by A. Zavarelli
They’re men like my father. Men who think they’re invincible. He was reckless and dangerous, and it never bothered me that our house was always filled with rough and tumble guys. Because he was my hero. And heroes aren’t supposed to die.
But he did.
And some day, be it tomorrow, or a year from now… Lachlan will too. Because that’s the business he deals in. It’s written in their creed.
Family, loyalty, honor, and blood.
I’m under no false conclusions. You live for the syndicate, you die for the syndicate. That’s just the way it is. Someday, Lachlan will give his life for this crew. He will be gone, just like the rest of the people in my life. And then where will I be? Why have I tethered myself to this man that’s only going to hurt me in the end?
I’m watching him, and I know he feels it, but he doesn’t say anything. He just goes about his business, letting me take him in. There’s so much more to him than I realized. I never stopped to consider him as a person. I never stopped to consider what it was actually like for him to live this way.
Sean’s words from earlier come back to haunt me. The burden of suspicion is on Lach. His own men don’t trust him. I knew he was stressed about the shit with the Armenians, but I didn’t know how deep it went. Now, here I am, full submersed in it. I worry about him leaving and not coming back. Every time he walks out the door, I want to beg him to stay. But that’s a luxury I don’t have, and an unrealistic one at that.
At some point, he’s going to figure out I’ve betrayed him. At some point, he’ll figure out everything was a lie. And he will hate me for it. He’ll probably want me dead. Even just thinking about it, my eyes feel glassy. The tiny, weak part of my brain that controls my emotions wants to break down and confess everything now. To beg him for forgiveness and believe that he’d tell me the truth about Talia.
“Ye’re staring,” he says finally. There’s a small smile on his face, and despite the darkness in my heart, it makes me smile too.
“Can’t help it.” I shrug. “You’re just too pretty.”
He grunts and pries my legs apart, pulling me to the edge of the counter as he pushes his body as close to mine as the space will allow.
“Don’t go to work today.” I smooth my hands over his chest. “Cracking skulls and criminal enterprises can wait.”
I’m fully prepared to use my feminine wiles to state my case as my hand drifts lower and lower. But he captures my wrist and stops me.
“I’m not going into Slainte today,” he says. “And neither are you.”
I blink up at him. “We aren’t?”
“Nah. We have a thing tonight.”
A thing? He’s nervous, and I’m not sure why. This is the first I’m hearing about plans tonight. “What kind of thing?”
“A gathering for Niall,” he says. “It’s his birthday.”
“Oh.”
Now I realize why he’s so nervous. This is an official gathering. And for him to bring me makes a big statement. From everything I’ve learned about his outfit, I know that Niall is very selective about who he allows in his company. He has to be I’m sure. A man like him doesn’t trust just anybody.
I’m torn between feeling excited at the prospect of getting deeper into the organization and the guilt eating away at me. Lachlan wouldn’t have any ulterior motive for doing this other than that he wants me there beside him. He’s vouching for me, and I don’t know what will happen to him if anyone discovers the truth about my motives.
He leans in and kisses me, stirring the whirlwind of emotions inside of me into a raging tornado. I pull him against me and devour him. Lach isn’t complaining. And when I slip off the counter and go down on my knees before him, his eyes are burning with white hot lust.
I unzip his jeans and pull him free, his cock falling heavy into my palm. I suck him into my mouth while I clutch his muscular ass in my hands.
“Jaysus,” he grunts, leaning forward to brace himself on the counter while I strive to give him the best blowjob of his life.
It doesn’t take long before he empties himself inside of my mouth with a growl, and then he stumbles back into the wall, looking dazed.
“Fecks sake, sweetheart,” he pants. “Ye’re something else, ye know that?”
I smile up at him. He looks so relaxed. So at ease around me. Nothing like the man who wanted nothing to do with me at the start. Please don’t ever hate me, Lachlan.
He helps me to my feet and zips himself back up before he slaps me on the ass.
“Get ready,” he orders. “We need to sort ye out a dress.”
After lunching at a posh wine café in the Back Bay, Lach takes me to none other than Newberry Street for the afternoon. This is the crème de la crème of shopping, and stuff I wouldn’t normally ever buy. But Lachlan insists I go designer for tonight’s event, and I can’t refuse him.
I end up settling on a sexy black evening gown with a split clean up my thigh. It’s gorgeous, and even more so paired with the black stilettos. Once Lachlan saw me in it, he refused to look at anything else.
After retouching my makeup and spending another twenty minutes on my hair, I find both him and Ronan dressed in suits. Lachlan looks ridiculously handsome and slightly dangerous, and a crazy part of me feels proud to be on his arm tonight.
He escorts me to the car that Ronan uses, which is a nondescript black BMW. We climb inside and almost immediately Lach starts doing that thing with his fingers again, tapping them against his leg.
I reach down and grab his hand, threading my fingers through his.
“You don’t have to worry,” I tell him. “I’ll be on my best behavior tonight. No choke holds or any other funny business.”
He nods, but still doesn’t relax. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell ye Mack how tense things are at the moment. Niall doesn’t know who to trust. But it’s important to me that he trusts you.”
I swallow and give him a shaky smile. “I understand.”
The rest of the car ride is filled with silence. Lachlan’s probably sorting out his agenda for the evening while I wonder where I should go from here. This is taking too long. The longer I’m in this, the harder it’s going to be to get out. The more likely that Lach’s going to get hurt. I need to step up my game plan some other way, but I’m really not sure how to do that.
When we arrive and Ronan parks the car, I’m surprised to find tonight’s shindig is being held at an upscale lounge inside a hotel.
“Niall wanted a public location this year,” Lach explains as he takes my hand and leads me inside.
I walk through the lobby with him and Ronan at my sides like sentinels, and sure enough there are plenty of glances cast our way. The men beside me exude power and danger and even a dash of sophistication when they’re dressed as they are. The women toss long glances our way while the men sigh and wish they could be like them, if only for a night.
They lead us through a set of hallways and into a private lounge that must have been booked for the occasion. The lighting is soft and ambient, the walls muted shades of gray and crimson. The oak floors gleam beneath the candlelight, and across the room half of the tables are already filled. It throws me off balance to see just how deep the organization runs, guessing that there must be at least fifty men here tonight.
Lachlan leads me around the room to make introductions. After the tenth unfamiliar face that I meet, a little bit of panic seeps into my chest. Any one of these men could have visited the club and met Talia. I never realized the full scale of this outfit, or even their Russian alliance for that matter. Defeat weighs heavy on my shoulders. There’s no way I can ever find out who all these men are and clear their names off my list. It would take me years.
“How’s the big size a ye, mate?” an older gentleman asks Lach.
Lachlan slaps him on the shoulder and they banter back and forth for a few moments before the man’s eyes fall on me.
“Well would you look at that!”
I glance up at Lachl
an, and he’s grinning.
“Look at what?” I ask.
“Black hair and blue eyes,” the man says.
“She’s a treat,” Lach agrees, stroking his fingers over my neck possessively as his eyes lock onto mine. “My Galway Girl.”
For a moment, I forget everything else around us. The pride in his voice is unmistakable, the affection in his eyes authentic. My heart squeezes and then explodes inside of my chest.
“Ye’ve got yourself a real fine one there, lad,” the man agrees, but something in his voice is off as he nods behind us. “But ye best go see Niall now, he’s expecting ye.”
Both Lachlan and I turn, and his entire body tenses when our eyes fall on the table across the room. Niall’s there, sitting beside a woman who I presume to be his wife. But beside him is another man. An unmistakably powerful man with brown hair and a cold gaze that’s fixed directly on Lachlan. My eyes roam over the table in confusion, noting the three beautiful blonde girls sitting next to the man, with an empty space between them. Two empty spaces.
I glance up at Lachlan and try to understand what’s happening.
“Fucking Christ,” he grunts, his eyes finding mine.
I don’t like what I see there. Regret. He’s regretting bringing me here, but I don’t understand why. Before we even get a chance to discuss it, another man appears with a serious expression on his face.
“Dom…” Lachlan greets him, and a silent thought passes between them. Dom’s eyes fall to me, and he gestures to the bar across the room.
“Why don’t you come meet my wife, Cara?” he suggests. “She always gets bored at these functions and would love the company if you don’t mind.”
I glance back up at Lach, and he’s avoiding eye contact. Something about this feels really weird, but it’s obvious he wants me out of the way for whatever reason. So I nod and follow Dom across the room.
Cara looks like she might be just a couple years older than me, with long chestnut hair and green eyes. She smiles when I take a seat beside her, and then Dom just disappears.
“Hey,” she says. “It’s Mackenzie, right?”
“Yeah, but you can just call me Mack.”
She nods and flags down the bartender, and we both order a drink before she turns her attention back to me.
“I can see why Lachlan likes you,” she says. “You seem like you’d suit him.”
“Thanks.” I give her a forced smile and then glance back at the man in question.
He’s now seated between two of the blondes at Niall’s table. And something inside of me breaks a little at the sight of it.
“They aren’t nearly as pretty as you,” she says solemnly. “It’s such an archaic thing, isn’t it? What Niall wants him to do. I just don’t understand it.”
I have no idea what she’s talking about, but I’m liking the sound of it even less by the minute. And I know if I let on that I don’t know, she’ll probably shut up. So I need to keep her talking. I decide to try to play off what Lachlan and I have as casual.
“It doesn’t bother me,” I tell her. “Lach and I are just messing around.”
“I figured,” she says. “He wouldn’t have brought you if he’d known they would be here tonight.”
I force out a jerky nod. “I am curious though, naturally. How is it going to work?”
She glances back across the room, and I follow her gaze reluctantly. Sean is now sitting on the opposite side of one of the girls, but they are all focused on Lachlan. Like he’s a prize to be won. And I don’t like it. I don’t like it one fucking bit.
“I guess Niall will choose between Lachlan and Sean soon,” Cara says. “And then whoever becomes the underboss chooses one of them as a wife. Once they’re married, the alliance will be sealed.”
The entire room spins around me, and I have to grip the bar to hold on. Cara gives me a curious look, and I try to smile.
I’ve been so fucking stupid. These last few months, I’ve been getting so wrapped up in Lachlan. Using Talia as my excuse to get close to him. I’ve let him under my skin. Inside of me. And he’s been playing me this entire time. My heart- the one I swore I didn’t have- feels like it just dropped out of my chest. I’m struggling to breathe, to even sit upright. There’s pressure behind my eyes, but I can’t let onto it. I need to get a frigging grip.
When I meet Lach’s eyes across the room, he looks away in shame. And it steels me with all of the ammunition I need. The bitter reminder of what I’m doing here and how little he means to me. In fact, I’m glad this happened. This is exactly what my father tried to warn me about. How people will always fuck you over. He was right.
And I’m done playing with Lachlan. Fuck him. I’m here to find out what happened to Talia. And I don’t care who I have to hurt now to do it.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Cara says softly. “It’s how did I get myself into this, right?”
“He means nothing to me,” I tell her again.
She gives me a look that says she doesn’t quite believe it, so I change the subject. One thing I’ve learned is that people are generally satisfied to talk about themselves, and Cara’s no exception to that rule. When I ask her how she met Dominic, she prattles on for the next twenty minutes about it while I down two glasses of Patron.
“So you don’t have a problem living this life?” I ask when she comes up for air.
She shrugs and starts tearing at the napkin beneath her cocktail glass. “It’s not so bad. I mean, I know most people wouldn’t agree with it. I grew up with the Italians, so I know this world. I know what it involves. But these guys, right here? They’re good men. They don’t deal in anything that I’m losing sleep over.”
The conviction in her voice almost has me believing it for a moment. It’s obvious she believes it. So where does that leave me? I want to ask her more about it, but I think I might need to ply her with a little more alcohol first. I order us another round and continue.
“So you’ve never had any problems with them?”
“No way,” she says. “They treat their women good, as long as you play by the rules.”
There’s that contingency. As long as you play by the rules.
“I know it can be pretty overwhelming at first,” she says. “But you get used to it after a while. I couldn’t ask for a better man than Dom. These guys protect and cherish their women, I’ll tell you that much.”
“He seems like a good guy,” I agree. It’s complete crap, because at this moment I’ve decided to hate all men. But I need to make Cara feel like a friend so I can get more information out of her.
The bartender delivers our drinks and we talk for another ten minutes before the alcohol starts to affect Cara.
“Ugh,” she groans. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
“Yeah, me too.” I help her to her feet and make the journey with her, knowing that normal females my age love to do this kind of stuff together for some odd reason. When I glance across the room, Lach’s engrossed in conversation with one of the pretty blondes. Fuck him. Fuck them both.
I don’t bother to tell anyone where we’re going. We’ll only be a few minutes and the bathroom is just outside the hall.
Once inside, I go about my business and continue to talk through the stall. Cara is being very quiet, and I worry I may have gotten her too drunk. But when I fix my dress and step outside, I see exactly why she’s being quiet.
Two men are inside the bathroom with us, and one’s got a gun pressed against her temple, while the other is pointing at me. Both the guns have silencers attached, and somehow I know without asking these guys are part of the Armenian crew. I glance at Cara and she’s shaking like a leaf.
Shit. Fuck. Shit. There’s no way for me to try to defend myself while they’re holding her like that. They’d put a bullet in her head before I could even finish dealing with the first guy. Assuming I didn’t get shot too in the process.
“You’re coming with us,” the man pointing at me barks. “Move quietly,
or your friend here dies.”
Cara releases a sob, and it earns her a hard slap to the face. Fricken hell. There’s no way out of this without following their demands until they let their guard down.
“It’s okay, Cara,” I tell her in a soothing tone. “Just stay calm and do as they say.”
She shoots me a pleading glance and I give her a reassuring smile though inside I’m a nervous wreck. I know the likelihood of us surviving once we leave this building is not very good. But there’s little choice in the matter at this point. I’m suspicious as hell that we were literally in the bathroom for two minutes before they came for us. Almost like they were waiting or someone alerted them. Something I’ll have to think about later.
I step forward and the other man grabs me by the arm. They lead us from the bathroom and down the hallway towards a side exit, digging the guns into our ribs.
“Scream and you die,” one of them threatens.
I think of Lachlan inside the party sitting with his pretty marriage prospects. Will he even notice I’m gone? Maybe not. But Cara is a wife, and that’s something. Dom will notice. And then what? They’ll have to find us. That will take time. I can’t count on that. I watch both men carefully as we walk, trying to look for any opportunity I can. It doesn’t come.
At the end of the hall, two of Niall’s men are slumped face down into the carpet. I don’t have to see the bullet holes to know they’re already dead. These guys are fricken crazy, coming in here like this and shooting people up in a hotel. Panic is slowly engulfing me, but I can do nothing. If I didn’t believe it before, I know now they won’t hesitate to put a bullet inside of us too. My only hope is that they’re going to use us for ransom or something. Anything that will keep us alive for a while until I can figure out what to do.
The moment we’re out the side door, we’re tossed into the back of a van and burning rubber down a back street. Cara’s practically hyperventilating and can barely keep it together as they tie us up. I worry that they’ll shoot her if she keeps at it.
