Page 6 of Connor's Claim

Chapter 3

Connor

In Arran’s office, I paced the floor, my best friend watching me with his arse parked against his desk and his dark-blond eyebrows merged.

“You brought Everly Makepeace here. Unconscious.”

Not a question, but a response to my announcement after I’d stormed in. A couple of hours ago, he’d called me to the warehouse to share information with me on murders in the city that had sent me flying out the door in a panic. Now I was back, he’d demand answers, and rightly so. I was never so impulsive as I’d just acted.

“For her safety. If someone’s targeting me, they could go for her because of our history.”

“Why bring her here?”

“It wasn’t my intention. I only wanted to make sure she was safe, but when I got there, someone else had already showed up to give Everly a warning that the Four Milers were coming for her and she needed to run.”

I chose my words carefully. If Arran knew his girlfriend’s brother had been there, he’d have to tell her, and judging by the way Riordan had behaved towards Everly, I wasn’t ready to share that information. I didn’t want him knowing where she was. Not until I found him first.

Arran swore. “The Four Milers? What the fuck is Red doing messing with the mayor’s daughter? That’s a risky game for a man in his position.”

He was right. There was a tentative balance in Deadwater between the gangs and the legal authorities. We ran the women, the Four Milers, managed by Red, handled drugs, and the Zombies peddled weapons. Over all of it, the city leaders, corrupt as a whole, took bribes and kept the peace. It was a system that mostly worked, and Arran strived to maintain it for the sake of the women employed at the warehouse.

I shared his goals but had my own role in the city, the enforcer, the clean-up man. Arran kept the women safe, I handled the predators. A win-win for everyone.

Any shakes of the system fucked with both of us.

“We need to find out what they want with her,” I said.

Arran steepled his fingers. “Let me put out some feelers. Is she staying?”

I nodded, though I’d yet to tell her. It felt strange knowing she was upstairs, in my bed. I’d left her there and forced myself to walk away, ignoring the fact it was a twisted fantasy come to life. Except with a version of her who hadn’t lied. Or rejected me.

That level of bullshit would piss me off for months.

My friend gave a warning. “Her father won’t tolerate it.”

“Then he won’t know.”

Someone knocked on the office door. The clubs had closed and would be empty, staff would be leaving for their homes and the warehouse shut down.

Arran called out for them to wait a minute then centred his gaze on me. “Who was it who issued the warning to Everly? You said someone came to her house. One of the Four Milers’ crew or someone else?”

I worked my jaw. “It’s better if ye don’t know.”

The person outside knocked again, insistent. Chatter followed, presumably a number of the supervisors and managers who wanted to get their final tasks done so they could leave.

After a beat, Arran gave me a slow nod along with his trust, letting me keep my secret. “You’ll tell me later.”

I shrugged and jerked my head at the door. “I’m heading out. Places to be, society princesses to keep safe.”

Still frowning, he let me go, and I moved past the queue of staff waiting outside. I had a woman to check on then a city to explore, and answers of my own were needed.

In the lift, I entered the code that was individual to me and travelled up to the top floor. On one side was the apartment Arran shared with Genevieve, and on the other side was mine. Usually coming back here allowed me to relax and breathe, but tonight, my heart raced. I paused, reinstated my cold mask of indifference, and entered.

In a pool of lamplight that fell over my sofa, Everly waited, her knees tucked up and my hoodie shrouding her. She was awake, unsurprising as I’d only given her a low dose of the drug I’d used to knock her out, but seeing her here stole my breath. For a moment, I lost track of why she was here and what the fuck I was doing. Only receiving the strangest sense of rightness at coming home to her.

Then I remembered myself and the scene nearly ten years ago when I’d begged her for a life exactly like this and she’d said no. My heart hardened.

“Connor.” She unfurled her legs and stood.

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