by Jane Henry
Footsteps sound in the doorway and I look up to see Keenan coming in. The men fall silent, and my stomach plummets. The record I have on him would fill a diary. Nolan takes his seat beside me and draws in a deep breath.
“Morning, Keenan,” Maeve says, unperturbed. She breaks off a piece of toast and hands it to Sam, who waves it in his little fist.
“Morning,” he says. He pours himself a cup of tea, looking over all of us. “Mornin’ Sheena,” he says to me. The tone of his voice sends a chill straight down my spine. I’m not one to cower, but he’s harder than the rest. He doesn’t trust me.
“Morning.”
“And who are the rest?” he asks. I introduce them all.
“Well, then,” he says. He pulls a seat out next to Caitlin and sits. “I’m guessing you’re here because you aren’t safe at home?”
Tiernan nods, and facing Keenan, tells the truth succinctly. How they were endangered the night before, how they called me, how Nolan and the rest came and brought them here.
“We don’t mean to intrude,” he says. “We know we don’t belong here, and we’ll be going just as soon as we know it’s safe.”
Keenan eyes him thoughtfully as he states his story.
“Doesn’t sound like it’s safe for you to return home,” he says. He turns to me, his gaze sharp as granite. Nolan grips my thigh, a reminder to watch my tone and behavior with the Clan Chief. “And Sheena has some business with us here, don’t you?”
Business with them. My God. He’s right, though. I do.
“Aye,” I say.
“They’ll be Nolan’s responsibility,” Keenan says, buttering a scone. “Nolan, you can call Father Finn and he can help you sort things out. Get them taken care of.”
He says it as casually as if he were ordering cream for his tea instead of issuing an order that could tear my family apart. My body stills, and before I can respond, Nolan does.
“The hell I will,” Nolan says. Keenan’s eyebrows shoot heavenward and he pauses, the scone halfway to his mouth. The room falls silent, even baby Sam watching everyone with wide, curious eyes.
“You know how that will go,” Nolan says, glaring at Keenan.
Keenan takes a bite, swallows, then follows it with a pull at his teacup. “Careful, brother,” he says quietly.
“You will not call Father Finn,” I say. My mind’s made up. I’m prone to making dumbass decisions on the spur of the moment. I should keep my mouth shut, goddamn it, but I can’t seem to stop.
“Who’s Father Finn?” Tiernan demands.
“Parish priest,” I tell him. I don’t even bother to hide the fact that I know who every single person connected to the McCarthys is. “If we call him, you’ll all be sent to social protection before breakfast is over. And I can’t let that happen.”
Keenan purses his lips, working his jaw. Caitlin leans in, placing her hand on his arm, and speaks in a soft, gentle voice. “Keenan, you can’t call him. Fiona told us what happened, what it was like. It breaks my heart to think of sending them back there, where they aren’t safe, or sending them to social protection, where they’ll likely be separated.”
I make up my mind and clear my throat. “I’ll finish my business here with you,” I tell him. “And once we’re done, I’ll take them back home with me.”
Keenan’s eyes don’t leave mine. He stares at me, unblinking. “Will you, then?” he asks. “Are you that sure your business with us won’t take very long?”
My throat tightens. Does he mean to keep me here prisoner forever?
God, I’m so stupid. So stupid. I thought I could waltz right in here, spy without being noticed, then waltz right back out again. That they wouldn’t know who I am, what I’ve done, and maybe even what I plan to do yet.
Keenan folds his arms on his chest. His voice is quiet but dangerous when he asks, “Does the Clancy Clan mean anything to you, Sheena?”
My God. Of course I know of them. Every reporter in Ireland knew that story, how the American reporter tracked the mob and harassed them, doing an exposé and story that brought them to ruin.
How she was found dead in her bed not one day later.
“Are you threatening me, Keenan?” I ask, holding his gaze.
He turns to Nolan. “Perhaps we need a private meeting, brother.”
Nolan’s jaw clenches. “Aye. After breakfast, inner circle.”
“That’s fine, boys,” Maeve says. She runs her fingers through Sam’s hair, unperturbed. “You have your meeting, you make your decision. But you know we’ve a spare room right here in the house beside mine. You know it isn’t safe for them to go home. And you further know that a call to Father Finn could separate them. We may not be in the business of charity, but I think our decision here is clear.”
Keenan mutters something, shaking his head, but Fiona looks hopeful. My body feels both warm and cold, my belly tight.
Nolan gets to his feet, and Keenan watches him. “Meeting in thirty,” he says. Turning to his mother, he gives her a nod. “Get them situated in the spare room for now, no call to Finn. Call Sebastian and have Fiona’s wrist looked at.”
“Looks like you could use a visit with Sebastian yourself,” Maeve says, gesturing to his lacerated hands from the night before.
“I’ll be the judge of that,” he says. “Don’t you worry about me.”
Nolan reaches for my hand. “Sheena.”
Tiernan’s on his feet while Fiona watches everything. She knows something’s awry, but it’s Tiernan I need to worry about.
“I’ll see you in a bit,” I tell him. “Nolan and I will talk to the others is all. We’ll be sure you’re safe here.”
I want to scream against Nolan, beat my hands on his chest and rail for what he’s doing to me, what he’s putting me through. And I want to weep with relief. I’m so confused, not sure how I should even react.
Nolan’s on his phone, his grip on me firm.
“Meeting,” he snaps into the phone.
My heart does a little somersault when he commands these men. He was born for this.
Keenan nods. “I’ll prepare the office.”
“No Finn.”
Keenan nods. “I won’t call him. You have my word.”
When the men have dispersed, Nolan turns to me. “Before the meeting? You and I will have a talk.”
There’s something ominous in the way he says it. We’ll have a talk.
I wonder what precisely he has in mind.
He reaches for the handle of a door right behind him. I don’t know where I am, what he’s doing, or what’s happening. He pulls me into the darkened room, shuts the door, then pulls the latch behind us.
Chapter 11
Nolan
I saw how close Keenan came to ruining everything. I won’t allow it to happen. I can’t.
She angers me like no one else, but there’s more to this fierce, brave woman than meets the eye. Anyone would want to see to the safety of her young siblings. Well, nearly anyone. But Keenan’s right. We aren’t in the business of charity.
But I just put my neck on the line for her. I’m on the cusp of defying my brother, and the responsibility of how this all goes fall squarely on my shoulders.
I yank her into one of our meeting rooms, lock the door behind us, and shove her up against the wall.
“This again?” she says with a coy, breathy whisper.
“Not now, Sheena.” My body shakes with the need to dominate her, to convey to her how important it is she not fuck this up. I keep myself in check with effort. “Now is the time for you to drop the game. We’re playing life and death here, doll, and you’re outnumbered.”
The teasing glint in her eye fades, and her voice wavers a little.
“Don’t let him call the Father, Nolan,” she says. “I can’t… I won’t… Goddamn it, Nolan, I’ll give you what you want, but you have to make sure they’re safe.”
“Of course,” I tell her. “What do you think I am, a monster?”
She clo
ses her eyes briefly before answering. “Sometimes? Yes.”
I don’t blame her. I’ve done wicked, cruel things in my life, some things I regret and some I don’t. I’m not sure what she knows of me and what she only surmises, but I do know one thing. The pull between us, this thing, whatever it is, is undeniable, and I’ll be a damn fool to ignore it.
“I’m taking you into a meeting with my brothers,” I tell her. “You’ll be expected to answer. And how you answer will determine how we treat you. Understood?”
She nods. “Of course. Yes.”
I weave my fingers through her mass of red hair. The knot at her neck comes loose when I tug her head back.
“Try again, doll.”
Her lust-filled eyes meet mine, and she lets out the breath she was holding. “Yes, sir.”
“Good girl.”
She’s too eager to be used, too turned on by being mastered. I can’t threaten and hurt her to get answers, nor do I want to.
I’ll have to try other methods.
We’re in a small room used for bookkeeping, and brief, private meetings. There’s a small desk with a computer, a cup filled with pens, some papers and notebooks, and in one corner, a large, overstuffed chair.
I take her by the hand and lead her over to it, sit heavily, and draw her over my lap. There’s a fire that builds between us I need to stoke, and roles I need to clarify.
If I leave her wanting, she’s less likely to fight me in front of a roomful of my brothers.
“Nolan!” she protests, but I’m certain she only fights me because she feels she ought to.
“Counted out your punishment last night, didn’t I?”
“Oooh.” Her recognition is part moan, part assent. “You did.”
“I can’t neglect your discipline now, can I?”
She shakes her head. “No, sir. Certainly not.”
I lift the edge of her skirt, baring her ass.
“Good girl,” I approvingly, run my hand along her inner thigh. “You’re already wet, aren’t you?”
“Y-yes,” she pants, wriggling as if to seek pressure from my fingers. I raise my hand and give her bottom a sharp, quick swat.
“Good. Now it’s time for a little game of ask and tell. I ask a question. If you answer well, I touch right there.” I bring my fingers higher, and give one stroke across the silky strip of fabric between her legs. “If you don’t, I’ll spank you. Cooperation will end up with you climaxing, right here, over my knee.”
She tries to respond, but it comes out in a strangled moan. She nods, her mass of hair bobbing all over the place.
I promised I’d interrogate her. I have my methods.
I pat her bottom. “Ready?”
She tenses. “Yes, sir. Ready.”
Good.
“Was your plan to come here last night?”
She grips my pants leg, takes a deep breath, then nods. “Yes. Yes, sir.”
I part her legs and stroke my fingers purposefully upward, grazing the edge of knickers between her thighs.
“Was your plan to get your family to come here for safety?”
“No.”
I stroke her again, feathery light brushes of my fingertips. Her panties are damp. I’m aware of the seductive scent of her arousal.
“Were you planning on lying to us?”
She pushes out a resigned sigh. “Yes.”
I crack her ass so hard she bucks. “Hey! You said no punishment if I told the truth!”
“I did not. I promised a reward if you did. I said nothing about not giving you the punishment you earned.”
I give her another searing swat, the palm of my hand landing straight across the fullness of her arse. “That’s for planning to manipulate me,” I tell her. I raise my hand and give her another hard smack. “And that’s for putting yourself in danger. For God’s sake, you could’ve been killed.” Another swat, then another lands. I’m spanking her in earnest now and it feels fucking perfect. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I wanted to—I needed to—I had to investigate.” She’s panting, writhing, trying to get out of my grip but unable to.
“Why?” I ask, my hand poised. When she doesn’t answer, I slam my palm against her ass again.
“I wanted answers!”
Now we’re getting somewhere. I part her legs and stroke her pussy, no light teasing this time but firm, deliberate strokes of my fingers aimed at working her toward climax.
“That’s a good girl answering my questions,” I say approvingly. I’m fucking pleased she’s giving me answers now before I meet with the rest of the Clan. If I go in proving she’s answered me some, it’ll go better for the both of us.
I’ve got her in my power, her family at my mercy and her body bending to my will. I took Sheena Hurston prepared to break her, to interrogate her, to demand answers only she could give. And now… now that I’ve got her, it seems there are more effective methods of finding the truth.
I move her panties aside and groan when I find her sopping wet and swollen. I love how responsive she is, how eager. I stroke her pussy, work her clit, glide my fingers effortlessly over the bundle of nerves that will bring her to climax.
“What answers do you want? What are you trying to do?” I ask.
I pause, my finger poised just where she wants me. She tries to wriggle and get closer to me, but I taunt her with my touch just out of reach. I pinch her inner thigh. “Answer me.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” she pants. “I’m trying to find the truth. Who you are, what you do, and why.”
I reward her with another stroke. “Good girl,” I tell her. She’s panting, her breath hitched and guarded. I know she’s on the cusp of release. “Are you a good girl, Sheena? Should I let you come?”
“I—I’m… yes, well, of course you should let me come.”
Goddamn her for being so adorable. I slap her arse again, a good, hard slap that makes a red print like a tulip bloom on her cheek.
“Answer the question.”
She moans and wriggles but doesn’t respond. My body tightens, my resolve firm. If she won’t cave, if she won’t tell me the truth, she earns nothing but punishment. I spank her again, until she cries out in pain, then stroke her pussy until I can tell she’s ready to fly. Then I lift her off my lap and stand her in front of me.
Her hair’s a mess, her eyes watery, and her lower lip wavers. “I’ll tell you the truth, but you won’t like it. And I’ll only tell you the truth if you promise not to hurt them, to keep them safe.”
She’s crying, and hell, her tears seem so real I don’t know what to make of it. This isn’t a game anymore.
“I can’t—I won’t—” her shoulders rack with sobs. “They’re the only people I care about in the world, and I won’t stand by and let them get hurt. Don’t let them get hurt, Nolan. Please. Don’t. I’ll drop this. I won’t pursue you. I’ll—I’ll—”
She’s telling the truth, and she’s so beautiful when she does, I feel like a ray of sunshine’s illuminated her features, even as she’s breaking right before me. She’s been walled up, closed off. I hate seeing her fall apart like this, but I know that it’s necessary. For me to get to the real woman inside, we need to get past this.
“Let’s hear it.”
“I did come here to spy on you. I knew if I provoked you at the club after what I did with Aileen, that you’d probably take me. I decided if I could get apprehended by you, I’d be able to find out more about you, if I could actually get into the place where you live.”
I don’t realize I’m gripping her harder until she flinches. I don’t like hearing this, but hell, I do think she’s actually telling me the goddamn truth. To her credit, she’s unperturbed by my anger.
“My plan was to do an exposé. A big story, as it were, bring the truth of what you do to light. It would be a breakthrough for me, you see. And if it worked… if I did it… I would have the funds and stability to fight the courts for custody of
my siblings.”
I believe she’s telling me the truth, but there’s more to it than this. Her grudge against us goes deeper. It’s personal. But for now, this is a good start.
“You did well, lass,” I tell her, granting her a small smile. “So well. And I’ll remember that you told me the truth.” I’m proud of her. She drives me crazy, this woman, but it would be a lie to say I’m not damn proud of her.
My phone rings. I ignore it, but on and on it rings. She watches me, then swipes her hand across her eyes when I curse and finally take the phone from my pocket. Keenan.
“We’re ready. Seems the O’Gregors have found out what happened last night,” Keenan says. “Come to the meeting room now. Bring the girl.”
“Aye. On my way.”
Fucking O’Gregors.
I shove my phone in my pocket and drag her over to me. I grab her jaw and hold her gaze with mine, my fingers splayed on her perfect skin. “That was Keenan. Says the O’Gregors know what happened. No doubt they’ve got their eyes on us after last night.”
She grimaces, nods, and doesn’t look away. “I’ve done terrible things and you know I have. But lass, so have you.”
She flinches as if I struck her, but still holds my gaze.
“Doesn’t mean either of us are past redemption. Doesn’t mean either of us don’t have a fucking heart.”
She nods, blinks, and another tear rolls down her cheek. I continue. I have something to say and it’s important. “What it does mean is that we have to find where our loyalties lie. And that means right now, we go in front of my brothers and we tell them what you just told me. Do you understand me?”
She grimaces, but nods again. “Yes.”
I stand, tug her to my chest, and wipe my thumbs across her cheekbones, wiping her tears away. “Don’t cry, doll,” I tell her, unable to help comforting her. “We’ll find a way. But I won’t let you harm my family, and I’ll have a very tight leash on you. Understood?”
Her eyes are bright when she looks at me, both smiling and sad at the same time. “Aye, I understand. Thank you, Nolan.” She gives me a watery smile. “Tight leash sounds fun.”
I groan. “Don’t thank me yet. You’ve never been to a meeting with my brothers.”
