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Chapter 10
Dev
Alex raisedan eyebrow in silent question when I returned. I gave him a jaunty salute with an “All good, Xan,” before picking my way across the room and settling into the only remaining chair with a grin. Rory stumbled through the doorway a few moments later, only seeming to notice there weren’t any chairs left when she was halfway across the room.
It made it that much easier to reach over and pull her sideways across my lap, shooting a glare over at Cormac when he attempted to get up and offer Rory his chair. He settled back down at my look, failing to hide his amused smile, the edges of his scar wrinkling with the movement.
“Dev!” I watched Rory’s face for any sign of actual protest, but she seemed more embarrassed about our position than truly opposed to sitting on my lap. I watched as her cheeks turned pink, the color running up to her hairline and down the curve of her throat. I had to stifle a groan at the sight, willing my mind not to wander to how far her blush would extend under the neckline of her borrowed shirt.
Freckles, blushes. I wanted to know it all about Rory. I’d felt slightly unhinged when she’d jokingly called me her fiancé, loving the claim that came with the words. Pulling her into mylap was the only way to settle the restless energy I’d felt over the past twenty-four hours, since I’d finally met the woman who had been in my thoughts for months.
“I told you, Red, it’s the best seat in the house.” She huffed a small laugh at my reference to my words yesterday. “Besides, we’re about to talk about wedding arrangements, so it’s only right for my girl to sit in my lap. It’s us we’ll be celebrating, after all.”
I wrapped an arm around her waist, until her side was flush to my chest. My hand settled on her thigh, my fingers tightening enough that I felt Rory’s hitched breath. She wouldn’t be escaping me, not now that I had her in my grasp. It would be all too representative of our marriage, I was sure.
Rory’s offer to help us get Cillian’s security without the wedding was a thoughtful one, a selfless one, and only reinforced the thought I’d had the moment Cillian agreed to this marriage: Rory would try to get out of it. I had no doubt that the isolated, strong-willed woman I’d gotten to know from afar over the past months would not fall easily into the role of my wife.
So I made sure my grip was tight around her waist, on her thigh, so she would understand that now that I had her, she wasn’t going anywhere. She could offer me all the outs she wanted, she could offer herself and her safety up as collateral to allow me the freedom she must’ve thought I craved, but it would all be in vain. Rory was mine from the moment she agreed to marry me. Before, even.
“Two weeks?” Rory’s startled voice pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts. I’d already missed a good portion of the conversation, sitting there fantasizing about tying the woman in my lap to me in any way I could. It didn’t take long to gather that Rory’s exclamation was over our proposed wedding timeline, which honestly felt a little slow for my taste. Rory could find countless reasons to get either of us out of this marriage by then,but I didn’t want to argue for shorter and risk her stressing even further.
“Already trying to bail on our nuptials?” I asked Rory, pulling her attention away from her father and toward me instead.
It was refreshing, watching the honest confusion wash over her face - brows furrowing, mouth turning down into a frown - as she shook her head. I usually spent so much of my time and my effort lying, putting on some kind of front for the people we worked with, to intimidate or set them at (false) ease. I spent the rest of my time looking out for the lies of others. But Rory had been nothing shy of completely honest, even when it embarrassed her, like the night before when she’d offered to share the bed.
“No, it just feels like a lot of work in such a short amount of time. I’m not really the wedding-planning type.” She waved at herself, as if something about her appearance would make her any less likely to be engaged or enjoy planning a wedding.
“I’m sure your father will hire half a dozen wedding planners,” Cormac added in, leaning over to pat Rory’s knee in a soothing gesture.
“Of course,” Cillian agreed, “I’ll have someone take care of the arrangements; you’ll just have to choose between the options they give you.”
Rory still looked overwhelmed, and I was, for once, at a loss for words. I felt her breathing speed up, recognized the familiar look she got in her eyes before she ran, and skimmed my palm up her spine before resting it on her upper back.
“Breathe,” I whispered so that only she heard me. I felt her take a deep breath at my command, her back expanding underneath my palm. “Give me another.” Another breath, this one deeper but still stuttering with her anxiety.
“The girls could help.” Rory turned to look at Bex, her breaths slowing as Bex continued, “Wren is a florist, so sheworks with weddings all the time. And Ames has already been looking into wedding shit since she got engaged, worried if she waits too long to plan, Alex will steal her away to elope.”
Alex’s mouth tilted up in the corner, as if that was exactly his plan, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“They don’t even know me,” Rory protested, and I gripped her thigh tighter, disliking the way she so easily distanced herself from my friends.
Bex scoffed, shaking her head. “They already planned on keeping you after last night. And now that you’re marrying Dev? You’d have to tranquilize them to prevent them from helping with this wedding.”
Bex’s reassurances seemed to settle Rory, and I mouthed a thank you to Bex behind Rory’s back. I continued rubbing my palm up and down her spine until she relaxed fully into my embrace, allowing my arm to fall around her waist, my hand settling on her hip.
“I still don’t see why we can’t just elope,” she grumbled under her breath, causing Cillian to laugh.
“My only daughter is getting married. Sorry, sweetheart, but I have to go all out, especially if I won’t even be able to walk you down the aisle.” I felt some sympathy for the man as I heard the disappointment in his words. He’d clearly done his best protecting Rory, even if it meant having to take a step back as her parent in public.
I wished there was an option where he could be her father at her wedding, but it was too risky. Sure, marrying me would put Rory in danger. Alfie coming after Wren this past fall was proof enough of that. It was just an unfortunate reality that came with the job. We worked with every corrupt politician in D.C. and most of the organized crime syndicates within driving distance of the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area. We’d had offers to travel forjobs, but the three of us weren’t quite ready to expand beyond our east coast operation - yet.
But the dangers that could come to Rory because of my job were nothing compared to the danger she was always in, just by being Cillian’s daughter.
She turned to Cormac, smiling as she asked, “What do you say, Pops? Ready to play pretend one more time?”
“I’d be honored to play your father any day of the week, kiddo.”
“So that’s settled.” Cillian leaned over to clap Cormac on the back in thanks before turning back to Alex. “Now, Xander, as for details. The daughter of my second-in-command marrying your business partner should be enough to show how serious the deal is. The wedding will get the knowledge of our alliance out there, though we might want to release the information strategically to prevent too much backlash. But I’m assuming you’d like more than that?”
