Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Killian
Reckless.
That was the only word to describe the way he’d acted.
He’d known there was something familiar about her the moment he’d looked in her eyes. And if he’d stopped for five fucking seconds to really think about who would have been at the club last night, he might have put two and two together.
But he hadn’t, because he’d been too caught up in his own internal drama, too desperate to lose himself in a woman so he didn’t have to think about the blood on his hands for a few blessed minutes to actually pay attention.
Reckless. Careless. Weak.
It took all of his infamous self-control to keep the snarl from his face as he re-entered the ballroom and headed for Cordelia’s table. Laying a hand on Jacob’s shoulder, he offered the boy’s Domme an apologetic smile. “Cordelia. Do you mind if I borrow your boy for a few moments?”
Cordelia narrowed her eyes, suspicion clear in the bright green. “Why?”
“Boy stuff,” he tossed back lightly, bumping up the wattage on his smile.
Without waiting for an answer, Jacob rose and flashed a smile of his own. “I won’t go far, Dee. I promise.”
“All right.” Reluctance all but dripped from Cordelia’s words. “Take care of my boy, O’Rourke.”
The warning had the guilt, which had already dug its claws deep into his chest courtesy of Braden’s bombshell, digging in even deeper. “Always.”
“What’s up?” Jacob asked when they were out of earshot of the table.
“I need a favor.” Four words Killian O’Rourke never spoke lightly. There were people who believed money was power. Others, knowledge.
But he knew the real power lay in one simple thing: a favor.
Money ebbed and flowed. Could be won or lost in the blink of an eye. Knowledge was a bit more lasting, but often subjective. Many truths that people knew were so easily proven false—or at least, cast in enough shadow to have the holder of that knowledge doubting their very existence.
Favors, though. Favors were the eternal lifeblood of his business, and he was careful with how he traded them.
But desperate times called for desperate measures.
“Anything for you.”
Stepping outside the ballroom, Killian turned, pinning the younger man with a stern look meant to bring any submissive to their knees.
And despite their very platonic relationship, Jacob was clearly not unaffected by the stare, judging by the way his eyes widened ever so slightly and his cheeks went pink.
To his credit, though, he didn’t drop his gaze, and despite how frazzled he was feeling, pride welled in Killian’s chest.
“First of all, you never tell anyone you would do ‘anything’ for them. Those are dangerous words, especially when you’re dealing with a man like me. Do you understand me, boy?”
The color in Jacob’s face deepened and those talons of guilt dug in even deeper, slashing and clawing at Killian’s heart. “Y-yes, Sir. Sorry. I just meant…”
“I know what you meant.” He forced his voice to soften. Fucking hell, the boy was so damn sweet, just being near him threatened to give a person a mouth full of cavities. “But I’m serious, Jacob. When it comes to trading favors, you never agree to anything without knowing the terms.”
“Yes, Sir. I understand.”
“Good. Now, second of all, I want you to understand that if what I’m about to ask makes you uncomfortable in any way, you have the right to say no. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Stop calling me sir. We’re friends.”
Some of the mischief returned to Jacob’s eyes. “Oh, so you can get all bossy and Dommy on me but I can’t call you Sir?”
When had he gotten to be such a damn brat? Too much time with Ruby and Frankie, if Killian had to guess. “Fair play. But you don’t have to, is all I’m saying.”
“Got it.” His lips twitched. “Sir.”
“Clearly Cordelia needs to tighten the reins on you,” he mumbled, but the banter went a long way toward easing the grip of those guilt-talons on his chest. “As I said, I need a favor. Last night at the club, I had an… encounter.”
The corners of Jacob’s mouth turned down. “But you told Cordelia you just came by for a drink.”
“I did. And I did. But there was someone else upstairs with me.”
He saw the moment it clicked. The blush that hadn’t quite faded from his cheeks now drained completely as Jacob’s eyes went round. “Oh, Killian. You didn’t.”
“I am neither going to confirm nor deny, because the less you know, the better. But this is where the favor comes in. The princess room needs to be cleaned and I, ah, used a few of the toys while I was there.” Reaching into his pocket, he pulled his wallet free and counted out five bills.
“That should be enough to cover the cost of the toys, and an extra two for you. Consider it a tip.”
Staring down at the cash in his hand, Jacob swallowed. Audibly. “Killian… I don’t know…”
“You can say no.” Though it would put Killian in a considerable bind if he did. “I won’t be mad.”
“Braden will know the toys are missing. How am I supposed to get that past him?”
“You don’t. When he returns from his honeymoon, just tell him that one of his patrons, who wishes to remain anonymous, purchased said toys and paid in cash. I’ll text you a list of the actual toys as soon as I get home so you can deduct them from the inventory list.”
“Okay.” Jacob nodded slowly. “I can do that. It’s not really lying, since you clearly do wish to remain anonymous.”
“Exactly. There’s just one more thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You can’t tell anyone. Not even Cordelia and Ivy.”
“Fuck.” The muttered response was so unlike Jacob, Killian wasn’t sure he’d heard correctly at first. “They’re gonna kill me if they ever find out.”
“If that day ever comes, I’ll do my best to mitigate the damage. And if I can’t, well, I’ll owe you two.”
“It’s all right. I can handle them if it comes to that.”
Brave, brave boy. Killian didn’t have a submissive bone in his body, and he still wasn’t willing to go toe to toe with Cordelia Summers. “Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and we can all pretend this never happened.”
“Yeah.” Jacob opened his mouth, then closed it again, clearly wanting to say more but unsure of himself.
“Go ahead. Ask me whatever you want.”
“You’re really not going to tell Braden?”
And the guilt talons were back. “If there was anything to tell him, that would be between Braden and me.”
“I know, it’s just, he’s like your best friend.”
“He is, and I value my friendships very dearly. And I would do anything to protect those friendships.”
“Yeah. Okay. I understand.”
“Good boy.” Clapping Jacob on the shoulder, Killian gave him a comforting squeeze. “We should get you back to your women before Cordelia decides to hunt us down.”
A grin stretched across Jacob’s face. “Could be fun. She’s really beautiful when she’s riled.”
“You are a much braver man than I, Jacob Redding.”
With his hand still on Jacob’s shoulder, he nudged the boy back toward the ballroom. Cordelia’s glittering gaze locked on them the moment they entered, like a wolf scenting her mate, and she tracked them the entire way back to their table.
“Everything all right?”
On her other side, Ivy rolled her eyes. “Oh my god, Dee, stop being such a worrywart. Jacob isn’t a child and Killian isn’t a serial killer. Chill.”
Slowly, so slowly it made Killian wince, Cordelia turned to face her other sub. “Excuse me, little girl? Did you just tell me to chill?”
Red bloomed on Ivy’s cheeks, but she jerked her head up, clearly not ready to give in.
“I did, yes. Jacob and Killian have been hanging out for months now, and Killian is basically Braden’s best friend.
At some point you have to admit he’s not the dangerous criminal you’ve made him out to be in your head. ”
“As much as I appreciate your faith in me, sweet Ivy, I am far more dangerous than your rightfully overprotective Daddy could ever imagine. But Jacob has always been and will always be safe with me. You both have my word.”
“See?” Eyes lighting with triumph, Ivy waved a hand in his general direction. “We have his word. That’s like, worth its weight in gold in mob circles.”
“Perhaps,” Cordelia ceded, her voice sharp and clipped. “But tell me to chill again where our boy is concerned and we’re going to have a serious problem. Understood?”
Ivy’s smile was sheepish. “Yes, Daddy. Sorry.”
“Good girl. Now.” Cordelia shifted her attention back to Jacob, with a flick of a glance to Killian. “What was that all about?”
“Boy stuff,” Jacob said with a flash of a grin. “Seriously, Dee, it wasn’t anything bad, Killian just wanted to ask me something.”
“Something he couldn’t ask with an audience?”
“Cordelia.”
At Ivy’s exasperated tone, Cordelia narrowed her eyes. “What? It’s a valid question and they’re being cagey.”
“They are not being cagey, Dee. It was a private conversation. We have them all the time with our friends and we don’t tell Jacob about them.”
“Yes, but our friends don’t run criminal enterprises.”
Reaching over, Jacob threaded his fingers with Cordelia’s and squeezed. “Daddy. Do you trust me?”
At the use of her title, Cordelia visibly softened. “Of course I do, baby.”
“Then can you trust that I would come to you if Killian or anyone else tried to get me involved in something criminal?”
The fearsome blonde sighed. “Yes. Of course, yes. I know you’d tell me if that happened. I’m just feeling overprotective for some reason.”
“Because you’re exhausted and none of us has had a good night’s sleep in a week,” Ivy said. “We should head home soon, change into some comfy pajamas, and spend the entire day on the couch watching Christmas movies.”
“That sounds lovely, blossom.” Shifting her attention up to Killian, Cordelia smiled. “You should sit, eat something. The muffins don’t quite live up to Holden’s, but they’re decent and the mini quiches are delicious.”
It was an olive branch, and because he did value his friendships as much as he’d told Jacob he did, he took it. “I think I’ll do that. Let me go grab a plate.”
He was halfway to the buffet when a soft, throaty voice called his name. Pausing, he turned, and nearly swore out loud when he spotted Portia Williams standing just behind him, curiosity in her startling blue eyes and a smirk on her lips.
Fucking hell. In all the chaos with the Russians and then finding out he’d spent the evening with his best friend’s daughter, he’d completely forgotten that one of the bride’s closest friends was Richard Williams’s only child.
And Killian’s fiancée.