Page 30 of Dangerously
Clearly, he is in pain, alone, and quite possibly desperate.I should feel sorry for him, but I don’t.
“I’m listening.”
With a deep breath and shaky hands, he begins, “I have been in love with Brynn since I was seventeen years old.She was the gentlest soul I had ever encountered. I felt like I needed to protect her from the moment I met her. She wasn’t a cutthroat snake like everyone else in her family, and it was her downfall. We wanted to get married, but the family wouldn't allow it. They had other plans for her. She was a political pawn in their criminal game. They forced a union with one of the San Gennaro’s grandsons from New York. I told her to object. To speak up. To refuse the marriage, but she wouldn’t. She wouldn't go against her family. She was too scared. I tried to talk to Ronan, but he couldn’t do anything. He said his hands were tied. So, I stood by and watched her marry another man, knowing she was in love with me.”
“So, you got pissed and took your revenge?”
“I was pissed, not insane. I could never take on the Kennedy family by myself. That’s a suicide mission. We just had an affair.”
“Even better.”
“It was better than not being in each other’s lives at all. It was painful to see her with another man. It was agony watching him raise my child.”
“He didn’t know it wasn't his?”
“No one knew except Ronan. Brynn had to keep up appearances, and a baby helped. Everyone thought they were making it as a couple.”
“So where did it all go wrong?”
“About a year after Aisling was born, Ronan came to me hot. He was steaming about how the elders in the family were running things. Complaining about old-school mentality and this and that. There was also a rumor that when their father passed on, Brian, his younger brother, was going to take over and not Ronan. Well, that sure as shit wasn’t going to fly. He told me he wanted to take the old timers out. Make it look like the San Gennaros were going for a power play. Said Brynn, Aisling, and I could finally be together if I helped him. He’d be head of the family, so no one could touch us. It sounded like a pretty sweet deal to me. I was in. We kept the whole plan a secret, even from Brynn. The less people who knew, the better. Ronan took care of most of the logistics. I was really just there to do the killing. Which I did. Expertly. There was a family dinner. It was the perfect time. I sent Brynn away with Aisling to a different part of the house. No one questioned her excusing herself early. Aisling was being fussy. It sort of all worked out perfectly. Toward the end of the dinner, Ronan and I took everyone out. His father, his grandfather, his uncle, and younger brother. Even Brynn’s husband whom we planned to pin the whole thing on anyway. It was a bloodbath. So much fucking blood, and death.” Declan lifts his leg, rests his elbow on his knee, and holds his heavy head. “And the worst fucking part is, I was relieved. I was going to get what I wanted. At least, that’s what I thought.”
“But Ronan turned on you?”
Declan nods. “He killed Brynn right in front of me. Right in front of Aisling. He was going to kill me too, but somehow, by the grace of God, I got out.”
I evaluate all of this, and although it’s a farfetched tale, it’s also a believable one. I wouldn't put it past Ronan for one second. There is so much evil lurking behind those muddy brown eyes.
“If he wanted the whole family dead, why does he want Aisling alive?”
“Who the fuck knows? To get back at me. To replace Brynn. To ruin her life and raise her as another political pawn in his sick, twisted game of thrones.”
That explanation doesn’t sit well with me at all. I may do a lot of heinous things, but even I have hard limits. And having control of your own life falls under that umbrella. You can say it’s a sensitive subject for me. Women not being able to carve their own path or follow their own destiny.
I don’t share my thoughts with Declan, though. I just remain as impassive as possible, not wanting to give any inkling of my thoughts away.
“There is one thing I am sure of.” Declan sways a little bit, clearly intoxicated. “I will fucking kill anyone who tries to take her away from me.” He lies down on the floor, piercing me with one green-eyed laser beam, sending a clear message.
“Dax.” I nudge him with my foot. He doesn't move.“Declan.”I kick him. Nothing. Just a snarl-like snore.You have got to be shitting me.He passed the fuck out.
This whole fucking job has gone to hell in a handbasket. And if I don’t check in with March soon, I don’t know who the next person walking through that door will be. We didn’t make any contingency plans. I assured him the target was going to be taken out. And as far as I was concerned, it was the God’s honest truth. Even as I drew my gun and squeezed the trigger. I always believed I could execute my mission. But sitting here tied up is making me look like a big, fat liar. The question is, why didn’t Declan kill me when he had the chance?
I see no favorable outcome for any of us.
Footsteps place me on high alert. I struggle in the ropes, but Declan is like a goddamn Boy Scout, and has me tied up way too tight.
She approaches me slowly in bare feet, clutching onto a ratty, stuffed bunny that looks as if it could have been Declan’s from his childhood.
I get my first good look at her. She’s a tiny little thing with dark, wavy hair and green eyes just like her daddy. But her facial features are sweet and feminine. There’s something about her. Something perceptive. She regards me in a shrewd way. Way beyond her young years.
She looks down at Declan sleeping on the floor and then back up to me. Her little eyebrows furrowed.
“Yeah, kid, the feeling is mutual.”
How the fuck did we all end up here?
Aisling yawns then. The drowsiness still evident on her cute little face.
“You should go back to bed,” I whisper.
