Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
RILEY
According to karma, bad actions lead to bad consequences. So, really, it shouldn't surprise me that messing around with Kieran Sullivan has left me feeling like a common whore.
I don’t know what possessed me to make a move on him last night in the pool. Maybe I got too caught up in the whole ‘fake wedding’ scenario and forgot that the kiss we shared was nothing more than for show.
Or maybe I just wanted to not feel so lonely for once in my life.
But after overhearing Kieran talk to Ronan, I wish I had chosen to stick with feeling lonely.
“You’re the one who forced me to marry Riley in the first place, so forgive me for trying to find some sort of way to make it tolerable.”
He didn’t say he regretted sleeping with me, but he didn’t have to. The meaning was right there, buried under the layers of sarcasm and frustration he threw at his brother.
I was just the fallout, a byproduct of some twisted plan Ronan orchestrated that Kieran has to find some way to tolerate.
God, I was so stupid.
I actually let myself believe he wanted me, that he meant all the sweet things he whispered in my ear as he took the one thing I never expected to give to him of all people.
At the time, it felt so right because when he touched me, I thought it was because he couldn’t help himself and not because I was a warm body in a cold hotel room.
I was too tired, both physically and emotionally, to do much more than stand under the shower last night before climbing into bed.
I didn’t even have it in me to protest when Kieran climbed in beside me and pulled me into his arms even though the feeling of his skin against mine felt like a knife to the heart.
But when I wake the next morning, I find his side of the bed is cold with no Kieran in sight.
I should feel relieved, but the sinking feeling in my stomach has me wondering whether he’s decided to make a run for it.
“Riley? You up?”
Never mind.
The door to our suite slams shut, and I quickly plaster a fake smile on my face, despite the hollow ache in my chest.
I sit up in bed in time for Kieran to appear looking fresh-faced and carrying a jewelry bag from one of the designer stores in the hotel complex.
I frown. “What the hell is that?”
Kieran reaches inside the bag and pulls out a ring box.
“It’s a wedding ring.” He tosses it at me. “We need to make sure our story is rock solid.”
I snatch up the box and open it to find a thin gold band inside. As if I needed another reminder of the idiotic decision I made.
“I figured you wouldn’t want something too obnoxious.” He pulls out another box, which I figure has the matching band for him inside.
“This is fine.” I pull out the ring and slide it onto my finger.
It’s cold, and the sight of it makes my stomach turn.
“I suggest you get dressed. We need to leave for the airport soon.”
The flight home is quiet, but not due to Kieran’s lack of trying.
I lose count of how many times he asks if I want anything to drink or if I’m cold and need a blanket.
I shake my head every time. It’s easier than pretending I’m okay when I’m not.
Every time I close my eyes, I’m back in that damn hotel bathroom as the echo of Kieran’s words ricochet around in my head like a bullet I didn’t see coming.
I swallow hard as I stare out of the window, trying my hardest not to cry.
Once we land, I follow silently beside Kieran as we head toward the airport parking lot where his car is being kept.
His eyes weigh on me, but I avoid his gaze because I know looking into his eyes will only break me more.
With every step I take comes the lingering evidence of Kieran’s touch.
He’s branded me in more ways than one, and that realization makes my stomach sink.
I thought sleeping with Kieran would make me feel liberated and give me a sense of control over my own body that I haven’t felt since I learned of my uncle’s plan to marry me off.
But I only feel numb.
The drive from the airport is more of the same as quiet tension lingers between the two of us, though it seems Kieran is determined to break through it.
“You okay?” he asks for the hundredth time as he turns on the engine, and the car roars to life.
I nod, even though it’s clear that I’m not. “Just tired,” I mutter as I look out of the window. “And…nervous, I guess.”
“About what?”
“About how people are going to react to our marriage.” I fiddle with the ring on my finger.
I can’t wait to get back to Kieran’s apartment so I can take the damn thing off.
“This will all blow over eventually.” Kieran backs the car out of the space and makes his way toward the exit.
“The only way this will blow over is when either you or Sean are dead.”
“Not worried about me, are you?” Kieran teases, but I’m not in the mood to play games with him.
I might have been last night, but that was before I was reminded of the fact that I am nothing more than a pawn to him.
“Sean isn’t going to just forget about this betrayal.”
“I know that.” Kieran’s tone comes harder now.
“Do you?” I sneak a glance at him, but his eyes are fixed on the road ahead.
And yet, the way he’s white-knuckling the steering wheel lets me know I’ve touched a nerve.
“Is that all that’s bothering you?” He glances at me.
“Why? Should something else be bothering me?”
I wait for the flash of guilt in his eyes, but it never comes, and somehow that’s worse.
“Sean will get what’s coming to him. My brothers and I will make sure of it.”
I should find comfort in his confidence, but the pit in my stomach only seems to be growing larger.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Kieran, it’s that he doesn’t bluff, especially when it comes to his family. Something that I was starting to think extended to me, but now I’m not so sure.
I can’t help but wonder, how far is he willing to go to play the part of the doting husband?
I pull one of my textbooks out of my bag and start flipping through the pages to try and distract myself, but the words make no sense when all I can focus on is Kieran.
Every slight shift of his thighs has me squeezing my own, remembering what it felt like to have my body intertwined with his.
When he tightens his hold on the steering wheel, I think of his calloused fingers squeezing my breasts and stroking my inner thigh…
“Riley?”
I practically jump out of my skin at the sound of Kieran’s voice. “Huh?”
“Do you want me to quiz you?”
“On what?”
Except, Kieran doesn’t appear to be listening to me. His eyes keep flicking to the rearview mirror, and I notice the muscle in his jaw ticking.
“Kieran?”
“Fuck.” He loads up the call log on the center console and dials Ronan’s number.
“Now’s not a good time, Kieran—”
“I need you to run some plates for me.”
I turn in my seat to glance out the rear window, eyeing the black SUV that is behind us as Kieran rattles off the number.
But Kieran places a hand on my shoulder and pushes me back into my seat. “Stay down.”
I’m about to protest when Ronan’s voice comes through the speakers.
“It’s O’Keefe’s men.”
My stomach drops.
“What the hell did you do in Vegas to piss them off?” Ronan barks, but Kieran doesn’t answer.
He just mutters a string of curses under his breath before hanging up the call.
I slump back into the seat, my heart hammering in my chest as I consider the very real reality that we may never make it back to Kieran’s penthouse.
“This is never going to end, is it? Maybe I should have just married Sean. At least then I wouldn’t be running for my life.”
“Don’t say that,” he growls, his voice low and dangerous. “Don’t even think about it.”
I flinch at his tone, but I don’t apologize because I meant it. At least a little.
If I had done as my uncle wanted, Kieran and his family never would have been dragged into this mess.
I shouldn’t care, considering what Kieran said about me to Ronan only a few hours ago, but I do. I care too damn much, and I have a feeling it’s going to be my downfall.
Kieran quickly swerves into the next lane, and I glance in the wing mirror to see the car behind us to do the same.
“Fuck.” Kieran turns the wheel, and the car spins around until we’re facing the wrong way.
He slams his foot on the gas and speeds across the lanes until we’re back on the right side of the road.
“Kieran, what the hell are you trying to do?”
“Save your life,” he bites back.
My body is trembling with a mixture of fear and rage as we speed back the way we came.
But it doesn’t take long for the black SUV to appear behind us once more.
“Is Ronan going to send backup?” I grip the dashboard.
The seatbelt is digging into my chest, but that will be the least of my worries if Sean’s men end up catching up to us.
“I doubt it.”
“Why the hell not?”
“Because there won’t be time.”
I go to yell some more, but my words get caught in my throat as Kieran pulls sharply off the main road into an empty warehouse district that we passed on the way back into the city.
“What are you doing?” Panic rises in my chest as the car disappears between two buildings.
Kieran doesn’t answer as he slams on the brakes, kicking up a cloud of dust behind us.
The sun is still high in the sky, which means the only thing keeping us hidden is the warehouses on either side of us, but that won’t be enough to keep Sean’s men away. Unless, of course, that’s Kieran’s plan.
“We need to keep driving—”
“Stay down. Into the footwell, now.”
For once, I don’t argue. Pulling off my seatbelt, I slide into the footwell and keep my head down as Kieran climbs out of the car.
His door slams shut, sending my heart into my throat.
I should go after him. I can’t let him walk out there alone, but I’m completely unarmed.
Wait. Maybe if I appear, Sean’s men might hesitate. Despite my betrayal, I could still be worth something to him. Even if he uses me as a bargaining chip against my uncle, it would be worth it to get Kieran out of here alive.
I’m about to climb out of the footwell to go to Kieran’s aid when gunfire erupts, followed by the sound of tires screeching.
I cover my mouth to keep from screaming as bullet after bullet gets fired.
I can’t make out Kieran’s voice among the shouting, and I brace myself for Sean’s men to find me cowering in the car.
Please, don’t be dead.
Tires screech again, and the gunfire instantly stops, but it feels like hours until the car door finally opens, and Kieran slides into the driver’s seat. His face is a cold mask as he looks down at me.
“Get up. We need to go.”
My body is shaking so badly I can barely move, but I manage to slide back into my seat, and Kieran reaches over me to buckle me in.
I search his face, but he’s refusing to meet my eyes.
“What the hell was that?” I ball my hands into fists in my lap to try and calm the shaking, but it doesn’t help.
Kieran still refuses to look at me as he starts the car and reverses back out from the gap between the warehouses before spinning the car around.
“Are you out of your mind?” I shout when he still refuses to answer me, unable to keep my emotions under control any longer. “You just went out there like some action hero and started shooting! Do you know how idiotic that is?”
“I was asserting dominance. It’s the only language guys like Sean understand.”
I scoff. “Asserting dominance? You could have been killed!”
“Better me than you,” he growls.
“That’s not the point, Kieran.”
He finally looks at me then, his dark eyes simmering with rage.
But I don’t look away.
“What would you rather me do, Riley? Let them follow us home?”
“I don’t know! But there must have been a better way—”
“There was no other way! I had to send a message to Sean to let him know that he can’t walk all over me.”
“There is always another way. But you just have a habit of acting first and thinking later. Maybe there’s a reason Ronan’s in charge and not you.”
As soon as the words leave my mouth, I regret them. It was a low blow that I knew would get to him, and from the way his jaw tightens, I know it worked.
His knuckles turn white as he grips the steering wheel, and he refuses to look at me.
“I didn’t mean that.” But I know it’s too late.
His answering silence is louder than any argument we’ve ever had.
The rest of the ride home is quiet. I can practically see the storm swirling behind his eyes, but he doesn’t speak a single word.
I feel like the world’s biggest bitch.
I didn’t say it because I believed it. I said it because I wanted to hurt him, just like he hurt me when I overheard him talking to Ronan.
Somehow, Kieran Sullivan has gotten under my skin in a way I never saw coming, and now my chest aches when I see him hurting, and my mind can’t stop replaying the feeling of his hands on my skin and his mouth on mine.
Even now, when I’m angry and hurting, I’m still thinking about him.
And it’s killing me.