Chapter Ten
J ude watched Sloan sleep. It was the first time he’d seen her truly unrestrained, her arms stretched over her head, her legs tangled in the sheets. One finger kept brushing his biceps, and it drove him damn near to distraction.
I never should have agreed to this .
He hadn’t been lying to her—he didn’t sleep much.
He wasn’t dramatic enough—or conflicted enough—that the dead haunted him.
The lives he’d taken weighed on him, sure, but he’d researched each mark before he agreed to the contract.
They’d all been monsters, which someone like Sloan might take to mean he was some sort of romantic vigilante.
He wasn’t.
Jude was just a bigger monster than any of his victims had been.
His phone buzzed, drawing him from his thoughts. Stefan . He slid out of Sloan’s bed without making a sound and padded into the hall, closing the door softly behind him. He’d promised he wouldn’t leave, but there was no missing this call.
“What have you got for me?”
“A proposition.”
Jude froze, icy calm cascading over him at the unfamiliar voice on the line. Russian accent, a tone that spoke of old money, and the fact that the man had this number all added up to one person. Dmitri Romanov .
He knew the man by reputation alone. Dmitri Romanov, head of the Russian empire in New York City.
They were worse than the Irish bastards in Boston.
They were like some behemoth monster, gobbling up everything in front of them and still hungry for more.
It was more than mere ambition—it was starvation when sitting down at the head of a feast. That kind of addiction knew no bounds, and they couldn’t be trusted as a result.
Playing dumb might garner him more information—and lead to the Russian underestimating him—so he said, “I hope you haven’t done anything to my man. I would take it poorly.”
“Stefan is perfectly fine. We had a discussion, and he decided it was to his benefit to pass over your contact information.”
Meaning Dmitri had offered Stefan more money than Jude did. Stefan always was a mercenary little bastard . Jude eyed the big windows with their open blinds, all too aware that a sniper could take him out easily, even without the lights on. Damn it . “You have me at a disadvantage.”
“I hardly think I do. Like recognizes like, Jude MacNamara. You know who I am, so let’s dispense with the games.”
So much for playing the fool. He moved back down the hall to check on Sloan. Satisfied she was still asleep and this whole call wasn’t some ploy, he closed the door and leaned against the wall. “What have I done to earn a personal phone call from the head of the Romanov family?”
“It’s come to my attention that you’re in contact with a woman I’m seeking. Petite, brunette, large doe eyes, couldn’t begin to imagine hurting a fly.”
The same woman sleeping in the bed not ten feet away? He narrowed his eyes. “Who’s she to you?”
Dmitri sighed. “Her family and I have a complicated history. It would serve my purposes to have possession of the woman.”
The pieces clicked into place with a snap that had Jude feeling like a fool. On its own, the Romanovs had more enemies than the beach outside this house had grains of sand. Add in the connection to the Sheridans…
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck .
He should have goddamn well known it by her fucking name. “Sloan’s an O’Malley.”
“You didn’t know?” The Russian laughed softly. “So you aren’t perfect. I had started to wonder if the rumors could possibly be true.”
He would have figured it out. It was just shitty that it was right in front of his face and he’d been more concerned with getting between her thighs than with using his goddamn brain. “Killing her will only ensure her family burns yours to the ground.”
“They can try.” Dmitri continued, his tone downright imperial. “However, it’s a moot point. I have no intention of harming the girl.”
Jude didn’t believe that for a single second.
There were so many ways to break a person, many of them possible without ever laying a finger on the victim.
Jude eyed the open windows again. This house wasn’t fortified in the least. He could take it by himself, but he couldn’t defend it by himself. Three or more men, and he might lose.
Dmitri wasn’t fool enough to send fewer than three men.
He stalked into the kitchen and reached over the top of the upper cabinets to where he’d stashed a .45 behind a dusty pot with some sort of seaside flower arrangement in it. “I’m disinclined to give her up.”
He’d told her this wasn’t forever, but he would have to be without a soul to hand her over to Romanov. Especially when it was clear she’d fought so hard to get out of Boston and leave that life behind.
You didn’t run far or fast enough, sunshine .
Dmitri snorted. “You and the waif? Forgive me if I find that incredibly amusing.”
“Forgive me if I tell you to fuck right off.”
All amusement disappeared from the Russian’s voice. “Play with the girl for now. I don’t care. But I will require her at some point, and I’ll pay any price to ensure it happens. The amount is of no consequence.”
No, it wouldn’t be. The Romanovs were richer than God.
“I’ll think about it.”
“You won’t. You’ve already made up your mind.” Dmitri laughed again. “Like I said, Jude MacNamara. I don’t need her quite yet. And many things can change in the course of a few short weeks. Enjoy her—for now.”
Jude readjusted his grip on the gun, not liking where his head was at.
He knew better than to borrow trouble when the end was in sight.
He pictured the light dying in Sloan’s eyes when she realized he’d betrayed her.
He couldn’t do it. He might be more monster than man, but he couldn’t hurt her like that.
“As delightful as this conversation has been, I’m hanging up. ”
“I have a business proposition for you.”
Now we get down to it. Threatening Sloan was just foreplay to get a read on me . He leaned against the wall. “I’m listening.”
“We seem to find ourselves with a common purpose.”
“How do you figure?”
Dmitri tsked. “You’re smarter than that, so do us both the favor of ceasing with this act. You want Colm Sheridan in the ground. That happens to align with my endgame, and I’m willing to pay handsomely to see it done.”
The plot thickens… “I’ll consider it.”
“You’re playing coy. I’ll see half of your going rate deposited into your account, with the remaining half provided once you’ve eliminated our mutual acquaintance.” He ended the call, leaving Jude fighting to keep his curses internal.
Jude considered his options. He might have conflicting feelings about removing Callista and Sorcha, but he had no qualms about killing the Sheridan patriarch.
If anyone of that family was guilty, it was the man who pulled the trigger all those years ago.
He’d been fully intending to do the job for free—for his mother—but if he could get something else for it in the process, he’d be a fool to say no.
In addition to that, if Romanov didn’t already know where they were—and that was doubtful—he would soon.
He might have given a slight reprieve for his own purposes as long as Jude fell in line, but if he disagreed, Romanov would come eventually.
And he would come in force.
Jude set his phone gently on the kitchen counter.
What the fuck was he supposed to do? Whisk Sloan away and spend the rest of his life protecting her?
It wouldn’t work. There were too many men out there like Jude, men who had no qualms about taking offered money and tracking their target to the ends of the earth.
He could give her a month, a year, even a few years, but eventually the past would catch up with her.
I could kill them all .
No, he couldn’t. He was good—one of the best—but he was still just one man. To take out the entirety of both the Boston underworld and the Romanovs…He shook his head. It was impossible.
“Jude?”
He forced his body to relax and turned to face her. Barefoot and wearing an oversized sleep shirt that made her legs look a mile long, she looked younger, if that was even possible. Innocent.
Fuckable.
“Come here.” He didn’t wait for her to obey, crossing the kitchen in two steps and pulling her against him.
Her eyes went wide, her body arching into his, but she frowned. “Is everything okay?”
No. It’s turned goddamn complicated while I wasn’t looking.
Because sometime earlier tonight, when Sloan stood in his doorway, making demands he should have shot down immediately, he’d found himself wishing Sorcha O’Connor wouldn’t come back.
Not today, not tomorrow, not anytime in the foreseeable future.
That he wouldn’t reach the point of no return—the true point of no return.
That she wouldn’t show up while he was so enjoying watching Sloan find her feet.
He captured her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “The only thing that’s wrong is your mouth isn’t around my cock.”
She licked her lips, and he nearly groaned. But apparently she wasn’t done. “You’re lying.”
“And if I am?”
A line appeared between her brows. “You said you don’t lie.”
“No, sunshine. I said I don’t lie about sex.” He leaned down, his lips brushing hers with each word. “All the bullshit can wait for morning. I want you on your knees. Be a good girl and I’ll fuck you right here on the kitchen floor.”
“We’re going to talk in the morning—really talk.” Before he could deign to answer that, she was on her knees. He hadn’t bothered to put on pants when his phone rang, so she had no barrier to bar her from his cock.
She wrapped her fingers around him, making a sound low in her throat that had his balls tightening almost painfully.
He held still as she eased his cock into her mouth, letting her drive the encounter.
For now. If she was a virgin in every other way, he doubted she’d ever given head before, and he’d be damned before he did something to spook her or fuck up her experience.
Sloan explored him with her tongue and lips, until it took everything he had to maintain his stillness. Jude allowed himself to run his fingers through her hair, pulling it back from her face so he could see everything she did to him. “You have no idea how sexy you look like this.”
She pinned him in place with her dark gaze as her tongue darted out to lick the head of his cock. “Tell me more. I like to hear you talk.”
“I thought you wanted to slap me for the things I shouldn’t say to you.”
A little mirth appeared on her face. “I do.”
That startled a laugh out of Jude. Every time he thought he had her number down, she went and did something to surprise him.
It made him think of a foal walking for the first time, all gangly limbs and jarring motions, but the second the animal found its stride, it was fluid and perfect and beautiful.
Just like Sloan.
Something in his chest tightened, but he did his damnedest to ignore it. “You might crave giving up control, but when you’re like this, you have it all. You keep sucking my cock like that, and…” And what? He couldn’t promise her a damn thing, even before the call from the Russian.
Jude had nothing to give.
This isn’t forever .
She’s so goddamn pure. You aren’t worthy to touch her, let alone think of some kind of tomorrow.
He pulled away from her, desperate to drive the inner voice to silence. He went to his knees in front of her, kissing her before she could say something to shine the light on how goddamn fucked up he was.
Common sense, something he never could quite get away from, spoke up. Condom .
Jude stood, lifting her with him, and set her on the counter. “Don’t move.” He wasted no time striding into the bedroom and finding one of the many condoms he’d stashed in her nightstand. He rolled it on as he made his way back to her, finding her exactly where he left her. “Good girl.”
She lifted her chin as he pulled her to the edge of the counter and pushed a finger into her. Wet and wanting, just like I like her .
Sloan gasped. “Do I have to tie you down in order to actually get to finish you like that?”
“It’ll never happen.” He wasn’t the type of man who could be tied down. Not like that. Not in any way. Jude skimmed off her shirt, needing to see all that creamy skin laid out for his pleasure.
He notched his cock in her entrance and spread her thighs wide. “I’m not going to be gentle, sunshine.” He didn’t know if he had it in him with the tangled mess of emotions riding him.
She braced her hands on the edge of the counter, which arched her back and put her breasts almost within reach of his mouth. “I can take it.”
“I know.” He shoved into her and dropped his head to kiss where her shoulder met her neck, pursuing the peace he only seemed to be able to find between her thighs.