Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Lily
“Let’s get you some clothes, dear.” The older woman approaches me as I remain on the horse. Her silver hair is pulled back in a low bun, and there’s a blanket over her shoulders covering her cotton mumu bedtime dress.
If I weren’t freezing and naked, I would have ignored her.
I dismount and follow her to the house. She doesn’t seem to hold any judgment. If my mother saw me like this, she’d have a full-on panic attack. She would go off on how a proper lady would never be naked in public and on about how no man would take me seriously.
As we enter, I notice the cottage is spacious and inviting. We pass the kitchen where Killian is making a call.
Killian looks more intimidating without clothes on.
Standing there wearing nothing but his briefs, his abs are chiseled to perfection.
His chest is covered in a large tattoo of a mural of a wolf on a cliff howling at the moon.
Splatters of blood cover his face and parts of his body; his disheveled black hair and glowing blue eyes have me in a trance.
“This way,” the woman says, noticing my distraction. She leads me to a room and shuts the door. “Izzy is about your age. She moved in with me. She’s been taking their mother’s death really hard. But feel free to pick out something to put on. I’m sure you’re cold.”
By now, being naked is nothing. As long as there aren’t hungry eyes looking at me, then it’s no bother. I am interested in trying to learn more about Killian. He has a much younger sister; maybe I can use that somehow.
“How long has their mother been gone?” I ask.
“We just had her vardo a few days ago.” She smiles. “We are a big family. Do you have any siblings?”
“Two older sisters, one younger.”
“Are you close with them?”
I gulp. “Depends on what drama is happening.”
Truth is, after my father passed, things are always tense. It was never like that when Dad was around. He was the one who kept Mom and Stasia from clashing. Now that he’s gone, nothing is the same.
“I didn’t catch your name,” the woman says. “I’m Aunt Maeve.”
“Liliana,” I reply, throwing on a shirt.
“Ah,” Maeve replies, causing me to look up at her. “Lily. Pretty name.”
“After my grandmother.” I smile. “Only my family calls me Lily.”
She nods, but I can see she’s debating something.
I clear my throat. “Is there a way I can buy new underwear? I’m not using someone else’s.”
“Lucky you, new set in the other drawer.” She watches me. “You seem to be in pain. Are you alright?”
“That time of the month is coming, so I’m a bit stiff.”
“I’ll make you some tea that will ease the cramping.”
Before I can reply, she’s gone. I quickly throw on clothes and sneakers then poke my head out the door. Now that I’m fully clothed, I can run. Where to doesn’t matter. I just need out of here.
Quietly and cautiously, making my way toward the door, I stop right before the opening to the den area where there are a number of men speaking.
“Human leverage,” I hear Killian say.
My heart stops. He is going to put me back into the trafficking ring. They are all in on it.
“Your tea is almost ready.” Aunt Maeve sneaks up behind me, holding a wet cloth.
She speaks sweetly, but her tone has an underlying threat to it.
“You’re not from around here, dear, so I won’t hold it against you, but I’d hate for you to find out the hard way what the Boswell name means in this part of the North.
Our reputation is far more dangerous than the Costello family.
You could run. I won’t stop you. But those men in there, the Boswell brothers, one whisper from any of them will shake up a storm.
You wouldn’t get far, and I can’t promise that you’d be returned in one piece. ”
Boswell? I thought his name was Weste. I remain frozen. I turn my head when she stands beside me, and we share a look. I understand what I need to do. What Aunt Maeve doesn’t realize is that I’m an Andretti, and we are very good at making the best out of a shitty situation.
“Is she hot?” I hear a male voice ask and find my cue to enter.
“I like to think so,” my voice carries through the room, demanding attention.
But nothing prepared me for five sets of eyes, all crystal light blue, watching me like a hawk eyeing its prey. I’ve been in rooms with men of power my whole life, but this felt different. I am not in safe territory, and I know I shouldn’t trust any of them.
“Well, Kil, don’t be rude. Introduce us to your lady friend.” One of the men with chestnut brown hair says to Killian, who hasn’t taken his eyes off me.
“I wouldn’t call us friends,” I voice, locking eyes with Killian.
Aunt Maeve tosses Killian a wet washcloth. “Why don’t you clean up. I don’t want blood getting on anything.”
Killian catches the cloth as he makes his way toward us.
“Behave,” he commands in my ear. “They aren’t as kind as I am.”
“I’ve been able to manage you. I’ll be fine,” I whisper back with a smirk.
There’s a devious look in his eyes that makes my body tingle.
What the hell is wrong with me?
He walks away, leaving me with people I don’t know.
The expression “walking into the lion’s den” takes on a whole new meaning.
The four men, dispersed around the small room, some seated and some standing, look calm, but the look in their eyes is haunting.
They range in age and distinct features.
While they all have the same eye color and nose as Killian, their builds, heights, and hair colors are drastically different from one another.
“This is Liliana.” Aunt Maeve takes charge, introducing me.
She points to the older-looking man with a bulky square build and dark auburn hair.
“That is Mickey, the eldest Boswell. Then there’s the twins, Leon with the wrinkled shirt and Trevor,” she points to two handsome blond men with lean muscular builds, “and the baby here is JoJo,” who’s rocking perfectly curled dirty blond hair.
“I didn’t know Killian had brothers,” I say.
“Half brothers,” JoJo says.
“Brothers all the same,” Mickey speaks up.
Their accents are heavy.
Aunt Maeve smiles. “My sister was a lover of love and lust,” she laughs.
“So Weste is Killian’s father’s name?”
“Seven children and, despite having different fathers, they all carry the Boswell blood. They were born with the name and will die with it. No piece of paper will change that.” Aunt Maeve’s tone is sweet but threatening.
“Our grandfather helped raise us,” Leon adds for clarification. “It was only right that we carry his name.”
“Mum wanted us to have the same name so no one felt out of place,” JoJo says with a hint of sadness at the reminder of their loss.
There is dead silence for a moment.
“So how do you know Killian?” Trevor asks with a smirk, pretending he doesn’t know I’m being held captive.
“He works with my brothers-in-law.”
“Well, come and sit.” Leon nods for me to sit on a chair. “We don’t bite.”
Sinking into the chair, my muscles start to tighten again.
“I’m going to check on your tea,” Aunt Maeve says before leaving the room. “Play nice, boys. It’s not often Killian brings home a female.”
“So, Liliana.” JoJo picks up a beer from the coffee table and twists the cap open. “Have you seen our brother Killian in action? We have bets on how he offed those men back at the house.”
They seem interested, listening for my answer. “I didn’t get to watch.” I see flashes of disappointment. “They were in the barn while I was getting the horse saddled.”
Leon begins to laugh. “That fucking barn. I remember when we were younger, and he cut open an animal just to see what was inside.” He takes a beer from the coffee table and twists the cap off. “That’s when I knew he was crazy.”
They all chuckle to themselves like they had their own story to relate to.
“We got company,” Killian’s voice travels into the room, turning off the light with a gun in hand and still shirtless.
The others pull out their guns and find a wall to put their backs against. Killian pulls me toward him, our backs against the wall. There’s a knock. My heart begins pounding against my chest.
“Give me a gun,” I whisper.
“I’m not giving you a fucking weapon,” he shoots back.
It is dark, but I can still make out who is who by the light coming through the windows from the moon. I see Aunt Maeve holding a rifle behind her back as she goes to open the door.
“Who is it?” she shouts through the wooden door.
“We are looking for Killian.”
“Well, he isn’t here,” Maeve shouts back.
“We know he is.”
Killian looks across the room to Mickey, who is looking out the window. Mickey holds up two fingers. Then Killian looks toward the twins and nods for them to follow.
“Hide and don’t come out until you hear my voice,” Killian says to me in a low whisper and shoves me behind the sofa.
“A sofa isn’t going to protect me from shit! Give me a gun.”
“Shut up and do as you’re told.”
“I hate you,” I spit out.
“The feeling is mutual.”
Crawling up into a ball behind the sofa, my muscles so stiff and the pain radiating from everywhere, there’s no way I’m making out of this alive.
Poking my head out, I watch Maeve open the door and step aside to let these strangers in.
She cocks back the rifle and starts shooting.
Killian and his brothers, strategically placed, start shooting their guns.
Killian aims at anyone trying to enter the room.
Mickey and JoJo break the window and shoot at the ones outside.
The twins cover Killian’s blind spots. Bodies are dropping and panic begins surging through me.
One body falls to the ground, gun spinning toward me.
Then silence. They all reload just as another group charges in.
“Kil, get her out of here! We will hold it down,” Mickey shouts. “Back up will be here any second. Go!”
Grabbing the loose gun, I follow behind Killian as we go out a side door. As the night air hits my face, the cold ground against my feet works against me, only making my muscles stiffen more.
“Why are you moving so slow?!” Killian suddenly hauls me over his shoulder.
When we reach an area, he puts me down. And I immediately draw the gun on him.
Killian is caught off guard at first. “Put it down.” He spits out, annoyed.
“Fuck you. I have a better chance of surviving on my own.” I walk backward while Killian walks toward me.
“Your odds are better with me.” There’s a fiery look in his blue eyes that illuminates with the moonlight.
“I’ll take my chances.” I pull the trigger, but nothing happens.
Killian chuckles an evil laugh. I chuck the gun at him and run for my life. But my muscles are too stiff, and he’s on me before I can get far. Grabbing a chunk of my hair, he drags me back toward the cottage. Despite trying to struggle free from him, he’s a lot stronger.
“It’s no use, Liliana. You’re my bitch until your family gets you back.”