17. Lara
17
LARA
I curl into Rory, feeling comforted by being in his arms. I know I shouldn’t lean into this, shouldn’t allow myself to feel anything for him, but he’s really the only friend I have right now.
Rory’s phone buzzes in his pocket, and I jump slightly, feeling it under my hip. He groans.
“It’s probably my father.”
I pout but climb off him, sitting across from him instead of on top of him.
He slides the phone out of his pocket and frowns, bringing it to his ear.
“Bree?”
He’s quiet for a moment, and I tilt my head, staring at him.
“Wait, slow down. This is Gray Burke?”
My eyes widen. “My brother.”
Rory stands up, looking around to make sure that no one is watching us.
Then he sits back down and puts the phone on speaker.
“What have you done with my sister, Murphy?” I’d know that growl of Gray’s anywhere.
“Tell us where she is,” Declan pipes up, and I grin.
“I’m right here!”
“What? Lara? What’s going on? Are you hurt? If he’s hurt you?—”
“He hasn’t hurt me.” I need them to believe me. “Rory is the only one who’s helped me. He’s Bree’s brother.”
“And Niall’s son,” Gray says tightly. “You can’t trust him, Lara.”
My eyes flicker to Rory’s, but he’s looking down at the ground.
“Maybe not, but right now I don’t have much of a choice.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Declan demands to know. “Just tell us where you are. We’ll come get you.”
“No, you won’t.” I pause and take a deep breath. “Rory and I are married.”
“ What ?” It’s nearly a yell, and I can’t tell which of my brothers it is.
I wince at the volume.
“Listen," Rory says. “It’s just a temporary thing. Just to throw my father off the trail.”
“An eye for an eye.” Declan chuckles bitterly, and Gray groans.
“So, you married a Murphy?”
“I had to.” I huff out a breath. “It was the only way that Niall would stop coming after us. It’s his version of revenge, don’t you see?”
“Fine,” Gray grunts. “When are you coming home? What’s the plan?”
I look at Rory, and he clears his throat.
“Well, you see... I’m not sure I’ve thought it through that far.”
“You’ll get her home, Murphy,” Gray demands.
“Of course, I will. It’ll just take some time.”
“I’m safe," I assure them. "He’s taking good care of me. Things are going to be all right. It’ll just be a while. How’s Da?”
“Getting better every day,” Declan says, and I know that’s code for “don’t ask that right now.” They don’t trust Rory with that information, and I guess they’re right not to.
It’s just... I know him better than they do.
I guess Rory has earned my trust. At least a bit of it.
“How does this end, Murphy?”
“With my father out of commission, hopefully.”
I stare at him, shocked.
He really wants to take his father down? Not just keep me and Bree safe?
“You're willing to take him down? Why, just so you can take over?”
“He doesn’t want to take over. He’s an accountant.”
Gray has nothing to say to that, and Rory shakes his head, smiling.
“Only if I have your help. Can I count on you two?”
“If you keep my sister safe and give me Niall’s head on a silver platter, I’ll help you do anything.” Gray’s voice sounds less angry and more relieved.
“Good. Stand by, and we’ll contact you when we can.”
“Wait—” Declan starts, but Rory’s looking off into the trees, a deep frown bringing his brows together.
He hangs up the phone abruptly, and I make a frustrated noise in the back of my throat.
Rory brings his finger to his mouth to shush me.
I frown, following his gaze.
The bushes across from us are shaking, just slightly.
Rory must have heard it before I caught sight of it.
“Someone’s here,” I whisper.
Rory nods slowly, holding up his finger again and slowly standing up, dropping his phone on the ground softly.
He walks slowly over to the bushes, and a man pops up from behind them. I gasp in surprise, but I don’t go over toward them.
I can’t hear what they’re saying, and my heart is racing.
What if the man heard us talking to my brothers? What if he heard that we’re doing this as a plan to take down Niall? What will happen to Rory?
I can’t deny that I’m worried about him. He’s become my friend, even if it can’t be anything else. I don’t want him hurt or killed.
It seems to take forever, but eventually Rory walks back over to me, his face serious.
“What happened?” I stand up, and Rory looks over his shoulder to make sure that the man is walking away.
“It's fine. One of my father’s men making the rounds. He doesn’t know anything.”
“Are you sure?"
Rory shrugs. “Pretty sure. The wind was against him. But I’ll make sure to memorize his face.”
I let out a breath and take Rory’s hand. “We should go back to the mansion.”
Rory doesn’t let go of my hand until I’m seated in the golf cart.
“We really need a plan,” he says in a low tone as we sit there.
I look up at him. “Okay. So, what's the plan?”
He huffs out a breath. “I don’t know. We need to find something against my father. Something concrete.” He pauses, looking at me with his brows furrowed. “We could turn his people against him, so that he’ll be weak, and your father and brothers can help take him out. Or we can just get irrefutable evidence of his crimes. Something not even he can pay his way out of.”
“You’re really willing to help your father be arrested?”
Rory just looks at me, his expression shuttered. “He’s never been much of a father to me. And he never will be. He’s just not that kind of man.”
“Still. It must be hard.” I put a hand on his knee.
He nods. “Are you hungry? I could make you dinner.”
I wrinkle my nose. “In our room? I don’t want to have to see your father.”
“Fair enough. In our room. But you’ll have to help me in the kitchen. My father never sets food in there.” Rory gives me that half-smile of his.
He takes off on the golf cart.
I clutch onto the top of the vehicle for dear life as he takes a sharp turn.
Rory laughs at my fright, but eventually slows down, and we make it back to the mansion without an issue, passing a few of Niall’s men who I suppose have started to patrol since it’s nearing dark.
Thank God that man hadn’t heard us. If he had, we’d be sitting ducks.
Rory and I go into the back door of the kitchen to avoid Niall.
“He’s probably holed up in his office, but just in case.” Rory lets go of my hand once he opens the refrigerator door.
“What are you going to cook me?”
“You like red meat?”
“Love red meat. Rare. Bloody.” My mouth starts watering.
Rory smiles. “Me, too. How about some steak and potatoes? Maybe a salad on the side?”
“That sounds incredible.”
“I think you can handle the salad,” He throws me a head of lettuce, which I manage to catch with one hand, cradling it against my chest.
“Your funeral.” I shrug, and Rory laughs out loud.
I look up in the cabinets and find a mixing bowl and some salad tongs.
Rory gets out the steak, seasoning it and getting it in the pan while I rifle through the fridge for more salad ingredients.
I find some cherry tomatoes and shredded carrots, and some dried cranberries in the pantry.
“I sure hope you have bottled dressing.”
Rory nods. “Should be some in the door.”
I pick out a balsamic vinaigrette and toss the ingredients all together with a liberal amount of dressing.
By the time I get it all mixed, it actually looks pretty appetizing.
Thirty minutes later, Rory and I have a ribeye each with salad and roasted potatoes. It smells like a restaurant dish, and I can’t wait to eat it.
Rory peeks out of the kitchen to make sure his father isn’t there, and then gestures for me to come through.
Back in the room, I sit down cross-legged and start to cut my steak.
Rory sits next to me, but he doesn’t dig in. His face is serious, like he’s thinking.
I frown. “Are you all right?”
He shrugs, but leans against me, nudging his shoulder against mine.
“I just keep thinking about how this ends.”
My throat goes dry.
“Yeah?” My voice sounds strained even to me.
What does he mean? When we separate? Because I keep thinking about that, too, and a big part of me wants him to…
I don’t know what I want him to do. All I know is I feel awful when I think about all this being over, and I guess I want to know that he feels that way, too.
“He’s still my father.”
Oh.
Rory’s worried about what happens to his father. Of course, he is.
Bitter disappointment washes over me.
Rory is a person with thoughts and feelings, too, and it’s strange to me that I wrote him off so easily in the beginning.
I guess anyone having to do with Niall Murphy makes me nervous. I’d even been a tiny bit suspicious of Bree when everything first happened.
But the Burke children aren’t bad people. It isn’t their fault they were born into this life.
And Rory... Rory’s helped me. He’s been great, really, and when this is all over…
My heart drops at the idea of this being over, and I groan inwardly.
Am I already catching feelings? We’ve only hooked up twice.
It reminds me of something Paige told me once when I’d talked about trying to get a friend with benefits.
“You know you can’t separate sex and love, Lara.”
“Like hell I can’t,” I muttered, but she was right in the end. I’d caught feelings, and he hadn’t, and it had ended in disappointment.
I won’t allow myself to go through that again.
Rory doesn’t want me. We’re both just pawns in our fathers’ war.
It doesn’t mean anything, even if he makes my heart skip sometimes.
Chapter Eighteen