Page 49 of His Temptation

Sebastian had taught her one thing—never trust a man who thought he knew what was best for her. She wasn’t about to make that mistake twice.

She found one of the electric SUVs Daragh had hidden just outside the walls of the magnificent estate. Taking one, she headed back into the city. Once inside the city, she ditched the SUV—she was certain it had a GPS tracker, but she’d needed to make the trip from the estate to the city as quickly as possible.

The streets of Dublin were darker than she remembered, filled with the kind of whispers that sent shivers up her spine. She moved fast, keeping to the alleyways, her hood up, her hands clenched at her sides.

She had a contact, who she believed could give her vital information—information that could not be found anywhere else. Someone she had worked with at MI5 before things had gone south. If anyone could tell her what they were planning, it was him. Before leaving the estate, she used a burner phone and called her contact. He had tried to refuse her, tried to put her off, but she’d been adamant. He had information she needed, and he owed her. He finally agreed, but only if she would meet in person at the pub they had used for clandestine meetings in the past.

When she entered, she pushed back the hood and saw that few people were there; spilled beer and cigarette smoke clung to the wooden walls. She moved toward the back, scanning the room. It was empty—too empty.

Her gut twisted. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

A shadow moved to her left. Then another. The trap snapped shut.

"Hello, darling," a familiar voice drawled. Siobhan’s blood ran cold. Sebastian stepped from the shadows, his lips curled into something smug, his blue eyes gleaming with triumph.

"Did you really think I wouldn’t be watching for you?" he murmured, tilting his head. "That I wouldn’t know the moment you tried to run?"

Siobhan’s fingers twitched toward the knife she had tucked beneath her sleeve, but Sebastian’s men were already moving. The gun was in her face before she had the chance to fight.

Sebastian tsked, stepping closer. "Now, now, love. Let’s not be hasty. Wouldn’t want to ruin that pretty face of yours before Daragh has a chance to say goodbye."

Siobhan clenched her jaw, her mind racing. She had been stupid. She had walked right into it, and unless she got very lucky, she was going to pay the price.

She turned to her contact—the man who had betrayed her. “No matter what else happens or who gets killed, I made sure Daragh knew it was you. There’s not a rock big enough or a hole deep enough that you can hide from him. He will kill you and not just with a bullet between the eyes.”

Sebastian leaned in, his breath hot against her ear. "Did you really think you could escape me?"

Siobhan’s stomach twisted, bile rising in her throat. “Not really, but then I’m not the one you should be worried about.”

Sebastian shook his head. “You don’t really think Daragh O’Neill would settle for a disinherited and tarnished heiress, did you?”

“I do, and I have the claiming bite to prove it. You may kill me…” She was now speaking more to his men than to Sebastian. “But Daragh will come for you—all of you, and he’ll have the Devil of Galway at his back. Make no mistake, the O’Neills will come for you. When Daragh finds out what has happened, he will rain hellfire down on all of your heads, and Con O’Neill will have the matches.”

CHAPTER 14

DARAGH

Daragh knew.

The second he stepped into the hallway leading to their bedroom, his stomach twisted, his instincts roaring a warning so sharp it nearly took his breath. He opened the door to find the bed was empty. The sheets undisturbed. The robe she had wrapped around herself earlier hung off the chair by the vanity.

Siobhan was gone. A growl vibrated through his chest, low and deadly. Stupid, reckless kitten.

Her note indicated she believed an old contact had answers but would only deliver them to her if she met at an old meeting place. She thought she could take matters into her own hands, slip past his guards, and hunt for her own answers?

Daragh had spent his entire life tracking, eliminating, and destroying threats before they ever saw him coming. If she thought she could disappear without him noticing, she was about to learn exactly how mistaken she was.

"Murphy!" His voice echoed through the manor like a gunshot.

Murphy appeared almost instantly, his ever-watchful gaze assessing the fury burning in Daragh’s eyes. "She’s gone," he said flatly, not a question.

Daragh nodded once, his jaw tightening. "She got past our men. I want eyes on every camera feed we have. I want to know which direction she went, and I want our fastest drivers on it."

Murphy turned on his heel, barking orders into his comm as he strode down the hall. Daragh forced his breathing steady, his thoughts cold, sharp, lethal. Siobhan was his, and he would send all of Dublin up in flames to get her back.

The bar was a cesspool of criminals, half-drunk mercenaries, and desperate men looking for a payday. The moment Daragh stepped inside, silence rippled through the room like a shockwave.

They knew him. They feared him. Finn moved in beside him. "This is where she came?"

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