Page 44 of Dublin Brute

Protect and support local business.

No involving minors…

Thinking about minors makes me think about the fundraiser. The Quinn family was pulling all the stops out to raise money for street kids tonight. Before I found out it was a Quinn event, I’d been impressed by the dedication. Now that I know it was a Quinn event, I don’t know if I’m more or less impressed.

From everything my father has always said about the families behind organized crime, they care for nothing but money and power.

I don’t get that at all from Brendan.

Am I so dickmatized that I’m not seeing things clearly? Can I be dickmatized when all we’ve done is kiss? Well, I’ve felt the big boy pressed against me and that was enough to scatter my neurons, so it’s possible.

I groan and pull the blanket over my head. Imagining Brendan’s cock is so unhelpful. If I’m to get out of this mess, I need to focus on the facts and discount all input given from my girl parts.

“There, sorry.” Brendan rushes out of the bedroom with a towel around the back of his neck, rubbing his damp hair with one hand. He’s shirtless, and holy mother of all things sexy, he’s got a tattoo of a Celtic knot over his heart and his abs look like they’ve been chiseled by Michaelangelo or Rodin.

And that pelvic V…artistic perfection.

Unbidden, my gaze drops lower. Gone are the bloody gray sweatpants he was wearing, replaced by low-slung black jogging pants that look to be two sizes too small and unable to hide his incredibly impressive…

“Keep looking at me like that, angel, and I’m going to skip right over the apologies and fuck you on my brother’s couch.”

I snap out of my lusty daze and swallow. “Mighty sure of yourself, Mr. Quinn.”

His mouth lifts on one side in a cocky, uneven smile. “Of you and me? Of the attraction that’s kept both of us buzzing all week? Aye, I am. Tell me, angel. Have you pleasured yourself in the dark with my name on your lips this week? How many times?”

I can’t go there because despite me knowing who he is, there’s no getting around who I am and what my father’s work means for Brendan and his family. Instead of thinking about that, I change the subject. “Not your clothes, I take it.”

Brendan shrugs, his appearance obviously low on his priority scale in his post-shower rush to get back to me. “This is Tag’s place. He’s not as bulky as Bryan and I are. But all my man bits are covered, so I figured you’d appreciate that much, at least.”

I appreciate him considering that, but honestly, from what I’ve seen of Brendan’s body so far, I wouldn’t hate it if he had come out here ready to pose for a nude life drawing session.

Cue a rush of dirty images bombarding my mind.

Why did none of our session models look like him while I was in school?

I give myself an inward shake and focus. “Brendan. You need to let me go. And when I say that, I’m not talking about you bringing me here against my will, I mean that whatever was building between us has to stop.”

He hangs the damp towel over the back of one of the kitchen chairs and strides into the kitchen. His back is as sexy as his front. As he walks, I study the muscular flex and pull of his lats and shoulders. Damn. He has another tattoo on his right shoulder blade. It’s a stylized Q with knotwork and a shamrock.

When he turns around, he catches me drooling and winks.

My skin blooms with heat and my breath catches in my throat.

“I know you think my last name changes everything, angel, but I’m still the same guy you’ve been flirting with all week. The only difference is that now you know my family comes with some baggage.”

“Some baggage? Brendan, you’re a mafia mobster.”

He makes a face. “That’s not very PC of you, Miss Kelly. I’m not a mobster.”

I roll my eyes. “My apologies, what would be the politically correct term for the musclebound enforcer of a mafia family?”

“I prefer being called a physically persuasive person of influence.”

“Brendan. You kill people.”

He rears back, looking affronted. “No, I don’t. I’m not a triggerman—I’m an enforcer. There’s a big difference.”

Is there? I don’t know as much as I thought I did. Hope buds inside me for the flash of a moment, but then I realize nothing has changed. Whether or not he kills people, my father will still destroy everything Brendan cherishes.

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