Page 31 of Blood in the Water

She thought I would leave if she couldn’t pay. She thought I was only here out of some obligation to her father—that Ihatedbeing her bodyguard. A laugh almost bubbled out of me.

“There’s a reason that the Shadows and my father were connected,” she continued while I reeled with the knowledge that she expected me toabandon her. “There’s a reason why we’re here, now, with someone who knows how to contact them. Ifeelit in my bones. The Shadows will help us. I can’t tell you why, but I know they will. I can’t make you help me, but I want to hire your services, and I’ll pay you back when I can.”

This was a job to her. A mission. Get revenge.

The way she laid out our relationship as so transactional—like we hadn’t just survived hell—had my gut churning and my hands clenching. Was that the sound of my blood boiling in anger or my heart breaking in frustration?

“Cas, say something,” she whispered as she came to stand in front of me. “I can’t pay you until I take my empire back. Please let that be enough.”

That time, I choked out a bitter laugh.

Ever since I woke up, I haven’t been able to stop myself from touching her, dreaming about her, hoping even a tiny bit that she would look at me. Her head was just not where mine was.

My feelings would only complicate this shit.

But I sure as fuck wasn’t going to leave her behind. I didn’t fucking care about the money. I just cared that shelived.

If she wanted me to do the job, then that was more important right now. She would do it with or without me, and at least I could keep her safe.

“I would never leave you.” I grabbed her hand and squeezed, urging her to hear the unspoken promise in my words and through my touch. “I’ll just put the bill on your tab.”

I wouldn’t tell her the truth. Not until after Max was dead, and I’d fixed my mistake of failing to protect the Don. Maybe then she’d stop thinking of me as her bodyguard and start thinking of me as the man who would fucking kill for her. Who would walk into a lion’s den of assassins for her.

“Thank God,” she exhaled in relief as she smiled. “Let’s tell Colin to reach out to this Fallon guy. We’ll go from there.”

I watched, anxiety up to my eyeballs, as she opened the door and called for Colin to send word.

He stalked back inside the room and glanced at me with an eyebrow raised. “Ya good with this?”

I sighed and stared at the ceiling, all sorts of emotions churning in my gut. “Just call her.”

“Her?”

“Oh, aye, Fallon is a girl,” Colin said with a grin at Leona’s surprised look. “She’s also my sister.”

Fuck. This better fucking work.

12

LEONA

As soon as we walked inside the Irish biker bar, every damn head in the entire establishment turned to look at us. Eyes narrowed, faces shuttered in distrust, and hands moved to grip concealed weapons. Beside me, Cas went tense, pushing to reach inside his jacket.

Then Colin walked in behind us, and the whole place relaxed.

“Hey! Colin!” The bartender yelled. “They with you?”

He raised his hand in greeting. “They’re with me! Relax and get back to your beers. No need to be on edge tonight. A round on me!”

The crowd cheered at him, raising their glasses before they all returned to their conversations.

Cas relaxed, and I found myself doing the same. It had been two days since we reached out for a meeting, and thankfully, Cas had been healing well. Willow declared him fit to leave the safe house clinic so long as we didn’t get into any gunfights.

It was a huge relief to see him up and walking around, but I was still fucking nervous to be here. Cas had told me a little bit about his and Fallon’s history. Apparently, they’d met on the streets, grown close as kids, then separated when he came to work for my father. They reconnected as teenagers, and that’swhere Cas’s story gets muddy. At some point, they got into trouble, and Cas had to save her and Colin’s lives. I believe all that, but he was hiding something. What? I wasn’t sure.

Whenall this happened, I had no idea. I’d never known he had connections to the Irish, but I did barely remember some times when he’d disappear from the house for days or weeks at a time. I just assumed my father had sent him on missions, and it was just another thing that he and Max got to share without me. I probably hid in my room, bitter and alone, until they came back, and then I forced myself to be the center of attention again.

“This way, folks,” Colin said as he pushed through the crowd. A long hallway at the back of the bar stretched into the far part of the building. “Fallon’s office is in the back. She should be there now.”