Page 5 of Dark Succession (The O’Malleys #1)

E veryone was taking their seats as Teague slipped through the doors and made his way to the half of the table that had been designated for the O’Malley family.

He met Callista’s gaze, a primal satisfaction he had no right to soaring through him at the glazed look in her eyes and the way her lips were reddened and plumped from kissing him.

He stopped in front of her. “We’ll be talking later. ”

He could see the exact moment the mask slipped into place, her desire replaced by cold disinterest. “I don’t think so.” That was fine. She could hide behind the mask for as long as she liked—they’d be married and sharing a home shortly, and there would be no more opportunities to dodge him then.

So he gave her a tight smile and took his place on the other side of his parents. Sitting this close to his father was enough to give him indigestion at the best of times, and tonight was hardly that, despite the silver lining of actually being attracted to Callista.

His mother leaned closer and dug her fingers into his forearm.

She looked particularly put together tonight, her dress designed to show off the fact that she was still willowy and beautiful despite having brought seven children into this world.

“I know you don’t want this, but it’s vital you keep any theatrics to yourself. ”

Theatrics. Like he was a spoiled little boy who was in danger of throwing a tantrum when he didn’t get what he wanted. The old anger rose again, but he managed to wrangle it out of his voice. “I’ll be good.”

Her green eyes were sympathetic, even if her grip wasn’t. “This is for the best. You’ll see.” It was always like this with her. In her own way, Aileen O’Malley was just as much of a hard-ass as her husband—possibly even more so.

“Whatever you say.” And then there was no more time for talking, because his father and Sheridan rose.

Teague tuned them out as they went through what were no doubt practiced speeches.

They were just words—words about putting old arguments to rest and starting fresh with a new generation and a peace and booming business that would benefit all.

If anyone in this room thought for a second that this marriage would put an end to the backbiting and squabbling over territory, they were delusional.

It was a patch, and not even a good one at that.

No one spoke about the fact that, less than twenty-four hours ago, Callista had been engaged to another man.

He leaned back and watched her out of the corner of his eye.

Was she broken up about Brendan’s death?

She seemed smart enough to be worried about marrying a man whom she didn’t know, but he might have mistaken nerves for grief.

It was hard to say. Teague accepted the beer Aiden handed him and took a long drink.

A cigarette and a kiss weren’t enough to get a good read on a person.

A part of him would like to chalk the whole thing up to her being overcome with desire, but he knew better.

She hadn’t wanted to answer the question about her bruises, so she’d made a move on him.

Was the abuser a boyfriend? He doubted she’d chosen this path any more than he had, so it was entirely possible.

Teague took another sip of his beer, waiting for the irrational jealousy to ease.

Though he doubted his father had been faithful at any point in his marriage, creating an extramarital arrangement hadn’t been something he’d really considered before he met her. Now? There was no fucking way.

Christ, he was a mess.

He jumped when the room broke into applause, and then Aiden elbowed him, jerking his chin to say Teague should be on his feet. Shit. He pushed out of his chair at the same time as Callista. Sheridan watched them both, but it was Seamus who roared, “Let’s see a kiss from the happy couple.”

Happy couple, his ass. His father was punishing him for dozing off during the speeches and, under the attention of far too many people, there wasn’t a damn thing he could do except obey.

He passed Seamus, earning a painful shoulder clasp, and stopped in front of Callista.

She looked a little pale, and he started to say…

Fuck, he didn’t know. Something comforting.

But then she turned to the audience with a smile that somehow managed to convey happiness and nerves, like a princess playing to her subjects.

She went onto her toes and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.

The near-innocent contact still sent a bolt of sheer lust through him, and it was everything he could do not to drag her back against his body when she leaned away.

Teague turned to go back to his seat, but his parents had moved down while he was distracted, leaving the seat open directly next to Callista. It figured. He sank into the chair and leaned closer to her. “You will tell me his name.”

Her smile didn’t so much as twitch. “Not likely.”

Why protect the man? Because the perpetrator was a man. The handprint was nearly as large as Teague’s would have been. “Do you care about him that much?”

She shot him a look. “I don’t see how it’s any of your business one way or another.”

“It became my business the second you agreed to marry me.” Where the fuck had that come from? He had no business feeling possessive of this woman, future wife or not.

“You were the second choice.”

The words stung far more than they should have.

Of course he’d known as much, but hearing her say it with such derision?

The woman had claws, and apparently she wasn’t afraid to use them.

He leaned closer. “And did you moan so prettily when that piece of shit Halloran had his tongue down your throat?”

She started tapping the table with her fingers. “Of course.”

Liar . It was in every tense muscle in her body, and the way she wouldn’t quite meet his gaze. He covered her hand with his own, his entire body perking up at the feel of her skin against his. “I don’t think so.”

“Could you be any more arrogant?”

“Probably.” God help him, but he was actually enjoying himself. “I’ll see what I can do.”

She huffed out a breath. “I don’t know why I’m surprised. You O’Malleys are all the same.”

“Careful there, Callista.” He liked the way she twitched when he said her name. “You don’t know a damn thing about me.”

“I know enough.”

He couldn’t bring himself to argue with her, mostly because she was right. His family was full of thugs, liars, and cheats—with a scattering of murderers thrown in for spice. But then, hers was, too. “Those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.”

She went pale, her lips parting as if she couldn’t quite catch her breath. What the hell? He hadn’t said anything particularly horrible. He squeezed her hand. “What’s wrong?”

“Why would anything be wrong?”

Prickly thing, wasn’t she? “You just went as pale as if you’d seen a ghost, and now you look about ready to lose your dinner.”

“I’m not feeling well. That’s all.” She seemed to realize she still had her hand in his and jerked it away. “If you’d stop touching and taunting me, the nausea is sure to pass.”

“Nice try.” He used a single finger under her chin to force her to meet his gaze. “You have a lot of secrets, angel. I’m going to enjoy finding them out.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“Tell me something. ”

She raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think I will.”

Her sass was a subtle thing. The words were delivered with a perfectly polite pitch, but she hadn’t given an inch since they met.

Even knowing his life would be a whole hell of a lot easier if she were a submissive little mouse, he liked that she seemed to have a spine made of steel.

“How do you feel about being sold off into marriage for the sake of your family?”

“I—”

A scream cut through the low chatter of the hall, followed by sharp sounds similar to a car backfiring.

Gunshots. There was a breathless pause while Teague tried to process the fact that someone was shooting, and then he moved , grabbing Callista and dragging her beneath the table.

It wasn’t an ideal position because they were on a raised stage above the other tables, but any cover was better than no cover.

He shielded her body with his, while he scanned the room.

O’Malley men had done the same thing he just had with the rest of his siblings, and a good portion of the guests. There were only a handful of idiots running for the doors. He met the gaze of one of his father’s men, Liam, and jerked his chin toward the exits. The scream had come from there.

They had to figure out who had pulled the trigger, and they had to figure it out now.

Callie squirmed in Teague’s grip, trying not to notice how good he felt against her while she searched for her father. “Papa! ”

“I’m here.” He waved a hand from the other side of a wall of muscle that was John, his personal bodyguard.

Thank God . She allowed herself to relax a little. Whatever else had gone wrong, her father was okay. She glanced at Teague, taking in the intense way he searched the room. “What happened?”

“That’s what we’re about to find out.” He let out a breath. “We can get up now.”

She followed his gaze to where a man had just come back inside.

One of his? It had all happened so fast, she couldn’t begin to say if it had been an attack or something else altogether less sinister.

But all rational responses aside, her gut said this wasn’t all caused by an accident of some sort. No, this had been intentional.

It was nearly impossible to climb out from beneath a table with any level of grace, so she took Teague’s offered hand and allowed him to pull her to her feet. Or that was the excuse she told herself. It certainly wasn’t that she wanted to feel his skin against hers again.

Papa was already in motion, shouting orders in direct counterpoint to Teague’s father. The end result was the same—a group of men rushing to the main doors to find answers.