AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I sigh and lower my gaze. They’re both glaring at me. Kieran would never hurt me, but his patience is hanging by a thread, and I don’t want to be the reason it snaps.
“A guy slipped a date rape drug into my wine last night. Bash happened to be there, and he intercepted it.”
“What?” Kieran roars so loudly I startle, causing my coffee to slosh over the sides of the cup.
Bash is at my side in an instant, pulling the hot mug from my hands. He uses a towel to wipe up the mess before he sets the cup down in front of me. “Careful,” he murmurs.
I tremble as I look up at my brother. He’s about to lose control. The vein in his neck is popping out, and his face is beet red. He’s vibrating with anger as he looks from me to Bash, clenching his fists at the same time.
“Did you kill him?” he demands.
Bash looks at me then back at Kieran and says something in Gaelic that I don’t understand.
My fingertips go ice cold. Did you kill him? Shit. My brother and his friends kill bad people. Bash would see Bradley as a bad man. And he is. But to kill him? Oh, God. Did Bash kill for me? The thought sends a thrill through my entire body right down to my clit. What the hell is wrong with me? I need to go to therapy and stop reading all those dark romance books. Someone killing for me isn’t romantic.
It’s bad.
Really bad.
And hot.
So hot.
6
BASH
“He’s not dead yet. Close. He’s a politician, so before I kill him, I need to make sure nothing will come back on your sister first,” I say in Gaelic.
Kieran punches right through the drywall. Chloe jumps and looks at me worriedly. I shake my head and hold up my hand, so she doesn’t try to go to her brother. He has a few more walls to punch before he’ll be calm enough to talk to.
Sure enough, he throws another fist in a fresh spot. He has a punching bag in his gym, but it would be pointless to tell him that. Sometimes you actually have to break some shit to feel better. It’s the only reason I’m not a walking time bomb this morning. I got to break lots of things last night. Bones. The most satisfying thing to break. Especially when they belong to predators like Bradley fucking Du Pont.
We watch Kieran stomp around throughout the open living space like a pissed-off bear for a few minutes before he comes back into the kitchen.
“Who the fuck is this guy? How do you know him?”
Chloe swallows, the bravado she had earlier now gone. “He…uh…he…um. My father told me to go out with him. He’s some kind of business associate.”
Kieran rears back and growls. “Your father set you up with a fucking predator? Did you want to go on this date?”
She flicks her eyes to me, but I stare at her and try to convey that I expect her to tell the truth. Either way, Kieran will know the truth. I’d like it to come from her. Although, the thought of spanking her ass for lying does something to my cock. Something I have no business feeling. She’s my best friend’s sister.
“He told me if I didn’t go, he wouldn’t pay my tuition. I’m so close to being done. I can’t afford to pay tuition on my own. I can barely afford rent. So, I agreed to go.”
Kieran’s eyes darken, and he glares across the counter at his sister. “What. Do. You. Mean. Rent? He has you paying him rent?”
From the look on her face, she hadn’t meant to let that part slip. Better to get it all out now because I’d force her to tell him anyway.
She shakes her head and stares into her coffee. “I moved out six months ago. I couldn’t stand living with my father anymore. I got a job at a coffee shop. It pays just enough to cover my part of the rent. He agreed to keep paying tuition as long as I show up to any events he wants me to attend.”
Kieran looks at me, hurt in his eyes. He loves his sister so fucking much. Even though he doesn’t see her as much as he’d like, he’s always talking about her. I know it bothers him that they aren’t close, but he also knows a lot of that has to do with her father.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d moved?” he asks quietly.
Chloe looks up at him, her blue eyes sparkling with unshed tears. “I’m sorry, Kieran. I’ve been under my father’s thumb for so long, and it was my first time getting some freedom. I know how you are. You’re so overbearing sometimes, and I was afraid if I told you, you’d come over and get all protective and bossy.”
“The difference between me and your father is that my bossiness is to keep you fucking safe!” he shouts.
