7. Molly
Molly
T he absolute worst thing about being unconscious was the sluggishness of rousing, being stuck, knowing that waking wasn’t a linear process.
My mind slowly being teased back to the present, only to fall back into unawareness, to resurface again a minute later.
Sometimes a few minutes later, or maybe more.
Confusion as everything became mixed up in my head.
Any mention of a sister?
I need to look at it before you die of exsanguination.
Molly left a bullet in my Rover. A bullet with Finnan’s name on it.
Did you do this?
Different voices floated in my subconscious. Keir’s voice was like a violent vibration against my skin, setting my nerve endings ablaze. The other voice was…
“Fallon?” My voice was soft, raspy. I peeled my eyes open. Forcing myself to blink, removing the grittiness behind my lids and focus on what was directly in front of me.
A stripper pole?
Where the fuck was I?
My body felt as heavy as my mind, so I didn’t attempt to sit just yet.
I simply let my eyes rove over the space, noting the pole was connected to a shiny podium only about three feet in diameter.
Something warm was beneath my cheek, and my breath ghosted over the surface a moment before dissipating.
It felt like leather, and it continued along my body, also something lay atop me—soft against my skin—trapping in the warmth and warding me against the artificial chill in the room.
My gaze skittered to the floor where plastic wrappers lay discarded, along with a stray piece of suturing thread. Opposite me, the door lock disengaged, and I stared at the handle as it dipped.
Keir stepped into the room, looking the same as he did before, minus his leather jacket. My eyes dropped to his thigh, seeing a white bandage peeking through the hole in his pants each time he moved. His dark eyes settled on me, bearing an uncomfortable weight, assessing me. “How are you feeling?”
The question, although simple, jarred. “How do you think I’m feeling?” I tried to snap, but my voice lacked the necessary heat.
The side of his mouth kicked up into a grin.
“Feeling combative already? I’ll take that as a good sign, Jynx.
” He was close enough I could smell him—Turkish tobacco and dark chocolate—and I braced for him to grab me, but he only leaned over to retrieve a bottle of water.
He offered it to me, and when I nodded, he helped me sit up.
My world spun for a moment, then I took the bottle he offered, breaking the seal. At least I knew he hadn’t tampered with it. Drinking greedily, I emptied it quickly, then set the cap back on top.
“More?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“Good.” He plucked the empty bottle from my hands and set it on the small table beside the couch. “Tell me where?—”
“Was Fallon here?” I interrupted, ignoring his glare. He’d probably lie and say she wasn’t, but I swore I heard her voice. Also, the lingering medical rubbish made me think of my friend.
He narrowed his eyes. “Aye, she was.”
“I want to see her.”
“You have no bargaining rights here, Jynx,” he reminded me.
“And you killed a man in front of me. I can go to the police.”
Rage fell over his features as Keir pressed his face closer to mine. “You’re in no position to threaten me,” he warned. “You’re in my world now. The only rules that apply are mine .”
His words took me back to nine years ago when another man thought he could rule my world.
I’d gotten angry then and foolishly done something that still haunted me to this day.
But Keir wasn’t him; Keir was trained in violence.
He was a clan member. If I no longer served his purpose, he would snap my neck without a second thought. But maybe that was what would save me.
Keir was right. For now, I was in his world. I would play by his rules, but I’d always been good at slipping through the bars eventually.
I stared into his beautiful face, my gaze lingering on his lips. “Okay,” I said demurely.
He jerked back. “Okay?”
I sat up a little straighter. “I’ll tell you everything I know, but I need your word that I’ll have clan protection.”
He balked, giving me a look of skepticism. “You’re in no position to negotiate.”
“And you are? I have the information that you want. You wouldn’t have chased me down not once, but twice, if I didn’t have something you desperately wanted.”
His stare shifted from cold to arctic. Men like him never enjoyed being outmaneuvered by anyone, let alone a woman. “I wouldn’t protect you if you were my own blood,” he replied in a soft snarl. “You threatened my boss.”
I shook my head. “I’m not the one behind the threat.”
“No, you’re simply the messenger, right?”
Lifting my chin, I met his icy stare. “That’s right, because I’m a fucking survivor and I protect what’s mine.”
He considered my words, like he was dissecting them for meaning. “I can’t give you the protection you seek.” I folded my arms, and Keir’s dark eyes darted down to my cleavage before they returned to my face. “The only man who can give that to you is the man you threatened with that bullet.”
Fuck. I knew Grady’s death wouldn’t be the end. He said he was with Clan Fiach under his cousin’s insistence, but in order to be useful to them, Grady would’ve told someone else about my sins. How else would a Sentinel be able to have so many men watching my family?
I had only one choice.
“I want to take a shower before I see him.”
Keir smiled like he’d been told it was Christmas. “Come with me.”
Rising to my feet, I stood for a moment to let any lingering dizziness disappear before I followed Keir to the door. “Where did you bring me?”
“Velvet.”
“The strip club ?”
“You’ve heard of it. Good.”
“Why did you bring me here?”
“Because I didn’t want to hand you over to Finnan while you were unconscious. He has a proclivity for rousing unconscious women by fucking them, then interrogating them while he’s still ballsdeep. I didn’t think you’d want to meet the man who would become your new god like that.”
My whole body trembled at the idea of being taken against my will again.
I was the only one who could give my consent, and as Brian found out, I was very firm with my rule.
Especially when it came to people who couldn’t stand up for themselves.
Instead of giving him a response, I followed Keir out of a long hallway that held all the private rooms and into the club.
Music assaulted my ears, along with the scent of sex.
Everywhere were women dressed in lingerie, ferrying drinks on trays or chatting with the male clientele, who were scattered around the vast space.
None of the strippers looked at me as we weaved through the room, but when I glanced over at the bar, an older woman standing behind it stared right at me.
“Keir, who’s that woman?” I asked in a whisper.
“Mary, our Pull,” he replied.
“Is she dangerous?” Because the look she shot me could melt steel.
“She’s the single mother of eight daughters, of course she’s dangerous.
” Keir paused at another black door, punching a code into the pad beside it.
Inside the hallway, the music was muted, and the scent of sex had been replaced with a dozen unique perfumes.
Doors stood open on either side of the hall, but Keir pushed open one that turned out to be a huge changing room.
There were lockers lining the walls on either side, and a long bench ran down the middle.
My skin beaded with the humidity from the showers and my nose twitched from freshly spritzed perfume.
Gesturing with his chin, he directed me to the back of the locker room, where a tiled area opened to reveal half a dozen shower heads attached at intervals to the wall. It was just like in one of those American movies … or in a prison. An open shower.
“You’ve got five minutes, Jynx,” Keir said. He propped a shoulder against the tiled wall out of the way of the spray as he casually crossed his legs at the ankle.
“I’m not showering in front of you. No!” I shook my head for good measure. “No, I refuse.”
“It’s too late now. I’ve brought you all the way in here.”
“I changed my mind.” Panic clawed like a vice around my chest. “I want to go back to the room.”
Keir, the bastard, simply shook his head. “No. You’re covered in brains and blood.”
He was right, but I hadn’t wanted to acknowledge that each time I moved I felt the itch of dried blood and gore against my skin. I could even smell it.
“I’ve already fucked you, Jynx. You think you have something no other woman has?”
Hugging my arms around myself, I shook my head.
“What is it then?”
My arms tightened—if only to stop my whole body from shaking. I knew I had issues I hadn’t dealt with yet, but now wasn’t the time for that either. “I need my privacy.”
Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a packet of loose tobacco and opened the flap.
Was he actually rolling a cigarette right now?
I watched his strong, sure fingers roll the paper and dried leaves into a tight cylinder before he brought it to his mouth and licked the end to seal it.
Placing the cigarette into his mouth, he took his time lighting it.
Smoke billowed from his nose as he exhaled, like a dragon guarding his treasure.
That was me.
I was his treasure.
“Ticktock, Jynx,” he reminded me with a wicked grin.
“I’ll wait,” I replied, even though I hated the idea of spending another second wearing these clothes.
“Are you sure? This will be your last chance to get cleaned up before you’re brought in front of Finnan.”
I nibbled my bottom lip, indecision playing through me. Though I knew I would have to face Finnan eventually, I didn’t want to negotiate for my life while smelling and looking like death.
“Turn around,” I told him.
His amused smirk widened. “What?”
“Turn around. If you must stand there, at least turn around.”
“Why would I ever do you a favor?”