Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 105065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Ha. Would you get a load of this guy?
I lean back in my chair and size him up. He thinks he’s getting to me with this little ploy of his. It probably works with most of the other girls. He upsets them, and then they fall straight into his arms for comfort. It’s sick, really, but it’s also very obvious that Sean feels the need to compete with Lachlan. It doesn’t surprise me. Now that I know Lach’s grandfather is dead, it means that things within the outfit are changing. Niall would probably need to appoint someone else to take his place. At first glance, most would assume Sean had that right. But I get the impression that might not be the case. Niall doesn’t seem like the type to hand anyone anything unless they’ve earned it.
So Sean sees Lachlan as a threat. When I remember how Niall responded to his little display last night, and how defensive he got over Lach, it’s pretty obvious why. But just to test my theory, I decide to goad him a little bit.
“Look, Mr. MacKenna, I’m not one of these danger junkies. I know what Lachlan does. I know about the syndicate, but none of that matters to me. You see, I’m just using him for his cock. It’s huge. Massive, really, and I just love to ride it…”
“Enough!” he slams his fist down on the table.
Point made. I can’t even help the smile that spreads across my face. I’m in dangerous territory here, but this prick has it coming, really. He stews in his anger for a pause before he comes to some sort of a decision. And when he speaks again, his tone is calm and even.
“Funny thing,” he says. “You showing up here, and the next week we have the Armenians busting down our doors. Taking the Russian’s money…” He pauses to emphasize this part, and a seed of suspicion grows inside of me. It’s like he’s purposely trying to tell me too much.
He sits back and crosses his legs. “And now the burden of suspicion is falling on Crow. His own men are starting to doubt his abilities to run this ship smoothly. And do you know what happens when your own men doubt you?”
When I stare across the table at Sean, he doesn’t look like the concerned friend saying these things. He almost looks… satisfied, and it makes me distrust him even more.
“It’s not too hard to guess,” I answer vaguely.
He grins. “No it isn’t.”
“You shouldn’t look so happy at the prospect of something awful happening to your so-called brother,” I snarl. “I don’t think that would fall under your code of loyalty.”
He reaches across the table and grips my face in his hand, squeezing like he wants to crush me.
“Just know I’m going to be watching you,” he sneers. “One wrong move, Mackenzie, and nobody will ever hear from you again.”
I don’t flinch or cower, which is probably what he expects. Instead, I look him in the eye and show him the false respect he so desperately craves. Between him and Donovan, I’m not sure which is worse.
“You don’t have to worry about me,” I assure him. “I’m just here until Lachlan tires of me.”
A smug grin creeps across his face, and he releases me. “That’ll be sooner, rather than later.”
I stand up and smooth out my dress. “Am I free to go now?”
He still has that creepy grin on his face. His eyes rake over me one last time, and he nods. When I open the door, I find Ronan standing right outside, and my dead heart warms a little more. I reach up and ruffle his hair, making him nearly jump out of his skin again.
“Aw, Ronan,” I coo. “Your concern for me is so touching. Think you could take him?”
His eyes follow Sean as he brushes past us whistling a happy tune, and he grabs me by the arm. “Let’s get ye out of here.”
Ronan ushers me out through the back door of the club and towards the car. But before we even make it within twenty feet of it, he freezes and shoves me behind him.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
A spray of gunfire erupts around us, and Ronan tosses us both behind one of the parked cars for cover. He pulls out his gun and tears off his jacket.
“Do I need to answer that?” he grunts in annoyance.
“Nope.” I squeak. “You’re good.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lachlan
Crack. Crack. Crack.
“They’re like goddamn cockroaches,” Rory yells over the drone of gunfire. “Ye think ye’ve got them all, and they just keep coming out of the woodwork.”
I grunt out my agreement.
The fucking Armenians.
Only a handful of us knew about this meeting with the Russians tonight. Niall’s made certain to keep a tight leash on anything he sends down the pipe. Being that tonight’s affair is taking place in one of the Russian’s own clubs, it’s hard to believe that one of them arranged it. But if history is any indication, I think that’s exactly what happened.
A bullet whizzes past my head. I crouch lower beneath the overturned table, firing back until my clip is empty. Two of their muppets collapse before I have to reload. Only one more clip remains in my pocket. I didn’t expect a fucking war when I came here. We aren’t even making an exchange which leads me to believe one thing. Whoever is giving this information away is purposely trying to unsettle our alliance with the Russians.
Alexei creeps up beside me like a fecking cat. The man is deadly quiet, with the reflexes to match. I suppose he has to be, considering. Viktor will not be happy that his most prized possession is in the middle of this hailstorm of bullets. But Alexei is no slouch in combat.
He fires off six rounds himself, hitting at least three blokes in the process. Then he turns to me and clips out a quick string of Russian. Too quick for me to understand all of it, but I get the gist that there’s some more ammo in the back. Problem is, that’s where half the bleeding gunfire is coming from.