Chapter Eight
Keira’s room was a mess. No, calling it a mess was too kind.
Charlie couldn’t take a single step without fear of trampling on piles of clothes and empty bottles and discarded magazines.
Aiden’s sister sat on the bed, a joint dangling between her fingers with the ease of someone who smoked often. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
The music was so loud, Charlie had to read her lips. Aiden owes me for this. She carefully made her way to the stereo and shut it off, the silence as deafening as the music had been. “We weren’t properly introduced yesterday.”
“That’s because I don’t care who you are.” Keira took a long inhale from the joint, the end shining a bright orange. She exhaled a cloud of noxious smoke. “You won’t last. Your pussy might have my brother acting out of character, but he’s too smart to actually marry you.”
Charlie stared at her for a long moment and then burst out laughing. After all the careful verbal circling with Aiden, Keira was a hurricane blast of fresh air. “Cute. Really cute. You kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“Please. My mother is one of the most vicious members of this family.” She grimaced. “Though she’d kick my ass for saying ‘pussy.’”
Charlie tried to picture the woman responsible for bringing seven O’Malleys into the world, and failed. The ones she’d met were such strong characters. She didn’t know if she should be terrified of their mother or pity the woman.
Since Keira didn’t seem inclined to move from her spot, Charlie waded through the clothes to the single chair next to the bed. “Here’s the deal—I won’t insult your intelligence by pussyfooting around.”
The woman arched her eyebrows. “I see what you did there.”
That was almost amusement. She’d take what she could get.
Charlie sat cross-legged on the chair, not wanting to have any more contact with the floor and its mystery contents than necessary.
“Regardless of whether you agree with it or not, your brother is marrying me.” Liar.
But she had to play this as if it was real or Keira would see right through her.
If Charlie was really marrying Aiden, she wouldn’t put up with this bullshit for a second.
Which meant she couldn’t now. It wasn’t fair to take out her aggravation at Aiden on his sister, but she’d known the woman a grand total of two minutes and it couldn’t be clearer that what Keira needed most was a kick in the ass by someone who had nothing to gain from her.
Charlie had no problem being the one providing that.
“You can play nice and try to get to know me, or you can keep stomping around like a petulant teenager and end up with one of Aiden’s men shadowing your every move.”
Keira took another pull off the joint. “I take it this means you’re playing good cop. Is Aiden going to come in here and yell at me again if I tell you to fuck right off?”
“Have it your way.” Charlie gritted her teeth and stood.
“You want to turn down a chance to get the hell out of here for a while just to piss off your brother, that’s your call.
If you change your mind, I’ll be in the library.
” Liam had mentioned it in passing during their shopping spree, so that was one room she was reasonably sure she could spend time in without someone calling foul.
She made it to the door before Keira said, “Oh for fuck’s sake, don’t leave in a huff. I know coming in here wasn’t your idea.” When Charlie turned around, she held up the joint. “Want some?”
“I don’t smoke.”
She shrugged. “There’s a bottle of vodka in the desk.”
It was nine in the morning, but Charlie made her way to the desk and opened the drawer to find that there was, indeed, a bottle of vodka stashed there. She uncapped it and took a hefty swig, conscious of the younger woman’s gaze on her.
Keira huffed. “No holier-than-thou shit about drinking before noon? Maybe you’ll actually be entertaining. Okay, Charlie, why don’t you tell me how you and my brother met?”
It didn’t pass her notice that Keira had remembered her name from their brief introduction before. If Charlie’s guess was correct, there was a sharp mind behind those glazed eyes, though it was a toss-up if it would be put to good use.
Did it bother Aiden that Keira was spending all her time blitzed out of her mind? The family had enough money for rehab, though it would be a challenge to keep Keira there if she was as adept at sneaking out as she seemed to be. But…
She was his little sister. She was obviously drowning, and just as obviously desperate for something—anything—to save her. She wouldn’t have latched on so quickly to Charlie if she was actually intent on destruction, which only made the whole situation more tragic.
Charlie took another, smaller drink. It wasn’t her problem. Aiden might need her help with Dmitri, but he couldn’t have made it clearer that he had no interest in her meddling with the family. She had to remember that.
Focus. Keira asked you a question. She and Aiden had come up with an origin story that seemed plausible enough.
Now it was just a matter of selling it. As off-center as she felt after crossing the line with Aiden last night, the fact that he’d had his hands and mouth all over her body would only help legitimize the whole thing.
“I run a backroom poker game—high-stakes.”
Keira studied the smoke swirling from the end of the almost-depleted joint. “Is there any other kind of backroom poker game?”
She laughed. “No, I guess there isn’t. Your brother attended a few times, and the second time, he stuck around and we had a few drinks.
” Keira’s hazel eyes started to glaze over in a way that had nothing to do with the pot she was smoking.
Charlie raised her eyebrows. “And then we fucked on the poker table.”
“Magical pussy.” Keira snapped her fingers. “I knew it. It’s a very rags-to-riches story, because, God knows, you didn’t buy those clothes with your money.”
She’d expected this, which was part of the reason she’d resisted the shopping in the first place. Aiden had turned around and argued that being a gold digger was a motivation people would understand more than love at first sight. “What we have works for us.”
“I’ll just bet it does.” Keira shot her a look. “You’re nuts for voluntarily coming into this life, and I think you have no idea what you signed on for, great sex or no. But I get it.”
There was something there, something beneath the words. Charlie studied her, wondering where she’d come across a man who’d turned her head enough to make her question everything. If she runs off with him…it would be a disaster.
But telling her that—reminding her of her duty—was just going to spur Keira into actions she might not have otherwise done. She seemed contrary like that.
Her thoughts must have shown on Charlie’s face, because Keira rolled her eyes.
“Trust me—I’m not going to break rank. I’m destined to marry the monster in the castle, except I’m not beautiful or virginal enough to tame him, and this isn’t a fairy tale, where my wit and charm are going to see me into a happily ever after.
” She sounded so defeated, Charlie had the intense urge to hug her.
“It’ll be okay.” She said it out of habit, but the truth was that no one—not Aiden, or Charlie, or Keira—could guarantee that it was the truth.
“You keep telling yourself that. You’re the only one in the room with a magic pussy that makes men lose their minds.
” Keira rolled onto her side and took another puff of her joint, finishing it off and tossing it into the ashtray perched precariously on her nightstand.
“But I’m tired of talking about me and my pathetic life.
You said you run a poker game—teach me to play. ”
* * *
“You can’t be serious.”
Aiden looped the tie around his neck. “It’s the best opportunity we’ll have.
” He watched Charlie in the mirror as he tied the knot.
It was strange getting dressed while talking to her.
He’d stayed away from her as much as possible the last few days, though they were required to put on a good show during dinner for whoever attended.
But he hadn’t let things get intimate since that first night.
“You want to talk to the Eldridges at a party you’re throwing for Dmitri and Keira? That’s reckless. Do you know what those women are capable of? Not to insult your manliness, but they make the O’Malleys look like schoolgirls by comparison.”
“It’s important to the greater plan.” Romanov thought the Eldridges would ascribe to the theory that the enemy of their enemy was their friend—or if not a friend, at least a useful tool.
Aiden wouldn’t have to fake his hatred of the Russian, and they both believed that Alethea would approach him as a result.
Charlie crossed one long leg over the other and cocked her head. The move sent her hair, pinned to one side, cascading over her shoulder. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”
“I know.” He finished with his tie and shrugged into his jacket. “Desperate times.”
“Very.” Charlie rose, and he caught his breath all over again at the sight of her.
She wore a silver dress that just about hit the floor, a slight flare in the fabric drawing attention to her hips and narrow waist and how well her breasts filled out the beaded bodice.
As she turned to the door, he staggered to a stop.
The dress dipped down to just below the small of her back.
Any lower and it’d be indecent, and he couldn’t stop staring, anticipating the fabric shifting just a bit.
She looked over her shoulder. “Marvelous, isn’t it?”
“That’s one word.” He cleared his throat, tamping down the need to tell her to put on a wrap or, even better, change.
She wasn’t his. Walking into that room and drawing every male gaze was the intention.
If the men were so busy thinking about her, they wouldn’t be watching their words as closely as they should.