Chapter 6 Dare
Chapter Six
DARE
Cillian and Isla are staring each other down in a way that makes my stomach churn with something too close to jealousy.
She’s not looking at him like she hates him, like he betrayed her. Not the way she was looking at me.
“Would have worked on me.” I sidle up next to her while Liam trails back into the living room.
Liam promptly punches me in the arm, and I wince. Fucker didn’t hold back.
“Time to settle this.”
Cillian’s eyes widen at Liam’s words, and he grabs Liam’s arm. “We should talk about this.”
Liam glares at him, but Cillian drags him toward the doorway.
They leave, and then I’m just staring at this woman who insists her name is Isla instead of Maggie.
She looks terrified and exhausted, her sexy red dress torn, showing more of her long, trim thigh.
Fuck, she’s gorgeous.
It’s the reason I flirted with her at the gala. I knew there was a tiny chance she was our target, but she was also too intriguing.
The way her eyes got molten when I told her I’d fuck her on the balcony, the sparkle of green in her hazel eyes. Those legs, only shown through glimpses of the split skirt, the meager cleavage from the plunging neckline.
All of it was exactly my type, down to her dark hair, and I couldn’t resist.
And honest to God, I still don’t know if I can.
Liam’s voice travels to us. “This needs to be over as soon as possible. We can’t afford to play babysitters to a traitor.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, annoyed, before opening them again when Cillian’s voice comes through.
“You know I’ll do whatever you ask, but—”
“But what? Now you’re questioning me, too?”
They finally go outside to argue, slamming the door behind them, and I sigh and walk up to Isla.
I can’t help but think of her as Isla, since that’s how I’d met her. And really, what did it matter? What’s the worst Maggie Sullivan did? Spill a few secrets?
It doesn’t mean she deserves to die.
I reach out to her. “A ghrá, please—”
“Stop it. You’re the worst out of all you three. You made me believe that you...”
I hate the ache in my heart when I hear the tears in her voice.
“Liked you? I did. I do, a ghrá.” I lower my voice, not wanting Liam to hear. “I don’t care if you’re Maggie or Isla, I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
And I mean it. I’m going to talk Liam out of this crazy plan if it’s the last thing I do.
Cillian will go along with Liam, so it’s the boss I have to work on.
I’ve made it this far without ever having to kill anyone, and I sure as hell am not going to start with a woman. Especially not this one.
She snorts. “You’re not serious. You helped kidnap me.”
I take a breath, walking toward her and kicking the door shut behind me.
She retreats until the backs of her knees hit the bed.
“I was just doing my job.” I take another step toward her.
“Oh, so you kidnap people? That’s what you do?” Her voice is accusatory, but her eyes search my face, as if looking for something. “Do you kill them, too?”
I hope she can see it in my eyes. I really do like her. Her spirit as well as her face and body, and I’ve never been as intrigued by a woman as I am by this one.
I shake my head.
“I’ve never fired a gun,” I say, which isn’t a lie.
“That doesn’t mean you haven’t killed anyone.”
I go silent, knowing she’s right to doubt me. And though knives and hand to hand combat are my forte, I make it a point to leave them bleeding on the floor but avoid any fatal injuries.
I loathe killing, and though I’ll do it if it is the only way to save my life, I’ve never had to so far.
Maim? Sure. Torture? You bet. Kill? Pass.
Suddenly, the fire in her hazel eyes seems to go out. Tears spill down her cheeks as she looks up at me.
Fuck.
“Isla...”
She suddenly clutches at the bottom of my shirt and gets down on her knees.
I hitch a ragged breath, looking at how she looks so desperate, her eyes huge, seeming to eat up her face.
“I’ll do anything,” she murmurs. “Please, just let me go.”
I can’t deny that I think about it. About what it’d be like to have her on her knees, forcing my cock down her throat. But I shake my head.
The only way I want that is if she wants it, if she begs for it. Not while she’s under fucking duress.
I don’t take advantage of women. That’s part of my code. A code I thought the whole Hayes clan lived by, but I guess Ronan and Liam don’t anymore.
Ronan was always a ruthless guy, but there were lines he wouldn’t cross. But lately, those lines have been blurring. And apparently now, they have been erased altogether.
And he passed that ruthlessness on to Liam. He can be a real asshole when he wants to be, and right now, he’s that in spades.
“All right. Get up.” I lift her up, and she lets out a little gasp that makes my dick twitch. “None of that.”
“You don’t want me?” She pouts with that pretty pink mouth of hers, and I almost regret my decision.
I bark out a laugh. “Now, a ghrá. You know as well as I do that I do want you. But not like this. I just want to keep you safe.”
“Really? You’re really going to keep me safe?”
I nod, hoping my honesty shows in my face. If I think about it, this might be the most honest I’ve ever been with anyone but Liam and Cil.
She sobs and throws herself into my arms, and she smells like fear-sweat and soap, and my heart starts to race.
“Hey,” I murmur close to her ear. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
She buries her face in my chest, wetting my shirt with her sobs, and I scoop her up, yanking the covers back with one hand and depositing her in bed.
Isla—or Maggie, or whatever her name is—clutches at me. “Don’t go. I don’t want to be alone.”
I hitch in a breath. “Can’t do that, a ghrá. For one, I don’t trust myself with you in bed right now, and for another, Liam and Cillian are talking about what to do with you right now. I need to be in on that conversation.”
“So you can keep me safe?”
“I will keep you safe. Try not to worry.”
She scoffs. “Easy for you to say.”
There’s still fire in her hazel eyes, and I want to lean down and devour her so badly I almost ache.
Even though she just waltzed into my life a few hours ago, I want this woman. Badly.
I clear my throat instead, taking a few steps back, and she lies in bed, turning away from me. That makes my heart ache, but I slowly shut the door and walk outside, where Cillian and Liam are on the terrace, still arguing.