Page 40 of Darkest Game

“Why not?”

“She doesn’t approve of what I do. She would not like coming to a wedding of mine where the bride is being forced into it. Ithought it was better she wasn’t here. And for her own safety. I never like anyone thinking they can use her against me.”

Her eyes darken. “I get it. My own family has been used against me many times.”

“I didn’t expect a sheltered girl like you to have a complicated past.”

“When my father died and my uncle took over, he locked me and my sisters up. Kept us as prisoners. He used us against one another. As in, he’d threatened to hurt us if anyone got out of line. And he did hurt us. My younger sister the most. But now Denis is in hiding and I finally had a home. Until…” She flicks her eyes at me and away.

“Until me.”

She doesn’t comment on it. “Your dad?”

“Dead. Heart attack. Ate too many cheeseburgers.”

“You don’t sound like you were close with him.”

“That’s because I wasn’t.” I side step over a can on the side of the road. So far, it’s still just trees and road for the eye to see. “He was a real asshole. I ran away at eighteen because I couldn’t stand him any longer and that’s how I got taken into the Irish mob. Cillian took me under his wing. Made me feel like I had a real dad for a change.”

“That must have hurt when Nico killed him then.”

“It did hurt. It’s why I could never forgive him.”

“I miss my dad every day,” she whispers as tears spill from her eyes. I reach out a hand to comfort her then drop it to my side. I have no fucking clue how to comfort someone.

But that’s when I see a car rounding the corner and I recognize one of Jack’s men in the driver seat. We’re in trouble.

Chapter Eight

Irina

Liam grabs my arm and practically yanks me into the woods.

“What’s happening?” I gasp.

“The car. It’s one of Jack’s men. I recognize him.” He pulls me behind a tree and places his hands on either side of my head. Our bodies are pressed close together. I can’t deny that it feels strangely nice. Comforting.

I shouldn’t like Liam but he has saved my life multiple times now. He may not be exactly kind, yet he does have some kindness in him to be trying to help me the way he is. (Even if I know he’s partially doing this to save himself).

And he’s handsome. That’s one thing I can’t deny. Whenever his eyes meet mine, they make my stomach flutter.

“What do we do?” I whisper.

He places his finger to his lips. We wait.

I can’t see anything that’s happening but I can tell from the tension in Liam’s body that we’re not out of the woods yet. Both literally and figuratively.

I can hear a car door open and close.

Then footsteps crunch on the leaves as the driver enters the woods. Liam presses himself closer to me, almost like he’s trying to shield my body from the attack.

On instinct, I grip his shirt, steadying myself. His eyes flash down to mine in surprise. I can feel my own eyes widen.

A moment passes between us. A moment I don’t understand. Until Liam looks away again, back to the driver, who’s getting closer to our hiding spot. Each crunch of the leaves makes me tremble. To have escaped from getting raped to now this? I’m tired and I just want to go back home.

But that’s not an option at the moment. Liam is all I have and I have to rely on him.

The driver’s footsteps stop right behind our tree.