Chapter One Dare
P resent Day
Boston
With my chest heaving, I jerked awake from the familiar nightmare involving Shannon’s murder. Despite all the time that had passed, the metallic smell of blood, coupled with the acrid aroma of pistol fire, still assaulted my nose. The same icy fear curled around me, sending shudders ricocheting through my body.
Thirteen fucking years of nightmares.
Thirteen fucking years of honoring my promise to never love another woman.
Gazing around my surroundings, I frowned. Instead of being in the comfort of my own bed, I was in the office I shared with my brothers at our night club, Bandia , which meant goddess in Irish.
“Fuck,” I groaned, as I ran my hands over my face. I must’ve fallen asleep at my desk. Glancing down at my watch, I blinked in disbelief. I’d been out for almost two hours. So much for working on the paperwork I needed to complete.
“You good, boyo?”
Cutting my gaze to the open doorway, my younger brother, Kellan, stood staring at me, his brows creased with worry. “I didn’t realize I nodded off,” I replied.
“Makes sense considering you’re burning the candle at both ends.”
As I stretched my arms over my head, I snorted. “You sound like Mam.”
“It’s the truth, isn’t it?”
Rubbing my eyes, I replied, “I’m just doing what I have to do to get the casino off the ground.”
While my brothers and I co-owned Bandia , along with our strip club, Alain , The Celtic Grand was my baby. For years, I’d been working to see my dream come to fruition. Since I was in the home stretch, I wasn’t going to let anything, including a lack of sleep, sideline me. Regardless of my determination, my body was starting to succumb to exhaustion.
With a yawn, I rose out of my chair. I slipped into the adjoining bathroom to freshen up. After splashing water on my face, I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. Although I felt like I’d been run over by a truck, thankfully, I didn’t look like it.
As I was drying my face, Kellan appeared in the doorway. When he caught my gaze in the mirror, he cocked his brows at me. “You’re still having nightmares,” he remarked softly.
“What are you talking about?”
“You were moaning and thrashing around.”
Of course I was. In every fucking dream, I’m trying desperately to get Shannon away from my father and his men. But every time, I fail.
But I couldn’t let Kellan know that.
Smirking at him, I replied, “It’s called a sex dream, mate. A gorgeous brunette was deep-throating me. I’m surprised I didn’t come in my pants.”
Kellan narrowed his eyes. “You must think I'm a real plonker to buy that line of bullshite.”
“Don’t get your knickers in a twist. It’s not that serious,” I mused.
He shook his head at me. “After everything I’ve been through, you can’t fool me, Dare.” He tapped my forehead. “I see straight through you. All the jokes and quips can never fully hide your pain.”
With a roll of my eyes, I countered, “Okay, boyo. Just because you had your so-called therapy sessions with Isla, you’re not a fucking shrink.”
Jabbing a finger at me, Kellan snarled, “Don’t you dare knock me trying to be emotionally healthy!”
“Jaysus, do you even hear yourself right now?”
“Do you hear yourself ?” Kellan countered.
“I don’t need this bullshit,” I muttered. Wanting to put as much distance between us as possible, I started past him out of the bathroom.
“Whenever you’re ready to be a man and own up to your emotions, let me know,” he called.
I froze. Whirling around, I narrowed my eyes at him. “ Fuck . You . What do you know about being a man? While I was in Boston getting the brunt of Da’s brutality, you were back in Belfast with Mam getting coddled. I was always on the front line getting beaten and bloodied!”
“Your trauma doesn’t make you a man. How you handle it does.”
“What a bunch of psychobabble bullshit!” I shot back.
“It’s the truth. What happened to Maeve and my part in it had been festering inside me for the past two years. It’s fucked me in ways you could never imagine. It wasn’t until I started freeing myself of that burden that I could breathe again.”
Standing toe to toe with him, I sneered, “Da was right when he called you a waste of a cock.”
Kellan’s eyes widened as his nostrils flared. In a totally uncharacteristic move, he slammed his fist into my jaw. After stumbling back, I rubbed my aching cheek. “Well look who finally grew a pair,” I chuckled.
Flexing his fingers, Kellan challenged, “And I’ll keep going if you dare to fucking insult me like that again.”
“If Da knew what it took to get you to man up, I’m sure he would’ve hooked you up with a stripper sooner.”
Insulting his girlfriend sent a murderous gleam flashing through Kellan’s eyes. With a roar, he launched himself at me. He rammed my back into the floor to ceiling bookshelf. I got in a good right hook before he slammed a punch into my ribs, causing me to wheeze.
Barreling through the door, Quinn boomed, “What the hell is going on?”
Kellan and I froze. Our chests heaved as we extricated ourselves from each other. Glancing between us, Quinn growled, “Once again, what the hell is going on?”
“Nothing,” we echoed in unison.
“Bullshite,” he muttered.
Smoothing down my rumpled shirt, I replied, “We were just having a disagreement.”
Quinn shot me a look. “You haven’t disagreed with each other with fists since you were rowdy teens.”
“It’s none of your fucking business, so piss off!” I snapped back.
“Excuse me?” Quinn roared.
As his face contorted with rage, his wife, Isla, appeared in the doorway like a sexy Irish fairy in a red dress. Her frightened gaze bounced around the three of us. “Is everything okay?”
The mere sound of her voice was a balm for Quinn’s anger. “It’s grand, Little Dove.” Jabbing a finger at me and Kellan, he growled, “If you two eejits are done, I’d like to be able to do what I came here for, which is to enjoy a night out with my wife.”
From Isla’s expression, I knew she didn’t buy our response anymore than Quinn had. Due to her closeness with Kellan, she immediately went to his side. As she fretted with his shirt, she asked, “Wanna get a drink with me?”
Quinn grunted. “This is our date night, Little Dove.”
“I think I can spare five minutes to have a drink with Kellan.” With a cheeky grin, she replied, “You’ll have me the rest of night.”
Kellan shook his head. “I’m going to meet Mabry.”
“Good riddance,” I muttered under my breath.
“Dare,” Quinn warned.
“He can fuck all the strippers in Boston for all I cared as long he keeps his sanctimonious nose in his own business.”
When Isla sucked in a pained breath, regret rocketed through me. Like Mabry, Isla had been a dancer at our club, Alain , which meant beautiful in Irish. That’s where she had met Quinn. By insulting Mabry, I had also insulted her.
Grimacing, I replied, “Fuck. I’m sorry, Isla.”
“You don’t owe me an apology. It’s the truth. I was a stripper.”
“Dancer,” Quinn argued.
The corner of her lips quirked up. “Semantics.” Turning back to me, she said, “While you don’t owe me an apology, Kellan could probably benefit from one.”
When my lips curled back in disgust, Kellan shook his head. “You won’t mean it so don’t bother.”
As he started out of the office, Isla grabbed his arm. “Tell Mabry hello for me. I’d love for us to get together soon for a double date.”
Kellan gave her a tight smile. “Okay, I will.”
Then without another word for any of us, he swept out of the room. Turning to Isla, Quinn said, “Go on and order us some drinks, Little Dove.”
Although I knew she wanted to argue with him, she dutifully bobbed her head. “Take care of yourself, Dare,” she said.
Flashing her my signature smirk, I replied, “Aye, I’ll be grand as always.”
Once we were alone, Quinn said, “If I was a betting man, I’d wager that the altercation was about a woman.” When I didn’t reply, his expression grew somber. “Considering what time of year it is, I would imagine it was about Shannon.”
“And what if it was?” I countered.
“Knowing the two of you the way that I do, I know he was only trying to help.”
“I don’t need help.”
He gave me a sad smile. “Aye, that’s what I always said after the bombing.”
Three years ago, a car bomb meant for our father scarred Quinn’s left side while killing our cousin, Rian. Jerking my chin at him, I replied, “You also would bite back anytime we tried to talk to you about it.”
“I did. But now I know how wrong it was not to deal with my trauma.”
Sneering, I replied, “Not you, too.”
“Truth hurts.”
“You can take your truth and shove it,” I muttered before I walked out.
Fuck. Me. I needed a strong drink after all that bullshit. Striding down the employee hallway, I tried shutting out the voices in my head. Mainly the one that said I was an epic wanker for going off on Kellan and then treating Quinn like a dick.
After nodding at one of the bouncers guarding the hall, I then entered the main floor of the club. Decadent was one word that could describe Bandia . Otherworldly was another. The architectural design had come from the Irish mythology my brothers and I had grown up with.
Stopping at the bar, I waved over a bartender to give me a high end bottle of vodka. Tonight I felt like cheating on my Irish whiskey roots. Taking the bottle, I then went over to climb the stairs to the VIP section, which was divided into three separate rooms.
When I swept into the largest section that boasted a floor to ceiling glass enclosure that overlooked the club, I found Caterina lounging on Callum’s lap, her arms draped across his shoulders. While he was eying his phone, she was kissing up his neck.
“Get a room,” I joked as I poured myself a glass of vodka.
With his gaze still zeroed in on his screen Callum grunted in response while Caterina’s cheeks turned pink. “I didn’t expect to see the two of you here,” I remarked as I sat across from them.
Scowling at Callum, Caterina said, “We’re supposed to be on a date night, but he can’t stay off his phone checking on Julianna.”
“Come on, babe. It’s the first time we’ve left her completely alone with a sitter.”
With a roll of her dark eyes, Caterina protested, “She’s with your mother , not some stranger off the streets.”
“I still want to make sure she’s okay.”
Chuckling, I replied, “I never, ever thought I would see the day my big, bad brother was completely owned by wee lass.”
With a wicked smile, Caterina replied, “It shouldn’t be so surprising considering how whipped I have him.”
Callum tore his gaze from his phone to stare up at his wife. “You think I’m whipped do you?”
“Oh, I know you’re whipped,” she teased.
“So do I,” I mused.
“Piss off,” he grunted to me. After tossing his phone on the table, he jerked Caterina against him before nipping her neck with his teeth. The action elicited a pleasurable sigh from her.
Rising from my chair, I grabbed my glass of vodka. “At least give me a headstart before you two start fucking.”
At Caterina’s horrified squeal, Callum merely chuckled, his face buried in her cleavage. “Do me a favor on your way out and tint the windows.”
“Aye, Aye, Captain,” I replied as I headed out of the room. Tapping the button beside the door, the glass tinted, shielding Callum and Caterina and their fucking from prying eyes.
In the adjoining VIP section, I found Eamon, my almost eighteen-year-old brother and a gaggle of his prep school friends along with some slightly older ladies. Since I wasn’t in the mood for their antics, I merely threw my hand up at him as I drowned my vodka.
One of the girls on his lap screeched at the sight of me. “Oh my God. You and your brother could be twins.”
Flashing a cocky smirk that was very much like mine, Eamon replied, “Aye, but I’m the better looking one.”
“At least I’m not a two pump chump with a micro willy,” I shot back with a grin.
As his friends howled with laughter, Eamon raised his middle fingers at me. “I could fuck you under the table, old man.”
With a wink, I replied, “You wish, little boy.”
I left him grumbling under his breath while his friends continued giving him shit. When I got out onto the riser, I groaned at the realization I’d left my vodka bottle in the room with Callum and Caterina. Although I normally enjoyed watching people fuck, Caterina was too much like my sister to get any enjoyment out of it. So, I decided to forego the alcohol and watch people for a minute.
From my perch, I surveyed the crowd. People in different states of dress and in different stages of their highs talked and danced. Others hit some second and third base action in the darker corners.
After losing interest in two girls fingerbanging, my gaze zeroed in on a banging brunette dancing on her own.
With her eyes pinched shut, she appeared lost in her own world. I wondered what it felt like to feel that free in a crowd. Because of who I was, I was always on heightened alert, even if I had bodyguards with me.
But not her.
Besides the aesthetic appreciation of her, my cock couldn’t help enjoying her moves. The slinky sway of her hips, the thrust of her pelvis, and the bounce of her tits. The way she ran her hands over her body with complete abandon. Her barely there little black dress was to die for.
Damn, she was sexy.
After the night I’d had, I needed to get fucked. Being with a woman always grounded me in the present and kept the ghosts of the past at bay. And this siren fit the bill.
I started down the stairs with the singular purpose of getting her in my bed…or at the very least against the wall of my office.