Total pages in book: 89
Estimated words: 105065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105065 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 525(@200wpm)___ 420(@250wpm)___ 350(@300wpm)
To his credit, Ronan gives me a nod as I grab up my bags, and his eyes never dip below my face. Loyal to a fault. You mess with another man’s woman in this crew, it’s a death sentence. And apparently these guys think I belong to Lachlan.
Ronan escorts me through the bar in silence and then gestures to another guy who joins us a moment later. The three of us walk out the door and the new guy introduces himself as Rory as he climbs inside the driver’s seat. Ronan takes the passenger side and I sit in the back.
The silence is almost painful as we drive, so I start blabbering. I need to build a rapport with anyone and everyone I can. Any one of them could have the information I need.
“How are you boys tonight?
“Oh we’re just grand.” Rory smirks and winks at me through the rear-view mirror. “But you aren’t supposed to talk to us, ye know.”
“Hey buddy, it’s a free country.”
“I’m just being a gobshite,” Rory laughs. “If you need something, my pal Ronan here is at your service. Isn’t that right, Ronan?”
Hm, manservants. A girl could get used to this kind of treatment.
“You mean like at the club?” I ask. “Or do I get a beeper too? Ooh, what about one of those little bells. I can ring it, and then he comes running…”
Rory nearly busts a lung in his fit of laughter.
“She’s a right wee pussycat isn’t she?”
Ronan grunts. “Find that rather amusing, do you? I’ll be glad to let ye know that I’ll be watching over you every minute of the day. So go on, just try to pull a fast one on Lachlan. See how that works out for ye.”
Sheesh, what got his panties in a bunch?
“Protective much?” I retort. “What makes you think I’m going to do something to Lachlan?”
“He doesn’t trust you,” Rory answers. “But don’t worry, he doesn’t trust anybody.”
“Seems to be a recurring theme around you boys,” I huff.
He doesn’t reply. And when I get to the motel, I’m not surprised in the least when I go inside and they remain in the parking lot for the night. Welcome to my new life. A prisoner of my own making.
***
After a scalding hot shower and a quick peek out the window, I take my notes out of my hiding place and unroll them. I prop myself on the bathroom counter and write in there just in case Lachlan decides to come banging down my door again. To my relief, he doesn’t. It’s much easier to think when he’s not around.
Since I didn’t get a chance to mingle with the Russians tonight, I go through each person that I’ve met so far and write down my first impressions of them and anything I think might be of use. Out of all the dancers, Sasha is probably going to be my best shot at getting information. She’s got a good heart. A little too soft, like Talia, and it makes me hate myself for using her. But I have to keep my eye on the prize.
Rory is a big guy, and I know from seeing him at the fights he’s an honest and fair fighter. That says a lot in my book. It’s an intuitive guess but I highly doubt he had anything to do with Talia’s disappearance, so I put him on the bottom of the list.
Ronan is a little bit more difficult to pin down. Under his very stiff and unsociable exterior, I know something darker lurks. But I didn’t notice him looking at any of the dancers tonight, except for Sasha. I’ll have to keep an eye on him. His loyalty to Lachlan runs deep, and he’ll probably be the toughest nut to crack.
As for the rest of them, I organize into order of importance. I want to get more information on Niall since he’s the one running the show. But also Donovan because there’s just something about that guy that rubs me the wrong way. I already know he’s got anger issues, and judging from his reaction to me beating him in the fights, I doubt he’d hesitate to take it out on women. So for now those are two possibilities from the Irish side of things. But I can’t rule out the dancers either. Mandy is very territorial, and it’s also possible that maybe one of them could have done something to Talia. It’s a long shot, but I can’t overlook any avenue.
After a couple hours of taking notes and strategizing, I chomp down a granola bar and collapse into bed. I’ve only been at this for one day, and already I’m exhausted. Even still, when I flop back onto the pillow and stare up at the ceiling, sleep doesn’t come.
Chapter Ten
Lachlan
“C’mon, Crow,” Dominic taunts.
“Fack off.” I swing at him and miss.
“You’d better cop on to yourself.”
If he wasn’t right, I’d punch him just for saying so. All the lads are watching. Sean too, of course. They can see me stumbling, losing the plot. Can’t even focus on what’s straight in front of me. I’ve got too much shite floating around my head. This stuff with the Russians. The conversation I need to have with Niall. And the girl as well now.
Dominic always gets his arse handed to him. Always. But today, I couldn’t punch my way out of a bloody paper sack.
“Let me have a go.” Ronan steps into the ring. Keeping my focus on Dom, I wave him off.
“It wasn’t a goddamned question.” Next thing I know, he’s clattering me with a perfect left hook to my jaw.
“What the bleeding hell’s got your knickers in a twist?” I ask.
His only reply is to swing at me again. I slam into him and pretty soon we’re rolling around on the mats, punching each other in the face and landing shots anywhere we can reach.
“Alright lads,” Jimmy calls out. “Clear the floor.”
There’s some bitching and moaning from the fellas but I’m too focused on murdering Ronan to give a fuck. I get a solid shot in and his head snaps to the side, blood pouring out of his nose. He repays me with an uppercut that sends my teeth clean into my lip.