Page 12 of Dublin Devil

“No, it’s not, but I’d rather we stop talking about it if you’re going to lie to me. You were mugged, but you have your purse. You were outside the hotel, but you went through a glass table. You thought they might come back, but you didn’t contact your father or any of your brothers—the men who own that entire territory.”

Ugh…my mind is so fuzzy from pain, exhaustion, and the pills, I can’t even think. “I can’t tell you what really happened, Sean. I just can’t.”

“That’s fine. Come, I’ll carry you upstairs and we’ll figure out your next move in the morning. You’re done for tonight.”

Sean is incredibly gentle as strong arms scoop under my knees, and he lifts me off the couch. He holds me close as he carries me up the stairs, and the warmth of his body seeps into mine.

I lay my cheek against his chest and close my eyes. He smells like leather and that expensive tobacco he was smoking earlier. “Thank you for being kind to me, Sean. I know it isn’t good for business, but I truly appreciate the save.”

He lays me on the bed and helps get the duvet over me. “I’ll leave the bathroom light on down the hall. If you need anything,just holler. I’ll crash in the room across the hall. And don’t worry, Piper. Whoever did this to you, won’t get near you again. I’ve got you.”

Despite Doc Kelvin’s hope that the meds he gave me would help me sleep, every time I move, my ribs cry out, or the torn flesh of my cheek presses on the pillow. There are also moments when I wake up screaming.

I cut off the panic as soon as I realize I’m not actually being sold to the Russian mafia. Then I remember—I am.

My father threw me in as an incentive for a gun deal.

Aside from his betrayal gutting me—that can’t be legal. Not that legalities hold any importance when dealing with crime families. Still, I’m almost twenty years old and I have rights. I’m an adult.

I get a say in my life, don’t I?

Why would I think that when I’ve never had one yet?

So, here I am, lying in a strange bed, in the house of my father’s enemy, beaten and broken by two men my father traded me to. I can’t tell Sean any of it because I know better than to betray my father.

Except…he betrayed me first.

I don’t know how to fix this, but confiding in the Quinns and accepting their help would be considered unforgivable. Not that I’m in any shape to refuse Sean’s help. Ugh, it’s an impossible situation.

The gashes on my legs sting, my bruised ribs refuse to let me take in enough oxygen, my vision is wonky, and my mouth is foul with the taste of blood.

And I’m sure I look worse than I feel.

Muggers? Did I really think he’d fall for that?

I regret that while he was being kind to me, I lied to him in return. There’s no way I could’ve told him the truth. The guns I was helping Da secure were to strengthen the McGuire position against his family.

What was Da thinking signing away his ‘good girl’?

I wouldn’t even be a twenty-year-old virgin if he hadn’t been so controlling and insisted on one of my brothers escorting me on every date I’ve ever been on. Hell, not just dates, but every time I left the house.

Was he planning on this all along? Was he controlling my V-card to play it when it suited him best? I know that arranged marriages between mafia families strengthen alliances but that’s so last century.

I’m his daughter, for fuck’s sake.

How could he want that for me? He didn’t even talk to me first. He just dressed me up like a sexy present and told me not to fuck up. He told me to make them happy and give them anything they wanted.

Anything they wanted.

My stomach rolls, but I fight the nausea. I’m in no shape to be running down the hall to throw up. Still, I can’t stop the tears.

Why should I worry about betraying Da when he betrayed me in the worst way possible? How will I ever look at him again? What kind of man gives his daughter away like that? As if I’m nothing more than a pawn for him to use in his games.

My brothers were brought up to run the family business and my mother has always held my father’s ear.

Is it so wrong that I wanted that, too?

Da believes there’s no place for women when running a business like ours—too much emotion. He totally dismissed that I’m smart and capable and strong enough to be equal to my brothers.

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