Chapter Twenty
CILLIAN
Dare turns to me. “It isn’t fair. She trusts me, wants to be with me; she’s not going to escape.”
I scoff. “She trusts you? Why in God’s name would she do that?”
“Because. We have something, Cill.”
“You passed her around between us. What something?”
I regret my words as soon as Dare’s face falls.
I can’t help this strange feeling in my gut every time I think about Dare and Isla together, even when I had been involved.
I think some part of me knew this woman was trouble the moment I laid eyes on her.
And now it’s my turn to relieve Liam, and although Darren’s pissed about it, I’m doing my duty.
Liam doesn’t want Dare taking his shift for a few days, and I guess he’s worried about him letting Isla escape. Either that, or he’s jealous.
Doesn’t seem like Liam to get attached to a target, but he’s been acting so strange lately.
Dare shakes his head. “You wouldn’t get it, Cill.”
I close my mouth, not wanting to snap at him. I don’t know why I’ve been feeling so on edge lately—like something bad is going to happen. Well, something worse, anyway.
It’s not like this mission has gone smoothly.
“I guess I wouldn’t.”
Dare frowns. “Hey. I didn’t mean it like that. You’ll find someone.”
I bark out a laugh. “Me? Please.”
I don’t mean it to come out self-pitying, but it kind of sounds like that.
Dare’s face softens. “C’mon, Cill. You’re a good-looking dude.”
“It’s not about looks. But I’m not going to get sappy with you. Liam wants me to relieve him, so you’ve just got to deal with that.”
Dare’s face goes dark. “Do you think he fucked her?”
I frown. “Does it matter?”
He rolls his shoulders around. “I guess not.”
He sounds sullen, but I don’t ask any more questions. Whatever he’s got going on with Isla is none of my business—even if it feels like it should be.
I try not to think too much about Isla or the night we all shared her. It puts knots in my stomach for reasons I’d rather not look into.
Dare is still sullen when I leave, but that can’t be helped. The poor kid seems head over heels.
It’s not like I’m surprised, exactly. Dare has always been a hit with the ladies; I just never thought he’d be the type to want to settle down.
But maybe he doesn’t. Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself.
When I arrive at the house, Liam meets me at the door, his eyes bloodshot.
“About time.” His voice rasps from lack of sleep and the early hour.
“Sorry. Had to break the news to Dare that you don’t want him staying for a couple of days.”
Liam grunts in an almost satisfied way.
He and Dare have been at each other’s throats, and before that, it was me and Liam. It’s like everything’s falling apart, all because of one woman.
I just want things to go back to normal. As normal as it gets, in this lifestyle—torturing and killing bad guys and the occasional night out with these two. No women for more than a couple of hours. And even that was a rare occurrence for us. Except Dare, of course.
Liam grumbles something about Isla being asleep, and I nod as he gets into his car and drives away.
I actually had a good night’s sleep for once, but it’s nearing ten in the morning, so I’m surprised she’s not up. Did she and Liam...
No. Liam wouldn’t do that. Even though he was the one to come up with the whole “pet” thing, I don’t think he’d actually use her to service himself.
Would he? Has he changed that much without us noticing?
That whole conversation rubbed me the wrong way.
We are not these people, we don’t force ourselves on women.
Hell, I shared her with them, but she wanted it, right? I asked, we asked, and she said yes.
Still, where is the line?
Our enemies have no problem abusing women, they take pleasure in it. We don’t. We kill them for it.
Though we all enjoy inflicting a bit of pain while we pleasure our partners for the night, we’d never truly hurt them, never take pleasure in torturing them, in their suffering.
I make my way to the coffee machine when a high-pitched whining yawn comes from behind me.
I break out in a small, half-smile. “Good morning.”
“Morning.”
I take a cup of coffee to her as she rubs her swollen eyes. “I take it you’re not a morning person.”
“Nah. Night owl, all the way.” She tilts her head, smiling slightly. “What about you?”
“What about me?” I’m all but mesmerized by the green flecks in her hazel eyes as she looks up at me.
“Are you a morning person or a night owl?”
I shrug. “Neither? Both? I don’t sleep much.”
“What? Why?”
I shrug. “Too many sins, too much blood on my hands.”
“Do you always kill them?”
“Not always. A lot of times it’s just intimidation techniques.” I probably shouldn’t be telling her this, but at the same time, it doesn’t seem like Liam is ever letting her go either, so what is the harm?
And it feels good talking about it with someone other than Liam and Dare. Someone who sees not only the weapon, but also the man behind it. I need that. Need to be more than the soulless demon I was raised to be. Need to hope that maybe there is more out there waiting for me.
Maybe even with the woman in front of me.
I have no idea what Liam plans to do with her, but I feel very protective of her.
If Liam or Ronan ever give the kill order, I’m not sure what I’ll do, because regardless of owing them everything and them being family, I know I can’t stand the thought of Isla being gone forever. Even if she is not mine, I need to know she is alive and well somewhere.
“So, you’re the muscle, Dare’s the tech guy, and Liam’s the boss?”
“You ask too many questions.” I want to shut this down before it gets any further.
I have no problem incriminating myself, but I will not give any information about my friend or my brother.
“I want to get to know you.”
I frown. “Why?”
She laughs softly. “Why not? I like you, Cill.”
Heat floods my face, and I look away from her. “You don’t mean that.”
“Of course, I mean it. I’m not in the habit of sleeping with men I don’t like.” She pauses. “Well. Except for Liam, I guess. But even he’s growing on me.”
My eyes narrow.
She grins, scooting her chair closer to me. “What’s that face? Are you jealous?”
Fuck, yeah.
“No, of course not.” I clear my throat. “I guess I’ll go into the back bedroom, do some work. Stay out of your hair. There’s some frozen meals in the freezer. Help yourself.”
As I walk by her, Isla puts out her hand, lighting her fingertips on my forearm. “Wait.”
There are something about the softness of her tone that makes me pause, and I look down at her, waiting for her to elaborate.
“Stay with me. It gets so lonely here, and Liam won’t spend much time with me.”
“You want me to... stay?”
She nods, giving me a small smile. “Please?”
God, she’s beautiful. Gorgeous, really.
The more I look at her, the more that picture seems far away and different. The less she looks like Maggie Sullivan.
And yet, she’s someone far more dangerous.
I swallow hard. “All right, then. What are we doing?”
She grins wider and stands up, heading to the fridge and bringing out two bottles of wine. “I saw this earlier today. I can’t wait to drink it. Will you have a glass with me?”
She looks at me so expectantly, so innocently.
I don’t drink much, especially when I’m on a job. But this is just the two of us, and she is looking at me like that. What harm can one glass do? “Sure.”
Her face breaks out in an even wider smile, and I want to kiss it, want to slide my tongue between her lips. Slide it up her thighs and into the loose shorts she’s wearing.
Isla squeals, doing what looks like a little cute happy dance. She grabs two large glasses and the bottle, taking it all to the living room and flipping on a movie—some drama.
Then she pours us each a glass.
I barely pay attention to what is happening on the screen because as Isla drinks, she gets closer and closer to me, and I don’t realize I’m gulping down the wine myself until she pops open the second bottle.
I should stop.
I set my glass down.
“You really like wine, huh?” It’s my attempt at a tease, but I’m fighting an erection because her hand is high up on my thigh, so my voice comes out gruff.
“I do.” She leans her head back against the couch cushion. “More than the taste, I like the way it makes all my problems seem less important.”
Looking at the half-filled glass I just set down, my fourth at this point, I have to admit she’s right. I do feel less stressed. I barely ever drink, much less to excess, even though I’m not as much of a teetotaler as Liam.
It’s not like the room is spinning, but my face is flushed, and Isla’s closeness and babbling seem to be affecting me more than usual.
“So, what’s your story, Cillian?”
There’s something about the way she says my name—rarely shortening it, the syllables rolling off her tongue.
I clear my throat. “I don’t have much of a story.”
She frowns. “Everyone has a story.” She looks at me for a long moment, her hazel eyes just a little glassy. “I’ll tell you something about my past if you’ll tell me something about yours.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Why?”
She shrugs. “I know you won’t tell the others if I ask you not to.”
“I have no loyalty to you.”
“I know. But I still trust you.”
The way she’s looking at me, the sparkles of green in her eyes, it’s all too much, and I can’t stop myself from kissing her temple. I want to devour her mouth, devour her whole, but I need to control myself.
And oddly enough, she is right. She can trust me.
“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to.”
“My father... I know I told Dare he was an investment banker. That was part of my cover story.”
I nod, waiting for her to continue, not saying a word.
“He was a thug.”
I never would have guessed she was from a similar background to mine. Not with how she was dressed at the gala.
Her eyes drop to the floor. “He used to only come around once in a while, but when he did, he released all his frustration on my mother. I used to hide under my bed as they yelled at each other. I’ll never forget the sound of him hitting her.”