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Yeah, I’d blame the sky.
Right.
I’d given Victoria my telephone number only recently, because I’d been missing my sisters something fierce. It was horrible to admit that being Nyx’s goddamn sex toy had been enough to keep me going, to stop me from feeling lonely.
“Too pathetic to live,” I muttered under my breath, forcing myself not to tug on the reins—my agitation at my own stupidity wasn’t something poor Terry should have to handle.
My stupidity was repaid by Victoria’s call a few weeks after I’d given her the number, when she’d told me Father had been knee-capped. She’d expected me to come home, and like a fool, I had. That was what family did, wasn’t it?
We came home in times of trouble.
We didn’t expect that a parent would sell us off while they were still in casts from surgery.
Mouth tightening at the thought, I finally focused on my surroundings and noticed we’d gone so deep into the trail that Terry had started to wander back toward the stables.
My back was starting to ache, which told me I needed to visit more. Thanks to years away from the saddle, I wasn’t able to ride as long as I’d like, and sometimes, it wasn’t easy sneaking out of the house. I was a grown ass woman, capable of going wherever the hell I wanted, but the truth was, if someone spotted me in the hall, I was obliged to talk with them.
And that, sometimes, was more than I could muster.
In high school, thanks to my heritage, I’d earned that most boring of titles—Ice Princess. Maybe Iwasthat. Frigid, too. Or maybe I was just anxious. So eager to escape the necessities of human convention that I preferred to stay in my room. To live inside my four walls where I didn’t have to break bread with killers, where I didn’t have to wander past a room where my mother had died in a pool of her own blood and Italian cum.
The pain that thought triggered was like when Father slapped me across the face, and my gasp was so sharp that Terry paused, hovering slightly, waiting for further instruction. When I didn’t give him any, he carried on his path, and I just let him.
I didn’t stir him out of the gentle walk and into a canter.
I just allowed him to lead me back to the stables, where the ripe scent of horses and the pungent stench of hay welcomed me like a warm embrace.
My thoughts were too dark for this crisp, bright day, but they were weighing on me like clouds that were heavy with rain. Plaguing me and giving me no escape in the one source of joy in my life—my horses.
As I tended to Terry, giving him some more carrots in gratitude for his having taken good care of me, brushing him down and giving him extra hay, I switched focus.
Too often, I found myself stuck in the past.
But this was my present.
And I had to make sure that my future was brighter.
That meant exchanging one killer for another—not that great a bargain, but at least this one was nearer my age than the grave and, according to Mama, was a decent human being despite his career choices.
It was time I made my move. Father and Abramovicz weren't going anywhere... Not like I'd hoped.
I just prayed I wasn't too late.
Now Svetlana wanted rid of me, only God knew how quickly Father would act.
With a soft kiss to his nose, I departed, leaving Terry behind for another day. I’d been so absorbed in my thoughts that I didn’t realize just how quiet the stables had grown, though, so when I twisted around, and I saw him, I staggered back in surprise.
Whatever I'd expected, it wasn't that I'd see Brennan O'Donnelly leaning against the door to my stables.
Had I magicked him into being with my thoughts?
If only wishful thinking really worked that damn way.
It took me a second to regain my composure, before I tipped my chin up as I watched his gaze dart over me, around me, taking in the situation, my location, and while it wasn’t the best timing, not with my hair probably a mess from the helmet I’d worn, and my jodhpurs scuffed from the few tasks I’d completed around Terry’s stall, I’d take it.
Snagging an invitation to Inessa’s place was one thing, trying to ensure her brother-in-law was there as well, another. And while I had no idea why he was here, that wasn't going to stop me from taking advantage of this good fortune.
As I straightened my shoulders, I was fully aware that my future was on the line with this conversation.
But I’d walked naked amid a bar full of men.
I’d sucked Nyx off in front of his brothers.
I’d lived with bikers with more blood on their hands than motor oil, and I’d survived not only a poverty-stricken life, but one with the biggest cats of them all—clubwhores.
After that, this was a piece of cake.
One Irishman wasn’t enough to scare me. Nor would he turn my head. Where this situation was concerned, I was like Terry. One destination in mind. Except, my trail wouldn’t end at the stables...
“I have a favor I’d like to call in.”
