Page 8 of Raptor

He nods. “Everythin’ is good. I had Kins talk with Chloe,” he says as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a piece of paper. “Mallory’s number,” he informs me.

I raise a brow. “You tryin’ to matchmake, bro?”

His laughter is deep. “No, but I’m not goin’ to watch you lose your woman ‘cause you’re too chicken shit to call up Chloe and get Mallory’s number. So I did it for you–well, Kins did.”

I take the number from him. “‘Preciate it, brother,” I say thickly, gratitude filling every single word I say.

“Talk to your woman, Rap, let her know that you’ll be comin’ to see her. Tell her she’s got time to run if she needs it.” The fucker throws his head back and starts laughing.

I flip him off, but I know he’s just joking around. My brothers know I want Mallory. They’ve known it since the moment I met her. There’s just something different about her. She’s got me hook, line and sinker. There was never any going back. Not for me.

I move toward my room, my fingers curled around the piece of paper that holds Mallory’s number. Fuck, I’m glad Stag had Kins do this, though I would have got around to doing it eventually. I just needed to sort my shit out.

The second I’m in my room, I reach for my cell and hit the numbers on the dial pad, remembering from when I was in Ireland to add the 00353 prefix to call an Irish number. The second I hit call, my stomach clenches.

“Hello?” I hear her soft Irish lilt over the phone. “Hello?”

“Mallory,” I say thickly.

There’s a sharp intake of breath followed by, “Raptor?”

“Yeah, darlin’, it’s me. I got your number from Chloe. You good?”

“I’m good,” she breathes. “I didn’t expect to hear from you. How are you?”

Fuck, that softness in her voice has my cock thickening. “Even better now that I’ve heard your voice.”

Her laughter is soft and melodic. “Still the charmer, I see. How’s New York?”

“Same as it always is. How’s Dublin?”

“Rainy,” she replies, still smiling. “I love that you called, Raptor, but I’m not sure why.”

I get why she’s uncertain about it all. We had sex—fantastic sex—but we live across the world from one another.

“I wanted to speak to you. It’s fucked up, ain’t it—how deep you’ve dug yourself into me?”

Silence spreads through the line. “Raptor,” she says softly. “You have no idea how hard it was to walk away from you again. I thought you wanted a clean break. That’s what you said, right?”

I run a hand over my face and sigh. “Yeah, that’s what I said,” I say through clenched teeth. “But it’s a lot fucking harder said than done.”

“Yeah,” she replies. “It’s been hard. You’re not the only one who feels this way.”

I grin. Hearing those words lets me know I’m on the right track. “What if I told you I’d be seeing you soon?”

“Soon? How soon?” she asks, a hint of excitement in her voice.

“I’ve got shit to work out here so it could take me a couple of months, maybe a little longer, but I’ll be over to see you soon.” I wish it were sooner, but my brothers and I have to sort out logistics and shit before that can happen.

“That’ll be cool. You’ve got to let me know when you’re in town,” she says, her tone a little distant. “I’ve got to go. Ma’s calling me. It was really good to hear from you, Raptor. Don’t be a stranger, yeah?”

The call ends and I’m left staring at my cell wondering what the fuck is going on. I get the sense that something isn’t right. There’s no fucking way I’ve got this situation wrong. Mallory isn’t a woman who would play around. Yet there’s something off about how she was acting.

Fuck, what the hell is wrong with me? That woman has got me in knots.

Soon, I'll be in Ireland, where I will find out what the hell is going on.

Chapter 4

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