Page 96 of Deceived Wrath

“I’ll do it on one condition.”

Cormac raises a brow but stays silent.

“I want a significant pay raise,andI want my own room. I’m not one of those nannies who shares with the kid. That’s weird.”

“Fine—”

“AndI won’t stand for you treating me the way you do at work. Not if we have to live together.”

I set my untouched coffee down on the table and sit back against the cushions, folding my arms across my chest.

A faint smile tugs at the corners of Cormac’s mouth as he watches me.

“My terms aren’t up for negotiation,” I add in case he hasn’t got the message.

“You don’t like the way I’ve been treating you?”

My mouth goes dry as my eyes flick over Cormac’s body, his long limbs so powerful and yet elegant at the same time.

I ache to reach out and touch him, to feel his hands on my skin, to taste myself on his tongue?—

I look away as my cheeks burn. “You know what I mean.”

He throws his arm over the back of the couch. “Fine. I accept your terms. You will move in on Monday, which gives Scout a few more days to settle in here first.”

Scout?

“I didn’t pick you as aTo Kill a Mockingbirdfan.”

“I would also like you to come for dinner tomorrow night.”

Why does this feel like less of a request and more of an order?

“Okay, sure.”

“My brothers will be in attendance also.”

I really need to start taking up day drinking. “Your brothers?”

“Yes. Is that a problem?”

“N-no, of course not.”

It feels like less of a problem and more of a death sentence, considering the fact I’m secretly working with Lorcan.

I guess I’m just going to have to put on the performance of a lifetime.

Otherwise, I can kiss goodbye to my freedom and, more importantly, my life.

Chapter Twenty-One

CORMAC

I hate to admit it,but I’m nervous.

Tonight, Scout will officially be meeting my brothers for the first time. Even though I want him to have a relationship with his uncles, I can’t ignore the sick feeling in my stomach at the thought of more people knowing about him.

I know I’m being paranoid, but can anyone really blame me after what happened to his mother?