Page 140 of Brutal Vows

“Aye. Dimwit.”

“How can you tell?”

“The way she looks at you. The way she speaks to you. The way she told her own kin to fuck off when they tried to get you to leave the meeting.”

“Massimo,” I say, my mood darkening at the memory of him. “I don’t like that fucker.”

“Who does? My point is that your new wife’s got your back.”His eyes glimmer with laughter. “Must’ve been some wedding night, boyo.”

“I knew you were talking about that!”

“Ach, be quiet. You’re wound up again. I should’ve forced you to take some time off.”

“I already had time off after the whole debacle in Russia, remember? And I’m wound up about that damn dream, like I told you. I haven’t dreamt of Shannon in years.”

Kicking his feet up onto his desk, Declan takes a swig of his scotch and considers me, sitting across from him in one of his big leather chairs.

“I don’t think this needs to be said, but Reyna isn’t Shannon. She can take care of herself.”

“It’s my job to take care of her now!”

He waves that off. “And just because Caruso hasn’t discovered who the intruders were doesn’t mean it has anything to do with Urosevic.”

Agitated, I rise from my chair and start to pace. “They were mercs, Declan. Hired hands who were totally untraceable. That wasn’t just your average kidnapping attempt. Something bigger was behind it. Someonebigger. And the fact that Caruso can’t find anything out about them proves it.”

Watching me pace in agitation, Declan says gently, “You put a bullet in his brain, lad. He’s been dead and buried for half your life. It wasn’t him.”

“Then who the fuck was it?”

“I made it my business to find out. You’ll have all the information within a few days.”

“How?”

His smile is mysterious. “I’m me, that’s how.”

“You mean you called Killian Black.”

His smug look sours. “You can be a real pain in the arse, you know that?”

I mutter, “Now you sound like my wife.”

“Speaking of wives, we’d better get back out there before they hatch a plot to rule the world and make us obsolete.”

He’s right. Leaving a pair of women like Sloane and Reyna alone in a room together is dangerous. Depending on their moods, we could find ourselves missing a few important limbs when we wake up in the morning or discover they’d commandeered our soldiers to serve under new, all-female leadership.

When we return to the living room, they’re cozied up together on the sofa, drinking wine and laughing like two old pals.

Declan says, “You two look like you’re having fun.”

Sloane grins up at him. “Just girl talk. Come sit.”

Eyeing Reyna, who’s sitting with her bare feet tucked under her and those gorgeous tits falling out of the neckline of her dress, I say, “I think it’s time to call it a night. We had a busy day. I’m sure my wife would like to get to bed.”

Sloane laughs. “I’m sure one of you would.”

My ears are hot, but I can’t look away from Reyna. She’s gazing up at me from under her lashes with an inscrutable look in her eyes. Like maybe she’s got a secret.

I hope that secret involves my hard cock, because it’s already stirring.