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It gives me another reason to wonder what the hell Morrigan saw in him? I’m baffled, but then again, I wasn’t there for their beginning. Maybe whatever she saw disappeared in the meantime.
I’ve certainly heard that story before. And it hits close to home.
I look at Carter in time to catch his gaze flicker down to the back of the chair, his expression utterly unchanged. He doesn’t give anything away, to anyone else but me—that second his pupils shrunk told me he knows exactly where my fingers lie.
“Yes.” His eyes return to Mr O’Rourke. “As expected, some negotiations will be in order, however the terms have been agreed.”
“We are ready to move to the next phase asap.” I drag my stern gaze over all the men, as a grin forms on each of their faces. Satisfied.Good.
“We should return to our table. Our guests are waiting for us.” A faint smirk quirks Carter’s lips, and as he begins shaking hands with the men, Morrigan snaps her head to me, her eyes boring holes when they latch onto mine, but she returns it to her plate a moment later.
The bastard did it on purpose, mentioningour guests, and she reacted. How very interesting.
“It wasverygood seeing you. Enjoy the rest of your evening.” O’Rourke smiles as I slide my hand slowly from his daughter’s skin, immediately missing the feel of it on the tips of my fingers.
I move away before they extend their hands to shake mine too. I don’t want their touch to taint the memory of her on me.
I wonder if her family, her fiancé,consider this behavior of hers normal, or if her distaste is giving us away. I wonder how she behaves with them. I wonder how she would behave with me at dinner. I wonder if she chose herself to wear that sleek red dress tonight. I wonder what she ate. Are garlic fries and a simple burger with far too many layers of pickles still her favorite foods?
I wonder how she’s changed in all these years
CHAPTERELEVEN
MORRIGAN
Have I been holding my breath the whole time?
My lungs spasm, burning as I force my breathing to stay even. And with that burn, I crave more. That touch ghosting over my skin,left, right, left, right,moving like a pendulum, hypnotic as I forced myself to keep a straight face. Especially with Ryan in front of me.
Torture—it’s the only way I can describe it—torture. Because I never thought I would refer to his touch as that.
Ever again.
It came out of nowhere, disrupted my balance and perfectly crafted stoicism. It felt as if it was the first time…
All over again.
“So we’re in.” The enthusiasm in Ryan’s voice makes me want to roll my eyes.
“I believe we are, yes. We’ll set up a meeting and discuss all the details. The wait was worth it…” Father’s voice sounds somewhere in the background, my mind distracted by the strange prickle running under my skin.
“Especially since none of the other sources amounted to anything… Wasted money, fucking crooks.” I swallow a large gulp of wine as my fiancé continues.
The Serpent made a deal with them and is close to delivering. What about me?! Where is his end of the fucking deal? Every day that passes brings me closer to a permanent life with…him.Bile rises in my chest as I look at Ryan, slowly burning its way up my throat, and I swallow it down with the rest of the wine.
“Excuse me.” Placing the glass on the table, I rise.
“Where?”
You have to be kidding me.
I stare at him, with every intention of not answering. But I cave… “Ladies’ room.” I always fucking cave. Fucking asshole.
“Don’t be long.”
“I will be as long as I need to be.” Before he can spout anymore bullshit at me, I turn, catching mydearbrother’s gaze. We haven’t been close in a while, especially since our four-year age gap separated us quite a bit. I was a kid when he was in high school, then when I got older, he went to uni, and when he came home, it was my time to go away, and we never really synced. Holidays were not enough to maintain a close relationship. Yet, deep down, I hoped that he wasn’t cut from the same cloth as my father. I thought he would defend me.
I was wrong.
