Chapter 57
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
CARTER
“Ihave calls to make,” Killian says, and walks out of the room without another word.
“Do you always listen to him?”
Knox chuckles and answers for me.
“We do, because with an organization like this, someone has to take the lead or it’s just a clusterfuck. And we trust Killian with our lives. You can too.”
Without a word, my brother gets up off the sofa, walks behind the couch, and grabs a wine glass from the bar and fills it with Lambrusco before handing it to Heather. She stares at him, appearing dumbfounded.
“There was wine in here the entire time?” She takes a sip, her eyes closing as she takes a deep breath. “How am I supposed to trust a man that’s an asshole just for the sake of being an asshole?”
Knox sits back down beside Heather and pulls her onto his lap.
“Kill is protective, and I know he seems like an asshole, but he’s not. Not really. He acts that way to keep people at a distance. Don’t let it get to you.”
She takes a sip of her wine and swallows.
“I hate him,” she says, and I’m not sure if she’s trying to convince us or herself.
“Words hurt, Killer,” Killian says with a grin, as he walks back into the room.
“Anything we should know?” I ask, referring to the phone calls he said he had to make.
“Jack provided an update. There are bugs now planted all around the Prophet’s property. Inside and outside.”
Heather sits on my brother's lap with her head against his chest, until she pops up to look at Killian.
“Thank you,” she says sweetly, noticeably throwing him off. He rubs his hand down the side of his face, before quickly changing the subject.
“Do you know how to play pool?”
Heather looks at him and shrugs.
“In theory, I guess. Do I know that you hit balls with a stick? Yes. Have I ever played it? No.”
Her lips pull up into a devilish little grin that makes my cock hard as a rock.
“If you’re asking if I’d like to play pool with you, Killian, the answer is yes. I’d love to hit your balls with a stick.”
I laugh so hard I cough, nearly choking on my beer. Knox laughs too, but Killian arches a brow and stares at her before his serious expression turns to a half-grin.
“I bet you would, Killer. For the record, you’ll be sticking to the balls on the table.”
Knox and I share a glance as Heather tosses her head back with laughter. Killian grabs a pool stick from the wall and hands it to her with a warning.
“Behave.”
She tilts her head to the side and smirks at him with a playful sparkle in her eyes.
“What do you do for fun, Killian? Do you even know how to have fun?”
Heather stands with the stick on the ground as she strokes up and down the length of it. Obviously, her goal is to get my brother worked up, and clearly it’s working.
He moves closer to her and wraps his palm around hers, forcing her to stop moving her hand.
“It will be fun for me to bend you over this table and spank your ass, should you choose to misbehave.”
As always, I can feel the tension between them. They are both so busy trying to push the other away, that I’m not sure they even realize how much they want each other. Need each other.
“So you don’t really want me to behave?”
Killian lowers his head as if he’s going to kiss her, but he doesn’t.
“I want to see if you’re capable of it, Killer, because I don’t think you are. Prove me wrong.”
She shoves the pool cue against Killian's chest, and places her hands on her hips.
“I want to see if you’re capable of not being a dick, because I don’t think you are. Prove me wrong.”
If she thought she’d piss him off, she’s mistaken. The grin on his face is from ear to ear. He can say whatever he wants about her, but he likes the challenge.
“Pool now, punishment later.”
I walk over to the table and rack the balls as Killian hands the cue back to Heather.
“Losers first. I mean, ladies first.”
She stands at the end of the table, holding the stick in a tight grip.
Knox comes up behind her and positions the cue in her hand.
“You don’t want to grip it so hard, Tesoro. Let it glide smoothly.”
He lets go of her, and she asks, “Any of the balls?”
Killian answers, “Except the eight ball. Knock that in and you lose.”
She looks fucking adorable as she narrows her gaze at the balls with serious concentration. Licking her lips, she pulls the cue back and glides it forward and watches the balls scatter. When the purple striped ball goes into the far right pocket, she jumps up and down with excitement.
Her excitement is fucking adorable, causing even Killian to crack a smile. She stares at my brother in obvious shock.
“You smiled.”
He arches an eyebrow at her and says, “I did. So?”
Rolling her eyes at him, she responds matter-of-factly.
“So, I didn’t know you could do that.”
He steps closer to her, and her chest rises and falls with heavy breaths. Leaning his head down again like he’s going to kiss her, he taunts her instead.
“There are a lot of things I can do, Killer. Including beating you and teaching you not to celebrate so early.”
She pushes the pool cue into his hands and places hers on her hips, tilting her head at him with a glare in her eyes.
“Wanna bet?”
Killian chuckles in amusement.
“What are we betting, Killer?”
She glances at Knox, and then me, before answering him.
“If you win, you get whatever you want. If I win, you have to be nice to me for an entire day.”
He takes the chalk to the cue, and shakes his head.
“Alright, Killer. You’re on, but this is the worst bet anybody has made. We all know you don’t even want me to be nice to you. It doesn’t matter though, because you will lose. I always win, Killer. Every fucking time.”
There are four striped balls left on the table, and the eight ball.
She never had a chance of winning against Killian.
Knox explained to her that if he doesn’t scratch, and gets the eight ball in, Kill wins.
Still, with the odds clearly stacked against her, she exudes confidence that she should not have.
“Wipe the smug grin off your face, Killian. Knox said, if you get the white ball in, you lose. I’m counting on it. No one has this much luck.”
Killian lines up his shot, turns his head, and says, “It’s not luck, Killer. It’s skill. Corner right pocket.”
The ball moves to the pocket he called and stops, right at the fucking edge. Heather releases a delusional sigh of relief. I know she thinks she has a chance, but honestly she never did.
He moves out of the way so she can take her turn, and we are all shocked when she sinks not one striped ball, but two.
She turns to me with a wide grin, and fuck me, it’s beautiful the way her smile dances in her eyes. It’s too bad Killian is about to wipe that happy expression off her flawless face.
Killian takes his turn and, as I could’ve predicted, sinks the eight ball, winning the game.
“Oh, no,” Heather says with so much disappointment it makes my chest hurt.
I’m desperate to make her happy. Even with a meaningless game.
The things she has been through are more than one person can handle.
She deserves to spend every day with a smile on her face.
If I could trade my life for her to have that, I would.
Unfortunately, that’s now how life works.
I can’t protect her from everything bad life has to offer her.
Especially not when the bad is embedded in her soul. Nobody knows that more than I do.