Page 44 of Brutal Heir (Ruthless Heirs #3)

BETRAYAL

R ory

A deadly silence pervades the penthouse as I sit at the kitchen island sipping my coffee.

Despite the warmth of the cappuccino, a chill has set deep within my bones.

Alessandro left early this morning to meet with his father at Gemini Tower, and Mrs. Jenkins is out buying groceries.

I flip through the glossy pages of the New York Post and come across the picture of Alessandro and me at the Velvet Vault.

That prickle of unease surges across my nape.

We’re all smiles for the camera despite the tension simmering beneath, Ale holding me possessively at his side. Memories of that night flood my mind. The kiss. The railing hovering over the dancefloor. Then just before things got really good, the two dark shadows on the VIP level…

It’s been three days since Alessandro declared war on La Spada Nera. Three days since I’ve found myself dragged back into the familiar dark world of crime and punishment. Three days filled with thoughts of fleeing and three nights tangled in Alessandro’s arms knowing I never could.

Every day I remind myself Ale is not Conall.

I love the Gemini heir, whereas my relationship with the Butcher of Belfast had been forced upon me by my father. Sure, I liked him well enough when I was a stupid teenager, but once we both grew up, I saw the man for what he was.

Alessandro, for all his faults, isn’t a heartless, brutal butcher.

His fear for me pushed him to these lengths. The irony doesn’t go unnoticed.

Maybe if I was just honest with him about my past, the guilt wouldn’t devour him so wholly, and he could give up this bloody crusade against La Spada Nera.

Every day I try and fail to tell him the truth. Loyalty is everything to this man. How will he react when he finds out I’ve been lying to him all along?

Fear lances through me, sharp claws tearing through the ice in my veins. I can’t lose him. In less than two months, Alessandro Rossi has become everything to me. Swallowing down the rest of my coffee, I steel my resolve.

I have to tell him today.

The longer I wait, the worse it’ll be.

The front door whips open, and I drop the cup, the loud clatter against the marble countertop echoing across the quiet space. Damned nerves.

Alessandro marches into the kitchen a second later, a deep line between his dark brows. He’s holding a manilla envelope to his chest, his knuckles white from the strain.

“What’s wrong?” I whisper, my feet moving toward him like the earth spins toward the sun.

He doesn’t answer.

Icy fear crawls up my spine.

Instead, he unfastens the clasp on the envelope and pulls out a stack of papers, then tosses them across the counter.

I scan the familiar pages, and my heart sinks.

Shite.

“Care to explain?” he barks.

Knotting my arms across my chest, I stiffen the set of my jaw. Does he know they’re all fake documents or only the nursing school ones? Before I condemn myself, I need to know.

“What are you talking about?” I reply, impressed with the calmness in my tone despite the tremor rolling through my body.

“I went to see my father today about the shooting and imagine my surprise when he shows me this. They’re all forged documents, Rory. Every single one.” His shoulders round, a tangle of confusion and hurt streaking across those mismatched orbs. “What the hell is going on?”

My bottom lip begins to tremble, and feckin’ hell I’m so pissed at myself for losing my cool. “Please, let me explain,” I murmur.

“By all means, start explaining…” He throws his hands up, the movement pulling at the freshly sewn skin, and the wince is barely perceptible, but I catch it all the same. Because it’s Alessandro, and I’m deeply familiar with every one of his tells.

“I’ve wanted to tell you for awhile now…” I start.

“Tell me what, Rory?” He grips my upper arms, desperation flashing across the hard lines of his jaw.

“That you’re not a board-certified nurse?

That you never finished nursing school? That even your damned birth certificate is falsified?

” He shakes me, fingers digging into my arms. “When my father told me, I assured him there had to have been a mistake. But what do you know? It turns out I’m the asshole because his lawyer doesn’t make mistakes. ”

“Please, Ale…”

“No, Rory, just stop,” he hisses, finally releasing me. “Is that even your real name?”

I swallow hard, guilt churning low in my gut. I could lie again. Spin another story. But I’m tired. Tired of hiding. Tired of surviving. And I want him to know the real me. “It is now.”

“Fuck,” he grits out. “What is going on here?”

I reach for him, but he steps back, recoiling from my touch, and it cuts deeper than a knife.

“Start talking.”

And just like that, I have no idea what to say. I stare at him, mouth parted, breath stuck somewhere between my lungs and my tongue. This is it. The moment everything falls apart.

“I’m waiting, Rory.”

“No,” I whisper, voice hoarse. “You’re waiting for Brigid. That’s who I used to be.”

His entire body stiffens, like I just slapped him. “Brigid?”

“Brigid O’Shea. That’s the name I was born with. But I left it behind the day I ran.”

“Ran from what?” he grits out.

“From him,” I hiss. “From Conall Quinlan back in Belfast.”

His face twists, confusion giving way to something darker as realization sets in. “The Butcher of Belfast?”

Feck me, he’s heard of him. Of course he has. I nod slowly. “My fiancé.”

He stares at me like I’ve grown two heads. Like he doesn’t even recognize the woman standing in front of him. “You’re telling me you were engaged to one of the most violent men in the Irish underworld, and you didn’t think that was something I needed to know?”

“I didn’t have a choice!” My voice cracks like glass. “If I’d told you who I really was, you never would’ve let me stay. I didn’t even know who I was anymore. I had to disappear, erase everything. My name. My records. I didn’t fake the documents to hurt you, Ale. I faked them to survive.”

He shoves a hand through his hair, pacing like a caged animal. “ Cazzo . I brought you into my home. My family. You knew I was part of the Gemini. You knew what this life meant, and you still lied to me.”

“No, that’s not true! You never told me about the other side to the Geminis either. I’d only heard rumors… rumors I chose to ignore because I wanted this so badly.”

“Oh, come on, Rory, or Brigid, whatever the fuck your name is. You lied again and again.”

“Because I was falling in love with you,” I whisper. “And the more I fell, the harder it got to tell you the truth. I wanted a fresh start. I needed one.”

His eyes flash. “So you just conveniently forgot to mention the blood on your family’s hands? Or the fact that you’ve been lying to every single person you’ve met here in Manhattan?”

“I was protecting myself,” I snap. “And yes, I lied. But I never lied about my feelings for you. About us.”

He laughs, bitter and hollow. “There is no us.”

I flinch.

“Get out,” he says, voice flat and dangerous. “I need you gone before I lose my shit.”

But I don’t move.

“I said get out, Rory.”

“No,” I reply, firm now, stepping toward him.

“Don’t you fucking push me right now.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I snap, chest heaving.

“I already told you that. I won’t run. Not from you.

You want to hate me? Fine. But I’m staying.

And I will do whatever it takes to fix this, because I love you, Alessandro Rossi.

I love you more than I’ve ever loved anything, and I won’t walk away from that. ”

His jaw flexes. His fists curl. But his eyes… his eyes betray him. They burn with rage, and something else. Pain. Devastation. Longing.

“I don’t want your love,” he mutters. “I don’t even know who you are, Brigid .” He bites out my name, but it’s not a declaration, it sounds more like a plea. Like he’s trying to protect himself from the very thing he’s desperate for.

“Too bad,” I whisper. “You already have it. And you already have me .”

And I wait. For the explosion. For the silence. For whatever comes next. But one thing’s for sure. I’m not leaving.

I plant my heels, squaring up against the looming giant.

We remain like that for an endless moment, locked in a battle of wills we’re both too stubborn to concede.

“I’m not leaving,” I say again, my voice softer this time.

“Fine, then I will.” He tries to storm past me, but my hand snakes out, curling around his bicep. Whirling at me, his eyes simmer with barely restrained fury. “Let go.”

“No,” I hiss.

“Rory…” His voice is jagged, laced with fury and pain. “Don’t?—”

“I’m sorry. I’ll say it over and over again until you believe me.

I never meant to hurt you, I never meant for any of this to happen.

I never in a million years thought I would fall in love with you, but I did.

I’ll be damned if I let my family or Conall ruin the first chance I’ve had at real happiness. ”

“How can I believe anything you say?” he barks.

“Because you know me. You know the real me, and you have to feel that everything between us has been real.”

The sharp lines of his jaw soften, the mad flutter of the tendon falling away. “ Merda , Red, what have you done to me?”

A tear spills over, dribbling down my cheek. “Please, Ale, I can’t lose you. I won’t.”

We stand there, breathing like animals, like strangers who once knew each other in a different life. The silence throbs between us, full of pain and want and the terrible truth that neither of us is ready to let go.

“I’m sorry, I’m so, so sorry, mo ghrá . I love you, please believe me. I love you so damned much.”

My hands curl around his collar and force his mouth to mine. His lips are punishing as they devour me, anger in each lash of his tongue, but I don’t care. I take it all. Because if this is the worst punishment he’ll dole out, I’ll gladly accept it.

His mouth crashes into mine again, more brutal this time, like he wants to punish me for every lie, every secret, every piece of himself he gave that he now doesn’t know what to do with.

I let him. I meet every furious swipe of his tongue with my own, my fingers threading through his hair, dragging him closer until there’s no space left between us.

With a low growl, he grabs me by the waist and spins us, slamming my back against the refrigerator.

A vase full of fire lilies topples off the counter and shatters, but neither of us so much as flinches.

His thigh wedges between my legs, grinding up as his hands slip under the hem of my dress and rip the panties down my thighs in one savage tug.

“Ale…” I gasp.

His mouth is on my throat, nipping, biting, leaving angry little marks that sting and ignite heat across my skin.

“You lied to me,” he snarls into the curve of my neck, even as his hand dives between my legs and his fingers find me wet and throbbing.

“Every damned day.” He slides that finger through my aching need.

“Even as I was fucking falling for you.”

“I know,” I breathe, rocking into his touch. “And I’d do it again if it meant I got to be here like this. With you.”

He curses, low and guttural, and then he’s dragging me through the apartment like a man possessed.

We barely make it to the couch in the living room before he shoves me down onto the cushions and tears off his shirt.

His pants and boxers follow, the scars on his torso catching in the light like battle lines carved by fate.

“You still want me like this?” he growls.

“I never wanted anyone more,” I snap, yanking my dress over my head, baring myself to him completely. The cool butterfly pendant flutters across my chest, reminding me of a much happier day. “So stop asking questions and feck me.”

That’s all it takes.

He’s on me in seconds, bending me over the couch.

His cock slams into me with no hesitation, no words.

Just pure, feral need. I cry out, my back arching as he drives into me, fast and relentless.

Every thrust is a reminder of everything we’ve endured and everything we still have to face.

The couch groans beneath us, fabric biting into my skin, but I don’t care.

His fingers dig into my hips in a punishing grip as he slams into me.

Leaning over me as he drives deeper, I feel the ripple of muscle beneath scarred skin, feel him lose control inside me.

“Say it again,” he pants, voice cracked open. “Tell me you love me.”

“I love you,” I sob, not from pain but the overwhelming weight of it all. “I love you, I love you, I fucking love you, Alessandro Rossi, mo ghrá .”

He stills for one breathless moment, and I twist my head over my shoulder to meet his wild gaze. Stormy eyes are locked on mine, and in that suspended second, something inside both of us breaks. And mends.

“My love,” I whisper.

Then he moves again, slower now, each grind of his hips a confession. A claim. A promise.

The raging fire burns, hotter than it ever has before because there’s so much more at stake now. “Come for me, Rory,” he growls. “Prove to me how much you love me.”

There’s something in the ache in his voice that splits me wide open. With one deep, spine-tingling thrust, I plummet over the edge. Pleasure consumes me, a sweet frenzy of fear, pain and fiery desire. “Oh, Alessandro,” I moan as the ecstasy rolls through me in crashing waves.

His cock jerks inside me, spilling warmth down my legs, his ragged breaths catching in his throat.

After we’ve both shattered around each other, it’s not rage that lingers. It’s something quiet. Steady. Unyielding.

He collapses on top of me, chest heaving, face buried at the crook of my neck. Neither of us speaks for a long time. We just are. Breathing. Reeling. Holding on.

Finally, his voice breaks the silence, rough and quiet against my skin. “I don’t know how to trust you again.”

“I know,” I whisper. “But I’ll earn it. One day at a time. However long it takes.”

He spins me around so our burning gazes clash once more. Then he brushes a thumb over my jaw. “You’d better. Because if you betray me again, I won’t survive it.”

Neither will I.

Though we’re both bruised, breathless and broken in more ways than I can count, somehow, we’re still in this.

Together.