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I didn’t want to be butchered like an animal, even though I’d had no say whatsoever, just like she hadn’t, in whom she married.
Tears pricked my eyes at the thought, and I dipped my chin, whispering, “They can’t touch me anymore.”
He stiffened at that. “You’re damn right they can’t.”
I froze, a little horrified at how loud his voice had been. A hush fell over the church, and Doyle stopped mid-sentence and twisted around to glare at Eoghan again—this was getting to be a theme of the day—before he flared his eyes in warning and returned to the full lecture.
Despite myself, my lips twitched, and I whispered, “Your irreverence is showing.”
He snorted. “That’s one word for it. Doyle can’t stand that I don’t give a shit about this crap.”
“Why are you here then?”
“Because, like your father, mine rules with an iron fist. He might be an old bastard, but he’s handy with them.”
“You were beaten too?” My mouth rounded at that, and I gaped at him, unable to believe it.
Eoghan was…
He was, well, like a warrior of old.
I could see him in a kilt with a claymore on his back, could see him on horseback with armor covering him.
Sure, his features were a little baby faced, but his eyes? Those dark brown orbs held a multitude of secrets, and I got the feeling most of them were terrifying. His body was taut and trim, and the tails he wore—a long suit jacket with a ‘tail’ at the back—fit him to perfection. He gave off a slender appearance, I guessed, but there was something coiled about him. Like he was just preparing to spring into action.
And from his response to my very well hidden, expertly concealed bruises?
I figured that was pretty apt.
He had dark hair, so dark it was almost black, and his brows matched. They hooded gleaming eyes that, I got the feeling, saw everything and missed nothing, and his jaw was clean-shaven but, judging by the faint tan on his cheeks, he usually had a short beard.
The notion intrigued me, as did his handsomeness.
I’d known, at some point, I’d be married off to someone. Sure, I’d never thought it would be when I was eighteen, and I’d never thought I’d be married to a goddamn Irish man, but to be wed to a handsome guy who wasn’t thick around the waist, smelled of potatoes that had been lost in the back of the kitchen cabinets, and drank more vodka than water?
Yeah, technically Eoghan was a dream.
A technicolor one.
“You’re staring.”
His lips twitched, the dusky peach flesh moving, enticing me to smile with him.
I hadn’t expected any kindness from him.
If the Russians hated the Irish, that was nothing compared to what they felt for us. I’d known I was walking into enemy territory today, but, of course, life was full of surprises.
My ‘home’ camp had treated me worse than Eoghan who, the second he’d seen me, had stopped glowering at me, and had started glaring at the world like he was pissed at it and not me.
I couldn’t even begin to describe how much of a relief that was.
Not to be in his crosshairs? Bliss!
And the truth was, if he could keep me safe?
I’d do anything, be anything he wanted. I’d even stay, I wouldn’t run.
I just wanted away from my family, I just wanted a life of my own, even if it was still curtailed by being a wife to a high-ranking lieutenant in a crime family. “You’re very handsome,” I whispered, my voice husky.
He arched a brow. “Thank you.” His voice was toneless, but his eyes gleamed with humor.
I felt gauche, very young and stupid, until he leaned into me, pressed a kiss to my temple, and whispered, “A handsome groom for a beautiful bride. We’re going to make the congregation weep.”
It was my turn for my lips to twitch, and I grinned at him, liking the softer side he was showing me, and hoping and praying, even though I knew both were stupid and dangerous, that maybe we could have something together.
Maybe we could take this arrangement and make it work for us.
Even if we led shorter lives thanks to our affiliations, we still had a long time on this earth to be tied together. I didn’t want to spend every day miserable, and that kiss? His tenderness? While surprising, they filled me with dreams I shouldn’t have.
That I was foolish to have.
