Page 49

I stand tall, refusing to cower.“What does it look like?”

Ruairi’s eyes narrow, his jaw tightening as he steps closer.“It looks like you’ve lost your damn mind,” he snaps.

“No,” I reply sharply, standing my ground.“I’ve finally made a decision for myself.I’m with Eamon.”

“You’rewithhim?”Ruairi’s laugh is bitter and humorless.“You must think this is some kind of game?Do you have any idea what you’re doing?”

“I know exactly what I’m doing,” I shoot back.“I’m making a choice, Ruairi.One you can’t control.”

“This?Him?You’re playing with fire.”He turns, jabbing a finger toward Eamon, his voice dropping dangerously low.“And you.What is this to you, O’Sullivan?A game?A way to get under my skin?Because if it is, you’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life.”

Eamon steps forward, unshaken, his expression cold and calculating.“This isn’t a game, Quigley,” he says, his voice steady and razor-sharp.“Aoife isn’t a pawn, and I’m not some fool looking to provoke you for sport.She’s with me because she chose to be.Maybe that’s what you can’t handle, that you don’t control her anymore.”

His lips curl into a faint smirk, his tone turning deadly calm.“And as for mistakes, I don’t make them.But you’re inmyhome, inmycity.You’re dangerously close to making one yourself.”

Ruairi ignores Eamon’s challenge, his gaze snapping back to me.“You go to a party, and somehow, you end up with him?”he says, his tone dripping with disbelief and anger.

I lift my chin, refusing to flinch.“I didn’tend upwith him,” I reply evenly.“I met Eamon in the Maldives.We’ve been together since.”

His eyes narrow, a cold fury simmering beneath the surface.“You told Bridget you were coming to Belfast to spend a weekend with a friend.”

I falter, my confidence wavering for the first time.“I?—”

“Save it,” he snaps, cutting me off before I can find the words.“It doesn’t matter.We’re going home.”He steps forward, his hand shooting out to grab my wrist.

“Ruairi—”

Before I can finish, Eamon moves.His fist connects with my brother’s jaw.

Ruairi stumbles but recovers quickly, shoving me aside as he lunges at Eamon.“You bastard,” he snarls, throwing a punch that Eamon dodges.

The two of them collide, fists flying.The room erupts into chaos.The sound of grunts and thudding impacts mingle with my shouted pleas.

“Stop it,” I yell as I try to get between them.“What the hell are you doing?You’re going to kill each other.”

Neither listens, their focus locked entirely on each other, the fight spiraling into something primal and vicious.I whip toward the guards standing uselessly at the door.“Are you just going to stand there?Do something!”

They shift uncertainly, caught between loyalty and fear, but no one moves.

The fight spirals—raw, brutal, and unrelenting.Ruairi and Eamon are locked in their own world, all violence and betrayal, years of tension exploding in fists and fury.

Then, a sharp click pierces the chaos.The sound of a safety being switched off freezes everyone in place.One of Eamon’s guards has drawn his weapon, the barrel trained on Ruairi.

“Enough,” the guard says coldly.

I push between them, placing a hand on Eamon’s chest to keep him back while glaring at Ruairi.“Both of you need to stop,” I say, my voice firm and unyielding.“Beating each other to a pulp isn’t going to solve anything.”

Eamon’s chest heaves beneath my hand like he’s holding himself back by nothing but sheer will.I glance at him, and he nods once to his guard, who lowers the weapon but doesn’t holster it.

Ruairi rubs his jaw, his glare darting between me and Eamon.“This is what you want, Aoife?To be O’Sullivan’s little plaything?Warming his bed and letting him pay your way through life?”

“Watch yourself,” Eamon growls.

“Don’t you dare try to reduce me to that,” I say, stepping closer to Ruairi, my anger rising to match his.“I’ll be paying my own way working for Eamon.”

That stops them both.

Ruairi’s eyes widen, his composure snapping as his anger boils over.He rounds on Eamon, his voice sharp with disbelief.“You’re letting her work in your Syndicate?What kind of man allows a woman to get involved in this world?”