Page 9 of Safe and Sound

Kellan’s eyes widened as his nostrils flared. In a totally uncharacteristic move, he slammed his fist into my jaw. After stumbling back, I rubbed my aching cheek. “Well look who finally grew a pair,” I chuckled.

Flexing his fingers, Kellan challenged, “And I’ll keep going if you dare to fucking insult me like that again.”

“If Da knew what it took to get you to man up, I’m sure he would’ve hooked you up with a stripper sooner.”

Insulting his girlfriend sent a murderous gleam flashing through Kellan’s eyes. With a roar, he launched himself at me. He rammed my back into the floor to ceiling bookshelf. I got in a good right hook before he slammed a punch into my ribs, causing me to wheeze.

Barreling through the door, Quinn boomed, “What the hell is going on?”

Kellan and I froze. Our chests heaved as we extricated ourselves from each other. Glancing between us, Quinn growled, “Once again, what the hell is going on?”

“Nothing,” we echoed in unison.

“Bullshite,” he muttered.

Smoothing down my rumpled shirt, I replied, “We were just having a disagreement.”

Quinn shot me a look. “You haven’t disagreed with each other with fists since you were rowdy teens.”

“It’s none of your fucking business, so piss off!” I snapped back.

“Excuse me?” Quinn roared.

As his face contorted with rage, his wife, Isla, appeared in the doorway like a sexy Irish fairy in a red dress. Her frightened gaze bounced around the three of us. “Is everything okay?”

The mere sound of her voice was a balm for Quinn’s anger. “It’s grand, Little Dove.” Jabbing a finger at me and Kellan, he growled, “If you two eejits are done, I’d like to be able to do what I came here for, which is to enjoy a night out with my wife.”

From Isla’s expression, I knew she didn’t buy our response anymore than Quinn had. Due to her closeness with Kellan, she immediately went to his side. As she fretted with his shirt, she asked, “Wanna get a drink with me?”

Quinn grunted. “This is our date night, Little Dove.”

“I think I can spare five minutes to have a drink with Kellan.” With a cheeky grin, she replied, “You’ll have me the rest of night.”

Kellan shook his head. “I’m going to meet Mabry.”

“Good riddance,” I muttered under my breath.

“Dare,” Quinn warned.

“He can fuck all the strippers in Boston for all I cared as long he keeps his sanctimonious nose in his own business.”

When Isla sucked in a pained breath, regret rocketed through me. Like Mabry, Isla had been a dancer at our club,Alain, which meant beautiful in Irish. That’s where she had met Quinn. By insulting Mabry, I had also insulted her.

Grimacing, I replied, “Fuck. I’m sorry, Isla.”

“You don’t owe me an apology. It’s the truth. I was a stripper.”

“Dancer,” Quinn argued.

The corner of her lips quirked up. “Semantics.” Turning back to me, she said, “While you don’t owe me an apology, Kellan could probably benefit from one.”

When my lips curled back in disgust, Kellan shook his head. “You won’t mean it so don’t bother.”

As he started out of the office, Isla grabbed his arm. “Tell Mabry hello for me. I’d love for us to get together soon for a double date.”

Kellan gave her a tight smile. “Okay, I will.”

Then without another word for any of us, he swept out of the room. Turning to Isla, Quinn said, “Go on and order us some drinks, Little Dove.”

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