Chapter Eight #2
“You’ll say yes, Aislinn, won’t you?” Lorcan drawled.
Both Gulliver and I jumped. We hadn’t noticed Lorcan opening the door and standing in the doorway. His shoulders were so broad they almost brushed the doorframe, especially when he crossed his arms and made his biceps bulge.
“Let me have a word with your niece,” Lorcan said in a pleasant tone I didn’t buy for one second.
His eyes weren’t kind at all. I wasn’t sure how much he’d heard, but it had obviously pissed him off.
His voice sent another shiver down my back.
I couldn’t explain why my body reacted so strongly to this man.
I’d never felt such an attraction to anyone like this before.
“Of course,” Gulliver said, turning on his heel with another warning glance in my direction before he disappeared into his office.
“Did you tell my uncle about the auction?” Maybe that was why he was so eager to get rid of me.
“I didn’t go into detail about our encounter, just told him I made sure you didn’t get in trouble.”
“You bought me at an auction.”
“And made sure you stayed out of trouble.”
I couldn’t believe him. “Will you tell my uncle what really happened?”
“I’ll tell your uncle whatever I see fit. He answers to me, not the other way around.”
“He’ll find out about the auction.”
“Most likely, yes, but what happened between us remains our sweet secret, right?”
“What kind of game is this?” I growled.
Lorcan’s smile became harsh. “I’m not playing. I don’t have time for games.”
“Then why do you want to marry me? It doesn’t make sense. Are you mad because you didn’t get what you wanted last night?”
He stalked closer, but I stood my ground despite the spike in my heartrate at his proximity. “I got what I wanted,” he murmured, his gaze lingering on my lips. “I even got things I never knew I wanted.”
My belly flipped. What the hell did that mean? “If you want your money back, no problem. I don’t want it anyway. Never wanted it in the first place. I can get it from my room.” Lorcan grabbed my forearm, stopping me from leaving.
“I don’t want the money. I have enough of it. I want you.”
“Why? Because you want to sleep with me?”
He laughed. “If I only wanted to fuck you, sweet Aislinn, then I’d only fuck you and be done with it.
No. My father has been looking for a bride for me for a while but none of the women he suggested ever quite left the impression you did.
You see, I’m thirty so it’s time for a bond with a good Irish woman. ”
I gritted my teeth at the sound of his mockery. “I’m not good.”
“Oh, Aislinn, that’s where we have to disagree. I have a feeling you’re a very good girl.”
My cheeks flushed with heat. How could he make those few words sound so dirty? “You can’t expect me to marry you,” I said.
“Your mother insulted my family by running off. That isn’t a small transgression.
Not to mention that your father stole a considerable amount of money shortly before he disappeared.
Your mother has been indebted to us ever since.
She struggles to keep up with our interest rates every month.
It would be a real shame if she can’t pay off that debt. ”
Mum was indebted to the Devaneys? That explained why she could never make ends meet. “My father left us. If he stole money, that’s not our fault. As far as I’m concerned, you can chase and punish him.”
“The poor sod’s no longer available for punishment by my hands, at least. By our standards, that makes it your problem.
We have waited a long time for our debt to be paid in full.
We won’t grant your mother another moratorium.
It’s time for payment. I don’t have to tell you how much interest has accumulated by now.
I fear you’d have to spend many nights in the Doom Loop to earn it back. ”
“I told you it was a misunderstanding. I have absolutely no intention of selling my body, not even to get your clan off our backs.” My mind whirred with Lorcan’s comments about my father.
Did that mean he’d died? Was he killed? I didn’t know the man, and could hardly remember him.
I never fantasized about a happy father-daughter-reunion, I was too much of a realist for that, but somehow the possibility of never getting to ask a few questions or give him a piece of my mind bothered me.
Lorcan clucked his tongue and brushed a strand of my hair away from my face with one of his big, callused hands. “My father is old and wants to see redemption served before he meets his creator.”
“Is that why Imogen disappeared?”
A strange smile played across his lips. “I could gather information about your sister for you as a wedding gift.”
I stared at him, shaking my head. I wasn’t sure what game he was really playing. The only thing I was certain of was that it was dangerous.
Lorcan gripped my hand and kissed my knuckles.
Then, he tugged me toward him so I collided with his strong chest. My body leaned into him before my mind took over and I stepped back.
“Don’t make your decision yet. You have until tonight.
I expect you and Gulliver to visit me at the docks by seven to tell me your decision. ”
I didn’t need until tonight, but I knew better than to offend Lorcan Devaney by not taking the offered time.
I wouldn’t marry him. I wouldn’t throw away my life, and marrying a man like him would end all my dreams. Not that I had been making any progress toward opening my own restaurant one day.
My plans of putting away money from working in the bar had always been thwarted by unexpected bills Mum couldn’t pay, and paying for the plane ticket. Now I understood why.
Shortly after Lorcan left, Gulliver rounded in on me again. I told him about the meeting and the color drained from his face. “The docks?”
“Yes,” I said.
“You have to agree to his marriage proposal.”
I gaped. “You can’t be serious. I’m nineteen. I’m not ready to marry, and definitely not a mobster. I always made sure to stay out of trouble. I won’t marry into it.”
“If you wanted to stay out of trouble, you shouldn’t have followed Imogen down her godless path, and certainly not into the Doom Loop. Now it’s too late.”
“Nothing’s too late. I’ll just say no.”
“You can’t say no to a man like Lorcan Devaney. Don’t you understand?”
“What can he do?”
“The Devaneys know where your mother lives. They know where I live.”
Uncle Gulliver was following his own agenda, and it wasn’t in sync with mine. “You’re worried about yourself.”
“I’m the most likely to survive. The Devaneys work closely with the IRA and that lot would never tolerate them killing off priests, but your mother and you aren’t protected like that.”
“You’re just trying to scare me. Why do you care so much if I marry Devaney?”
“You should be scared, Aislinn. If you aren’t yet, it’s my duty as your uncle to change that.”
I was scared. How could my trip to find Imogen have gone wrong so quickly?
My entire life was at a crossroads, and one direction would take me directly toward hell.
But how could I escape? My family’s debts were mine now, because the Devaneys decided it and their word was law.
I was trapped. Gulliver wouldn’t help. Mum couldn’t.
And I? Could I save myself by pretending to follow Lorcan’s demands?