Chapter 3 #2
Catriona’s loathing burns a path into the side of my skull.
I hide my smile behind a deep drink of wine as Rory picks up the conversation.
I wish we could have skipped this dinner altogether, but I wanted at least one meeting with the woman I’m supposed to marry before I met her at the altar.
I may want to see my mother, but I draw the line at forcing this girl to go through with it.
I’d rather kill Rory and get it over with.
Sensing the strange tension in the air, Elizabeth blinks rapidly and busies herself with buttering a roll and stuffing it in her mouth.
She may not be ready for my life as it stands, but I could change that easily enough with enough training and positive reinforcement.
The fact that I care nothing for her should be protection in and of itself.
The clink of Frances clearing the soup bowls punctuates the growing tension.
Rory hasn’t touched his food, but Catriona has methodically emptied hers, like a soldier preparing for battle.
Her eyes keep darting between me and her sister, calculations clearly running behind that sharp glower.
I recognize that look—it’s the same one she wore at my estate right before she suggested we flip a coin to see if I’d let her go.
She’s planning something. Scheming. Does the woman ever stop her fucking scheming?
Curious, I luxuriate in the weight of Catriona’s all-consuming hatred directed at me and say to Elizabeth, “Has Rory explained why you’re here tonight, Elizabeth?”
“O’Con—” Rory starts, but I silence his outraged objection with a mild look. Christ, I’m tired of his voice. I don’t think the man knows how to shut the fuck up.
“Your father owes the man I work for a great deal of money.” I’m speaking to Elizabeth, but every iota of my attention is on Catriona, who stiffens at my words.
If she’s going to be a problem, I’d bet the Emerald she’ll show her hand tonight.
Once that’s over with and the wedding is done, there will be nothing standing in my way of getting Cian’s approval to visit my mother.
Elizabeth’s face twitches as though she wants to glance at her sister, but she stops herself just in time. “Do you know what he promised me in exchange?”
Elizabeth keeps her expression blank. Impressive. “What—what did he promise you?” she asks.
“He promised me you,” I answer.
The only show of emotion Elizabeth gives is her hand turning white around the stem of her water glass.
“Right,” she breathes, and sets the glass aside before clearing her throat and daring to glance at her father, who gives her an encouraging nod.
Elizabeth squares her shoulders and opens her mouth to speak.
“Like hell,” Catriona bursts out, finally unable to contain herself.
She pushes away from the table, evading her father’s grasp and rounding the place where I sit to stand next to her sister, her hands wrapping around the back of the chair until the wood creaks under her fingers.
Her furious honeypot eyes ping back and forth between her father and me.
“You can’t be fucking serious. You’re selling her to pay your debts? Your own daughter?”
The look she gives him would flay a lesser man, but Rory’s either impervious to the disdain of others or incredibly ignorant. Maybe a little of both. I down the rest of my wine, settling into a pleasant buzz and wondering if Frances will think me insane if I ask her for a fry-up when they’re gone.
“Sit down, Catriona,” Rory barks, spittle flying, his sour breath a pungent cloud at my cheek. “It’s done.”
Catriona seems at a loss for words—a first, I have no doubt. I lean back in my seat, refreshing the wine in my glass as I settle in to watch the scene play out and hoping they’ll be quick about it.
“You can’t make her do this. You can’t,” Catriona says to her father. “She’s too young. Please don’t do this. You don’t even know what he’s capable of.”
“It’s done,” Rory snaps again, as he cuts a hand through the air.
Elizabeth murmurs to her sister at the finality of the proclamation, and Catriona’s eyes blaze. Really, her passion is an inspiration, but can’t she tell it’s a waste of time? Poor girl. It must be exhausting to care so deeply about everything.
“I warned you not to ruin this for me,” Rory says, and I silence him with a gesture. His teeth clack together with how quickly he obeys.
Now, who’s the good dog?
I lift a brow at Catriona, giving her space to speak, ready to get this over with. Her head swings toward me, leveling me with her contempt. The rest of the room drops away, throwing me back to when I’d last held her in my grasp.
“You’re really going to go through with this? I don’t know why I’m surprised. You’re disgusting.”
Her father barks, “You little bitch,” before she’s even finished speaking.
“Do I need to put a muzzle on you?” Rory flinches at my lethal drawl. The fact that I’m going to be related to him, even if it’s only on paper, disgusts me. “Leave us.”
Rory moves to drag Catriona out of the room, and I stand, causing Elizabeth to startle and leap to her feet as well. Jumpy little thing.
“No, Rory, take Elizabeth to the study for more wine and dessert. Frances will show you the way while I have a conversation with Catriona. Then we’ll talk about the finer details.”
The silence stretches between us like a rubber band ready to snap. I signal discreetly, with a slight nod toward the door.
Frances appears, seemingly out of nowhere, and says, “This way.”
This breaks Rory out of his stupor. “What are you playing at, O’Connor? You can’t renegotiate now. I swear to God, I’ll—”
“Calm yourself, Gallagher. Nothing’s changed—one of your daughters for your debts. Do not mistake my manners for kindness. Now do what you’re told.”
Hatred twists his features, but he releases his bruising grip on Catriona’s arm and reluctantly herds Elizabeth out of the dining room after Frances.
If it weren’t my mother on the line, I’d never willingly tie myself to a man like him.
In fact, if I ever get the chance, I’d love to put a bullet in his brain.
I imagine it, him on his knees again, begging, the way he’d jerk from the force of impact.
How he’d topple over, a pile of meat, eyes blank.
As soon as they’re gone, Catriona rounds on me. “What is it?”
“What is what?”
“What do you have on him? What could he have done that was so bad that you had to take my sister? Tell me. I deserve to know.”
“What happened is between your father and my boss. It’s not personal, and it’s out of your hands. It’s best for everyone involved if you accept that now, because the people involved in this are more dangerous than you can imagine. You want to keep your sister safe? Leave it alone.”
Her stony expression tells me she does not believe a word I say, not that I’m surprised.
“You expect me to leave it alone when you’re forcing my sister to marry you?
Who are you? What are you involved in?” When I don’t answer, she prods, “Does it have to do with that man I saw you kill on Halloween? Dufresne?”
I go still. Before she can continue, I say, “Stop. Just stop. The way you want to be the savior is sweet, really, but—”
“Oh, cut the patronizing bullshit, O’Connor. If you aren’t going to tell me what I want to know, I’m going to find out for myself. I won’t rest until I ruin you. I promise you right now, that’s what will happen if you marry her.”
“And you think you can stop me? You have no idea who you’re dealing with.”
To my surprise, she laughs. “You’re such a fucking cliché.
You’re not the first asshole I’ve dealt with, and you won’t be the last. But you want to know the truth about men like you?
They’re weak. Every. Single. One. So what’ll it take to get you not to go through with this?
My silence? My body? What if I were to pay my father’s debt myself? How much is it?”
My throat is dry, but there’s no more wine.
I’ve drunk it all. “Neither your silence nor your body is worth anything to me, Catriona. Don’t flatter yourself.
And as for the debt? You couldn’t afford it.
” She doesn’t back down when I draw steadily closer.
“There’s nothing you can do to stop this.
It’s not a crusade. There won’t be any justice.
Don’t get in my way, or I’ll make you regret it. ”
Brave girl, with her emotion-choked eyes and knotted hands. She’s trying so hard to be strong. Doesn’t she know it’s useless? She’s going to give in. She has to see there’s no way out of this. I let the relief fill me until my muscles turn liquid. I spin to the doorway before her voice stops me.
“Do you want me to beg, like I did that night? Because I’ll beg if that’s what you want. I’ll give you anything. What you had that night and more. Everything… if you’ll do this for me. Please.”
The smart thing to do would be to brush her off, will the memories of her away, and leave her. I have too much going on to be distracted by her mouth and her pretty pleading. Too much at stake. Too much to lose. Entertaining her would be a mistake.
Yet.
Yet…
“What would you do for me, Catriona? Would you get on your knees while you beg? You’d have to. To make me believe it. I remember you were so pretty that way.”
She sucks in a breath, and the indecision of it wars across her face before her expression hardens. “You’d love that, wouldn’t you? If-if that’s what it will take for you to leave us alone, the-then I’ll do whatever you want.”
“Is that really something you want to say to a man like me? I realize you don’t know me very well—well, most of me—but it would be in your best interest to be very careful what you’re willing to do for me.”
She lifts a brow, regal and perhaps so pissed off at me now that she’s forgetting to be afraid.
“You’re mistaken, O’Connor. It isn’t what I’m willing to do for you. It’s what I’m willing to do to stop you from marrying her.”
“And that would be?”
Catriona takes a deep breath before tipping her face up and warming me from the inside out like the burn of a good whiskey.
“Anything. I’d do anything you want to stop this,” she says. “Including getting on my knees… or marrying you instead.”