Page 62 of Reckless Seduction
A niggle of doubt rolls up my spine and clenches onto the stem of my brain, holding tight. Anxiety slithers underneath my skin. What if she is lying? We are placing a great deal of trust in her to fulfill her end of the deal without turning on us.
That is where it all hinges. We can make do without the information, but if she turns on us, it could end up being our undoing. She only has four days to get what we need. We spent the last three training her, but that isn’t enough. I have men who have spent their entire lives training, and they still end up with holes riddled through their bodies.
Clenching my jaw, I turn away from the window. It’s better not to say goodbye. Pain pulses around my heart knowing what will happen in just a few nights. Everything is set. The pieces on the chessboard are all in place. The pawns are ready to be sacrificed. This is what we have to do. Crowe is involved in a lot more than just what we have shown Bailey.
We know he is backing Christian Ward. He is the one who set up the FBI sting at Matthias and Ava’s wedding. He arranged for my sister to be taken. There is no way our family can let that stand. He’s made us the enemy for far too long, and it is time to strike back. If Richard Crowe wants to play with the sharks, we will show him our teeth.
Blood has been spilled in the water.
“She’s gone.” My brother’s cold tone filters from the back of the room. He’s voiced his dissent about the plan several times, but that isn’t enough to stop the train we have already set in motion.
“You knew this was the plan, Seamus,” I remind him, my gaze still fixated on where her car left the parking garage. She hesitated at the entrance, as if she wanted to change her mind and turn back. I would have let her, but it was for the best that she kept driving.
“Funny how you are suddenly so on board with something that you vehemently disagreed with just a few days ago.”
Sighing, I turn to face my twin. His tired eyes are drawn with sadness and regret and wreathed in dark, sleepless circles. I doubt I look any better. We tossed and turned, taking turns waking Bailey in the middle of the night to take her once again. Sometimes together. Other times separate.
Seamus had the opportunity to build a better rapport with our little captive. While he was training her in some Krav Maga, I was busy plotting and planning. The board she saw barely breaks the surface of what we have in store for Crowe.
“It’s better this way.”
We can’t keep her.
Even if I wish we could.
“For who?” Seamus snarls. “Not for her. And sure as hell not for us. I know I’m not the only one who feels that connection, Kier. You do too.”
That is the problem.
I felt an immediate connection with her. The moment she landed that punch, I was a goner. I just don’t know it yet. That feeling of obsession, though, is dangerous. Bailey Jameson isn’t just any woman; she is a reporter and the daughter of the man who has been spilling the blood of my men for years.
She is Eve in the garden, coaxing us to take a bite of the forbidden fruit.
We can’t afford to be Adam.
“We need to do what’s best for the family,” I tell him. “She isn’t it, Seamus. Keeping her would bring a war we can’t afford.”
“We’re already at war, Kiernan,” Seamus roars, his face red with anger. “Crowe is gunning for us, and that isn’t going to change.”
“Do you think I don’t know that?” I roar back, eyes narrowed at my twin. “You think I don’t want her? Because I do. More than I have ever wanted anything. But she can’t be ours, Seamus. She’s a reporter and his daughter. Do you honestly think that she’s going to forgive us after what we do to him? Ruining his career, maybe. But we both know we can’t stop there.”
“You don’t know that…”
“Get your head out of your ass, brother,” I hiss. “The moment we spill his blood is the moment she stops loving us, and you know it. Just let it the fuck go. We’ll use her to get the information we need, and that’s the end of it.”
“And what about the auction?”
“The gala is where it all ends, Seamus,” I tell him. “I put another plan together for the auction. We don’t need her like we thought.”
“You just changed the plan without consulting me?”
If looks could kill, I would be six feet under.
In all our time ruling together as my father’s right-hand men, we’ve never gone behind each other’s backs. We’ve never alteredplans without the input of the other. We were born together, and we will rule together.
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to let her go.”
The fist that flies at my face is expected. There is no point in dodging it. I deserve the punch he throws, and I take it. Blood fills my mouth, the tangy iron all too familiar. This isn’t my first hit, and it won’t be my last.
