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)
At some point, he’s going to figure out I’ve betrayed him. At some point, he’ll figure out everything was a lie. And he will hate me for it. He’ll probably want me dead. Even just thinking about it, my eyes feel glassy. The tiny, weak part of my brain that controls my emotions wants to break down and confess everything now. To beg him for forgiveness and believe that he’d tell me the truth about Talia.
“Ye’re staring,” he says finally. There’s a small smile on his face, and despite the darkness in my heart, it makes me smile too.
“Can’t help it.” I shrug. “You’re just too pretty.”
He grunts and pries my legs apart, pulling me to the edge of the counter as he pushes his body as close to mine as the space will allow.
“Don’t go to work today.” I smooth my hands over his chest. “Cracking skulls and criminal enterprises can wait.”
I’m fully prepared to use my feminine wiles to state my case as my hand drifts lower and lower. But he captures my wrist and stops me.
“I’m not going into Slainte today,” he says. “And neither are you.”
I blink up at him. “We aren’t?”
“Nah. We have a thing tonight.”
A thing? He’s nervous, and I’m not sure why. This is the first I’m hearing about plans tonight. “What kind of thing?”
“A gathering for Niall,” he says. “It’s his birthday.”
“Oh.”
Now I realize why he’s so nervous. This is an official gathering. And for him to bring me makes a big statement. From everything I’ve learned about his outfit, I know that Niall is very selective about who he allows in his company. He has to be I’m sure. A man like him doesn’t trust just anybody.
I’m torn between feeling excited at the prospect of getting deeper into the organization and the guilt eating away at me. Lachlan wouldn’t have any ulterior motive for doing this other than that he wants me there beside him. He’s vouching for me, and I don’t know what will happen to him if anyone discovers the truth about my motives.
He leans in and kisses me, stirring the whirlwind of emotions inside of me into a raging tornado. I pull him against me and devour him. Lach isn’t complaining. And when I slip off the counter and go down on my knees before him, his eyes are burning with white hot lust.
I unzip his jeans and pull him free, his cock falling heavy into my palm. I suck him into my mouth while I clutch his muscular ass in my hands.
“Jaysus,” he grunts, leaning forward to brace himself on the counter while I strive to give him the best blowjob of his life.
It doesn’t take long before he empties himself inside of my mouth with a growl, and then he stumbles back into the wall, looking dazed.
“Fecks sake, sweetheart,” he pants. “Ye’re something else, ye know that?”
I smile up at him. He looks so relaxed. So at ease around me. Nothing like the man who wanted nothing to do with me at the start. Please don’t ever hate me, Lachlan.
He helps me to my feet and zips himself back up before he slaps me on the ass.
“Get ready,” he orders. “We need to sort ye out a dress.”
***
After lunching at a posh wine café in the Back Bay, Lach takes me to none other than Newberry Street for the afternoon. This is the crème de la crème of shopping, and stuff I wouldn’t normally ever buy. But Lachlan insists I go designer for tonight’s event, and I can’t refuse him.
I end up settling on a sexy black evening gown with a split clean up my thigh. It’s gorgeous, and even more so paired with the black stilettos. Once Lachlan saw me in it, he refused to look at anything else.
After retouching my makeup and spending another twenty minutes on my hair, I find both him and Ronan dressed in suits. Lachlan looks ridiculously handsome and slightly dangerous, and a crazy part of me feels proud to be on his arm tonight.
He escorts me to the car that Ronan uses, which is a nondescript black BMW. We climb inside and almost immediately Lach starts doing that thing with his fingers again, tapping them against his leg.
I reach down and grab his hand, threading my fingers through his.
“You don’t have to worry,” I tell him. “I’ll be on my best behavior tonight. No choke holds or any other funny business.”
He nods, but still doesn’t relax. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell ye Mack how tense things are at the moment. Niall doesn’t know who to trust. But it’s important to me that he trusts you.”
I swallow and give him a shaky smile. “I understand.”
The rest of the car ride is filled with silence. Lachlan’s probably sorting out his agenda for the evening while I wonder where I should go from here. This is taking too long. The longer I’m in this, the harder it’s going to be to get out. The more likely that Lach’s going to get hurt. I need to step up my game plan some other way, but I’m really not sure how to do that.
When we arrive and Ronan parks the car, I’m surprised to find tonight’s shindig is being held at an upscale lounge inside a hotel.
“Niall wanted a public location this year,” Lach explains as he takes my hand and leads me inside.
I walk through the lobby with him and Ronan at my sides like sentinels, and sure enough there are plenty of glances cast our way. The men beside me exude power and danger and even a dash of sophistication when they’re dressed as they are. The women toss long glances our way while the men sigh and wish they could be like them, if only for a night.
They lead us through a set of hallways and into a private lounge that must have been booked for the occasion. The lighting is soft and ambient, the walls muted shades of gray and crimson. The oak floors gleam beneath the candlelight, and across the room half of the tables are already filled. It throws me off balance to see just how deep the organization runs, guessing that there must be at least fifty men here tonight.