Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99191 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
He set down his phone and looked at Cillian. “If you have something to say, say it now. We’ll move forward as a single unit, so I won’t have you questioning me every step of the way.”
His brother gave him a long look and sank into the seat across the desk. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I don’t like it. You’re putting our baby sister on the line, and if you don’t manage to do whatever it is you’re trying to do, she’ll be the one to pay the price.” Cillian huffed out a breath. “I know the world we live in. I get that you’re doing what you think is best—truly, I do. But how about we stop pretending that you fell so deeply in love with some stranger that you brought her in here and plan to marry her. Maybe Teague and Carrigan—and even Keira—will fall for that. They aren’t here, day in and day out. I am. And I know you’d never let your heart get the best of you.”
His brother was right, even if he’d never admit it. Aiden’s heart didn’t even come into the equation when the O’Malleys were on the line. He managed a brief smile. “Always damning me with faint praise.”
“It’s the truth.”
Cillian had always been too smart by half. He’d covered it up when he was a kid with a reckless streak a mile wide and a string of shitty decisions, and these days he put that brilliant brain of his to use spinning numbers, doing the books for their operations, and managing anything that required the hacking skills he’d been developing since he took over the job. He’d never bothered to analyze Aiden, though.
He met his brother’s gaze directly. This wasn’t the time for softness or kid gloves. He spoke to Cillian as leader of the O’Malleys to a subordinate. “I don’t care what you think of the situation—or of Charlie. You will fall in line.”
“Consider me the very picture of a loyal soldier.” Cillian rose. “But you had damn well keep Keira safe, Aiden. She stopped painting. Did you know that?”
Aiden sat back in his chair, the sheer weight of everything he carried threatening to drive him into the ground. There were a million ways to kill a person that had nothing to do with stopping their heart. He might have scared off his sister’s dealers, but it seemed like he’d been doing a shitty job taking care of her otherwise. In the last few years, she’d gone from being a snarky, flourishing artist to a shell of the woman she was supposed to become. “This will all be over soon.”
Cillian shook his head. “Save the bullshit, Aiden. It will never be over. Even Sloan didn’t escape it, and she ran halfway across the world.”
She hadn’t escaped, but she’d carved out a little slice of happiness for herself, despite everything.
And the information her man provided had been instrumental in Aiden finding the right pressure points to bring Romanov to his knees.
He stared at the desk, the wood polished so thoroughly that it gleamed. Knowing that Sloan’s relationship had strengthened the O’Malleys should have brought him satisfaction, even if she’d gone back into hiding to avoid living in their world. There was no satisfaction to be had, though. He couldn’t bring himself to admit it to anyone out loud, but he missed his little sister.
He missed all of his sisters.
Cillian watched him too closely. “She’s doing well, in case you were wondering. We have a nephew to go along with our nieces. They named him Grady.”
Named for Jude’s dead father, the same way Teague and Callie’s daughter was named for her mother. They were all haunted by the sins of the past and the losses they never got quite over.
It was up to him to ensure that they didn’t have any more names to be added to the list of beloved dead.
* * *
Charlie woke late, her body still aching from what Aiden had done to her through the early hours of the morning. She rolled over and stretched, luxuriating in the feel of the silken sheets against her bare skin. It would be too easy to let herself get used to this. To forget that this was all a ruse to bring down their mutual enemy.
Aiden might want her body, but he was focused on the endgame. She’d be a fool to do anything else.
She sat up. Through all the plans he’d shared with her, he’d left one thing out—what she was supposed to do with her free time. When she’d agreed to this, she hadn’t really thought about much beyond bringing Romanov to justice. It never occurred to her that it would take time. Charlie had never been much good with idle hands, and she didn’t imagine she’d learned that skill overnight.