
I’m chuckling before she finishes her sentence.
“Ah, no.”
She’s still pleading her case when I dial my cousin Megan.
“Hello?”
“Need a favor, Megan.”
We were born the same year, me and Megan. She’s as close to me as a sister.
“Of course,” she says. “What do you need?”
“Some clothes. Girl clothes.”
“Girl’s?”
I clear my throat. “Ah, woman’s.”
Megan laughs out loud. “You’re a hot ticket, Nolan. You bring a girl home so fast she lost her knickers on the way?”
“Ah, no, she’s got the knickers.”
Sheena watches me with wide eyes. She can likely hear Megan’s laugh all the way over there.
“Right, then. About what size is she?”
I mute the call, get the details from Sheena, and tell Megan.
“Okay, I’m at Aileen’s right now. Sounds like some of her clothing would fit her, no?”
“Maybe,” I say, frowning. “Bring me a variety, will you?”
“Aye.”
“Who’s Megan?” she asks when I hang up my phone.
“None of your damn business,” I tell her. Doesn’t she know enough about us?
But I recognize that jealous look she’s giving me. Does she think what I did about Tiernan?
Are we that fucked up?
She’s my prisoner, my enemy. I’ve punished her and haven’t even begun extracting the truth. Why the hell do I care who’s connected to her? Why does she?
“Cousin,” I tell her.
“Right.”
She looks away and bites her lip. “Look, Nolan. It matters to me that my brother doesn’t know who you are. If he does, it’ll scare him.”
I snort. “Am I that terrifying?”
She looks back at me. “Yes. You are.”
I shrug. “I won’t go in with a gun drawn or anything, if that’s what you’re afraid of. But you’ll do well to remember I shouldn’t even be bringing you there. That you’re captive here, and what happens outside this room doesn’t matter.”
I wonder if I’m making a mistake.
Maybe going to her siblings will tell me something about her I need to know. Suppose this is what I tell myself to justify what I’m doing.
A knock sounds at the door.
“That’ll be Megan. Stay here.”
She rolls her eyes heavenward. “Like there’s any fucking place for me to go?”
Megan can wait. I step over to Sheena, tangle my fingers in her hair, and hold her gaze. “That’s ten, doll. Care to up the count?”
She swallows when I place my hand on her neck. Warning. I can feel her pulse quickening under my palm.
“The count?” she repeats.
“How many smacks you’ll get over my knee tonight when we return to why you’re here.”
“Is that all you like to do?” she asks. She’s trying to unsettle me or distract me, I’m not sure which, but I won’t have it. We weren’t planning on leaving, and I won’t tell my brother I haven’t gotten answers.
“You’ll see about that,” I say with a rueful smile. I flex my hand on her neck. “Now sit on the bed and behave yourself.”
“Fine,” she whispers with a nod. I push her to sitting and hold her eyes as I walk to the door. I need a good, long night with her before I find out anything at all, I know it, and even then I’ll have to employ a variety of methods. But I won’t get far if she’s distracted with thoughts of home.
I open the door to find not only Megan, but Caitlin and Aileen. Megan is grinning, Aileen eying me cautiously, and Caitlin looks a bit sheepish. I shut the door behind me and step into the hall.
“What the fuck is this?” I hiss. “I don’t need a goddamn posse.” I glare at Megan. She’s responsible for this. The brown-haired, jolly cousin of ours doesn’t know enough to leave well enough alone.
Aileen, her long blonde hair woven into a braid, is shorter than Megan, but just as bold. She places her hands on her hips and faces me.
“Nolan, if you’ve brought a woman here, we ought to meet her.”
I turn my glare to her, but it doesn’t intimidate her. She’s married to Cormac, the biggest and most fierce of all, and he’s wrapped around her little finger.
“Is that right?” I ask her. “Every time I br
ing home a lass for a quick fuck we should put the kettle on? Hmm?”
She rolls her eyes and Caitlin speaks up. Taller than Aileen and thinner, she’s willowy and fairy-like, Keenan’s wife and the first that married into our clan in our generation.
“Now, Nolan. We know she isn’t here for a quick f—” she blushes furiously. I’ve never heard her utter a curse word. Even slang is usually beneath her. “For that,” she amends. “She’s here for a greater purpose, and you know it.”
Megan tugs a lock of Caitlin’s black hair. “You’re adorable, you know that?”
“And at what point in time did your husbands tell you our greater purpose was any of your goddamn business?”
Aileen rolls her eyes heavenward, but Megan grins at me. “Husbands? Did you forget who I am, cousin?” I haven’t. Megan and I have sworn off marriage, and it’s one thing that draws us together as friends.
She scoffs. “The day I put a band on my finger’s the day pigs fly over the Irish Sea. Now, are you leaving the poor lass stark naked and waiting, or are you going to let us in?”
“You’re not coming in,” I say, reaching for the pile of clothes.
“She might need a friend, though,” Megan says.
“She needs a firm hand is what she needs,” I say, shaking my head. I turn away from them. “For all the nerve.”
I open the door and they’re smart enough not to follow.
“Keep me posted, cousin!” Megan says. The other girls giggle. I almost regret even asking for her help.
I shake my head and slam the door behind me. “Thank you,” I say to the closed door. I don’t want to be a total arse.
It doesn’t take long for Sheena to find something to wear. I marvel at how different she looks with her red hair, sporting a pair of leggings and top, instead of the black wig and fancy dress.
She’s stunning, even in these simple clothes.
When she looks at me, she isn’t playing anymore, but dead serious. “You should bring a weapon,” she says softly. “It’s dangerous where we’re going.”
“Lass, I never go anywhere without a weapon. Where exactly are we going?”
She swallows and looks in the distance when she answers, “Stone City… just outside of Dublin,” she says. “Probably never heard of it.”
But she’s wrong. “I know Stone City.” Reminds me of Limerick City a few hours away. The area where we’re going is drug-infested and riddled with crime, and she’s right that I should bring a weapon. What I also need is back-up.
I call Lachlan.
“Nolan?”
“You free, brother?”
“Aye. Something the matter?”
“Need to get to Stone City. Need back up.”
“Christ, Nolan. Stone City? Keenan know?”
“No.”
He’s silent for a minute. He knows my job tonight and can assume why I need to go.
“Right then,” he says. “Where do I meet you?”
I give him instructions to meet him by the car.
“I’ll see you there. I’ll keep an eye out for Keenan.”
It feels weirdly like I’m a teenager sneaking out past curfew. Keenan’s a good leader, the very best. Loyal and just, and he holds himself to even higher standards than he holds us. But he’s uncompromising. And I’ve no doubt he’d think leaving here with our prisoner I’m supposed to question to go to a dangerous, crime-infested city where I’m certain to be noticed, is a fucking mistake.
But after this, she’ll owe me a favor, and hell, though I don’t want to be that bastard, she’s left me no choice but to play hardball.
We don’t go down the main stairs but the back stairway that leads down to the kitchen and garden. I march her along, my hand on her arm, to remind her she’s my prisoner and not to pull anything fast.
She’ll try, though. I fucking know she will.
When I get to the garage I find not only Lachlan but Carson as well.
“Fancy a party?” I ask. “What the hell, Lach?”
“We were having a drink when you called. Thought it’d be better to have three of us than two.”
“More conspicuous that way,” I mutter.
Carson flips me off. “I can leave if you want.”
“Come off it, Carson, it’s nothing personal.”
“Eh, I know,” he says with a shrug. “But I got into a fight with Eve, and she locked me out.”
Sheena watches us, her eyes flitting from one to the next without a word. She says nothing. Notes everything.
“What’d you do?” I ask, going over to the passenger’s side and opening the door. I point to Sheena. “You. Here.” She rolls her eyes and I slap her arse before I even think about what I’m doing. I place her in the car as if she’s a small child, grab the belt and buckle her in. I lean in close and whisper in her ear. “Care to add to your number?”
She flushes, purses her lips, and doesn’t respond.
I go to the driver’s side. Lachlan and Carson go to the back.
“Address,” I say.
She gives it to me and I punch it into the GPS.
Carson whistles in the back. “No foolin’, Nolan? You fancy gettin’ knifed tonight, brother?”
Sheena whips her head around and glares at him. “I’ll thank you to keep your fucking opinions to yourself.”
I grip her thigh and squeeze. “Watch it, woman. You’re captive here, and not allowed to speak freely.”
“Is that right?” she snaps. “Or what? Twenty?”
I pull out onto the street and follow the directions. She notes everything as the gates open to let us out.
I grit my teeth. “Don’t tempt me, Sheena.”
Lachlan chuckles in the back. “Figures you’d end up with a mouthy one, brother.”
“End up with? What do you think this is, a fucking reward?”
“Aye,” he says cheerfully. “You’re second in line to the throne. Of course it is.”
“Oh come off it,” I mutter.
“Is he?” Sheena asks over her shoulder.
“Aye,” Lachlan continues.
“That’s enough. We don’t need to give her any more information than necessary, for Christ’s sake.”
We drive in silence, and as the time passes, the view out our window goes from the glittering rocks that line the coast of Ballyhock to dilapidated streets of Stone City.
Lachlan whistles. “Never been here,” he mutters to himself.
“Well good for you,” Sheena says.
“Sheena,” I begin. I’ve had it with her mouth, but I don’t get very far when someone runs straight out in front of the car so quickly I come to a screeching halt.
“Mother of God,” I mutter, as two teens dressed in all black laugh and jeer, running away from us.
“Pull the car over,” Lachlan fumes in the back. “I’ll teach them to be so feckin’ stupid.”
“No time, brother.” He’s got a temper he keeps in check with effort, which sometimes proves useful. Other times, not so much.
“Careful, Nolan,” Carson says. “Pull ‘round the shops here, and to the left. To the right’s where the dealers are. Likely to be more crowded this time of night.”
Sheena looks over her shoulder at him, frowning. “How do you know anything about this city?”
“Don’t answer her,” I tell him. He’s silent, and she huffs out a breath, but before I can respond, she points a finger.
“There,” she says. I glance quickly at her. Her face has paled, and she bites her lip. When she speaks, her tone of voice carries more than anger, though. Hurt? “I’d thank you to keep your nasty comments to yourself.”
“Nasty comments?”
“Aye,” she says, reaching for the handle of the door. “Not all of us were raised in a mansion, Nolan.”
Touchy, seems like. I didn’t say a word to her about where she came from. I have to admit, it surprises me, though. There are few places more run down than Stone City, and I didn’t peg her coming from a place
like this.
She opens the door and leaves. The rest of us follow.
“Christ, brother, good luck with that one,” Lachlan mutters.
I give him a wry smile. “It isn’t luck I need.”
Carson smacks me on the back. “Aye, Nolan’s up for this job.”
I go round the car and beckon for Sheena. She walks to me without giving me trouble, and takes the hand I hold out. It feels strangely intimate.
“Didn’t know you’d be introducing me to mum and dad already, did you?”
She lifts her head high and doesn’t respond at first. Her nostrils flare and her cheeks redden, before she tosses her hair and shrugs. But she’s acting again. I needled her. It’s easy to do.
“Right then. Be sure to make a good impression, will you?”
I snort. “Aye, lass, I always make a good impression.”
“Really?” she asks. “Don’t know about that. First night I met you, you tied me up and punished the hell out of me. Did you forget?”
I squeeze her hand a little tighter. “Of course not. But it seems, doll, that I’m not the only one who hasn’t forgotten, eh?”
She looks away, abashed, when someone crosses our path. He’s tall thin, with a shaved head and beady, angry eyes. My body instantly tightens when he takes the stance of a guard dog ready to defend its territory.
“Back again so soon, Sheena? But you brought a few of your quick lays with you?”
My fingers roll into a fist. For fuck’s sake, I didn’t come here to knock someone’s teeth out, but he may leave me no choice.
“Fuck off,” she says.
Jesus, she doesn’t know how to handle bullies. You don’t mouth off to them or needle them. That only feeds them. You either ignore them or take control, and if they attack, you knock them out or slice their throat, whichever the situation calls for.
But I’ve no patience for a dumbass prick barring our way, so it’s my turn.
“Move aside,” I tell him. “We’re here for a reason and you’re in our fucking way.”
The dumb bastard’s looking for a fight, because he yanks his hand out of his pocket and a blade snaps open in his hand. Sheena gasps, but within seconds, Lachlan, Carson, and I all have our weapons drawn.
I take a step toward him, my gun trained on him.
