Page 26 of Vengeful Union

“When I get back, she better not have a single hair harmed on her head.”

“Of course not, Rory,” Maury says, and I look between him and Oscar.

Maury’s too stupid to hurt her, and Oscar’s too cowardly.

I head down the hallway to the left wing and my own room. This is going to be an interesting couple of days.

Chapter Nine

9

LARA

It’s aboutthirty minutes before Oscar unlocks the door, bringing me fresh blankets and a pillow, along with some water and a box of crackers and block of cheese.

I blink, surprised.

“Rory says you’re to be treated well.” He pauses. “I’m... sorry about Scott. He’s a new hire.”

I nod slowly, not sure what to say, but then he just clears his throat and leaves.

I put the blanket over the bare mattress. There are boxes all over this room, probably a storage area.

I shiver, thinking of what might have happened if Rory hadn’t burst in when he did. Scott was on a mission, and if he hadn’t saved me...

I can’t even think about it. I’m sure there’s no way I can sleep tonight, even though I’m more exhausted than I’ve ever been.

Can I trust Bree’s brother? I know from my interactions with her that not everyone who is related to someone awful is bad, but that doesn’t mean that Rory is a good guy.

Do I even believe him? That he’s really an accountant? I guess it makes sense, because I’ve never seen him around the Irish mob. I’ve only ever heard about him from Bree, and she’s always been positive about him.

But she doesn’t talk much about him.

The blankets are oddly comfortable, and I do fall into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

When I wake,the door is swinging open, and I scramble up into a sitting position on the bed. Instead of Oscar or the other man who is now watching me too. I think his name is Maury, it’s Rory, holding a box of donuts and a couple of cups of coffee.

I can’t help but devour a donut before I even take a sip. I’m grateful for the food and caffeine, but it doesn’t mean that Rory has my trust.

“Did you get any sleep?” he asks softly, shutting the door behind him.

“A little.” I blink sleep out of my eyes.

He nods. “I see they brought you some things.”

“Yeah, it’s a real Four Seasons around here,” I drawl, and Rory chuckles.

He sits on the edge of my bed, grabbing himself a donut and sitting cross-legged.

I steal another donut, ravenous.

Rory smiles. “They’re all yours.”

“So?”

Rory takes a deep breath. “We have to trust each other for this to work.”

“I thought we came to the conclusion that’s not possible.”

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