Struan had given me shooting lessons in a range in the woods when I’d been eight years old. Even after we’d stopped being on the run and our enemies had been handled, he’d been convinced we were still in danger. Sin felt the same, but Struan was the driving force behind all our security measures. Even now, he never relaxed.
None of that interested me now.
I watched Riordan, mixed up in too many feelings at once.
My obsession wasn’t going away, no matter how much I tried to convince myself it wasn’t real. No matter that he flaunted Moniqua to torment me.
All it did was show me he cared. And filled my head full of wild and wayward thoughts on what I’d do to keep him.
Chapter 10
Riordan
“Ever shot anyone?” Tyler asked.
I gripped the gun. It was heavier than I expected. A good fit for my hand. I’d seen Arran handle a weapon in his office but figured they mostly used knives. One sniff of a gun in the city and the cops would descend en masse. Actual gun use was furtive and rare. More of a threat than a reality. Apparently, the same didn’t apply out here in the wilds of Scotland.
“No,” I admitted.
“Ever used a gun at all?”
My jaw clenched.
His eyes widened in recognition of my apparent failure. Annoyance rushed through me. The emotion was short-lived.
Simultaneously, all of our phones alerted.
I recognised the tone. It warned of someone at the perimeter. Tyler leapt up and snatched out his phone. I scrambled to Cassie, energy punching through my muscles in anticipation of a threat.
“Front gate,” she identified.
Over Cassie’s shoulder, I watched the alert screen. On the camera view, a car idled, a man behind the wheel in the dark, rainy afternoon. Despite the clear picture, I didn’t recognise him, though he definitely wasn’t Bronson.
Cassie stared at the intruder. “Oh God.”
My heart thumped harder. “Who is it, a Four Miler?”
The gates slid open.
She lifted her gaze. “Nope. Worse. My brother’s home. From the snarling he’s doing at having to override our lockdown, Struan’s furious.”
Minutes later, we were out in the marble-floored entryway, facing off with an obviously dangerous man.
Cassie squeaked in happiness and flew at him, and he caught her in a one-armed hug, tucking her in at his side while never taking his gaze off me.
“Struan, meet Riordan.” Tyler leaned on the now-closed front door.
I nodded to Cassie’s brother. Undeniably her relative from the black hair and blue eyes, but also from the general air of menace that clung to them both.
Aged perhaps around thirty, Struan drew a harsh focus over my frame, nothing in his expression of a warm welcome. He was an inch or two shorter than me, but worlds apart in degrees of toughness, with an unnerving stare and a curled lip that told me he didn’t like what he saw.
Adrenaline coursed through me as if I was facing a threat. If he could read the thoughts I’d been having about his sister, this guy would tear me a new one.
Then Cassie pushed up on her toes and whispered something in his ear.
His eyebrows dove together, and he slashed his attention her way. “What are ye talking about?”
“Exactly what I said.”