Page 105 of Iron Blade

She opened the door wider, walking in, as she stared at the chaos that surrounded me.

“I’m fine,” I snarled, hoping she’d leave. But then again, her familiarity was my fault. A fault I had not corrected. “And it’s Mr. Green, to you.”

Her steps halted, as she looked at me, her mouth open.

“Eoghan… I…”

“What did I just say?” I didn’t look at her. I didn’t want to. There was only one person I wanted to see, and it wasn’t the housekeeper’s daughter.

From my peripheral vision, I saw her mouth drop open, then close again like a fucking guppy fish.

“Well?” I barked.

“Yes, Mr. Green.” She stepped back.

My resentment for Malinda grew tenfold. She went from being a fly that I had to swat away, to something more poignantly irritating. Like salt poured on a wound.

And Morelli’s words twisted through my mind once again: You have doomed her.

I clenched my fist. Morelli was wrong. I would make it so, or die trying.

Chapter thirty-seven

The Soul

Kira

Idon’t know how long I wept in bed. Hours, probably, because it was dark through the curtains. Had I seen him through rosy glasses just because he knew about art, and because he kissed my hand? Because he gave me a hundred white orchids, and acted like a gentleman? But it was all an act. It was all a lie!

I gagged, holding my hand to my mouth as I tried to keep my breakfast down.

“Kira?” The door opened, quietly, and I squealed in fear.

Blink was right. They were absolutely fucking right. I wasn’t ready for this. I wasn’t trained to be in this deep of cover. Not with a man like him.

“Kira?” He came towards me, and I moved away, trying to stay away from his grasp, shaking my head and backing up until I hit a wall and was trapped in the corner.

“Stay away from me!” I said, trying to sound strong, but my fear was written in my voice. “Stay away!”

I held out my hand as if it would stop him, but I should have known better. I knew, more than anyone, how strong he was. But I had never thought he would turn his strength on me. Not once.

His hands came to my shoulders as he pulled me into him, and I punched him in the chest, again and again, trying to get out of his grasp.

“Let me go!” The tears streamed down my face in earnest. “Let me go!”

“Kira, you must see reason,” he said, holding on to me so tight that he’d leave bruises on my arms. “It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not…” I was shocked. Shocked!

I was so shocked that I started laughing. It was a loud, insane, maniacal sound I didn’t think I was capable of, but there it was. I was laughing at everything - the situation I had placed myself in. The exact situation I had worked so hard to stay out of.

Not just as an agent, but as a person. I had sworn to never be under the power of a man like the one who killed my father. But here I was, under the power of Eoghan Green, and imprisoned in his world with no way out.

“I need to make a call,” I tried a different tact. “I… I have to go back to work. I’ll just… get a taxi or…”

I wasn’t trained for this. I didn’t know how to lie my way out of this. I needed Blink to guide me, but he wasn’t here.

“No.” Eoghan’s voice wasn’t pleading. It wasn’t coaxing and sweet like it always had been. There was no grin or humor in it. His tone froze me in his arms, as I looked into his eyes. They were dark, as always, but worse. He looked like his father - cruel, and evil. Every bit the monster he had claimed to be. “You won’t be leaving my side. Not now. Not ever.”

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