12. Chapter 12
Callahan
Rory was nervous, her little body stiff but trembling slightly. She felt like an intrusion, and I didn’t like that at all. I also wondered how she would handle this situation. It might’ve been too soon to involve her this heavily, but I meant what I’d said.
If she was to rule with me, she’d need a strong backbone.
“But…what do I know about your business? I only know the things I’ve eavesdropped on over the years.” She spoke quietly while the men around us conversed like old friends.
“Precisely. You know bits of Elio’s organization, right?” She nodded slightly. I tightened my grip on her hip and she slipped a little closer to me on the arm of the couch, planting her hand in the cushion behind my head to keep from sliding fully off the arm and into my lap.
“Tell me, Rory,” I said casually, raising my voice and leaning forward to pick up my cigarette out of the ashtray on the table between the couches. My men around us quieted, making Sean, the bastard, stop his obnoxious laughter.
“What would Elio do if he’d found a man stealing from him?”
Her hand slipped off the cushion and she tumbled into my lap. I caught her neatly around the hips before she landed, settling her gently on one thigh, her legs between mine.
She recovered gracefully and seemed to gather herself while she adjusted on my lap, sitting tall and straightening her spine.
Sean stilled and looked around the gathering with wide eyes before making a conscious effort to slouch back against the couch, trying to appear at-ease and unconcerned.
Rory caught the movement and her eyes flicked from mine to him and back. She quietly cleared her throat before speaking. “Well, that would depend on what had been stolen, and how much of it.”
“Money, mostly. Sex, when it was desired. Drugs, sometimes, from what I understand.”
“Elio wouldn’t have cared if a man was…stealing sex.” There was a slight question in her voice, asking for confirmation. I only gave her a small raise of my brow and a tiny nod, affirming her suspicions. Her eyes narrowed and she continued. “But it’s not something I would tolerate, and I hope my future husband wouldn’t either.”
“Absolutely not,” I agreed.
“As for the money and drugs, it would depend on how much was stolen. I once saw Elio have a man’s hand smashed with a meat tenderizer for stealing an apple from the kitchen. One of his associates was skimming, from what I understood, and he lost his hands - both of them. A woman once stole quite a large sum from one of the casinos he runs. I’m not sure what all happened to her, but I’m sure she welcomed death by the time it reached her.”
Sean was sweating now and I was proud of her for not only holding her own, but for being casual about it, even though I know it bothered her by the stiffness in her muscles. She used the same conversational tone I had, as if we weren’t discussing a man sitting right across from us.
“What if someone had stolen from you, mo solas. From us? Thousands of dollars, which he used to buy drugs from a rival that we’ve been trying to take down for years. He’d taken what he wanted from five women, women in our employ, and that’s only those who have been brave enough to come forward. What would you do?”
Her body vibrated and I could sense the anger coursing through her. Her chest flushed red, the tips of her ears turning a delicate pink where they peeked through the hair tied back in a loose braid. Her breathing was deep, but rapid.
“Hypothetically,” she drawled as she plucked my cigarette out of my hand and held it between her fingers like she’d done it a hundred times, “if someone had stolen that much money, he’d probably be killed, especially if he used it to fund an organization we were trying to eradicate.”
Pride bloomed in my chest. She was smart. She didn’t like it, but she knew this was what I expected of her. She was doing her best to fill the role she knew I wanted from her.
“I don’t relish the thought of dragging death out. If he’d only stolen and cheated, I’d ask you to make his death quick.” She took a drag off the cigarette and blew it out without choking, but I saw her nose twitch. She was doing it for show, not because she liked it, so I took the cigarette back, took one more drag off it, and then stubbed it out in the ashtray.
“But?” I questioned.
“But, if he’d taken from a woman who wasn’t willing, I would make it slow. I would let- I’m sorry, what was your name?” she asked Finn, who stood at the front of the room beside the door.
He stepped forward and dipped his head respectfully. “Finn, ma’am.”
“Just Rory will do, Finn,” she said, repeating her words to Ebony earlier.
“Of course, ma’am.” She gave a droll look and rolled her eyes at Finn.
“Anyway,” she said as she leaned back into my chest. I liked the way she felt there, warm and soft, her slight weight a comfort I didn’t know I’d needed. I settled one of my hands on her hip, the other on her thigh. “If a man had taken from a woman without her permission, I’d let Finn have a go at them. He’s a pretty big guy. Looks kind of scary. I bet he knows his way around bodily harm.” Finn snorted, but quickly schooled his features back to his usual impassiveness as he passed a hand over his mouth, wiping the grin away. “And when Finn was done, I’d let you have him.” She nodded to me. “And when you are done, I’d slather his cock in honey and lock him in a room with rats. And then I’d let you kill him,” she finished, a hard, violent edge to her voice as she let her gaze finally settle on the man across from us.
Connor shifted uncomfortably while Carson cupped his dick and crossed his legs. Finn was as impassive as ever, but I could tell by the redness in his cheeks that he was having a hard time keeping his face blank. Sean was white as a ghost, sweating and shaking, eyes scanning the room for an escape. I flicked my gaze up to the two men behind him, and they both settled a meaty hand on one of his shoulders.
“Thank you for your input, mo solas. I’ll take that into consideration.” I kissed the curve of her jaw. “You’ve had a busy day. Did Ebony show you to your room before she retired for the evening?” I continued our conversation as if we hadn’t just been discussing torture and murder.
“She didn’t, but she showed me to the kitchen and that was even better. Orla made dolce cheesecake.”
“Is there any left?” Connor piped up, sitting up in his chair, face bright.
“I ate it all.” She gave him a false look of disappointment. “Sorry,” she said with a shrug that said she wasn’t sorry at all. He deflated, sitting back in his chair with a sullen expression.
“I’ll show you to your room, then.” I eased her off my lap and stood next to her. As we passed Finn I mumbled, “Take him to the shed,” and led Rory from the room.
I guided her up the stairs, pointing out rooms she might like along the way. A library, a game room, a theater room. I pointed to my room as we passed. “This is my room. The door is usually locked when I’m not here, but it’s always unlocked if I’m in the house.” I stopped at the next door. “This is your room. If there’s anything not to your liking, let me know and we can change it. There is a door connecting our rooms, but that’s from when it used to be a nursery. You have your own attached bathroom. Your things have already been placed inside. If there’s anything you need, you can let me or Ebony know.”
“Thank you,” she said softly. “Um…Did I do okay? I know I kind of inter-”
“You did not interrupt, solas. I asked you to come to me when you were finished eating. I told you to join us. Did it make you uncomfortable?”
She scraped at her cuticles with her thumb nail and I pinched the digit between my fingers, bringing it up and gently rubbing it between my fingers. She watched our fingers for a moment and then said, “No, I wasn’t uncomfortable. I was afraid of disappointing you and nervous to speak in front of all your men. I haven’t been welcomed in situations like that, ever. It was a first for me.”
“You did perfectly, mo solas.”
She blushed prettily but a small frown made a line between her blonde eyebrows and she picked at the cuticles on her thumb again.
“Downstairs, you said that you have…women in your employ. Did you mean…” She trailed off but I got her meaning.
“I own two brothels, but I assure you, solas, the women that work there do so because they want to. They know they are free to leave at any time. They do things the way they want to do them, they take only the clients they want to take, and they keep sixty-five percent of their profits. Their only rules or requirements are in place to keep them and their clients safe.”
Her shoulders dropped and she sighed in relief. “So, they aren’t forced to be there? They aren’t…trafficked?”
I smiled softly at her concern. She was so caring and soft-hearted, but could still be strong and determined when needed. “No, solas, they are there because they want to be. When one of our girls chooses to leave, she takes a generous severance package to set her up until she figures out what she wants to do next. Each girl has an assigned guard that stands outside their door when they are with a client and if things get out of hand, or if she feels uncomfortable, she only has to shout her safe word and the guard interferes. I take care of the girls, and in return, they are loyal.” I rested my free hand on the side of her cheek, looking between her eyes and then allowing my eyes to dip to her lips. I swallowed heavily and when I spoke, my voice came out gravelly. “I’d really like to know what Orla’s cheesecake tastes like on your tongue.”
She blushed prettily, her entire face turning red. But she licked her bottom lip and swallowed, before taking a step closer to me.
I didn’t devour her like I wanted to. I kissed her gently at first, allowing her to relax. Once she sighed into my mouth, I used my thumb to tug her chin down and slipped my tongue inside. I groaned as my tongue rubbed against hers and I got a faint taste of dolce cheesecake and cigarette smoke. Her little hand gripped the front of my shirt, pulling me against her. I slid my hand from the side of her neck and up into her hair.
When she moaned and began to wiggle against me, I backed away and rested my forehead against hers, our panting breaths mixing together. I rubbed my nose in her hair again, enjoying the smell of something minty and floral.
She pushed her forehead into my face gently and sighed. “Are you going to kill him?”
I pulled away from her. “Yes. Does that bother you?”
“Actually, it doesn’t. I know you want to involve me, but…would you mind if I asked to be kept out of that part of the business?”
“Of course not, solas. I would never ask you to dirty your hands like that.”
She smiled gratefully. “So…Elio’s going to send the new contract tomorrow. When will the wedding be?”
“It will be fast. Within the next two weeks. I don’t want to give Elio time to retaliate or come up with more ridiculousness to add to the contract.”
Her eyebrows raised. “Oh, so fast? Okay.” She paused. “Will it be a very large wedding?” She nibbled on her bottom lip and I pulled it from between her teeth.
“Not if you don’t want it to be. You don’t like being the center of attention, do you?”
She shook her head. “I know it will need to be somewhat of a spectacle, but I’d like to keep it modest, if you’re okay with that.”
“Of course, mo solas. We can discuss it tomorrow, okay? We will also need to discuss making a public appearance. I was thinking Monday evening, after your rehearsal. Get some rest tonight and we can talk tomorrow.” I kissed her gently again and walked back down the hallway, ready to take care of the fecker in the shed.