Page 36 of The Princess and Her Mercenary

She rolled her eyes and reached for the martini he handed her. "Do you always sound like a Bond villain?"

* * *

"Report!" Keane bellowed at his men.

Only Jacob was brave enough to speak up. "As per your request, we kept an eye on you and the Princess during your day in the city. But we also kept our distance, as per your request." It was obvious that he was trying to be very clear that they had followed their boss’s orders to the letter. "We were watching the bar, but we didn't actually see the Princess leave. We did see a man bundling a woman out the door and into the side alley. At a guess, that was likely her."

"You should have fucking checked!” Keane shouted.

His man took a quick step back, bringing him in line with the others. They were standing in a group together in the bar. Keane, his men, and a few of the others who were in the bar when Ndari disappeared, including the bartender. He’d stuck around to find out what happened to Ndari. The bartender was feeling some extra guilt, since he was the last person to speak to her.

"You need to use your head," the bartender told Keane. "You have plenty of enemies in this town. Just fucking think about it for one minute, stop your damn shouting, and figure out who might have her."

Everyone fell silent. Keane paced the bar, his heavy boots hitting the floor. Thud, thud, thud, in one direction. He pivoted, and walked back in the other direction, thud, thud, thud.

“Eoin.” Keane stopped and pierced the bartender with a glare. "It has to be fucking Eoin. Does he still operate in this town?"

"He's the biggest man in town," the bartender replied with a grimace.

"It's gotta be him. Where do I find him?” Keane shoved a hand through his ruffled red hair. Shit, he could usually think so clearly in these kinds of situations. But when it was his girl's life on the line, his brain scrambled like eggs. "She's so fucking mouthy, she's gonna get herself killed."

"No one's going to kill her." Jacob stepped forward and took his life into his hands by placing a comforting arm around Keane's shoulders. "She might be mouthy, but she's endearing. She’d be a hard one to kill, and I know, because before I met her, I'd just as soon have killed her on principle for being such a hoity-toity Princess."

"Don't know that you're helping man." One of Keane's other men muttered.

Before they could discuss it further though, the door swung open and someone stepped through. All eyes turned to the man. He was tall, thin, pock-marked, rat-like. He had a downtrodden twitchy look about him, the type of look that only drugs could produce. This was their messenger.

Within seconds, Keane was on top of him, one fist in the guy’s face and the other in his gut. The man tried to shout something, but Keane pummeled him. “Where’s she at, you motherfucker?"

Jacob pulled him off the man before Keane could kill him. "He's can’t give you any information if he's dead," Jacob chided him.

"You’re getting on my fucking nerves," Keane growled at him.

Jacob took a quick step back.

Keane paced back and forth, breathing deeply in an attempt to harness his rage. Jacob was right, if he didn't calm down, he was going to kill the messenger, which could get Ndari killed. He had to use his fucking brain, whatever brains he had left after a lifetime of getting hit in the head.

Finally, he was able to turn and speak to the guy in a somewhat civil tone. He gripped the man by the collar of his T-shirt and lifted him up off the floor, slamming him into the wall. The entire bar shuddered with the impact, and the guy gasped for breath.

"I'm going to be really patient here, my friend. You have one chance to tell me where my woman is, or I'm going to put you through this wall."

“Eoin wants you to fight," the guy said quickly. “Wants you to fill in for one of his prize fighters down with an injury. He'll give you the girl when you're done."

Keane dropped the guy in disgust and stepped back. "I would've done the fucking fight for free if he'd just asked me. Instead, that motherfucker has dug his own grave by taking my girl. You can tell him I'll fight tomorrow, because I need a good goddamn fight. After I win, he’s a dead man."

Keane picked the guy up by the back of his T-shirt and belt, kicked the bar door open and threw him so hard that he bypassed the sidewalk and hit the street, rolling out into the middle. The tires of an oncoming vehicle squealed as the driver swerved to avoid him. The guy lurched to his feet and lunged towards a parked car, flinging himself inside and taking off.

Keane turned to give his man a look.

"On it, boss."

His guys would follow the little rat to wherever Eoin was keeping Ndari. Keane was going to get his girl back, he was going to have a good fight, and he was going kill the motherfucker that thought he owned this town.

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