Page 39 of Monsters in the Dark

Following Noah, he picked a table in the corner, as far away from the crowd as possible. Still, as soon as we sat down, a cocktail waitress was already approaching us, a practiced smile on her face. While some of the staff here were willing to trade favors for money, this one didn’t seem like she was selling anything other than drinks.

“Two Redbreast Twelves,” Noah said before she even asked anything. “Three fingers each.”

“Coming right up,” she replied before making her way back towards the bar.

“Do not fuck this up, Declan,” Noah ordered as we both watched Donaldson sit down next to Keavy. “That is part of the plan and always had been.”

He was right, of course.

Still, last night changed everything, even if I’d been too late to act on it.

“I’m fine,” I bit out between clenched teeth.

“You’re lying,” he snorted, knowing me well.

Before I could say anything to that, the cocktail waitress was back with our drinks, and because all the gods were on our side tonight, another woman was with her. However, unlike our waitress, the stunning blonde was carrying only her purse with her, offering only herself. Now, while I didn’t have a preference when it came to women, Noah had a thing for blondes, so the newcomer was fitting perfectly into our plans. Granted, that wasn’t to say that Noah only fucked blondes, but if a woman was going to catch his eye, it’d be a blonde bombshell.

“Do you boys mind if I join you?” she asked as our waitress placed our drinks on the table.

“Not at all,” Noah answered smoothly.

“Is there anything else I can get you, gentlemen?” our waitress asked.

“No, thank you,” I said as calmly as I could.

After giving me a simple nod, she turned to leave, the other woman making herself comfortable in one of the empty chairs at the table. There were four chairs in all, Noah and I making sure that our backs were to the wall.

“So, what are you boys looking to get into tonight?” she asked brazenly, and in this instance, I could appreciate her willingness to get down to business.

“We’d like to get into you,” Noah replied smoothly, not even bothering to ask her name. “Of course, only if that’s something that you’re open to.”

Her bright hazel eyes glittered with excitement, and it wasn’t every day that two O’Briens offered to double-team a girl. Well…that I knew of. I didn’t keep up with the sexual escapades of my men, though all my brothers were married, so I didn’t see them partaking in that sort of shit.

“Well, who doesn’t like double the fun?” she purred, and there was no doubt that Noah was going to have a great time tonight.

Just then, I saw Keavy and Donaldson get up from their seats at the bar, then I watched with unadulterated rage as Donaldson pulled her chair out for her, helping her like a gentleman. However, instead of following her, he waited a few seconds, and that’s when I saw him graciously paying their bills. I let out a sigh of relief at knowing that they were going to walk up separately, that one minor decision playing into our plans.

“How ‘bout we cut da shite an’ head upstairs now, sweetheart?” Noah asked.

“A man after my own heart,” she smirked, and not a second too soon, because I could barely restrain myself as I watched Donaldson finally head up the staircase.

Chapter 24

Keavy~

When Cooper Donaldson had insisted that we meet in his room, it hadn’t taken a moment of genius to figure out why. If there was any truth to the rumors that Declan had told me about him, then he probably had his fetish tools in his room. If he was really into knife play or anything dangerous like that, then it’d be better to meet in his room where he could control the narrative.

My heart was beating rapidly inside my chest as I stood in front of his door, and even though I didn’t particularly feel bad for what I was about to do, Cooper Donaldson wasn’t like the men that Declan had sent after Kenneth. Whatever I’d done before, it’d been in self-defense, so there’d been no real thought into what I’d done. I had reacted on instinct, choosing to protect myself over suffering a martyr’s death, but that wasn’t the case tonight. Tonight, I was part of a planned conspiracy to kill one of the nation’s most powerful men, and anything could go wrong.

I turned my head when I noticed a figure coming down the hallway, and the confidence oozing off his imposing frame was rather impressive. He walked like a man that knew his worth, and his worth was enough to intimidate a lot of fucking people in this world. He had enough to buy whatever he wanted and still tell people to keep the change.

“I’m glad to see that you didn’t change your mind,” Cooper said as soon as he was standing in front of me. “I would have been disappointed.”

Knowing that he appreciated my candidness, I said, “Even if I wanted to, I can’t afford that kind of self-righteousness at the moment.”

Something flashed in his hazel gaze. “I think you and I are going to get along very well, Mary.”

I gave him a tentative smile before he turned to open the door to his room. Having never been here before, I wasn’t sure if all the rooms were the same or if there were suites or whatever like normal hotels in the city. When it was all said and done, I supposed that it didn’t matter. It wasn’t like we were going to actually enjoy any of the accommodations that the club had to offer.

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