Page 85 of Twisted Kings

“A GPS tracker.”

Cassian looked furious. “He gave me this watch for my 16th birthday. It was my grandfather’s.”

Milo shrugged. “I guess he didn’t want you to lose it.”

“More like he didn’t want to loseyou,” Kyril clarified. “It’s no longer safe here. My father is running out of patience and so is yours. Dad wants me back at college and under his thumb. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve. Isn’t your father hosting his usual party, Cass?”

“Yeah, which is why he’s come after me. He’s probably running out of excuses for my absence, given there’s been no news of me in the usual places.”

“Yeah, we’d normally be partying up a storm by now,” Landon agreed.

“Is that boy code for fucking lots of women in public places?” I sniped. Landon grinned.

“You don’t need to worry about me, wifey. I’m a reformed rake.” He sidled over and kissed my cheek, ignoring Kyril’s scowl.

“Where are we going to go?” Dario asked from the far side of the room. The others turned to stare at him.

“You can fuck off if you like. We don’t need you.” This came from Landon, not Kyril, which surprised me.

“No, I’m not leaving Thea.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed back from Kyril. “Seriously? I can take care of myself. You all know this.”

Dario’s eye twitched with frustration. “Yes,cara, and that’s why we had to rescue you from your father’s estate, minutes before you ended up married off to Konstantin Marku.”

“Hey, I had a plan!”Kind of.

“Of course you did,cara.” I glared at him, not enjoying his mocking tone.

“Whatever.” I picked up the cup of coffee I’d made before Lucian showed up, took a sip, and then grimaced when I remembered it had gone cold.For fuck’s sake. Could a girl not enjoy a hot cup of coffee in peace? This day had already gone to shit, and it wasn’t even noon yet.

“Look, we don’t have time to argue,” Cassian snapped. “Dad will come back. He knows I won’t have gone far. I’m amazed we didn’t pass him on the way back. I guess he took the road to Sligo rather than the village.”

“Yes,” Kyril agreed. “We need to pack our shit and leave.”

“And go where?” It wasn’t as if we could roll up at a hotel. Cassian and Landon might get away with public outings to the local village, where most people were blissfully unaware of anything happening outside the county, but in a larger town, people would most likely recognize them. Photos would end up being posted online, and before long, a swarm of paparazzi would show up.

“We need Declan’s help again,” Milo said.

Kyril muttered something under his breath in Russian, but nobody disagreed. Milo was right. Declan was the only person in Ireland who had the resources to hide us from Lucian, and also Vasily Orliov. It was time to make another deal with the devil.

38

Thea

“Ihope you realize I don’t offer my time and resources for free, Thea.” Declan glared at me from behind his enormous mahogany desk inlaid with leather. I offered him what I hoped resembled a grateful smile.

“Of course not, Declan.” After uttering a non-committal hum that suggested he didn’t believe me, he poured some Irish whiskey into his coffee, even though it wasn’t even lunchtime. I could have done with a coffee as well, but I kept my mouth shut. And besides, I was restricting myself to one cup of coffee per day. The pregnancy website I’d checked said this was better for the baby.

The baby I was determined to pretend did not exist.

Shelves of books lined the cozy room. I’d walked in expecting lots of glass and chrome, but the decor screamed ‘English manor house’ rather than 21st-century minimalism. It felt warm, relaxing even. Or it might have if the man sitting opposite me wasn’t a mob boss with a fearsome reputation.

Declan’s menacing aura was enough to scare the shit out of most people, and I wasn’t entirely immune. I’d not met SeamusKelly, his father, but from what Eden told me, Seamus had embraced his passion for fishing and spent most of his time at the family estate in County Antrim.

And who could blame him? Salmon fishing was a helluva lot more peaceful than running a mafia business empire. And less likely to lead to a premature death or life locked up in a maximum security prison.

Guards had frisked me before our meeting, so I’d entered Declan’s lair unarmed. I didn’t think for one second he planned to kill me, but I’d be a fool not to treat him with respect.

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