Chapter 20

Keavy~

T hough I had no right to feel anything apart from anger at Declan O'Brien, I couldn't lie and say that my feelings hadn't been hurt when he'd said that they weren't willing to risk the lives of the females in his family. However, it also wasn't hard to identify why I'd felt hurt. I'd always been Cian's main priority, and he'd always proven how I'd been the most important thing to him, so the feeling of being casually dismissed had been a new one.

I also wasn't stupid enough to make more of the sex than it was. Declan had been very clear about his options when it came to willing women, so he hardly needed me around for the long haul. For a moment, I'd been flattered and hopeful that a man like him would still want me after knowing how different I was. However, being able to easily discard me had snapped me back to reality.

Not wanting to have this discussion with Declan looming over me, making my body want what he'd already shown me, I rolled over, forcing him to have to move, then sat back up on the bed, pulling the sheet around my chest again. Though Declan seemed completely comfortable in his nudity, the sheet was still long enough to cover us both, and I was thankful for that small measure, since Declan's body was a very distracting one.

"What if I don't catch his eye?" I asked. "I mean, it's not that hard to find out where he'll be mingling or whatever, but what if he's already got another girl with him or he prefers blondes?"

"He likes to pick up his girls at The Wooden Table," Declan answered, his voice a few degrees cooler than it'd been earlier. "It's a…sort of a lounge, or gentlemen's club if you prefer."

I nodded. "Yeah, I've heard of it."

"As for taking the bait, Donaldson doesn't have a type," he went on. "He likes what he likes, and since you'll be a fresh face, he'd definitely be interested."

Pushing my feelings and thoughts about Declan aside, I thought about Cooper Donaldson and what would be my best course of action. If he liked to abuse women, then he'd have to pick the ones that he knew weren't going to report him, and the only ones that wouldn't report a man like Cooper Donaldson would be the ones that were easily terrified or the ones that needed money desperately enough to allow such a thing to happen to them.

Well, since I didn't have a meek bone in my body, I knew that I wouldn't be able to pull off a timid character. No matter what could be said about the man, Cooper Donaldson hadn't become a multi-millionaire by being stupid, so it'd be a mistake to underestimate him. My eyes were also too expressive to pull off the victimized look, so I was going to have to go with the money angle.

As the cogs in my mind went to work, there was only one thing that was more powerful than fear, and that was love. The love of a parent, kid, sibling, or whatever was powerful enough to make people do things that they'd normally never do. Family would even kill or go to prison for one another, so it was sellable that a woman would let a man abuse her for money if it meant saving a sick relative or something equally tragic.

When I met Declan's gaze again, I said, "I have a question."

"What?"

"Why would you trust me to see this through?" I asked. "What makes you think that I won't tell Cooper everything, revealing your plan to take him down?"

"Because you seem like a woman that keeps her word," he answered. "I can't see you betraying us, especially knowing that the entire O'Brien organization would come after you if you did."

"You're forgetting that I'm not afraid to die, Declan," I reminded him.

"There's dying, and then there's keeping you alive to torture you for years to come," he pointed out. "As you can probably guess, we don't take kindly to traitors, lass."

I nodded, knowing and accepting that he'd meant every word. "I suppose not."

"He needs to be put down, Keavy," Declan said, and his reassurance was misplaced. I wanted my freedom from the situation that I'd found myself in with the O'Briens, so I didn't need that much convincing. Especially, now that I knew how disposable I was to them.

"What if he doesn't get violent?" I asked. "What if he's a perfect gentleman? What if the sex is perfectly acceptable?"

Declan's chin went up, and his back straightened, reminding me of just how big he was. "What are you talking about?"

"Your plan hinges on the hope that he gets violent," I replied. "What if he doesn't?"

"Inna askin' ‘bout tha, Ke'vy," he bit out. "Wha' did ye mean ‘bout da sex bein' acceptable?"

While I wasn't sure why Declan was pissed again, there was no denying that his accent was sexy as hell. Still, that was the least of my problems right now. Plus, he wasn't the only man on the planet with a sexy accent, so I could always find another one.

"Just what I said, Declan," I answered. "What if everything goes well? Then what? How many dates am I going to have to go on with this guy before I get to kill him?"

Declan's hard gaze glittered like blue sapphires. "Yer no' feckin' him, Ke'vy."

I blinked at that.

"I'm…I'm sorry, but I'm confused," I stammered a bit. "If the man likes to abuse women during sex, then how the hell is the opportunity supposed to come up if we're not having sex?"

"Yer no' havin' sex with him, Ke'vy," he repeated.

I arched a brow, tightening the sheet closer to my body. "Have you lost your mind?" I asked seriously. "What exactly was your plan, Declan? Of course, I have to have sex with him in order for this to work. At the very least, there's going to be some foreplay happening."

Declan's arm snaked out, then his hand wrapped around my throat. "The feck if yer gonna let da man touch ye," he hissed. "Yer no' feckin' havin' sex with him."

Refusing to wrestle with him over the hold that he had on my neck, I just said, "He's going to think that I'm a fucking prostitute , Declan. What in the hell did you think was going to happen?"

Still holding me by the neck, Declan pushed me back down on the bed, his large frame covering me again, the both of us tangled in the sheets. Looming down over me, he said, "So help me God, ye better no' let him touch any part o' ye."

"Declan-"

"I mean it!" he roared in my face, and that immediately put my back up.

"You don't get to dictate what happens in that room," I told him. "The deal is that I kill Cooper Donaldson in exchange for you guys leaving me alone, so I will do whatever I need to in order to make that happen." Declan's eyes flared with anger. "We made a deal, and I expect you to keep your word."

"Ye can kill da sonofabitch without feckin' him," he hissed.

"Despite me being in your bed right now, I don't belong to you, Declan," I reminded him. "I'm not yours, and maybe I wouldn't mind seeing what a man like Cooper Donaldson is all about before I snap his neck in two."

With one arm bracing his entire weight, Declan's other hand grabbed a hold of my chin, then squeezed painfully. "Da ye wanna say tha ‘gain, lass?"

Purposely acting obtuse, I asked, "Are you giving me a gun, then? Or how exactly did you expect me to kill the man in self-defense? Bash his head in with a lamp? Toss him out the window?" My eyes narrowed up at him. "If you don't have any details to provide, then don't question how I get the job done, Declan."

Instead of answering me, Declan let go of my chin, then shifted his frame enough to pull the sheet from between our bodies. The second that his body heat covered my skin, I bit my lip to keep me from moaning out loud. Despite our ridiculous argument and the fact that I shouldn't even be in Declan's bed, there was no denying how his hard dick nestled between my legs made me wet.

With his large frame braced over my body again, Declan said, "Inna done with ye, lass. So, until I am, no other man touches what's mine."

"I'm not yours," I repeated.

"I feel sorry fer ye if ye really believe da," he shot back.

I raised my chin, refusing to be used. "That's not how this works, Declan." I told him. "If you want me to be yours, then you'd better make me yours. If not, I'll fuck whoever I want, whenever I want, however the fuck I want."

"Be careful wha' yer askin' fer, lass," he warned. "Ye have no idea wha' it'll mean ta be mine."

He was right, of course. My pride was dictating this conversation, and maybe his casual dismissal of me was also making me call him out. In truth, I didn't like the idea of belonging to anyone that I couldn't trust, and I couldn't trust Declan O'Brien. The man would always look out for number one, and I wanted someone that was going to value me the way that Cian had taught me to believe in. Sure, the love between a parent and a partner was different, but as selfish as it was, I still wanted someone that was going to love me more than he loved himself, and that person was not Declan O'Brian.

It never would be.