Chapter Twenty-Five
RONAN
My body is exhausted, yet my mind is racing. But that might have something to do with the fact Ciara is curled up beside me, fast asleep and completely naked.
I’m surprised she didn’t insist on going back to her room after I was done with her, and a small part of me is glad she’s still here, if only to give me the chance to indulge in my fantasies.
She’s asleep on her front, the dark gray sheet barely covering her backside.
It would be so easy to pull it back and gently push her thighs apart so that I could slide my cock inside her.
“Christ.” My cock hardens from just thinking about fucking Ciara slow and deep until she’s whimpering with need in her sleep.
As if she can sense my arousal, she stretches out her arms and lets out a soft sigh of contentment.
I rub a hand over my face, dragging in a slow breath to try and calm myself as I take in the sight of her.
I thought that perhaps the first time we fucked was a one-off and that it would never be that good again. But the way Ciara took everything I gave her again only makes me crave her more, so desperate to see just how far I could go.
Instead, I get to my feet and stride to my closet in search of a pair of joggers before slipping out into the dark hall, careful to close the door silently behind me.
Fun is one thing, but losing control is something I can’t afford. No matter how much I enjoy seeing the marks on Ciara’s skin after taking her to my bed, I need to remember why she’s here.
This marriage isn’t about love or loyalty.
It’s business.
The survival of everything my family built is riding on this deal, and I’m not about to throw it all away because I’m addicted to the sound of my name on her lips as she comes.
She’s a McCarthy.
She is a means to an end, and nothing more. Or at least, that’s what I have to keep telling myself, even if that is harder and harder to keep in mind as she gets deeper and deeper under my skin and into places I thought were dead inside me.
I make my way downstairs, my bare feet silent on the cold tiles as I head straight for my office.
The familiar smell of leather and whiskey hits me the second I open the door, and I turn on the lamp, casting a warm glow across the dark wood furniture before crossing the room and sinking into my chair with a heavy sigh.
The clock on the wall reads almost four in the morning.
I should be sleeping, but then again, sleep hasn’t come easy to me lately. My mind is constantly racing. With Ciara, with every possible scenario that could happen to each member of my family now that I’m in charge.
The pressure is suffocating, and I can’t allow myself to crack, despite the fact my father’s killer is still out there, and so far, I have no leads.
What if one of my brothers is next? What if I’m next and they target Ciara?
The thought leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.
I climb to my feet and pour myself a drink, though not even alcohol will be enough to numb my thoughts. I down the first glass in one gulp, grimacing as the whiskey burns my throat, before pouring another and taking it back to the desk and sinking into my father’s chair once more.
For a moment, I simply sit there, letting the quiet settle over me as I try not to think about my father.
He made running this empire look easy. People weren’t just afraid of him, they respected him. Me, on the other hand…
Some days, it’s like I’m barely keeping my head above water for fear that one wrong move could bring my father’s legacy crashing to the ground.
I take another sip of my drink and shake the thought out of my head as I fire up my computer, needing something other than alcohol to numb me.
Mindless work is what I need, so I type in my password and open up the accounts Ciara was working on earlier to go over what she completed.
I know she was pissed about being given such a mindless task, but after I caught her snooping, I wasn’t about to go handing her access to anything important.
Putting a ring on her finger doesn’t automatically buy her loyalty to my family, and I would do well to remember that.
When I open up the payment system, my stomach drops, and my back instantly straightens.
“What the fuck…” I set down my glass on the desk and click through a few tabs, my pulse spiking with every new page that appears.
It seems that Ciara didn’t just input the payments like I told her to. She changed the entire damn system from the layout all the way to the backend coding.
My teeth grind together as I realize that she completely wiped out the system my father built.
From the looks of it, her way is much more efficient and slicker as hell, but that doesn’t make up for the fact that she erased a piece of my father without permission.
I sit there for a moment and stare at the screen. Anger builds in my chest like a ticking time bomb as I try to think rationally.
The old payment system was outdated and easily hackable, so I should be grateful that Ciara saw its flaws and had the skills to fix it.
But I’m not. I can’t. Can’t be grateful when she had no right to make that sort of decision without so much as a fucking conversation.
The glass leaves my hand and shatters before I realize I’ve thrown it across the room. Shards of crystal cover the floor, cutting into my bare feet as I storm from the office, but I barely even feel the sting when my ears are ringing and my body is vibrating.
When I reach the upstairs hallway, I push open the bedroom door hard enough that it slams against the wall.
Ciara lets out a startled cry as she bolts upright, clutching the sheet to her chest, and she stares at me with wide eyes.
"Ronan?" She pushes her blonde hair out of her face. "What is it? What’s wrong?"
I stalk across the room to tower over her where she sits, propped against the headboard.
"You." My voice is low and dripping with rage. "You’re what’s wrong."
She frowns as she blinks up at me, still half-asleep.
“I don’t… What are you talking about?"
I grind my teeth so hard that my jaw aches. "The payments system. You fucking changed the entire thing!"
She looks confused for a moment, then her mouth drops open, and her entire body tenses. "I-I thought—"
"You thought, what? That you could just waltz in here and wipe away everything my father built?"
She flinches as if I struck her, but she needs to understand she’s crossed a line.
“It wasn’t like that.”
“What was it like, Ciara? Huh?”
She looks away for a moment, taking her lower lip between her teeth. “I wasn’t trying to erase anyone. I just… The system was outdated. I thought I was helping—"
"You don’t touch my systems without permission." I ball my hands into fists. "You don’t touch anything that belonged to him. Do you understand me?"
Ciara shrinks at my tone, but that only adds to my anger.
“I asked you a fucking question!”
She looks up at me then, her expression hardening as the fear in her eyes turns to anger. "Maybe if your systems weren’t so easy to hack into, I wouldn’t have been tempted to change them.”
"You think this is a fucking joke?" I step closer to the bed.
She lifts her chin, though I notice her grip tightens on the sheet wrapped around her chest. "No. But maybe if you actually trusted me instead of treating me like a prisoner, I wouldn’t have to prove I’m useful."
She can’t be serious. “How have I treated you like a prisoner? I’ve given you access to my house, my cars, I’ve even allowed your friend to come over.”
“You allowed? Do you even hear yourself? Because that’s what I’m fucking talking about, Ronan! I have to run everything by you! I can’t even take an Uber into the city without you intervening.”
“Because I don’t want you to get fucking kidnapped!”
She glowers at me, but she knows I’m right.
“If you want to be treated like a prisoner, I’d be glad to put a lock on your bedroom door.”
“Fuck you.”
“You’ve crossed a line, Ciara.”
“I saw something that needed fixing, and I fixed it. I could be useful to you.” She stares up at me, her chest heaving as she loosens her hold on the sheet.
It slips just enough to reveal the soft swells of her breasts, and my cock twitches, hardening in my pants despite the rage coursing through my veins.
I take a step closer to the bed, and her breath hitches as she glances down and sees my arousal.
She loosens her hold even more so that the sheet drops to her waist, exposing her bare breasts and her perfect pink nipples as I lean over her, placing a hand on either side of her body until she’s caged inside my arms.
“Useful, huh?” I keep my voice low, my mouth barely an inch away from hers.
Her throat bobs, and I let my gaze purposefully flick down to her chest, taking in the sight of her pebbling nipples.
If I tore the sheet away, I’d find her already wet and ready for me, and my cock throbs at that thought.
She arches her back slightly, as if silently inviting me to claim her tits, but I don’t give in.
Instead, I lean in close so that my mouth almost brushes her ear as I move one hand to cup her throat.
Part of me wants to climb on top of her right now and fuck the defiance out of her, but this moment isn’t about sex.
It’s about teaching Ciara a lesson.
"You had no right to touch what wasn’t yours." I squeeze her neck just enough to force a soft whimper from her. “Next time I might not be so forgiving.”
I pull away then and step back from the bed, glowering down at her as she looks up at me with a slightly glazed expression.
“Now, I suggest you go back to your own room.”
It’s a low blow, but I need to remember who exactly is the woman in my bed. She’s a McCarthy, and I can’t afford to let her in.
At least, not completely.
“Are you seriously kicking me out right now?” Any hint of arousal in her eyes vanishes.
“Just out of my bed.”
“You’re a fucking asshole.” She gathers the sheet around herself once more.
“You should have thought of the consequences before you decided to hack into my computer.” I fold my arms over my bare chest.
Ciara scowls, though she makes no move to leave. “I thought you’d appreciate the improvements.”
“Well, you thought wrong.” I turn on my heel and stalk toward the door.
"Where are you going?"
"To fix your fucking mess. And I want you gone by the time I get back.”
I don’t look back, because if I do, and I catch sight of Ciara’s naked body, I’ll forget everything that matters.
And I can’t afford that.
Not now.
Not ever.