Page 19 of Monsters in the Dark

Staring into this gorgeous woman’s face, I asked, “Did you kill my men, Ms. Collins?”

“I prefer to think of it as defending myself,” she replied evenly, and fuck me if she didn’t just admit to killing Jacob and Ren last night.

I shook my head. “You really must not know the meaning of self-preservation, do you?”

“Obviously I do, or else your men would still be alive, Mr. O’Brien,” she retorted, and my dick got hard at the same time that my anger flared.

“Do you really not know who you’re dealing with, lass?”

“Do you?”

Though impressed, I was still pissed, and no matter how enthralled I was becoming, I knew that we didn’t have time for this. So, I stepped back as I signaled Lochlan, and before the lovely Ms. Collins could act, Lochlan was coming up behind her, and then sticking a syringe in her neck. He caught her in his arms just in time, and I found myself inexplicably not appreciating how he was holding her close.

“What the fuck, Declan?” Lochlan hissed. “Did she just admit to killing Jake and Ren?”

“It seems so,” I answered, wondering why in the fuck she ever got tangled up with a loser like Kenneth Swanson. Shaking my head from those thoughts, I reached for her purse, fishing her keys out, then added, “Take her to Dearg Due. I’ll drive her car behind you.”

“What are you going to do with her?” he asked, holding her up like he was escorting a drunk girl home.

“I’m going to find out what happened last night,” I answered. “I want to know how in the fuck she managed to get the drop on two of our guys. I want to know how she got caught up with a guy like Kenneth Swanson.”

“And Kenneth?”

“Kill the fucker,” I ordered. “We don’t need him anymore.”

Chapter 12

Keavy~

As my eyes fluttered open, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that I’d been drugged, and I couldn’t remember a time when I’d ever been so disappointed in myself. It’d been a rookie move to assume that Declan O’Brien had been by himself. Yeah, I could blame it on being blindsided, but Cian had taught me that you only got blindsided when you underestimated your opponent, and if there was anyone that should never be underestimated, it was Declan O’Brien.

Now, when he’d been sitting at the bar, I hadn’t had the time to really appreciate the man as a whole. By that time, Miller’s had been packed, and everyone at the bar had been clamoring for a drink. I had served him three whiskeys, but that’d been it, not a single moment for any further conversation. Yeah, his face had stood out among the crush because he was just so damn gorgeous, but I hadn’t given him much more thought than that.

However, the second that he had stepped out of the dark, that charming man at the bar had vanished with his first step. Declan O’Brien carried his six-foot-two frame with a confidence that only came from not giving a fuck about getting blood on your hands. His dark blonde hair and dark blue eyes had looked the same, but standing at his full height, there was no denying that the man must work out every morning to have the build that he did. His jacket, t-shirt, and jeans had done nothing to hide just how dangerous he was, and for God to put a face like Declan’s on a body capable of anything was a sin if I’d ever seen one.

As I raised my head, nausea hit me hard, and I had to breathe through my nose and out my mouth to keep from vomiting everywhere. Everyone reacted differently to sedatives, and whatever I’d been given, it’d been a lot and it’d been the good stuff.

I also wasn’t surprised to find that I was tied to a metal chair, my hands secured firmly behind me. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so forthcoming about killing Declan’s men, but there wasn’t anything that I could do about that now. As my eyes glanced around the room, it was obvious that I was in some kind of basement, and the only thing on my side of the bars was me and the chair. There wasn’t anything in here that I could use to escape…well, except for the chair.

On the other side of the bars, there were two chairs, a desk of some sort, and a couple of computer monitors. There was also a cart full of what I could only presume were torturing tools. When my eyes scanned the stone under my feet, I noticed a drain in the middle of the floor, and I had no doubt that the room would light up like Christmas if a blue light ever made it inside here.

I let out a steady breath, still trying to work on the nausea, and as I glanced around the room again, I noticed the cameras in the corners, and that was going to make escaping a tad bit more complicated, though I had no doubt that I was going to get out of here. Thanks to Cian and his unconventional ways, this chair and the ropes wrapped around my wrists weren’t going to stop me from getting free. There was only one way to make sure that your prisoner couldn’t break free, and that was to wrap their actual hands up, not just their wrists. As long as your hands and fingers were mobile, then you could get free, and as long as you didn’t let fear and hysteria take over, then you could figure it out.

Now, as long as Declan didn’t walk down here to just put a bullet through my head, I’d be fine. I just needed some time, and I had a feeling that I was going to get it because I wasn’t dead already. Declan had drugged me for a reason, and if I could just buy some time, then I had a chance.

When I heard the sound of a door sliding open, I looked over to see two sets of feet walking down the stairs. As soon as the first man cleared the steps, I saw that it was Declan, and he was immediately followed by another man, and I started to wonder what was in the fucking water, because the second guy was just as gorgeous as Declan was. He kind of reminded me of Mike Thurston with lighter features, and the color of his eyes were damn near hypnotizing. They were actually a cerulean color, and I’d never known anyone with that color of eyes.

It also didn’t take a genius to figure out that I was probably looking into the face of Noah Murphy. It was said that Noah Murphy was Declan’s cousin and right-hand man, and I could see the death of two of their people warranting such a grand audience.

“Glad to see you’re awake, lass,” Declan said, and it really was a shame that I might have to kill him when he really was such a good-looking sonofabitch.

“You know, you really are turning out to be quite a disappointment, Mr. O’Brien,” I said, my voice sounding scratchy but strong.

Declan arched a brow. “Oh, really? And why’s that?”

“Not only did you need someone to sneak up behind me to subdue me, but I’m locked in a basement and tied to a chair, yet you still felt like you needed to come in here with backup,” I said, jerking my chin towards the second guy. “It makes sense now why it hadn’t been so hard to kill your men.”

“Ere ye feckin’ kiddin’ me?” the second guy muttered.

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