Page 11 of Yours

The worst part was I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to tell him no.

I groaned, rolling onto my side and burying my face in the pillow. This was stupid. All of it. I should have let Leena call him instead, let her deal with the fallout. But now I was stuck right in the middle of it, and no matter how much I tried to push him out of my head, the thought of him wouldn’t leave.

What kind of price would a man like Ronan O’Malley consider fitting? What did he expect me to give him in return for his help?

I didn’t know the answer to either of those questions.

And that terrified me as much as it thrilled me.

It wasn’t until my phone buzzed again that I realized I hadn’t moved in ten minutes.

I blinked at the screen, at the name glaring back at me like it had every reason to be there.

My stomach dropped. I sat up, my heart lurching into overdrive as I unlocked the phone and read the text.

Be ready in fifteen. I’m on my way.

No greeting. No question. Just a statement, harsh and unyielding, like everything else about him.

I stared at the message for a long moment, my thumb hovering over the keyboard, debating whether to type a snarky message back. Something that might buy me a little more time, or make me feel like I still had some semblance of control over this situation.

But I didn’t. What would be the point?

With a sigh, I tossed the phone onto the bed and rubbed my hands over my face.

Fifteen minutes.

That’s all I had before Ronan pulled up outside my building, and the idea of going with him made me feel like I’d swallowed a live grenade.

What was I even supposed to wear? I glanced down at the towel wrapped around me. Not exactly the kind of look that screamed, ‘I’m totally in control of my life.’ But what was the alternative? Throwing on jeans and a sweater and pretending that this wasn’t a complete disaster?

The reality of it hit me all at once: Ronan was coming here. Tonight. And once he showed up, I had no idea what was going to happen next.

I stood abruptly, pacing the length of my room and eventually grabbing my phone off my bed, just in case he sent anything else. My reflection flashed past the darkened window as I walked, my face pale, my hair a tangled mess. I looked like someone who had just begged for a favor they couldn’t afford to repay.

And wasn’t that exactly what I was?

I made my way to the closet, using the flashlight on my phone, and pulled out the first pair of panties and a bra that I could find with hands that trembled more than I wanted to admit. Next came jeans and a loose sweater—plain, unremarkable, safe. An outfit that wouldn’t draw attention. I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror as I pulled it over my head and snorted quietly. Who was I trying to fool? This wasn’t a date. I wasn’t dressing to impress. I was dressing to survive.

Still, my thoughts refused to settle.

What did he want from me?

That was the question I couldn’t shake. The question that had been rattling around in my head since the second I hung up the phone. Ronan had always been impossible to predict. Even when he was just Leena’s older brother, back when his life seemed more about late nights and flings than whatever shadowed empire he ran now, I’d never been able to read him.

I glanced at my phone again, the time glowing faintly on the screen.

Eleven minutes.

My stomach twisted as I thought about him coming here. What would I say to him? What would he say to me?

Would he even give me a chance to explain myself, or had I already said too much?

The worst part was the uncertainty. I didn’t know if Ronan would be calm or furious. Cold or… whatever it was that made my heart race every time he looked at me.

He’d told me I didn’t get to tell him no, and that alone was enough to make me want to lock my door and hide under my bed.

But it wasn’t just fear. It wasn’t just the idea of what Ronan might demand in return for his help that made my skin flush. It wasn’t just the unknown that sent heat pooling low in my belly every time I thought about his voice, low and full of promise, curling around those two little words.

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