Page 108 of Illicit Temptation

“Ma can’t fly, Lachlan,” Darragh snaps. “Not in the condition she’s in. Not until I’ve examined her more. We can’t leave her here all alone.”

Lachlan paces. “What the hell do I do with Balor and Ella? They’re almost fifty miles away. Those roads are treacherous in the dark.”

The tension grows, and I’m sick from the trouble we’re in because of me. Because my father promised me to someman to further his needs to get his throne back here in Waterford.

“We can’t leave Da’s body here, either. Someone will show up in Astoria for you.” I’m piling on the excuses why we can’t leave when Trace looks like he’s ready to drag me out of here by my hair.

I’ve not seen Trace this shaken. Until now. But what the hell can we do? We’re trapped here.

“Problem one.” Lachlan points to our father. “If I know this piece of shite, he’s got body bags lying around. I’ll pack him up. Wherever the hell we go, we’ll bring his body. I’ll bury him upstate where he made Eoghan and me bury bodies in the brutal cold. Two. I’ll call Denton and tell him to put Balor and Ella on lockdown. I trust him. Da didn’t ask for a fucking manifest and probably doesn’t know they’re here, so I doubt that Malone scumbag knows.”

“Balor can ghost his calls, too,” Trace points out. “They can get on the road in the morning and find another airport, even fly under different names.”

My heart pounding, I wait for Lachlan to get to the next problem. Me.

“All well and good on your end,” Trace says with a shaky voice. “Malone is coming here tomorrow. With armed men totake my wife.”

“In case you just met me, I don’t run away from a fight,” Lachlan sneers. “Plus, I’m not leaving Cormac to suffer any retaliation. I will tear this house apart and find whatever the hell weapons Da stockpiled here.”

Darragh exhales, a warrior rising within him after years of living on his own, like me. “You all go, I’ll stay with Ma.”

My heart lands in my throat as I see the bloodbath happening in my mind. Darragh has a wife and two children. He’s loved and needed. If Malone gets heretomorrow and I’m not here, he’ll kill whoever answers that door, then return to the prison and kill Cormac.

What an absolute mess. I’m stuck. I have no choice. All the casualties will be on my conscience for the rest of my life. No. I can’t let this go any further. This ismychance to be a warrior. I have the least to lose.

“Stop this. All of it. I’ll... I’ll agree to marry him,” I say ready to cry.

“What?” Trace snaps. “No fucking way.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Lachlan says to me then stomps up to Trace. “I still need to deal with you.”

“You won’t deal with him, you will deal with me,” I say, slapping my chest. “I’m an adult. We had a fling, one night in Vegas. I don’t regret it.”

“Shea, you’re not marrying that animal,” Lachlan says and looks at Trace. “Tell me about Malone. How can I fight him?”

“You can’t.” Trace pushes a hand through his hair. “Not here. Not like this.”

“I don’t want to sound like a broken record,” Darragh chimes in. “But we can’t use this house as some kind of stronghold and shoot ammo out the windows. Our fucking mother is here.”

“Exactly,” I point out and start to pace. “I don’t see what choice we have. There’s too much at stake. It’s just a stalling tactic. I agree to marry him. You all go home and put a rescue plan in place. Trace, you call your military contacts, and Lachlan brings back more people here to get me. Balor can level that place with his drones and starve communications with jamming devices.” Looking up, I stare at three pairs of furious eyes.

“No fucking way,” Lachlan blurts.

“Let me finish.” I put my hands on my hips. “It’s not like he’s going to kill me.”

“I also believe he won’t kill you,” Trace says, his voicelow and dead. “But he boasted about what he plans to do to you in his bed. Shea, you will pray for death.”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Lachlan roars.

“It won’t get to that. Lachlan, when you drop me off, you tell him thatyouexpect him to be a gentleman. That I’m already married, but I’m in the process of getting a divorce. That will take time to get finalized. I’ll call Eoghan in a few hours and tell him to start the paperwork.” My eyes stray to Trace, who looks wrecked. “I expect you to sign those papers.”

“You think waiting for a divorce is going to stop him from locking you in his basement?” Trace sneers at me. “And what happens when we come back here with an army and find out he’s got you hidden somewhere in the world unknown to us?” Trace kicks a chair.

The room goes quiet, tears leak from my eyes, but I wipe them away. I’m so mad at Trace. He kept a massive secret from me. His betrayal hits me like a blow.

If this didn’t happen here, it would have happened at home. I’d be in even less of a position to stop it since my brothers support the marriage to Nico Scava.

“If I can weigh in,” Darragh says, his voice shaky. “I think Shea’s plan is solid. I fucking hate it. I’ve never been close with Da, but I don’t think he would have made the deal if he thought Malone would hurt her. He planned to give Da an army. Killers who Da could have ordered to kill Malone on his command if he hurt her.”

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