Page 32 of Monsters in the Dark

“What’s your problem with Cooper Donaldson?” she asked, holding the sheet tighter against her body. “And that’s a secret that I’ll never be telling you.”

“Maybe I just don’t like the guy,” I posed, ignoring her refusal to tell me how she got free.

“Here’s what’s not going to happen, Declan,” she said, her voice firm and sexy as fuck. “If you’re serious about the exchanging of services to get you guys to leave me the hell alone, then you’re not going to send me into a job blind. If you want me to go after Cooper Donaldson, then you’re going to have to tell me why, and you’re going to have to tell me everything. If not, I’ll come back here and gut you myself, Declan.”

My arms shot out, then I grabbed her shoulders, flipping her back down onto the bed, my body covering hers, my dick rock hard, despite having taken her twice already. After we had wrecked each other in the shower, I had carried Keavy to the bed, not caring about soaking the expensive thread count. In fact, I hadn’t cared about anything other than having Keavy again.

“You need to work on that temper of yours, lass,” I smirked as her emerald gaze shot daggers up at me.

“Why are you after Cooper Donaldson, Declan?” she asked again.

After bracing my weight on my elbows and getting comfortable over her, I said, “It’s rumored that he likes to abuse the working girls in the area, and I don’t particularly appreciate it.”

Keavy quickly put her anger at me aside. “Don’t most men like to rough up prostitutes?” she asked. “I mean, I thought that was the whole point of picking them up? You know, to be able to do to them what you can’t with your wife or girlfriend?’

“While that’s debatable, there’s a difference between paying for the permission to abuse a woman, and then abusing them just because you think that you’re untouchable.”

“I’m confused,” she replied. “You’re Declan O’Brien. Why haven’t you just killed him already if the rumors are true?”

“That’s the problem,” I told her. “Cooper is too high-profile to kill without proof, and none of the girls are willing to speak out against him. They’re either too scared, or they need the money too badly, which makes sense since that’s the only reason that a woman would become a prostitute.”

“So, what would you need me to do?”

As I stared down at her beautiful face, my stomach tightened because I still didn’t like the idea of sending a woman to do the job of men. Even though Keavy didn’t have a problem with killing, and even though she could obviously defend herself, she was still a woman. Though Noah would accuse me of letting my dick complicate things, that wasn’t the case. I just genuinely didn’t enjoy sending a woman into a potentially dangerous situation, regardless of my own questionable methods.

“You’d need to pretend to be a prostitute, then spend some time with him to see if the rumors are true,” I answered, already trying to think up an alternative.

“And if he gets violent?”

“You kill him in self-defense.” I pushed some of her black hair back from her face. “Complete transparency, there are also rumors that he’d taken his blood sports too far a couple of times, but the cops hadn’t bothered because of who he is.”

“So, you want me to lure Cooper Donaldson back to a hotel room, goad him, then kill him in self-defense, ending his rumored reign of terror?” she summed up. “Is that it?”

I nodded, my chest feeling tight. “None of my men are able to get close enough to him, and using a real prostitute is a risk.”

“And the O’Brien clan has no other women that can do the job for them?”

Without thinking, I answered, “None that we’re willing to risk.”

Something flashed in Keavy’s eyes, but it was gone before I could identify what it could be. However, while I could have phrased it better, it was the truth. Though we had no blood sisters in the family, we had plenty of sisters-in-law, but no O’Brien would ever put his wife in harm’s way. We were a protective lot like that.

“Okay,” she said, surprising me. “I’ll do it.”

I blinked down at her, unsure of how I felt about her answer. I’d been expecting more questions, more arguing, or even to kick around different options, but I supposed that was my fault for forgetting that Keavy didn’t think or react like other women.

“You’ll do it?” I echoed.

Keavy nodded. “Yes.”

“You’re…you’re not bothered by the idea of taking down Cooper Donaldson?”

The infuriating woman shot me a look. “Even if I were, I’m more bothered by the idea of living in your basement for the rest of my life because I owe you two men.”

That reply had my stomach tightening again. “You’d rather risk your life going after Donaldson than be with me?”

Keavy let out a hollow laugh. “I’ve got news for you, Declan O’Brien. Though you might be charming when the occasion calls for it, and though your face is too gorgeous to be real, and though you might be extraordinary in bed, no man is worth living tied up in a basement, surviving off scraps for the rest of my life.”

“What if you were tied to my bed instead?”

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