Page 19 of The Hermit

Her eyes begin to shine, and when a tear rolls down her cheek, I tighten my arm around her shoulders.

“I can’t believe you’re willing to do this to me for money,” she whispers before a sob escapes her. “How can you do this to me after we saw what Braden did to Grace?”

“Varga is nothing like Mallon!” Dad snaps before sucking in a deep breath to calm down again. “Look, Dominik will be our guest for a week or so. Just get to know the man, and then we’ll talk again.”

Right. And before we know it, Ciara’s forced to walk down the aisle.

I shake my head, and I let out a huff.

Dad lifts his hands in a gesture meant to pacify us. “It’s been a hell of a day. Take some time to process everything.” His eyes flick to my face. “You need to recover from the ordeal last night.” Stepping closer, he places his hands on each of our shoulders. “Just spend some time with Dominik, and we’ll talk again. Okay?”

Ciara and I just stare at our father as he gives us a weak smile before leaving my bedroom.

“I can’t believe this is happening,” Ciara mutters.

I pull her into a hug, and while I rub my hand up and down her back, I say, “Just leave it to me. I’ll take care of everything.”

Chapter 6

DOMINIK

As I leave the cottage and walk toward the mansion to join the Devlin family for dinner, I feel on edge and downright irritated. Being away from my home for prolonged amounts of time tends to bring out the worst in me.

Just try not to kill anyone.

When I step into the mansion via the open French doors, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull the device out and open the message.

Evinka: I’ll be in Ireland the day after tomorrow. Need me to bring anything?

Dominik: Clothes and extra ammunition.

Evinka: Will do.

I tuck the phone back into my pocket, thinking about Evinka and how she’s become a force to be reckoned with in our world. She’s celibate because of the shit that went down in the orphanage and is only interested in money and power.

The fucker who raped her was the first person I killed. I was sixteen, and Evinka was only thirteen.

I hanged the bastard with his own bedding, making it look like a suicide. After that day, I started training with Evinka, making her strong so she could protect herself whenever I wasn’t around.

By the time I was twenty-five, and she was twenty-two, we had become an unbeatable team, conquering the world one weapon at a time. She’s only loyal to me and has put her life on the line to protect me more than once.

As I walk into the foyer, the Devlin sisters come down the stairs. Unable to ignore them, my eyes only touch on Ciara for a second, not even taking in her appearance before they settle on Grace.

She’s put on makeup, covering some of the bruises.

Jesus, the gold low-cut dress that fits her like a second skin accentuates every curve of her body.

Grace is taller than Ciara and has curves that seem to have skipped her younger sister.

I’m not one that’s easily affected by a woman’s body, but I can’t tear my eyes away from Grace as I take in her generous cleavage, supple hips, and plump ass other women would pay good money to have.

For the second time today, I shove the flicker of attraction away, and feeling like a grumpy bear, I follow the women to the dining room while fighting to keep my eyes from lowering to Grace’s sexy ass in front of me.

Just get this meal over and done with so you can return to the cottage.

When we enter the room where the aroma of grilled steak hangs in the air, Ian smiles at me. “Thank you for joining us.”

Not giving a shit about where places have been set on the table, I grab a chair at the farthest end, away from everyone, and take a seat.

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