No matter what he says, I’m sure Cian Mahoney still sees me as the same compliant, eager-to-please good girl, but I aim to prove him wrong.
He will not get the best of me.
And neither will the rest of the Kings.
Chapter 11
Cian
Thelast thingI want to do while dealing with a raging hard-on is talk to Finn. Complete boner killer. Especially when the first thing he says when I pick up is, “Status update. Did you find her?”
My teeth clench. If I tell Finn I found his ex-fiancée, the next question will be,What time is your flight tomorrow?And I don’t need to be reminded how unprofessional and fucking insane I’m acting right now. I’ll be in so much trouble if Harper ever reveals to anyone what I did to her as soon as I got her alone…
Fuck, I’m all mixed up inside. What’s right feels wrong, and what’s wrong feels…too incredible to ever deny myself again.
I swallow hard, raking my fingers through my hair as I prepare to lie to one of my best friends. “Not yet. Triangulated her whereabouts, though. Should be on schedule to make contact by the end of the week.”
“It’ll take that long?”
“What did you expect?” I wrap my hand around the back of my neck. “She’s Thomas Brennan’s daughter. Obviously she hid herself well.”
Finn grouses on the other end of the line. In the background, I can hear talking. He’s probably in the situation room at the estate. Darren and Rory might be with him. Maybe Shane and Thomas too. Fuck, I hope he doesn’t pass the phone around.
Of course Finn fucking calls me when I’m just about to live out my greatest fantasy. Harper’s juices all over my fingers, the vibrations of her climax in my literal palm… A man could get addicted to shit like this.
And that’s exactly what I feel like. A junkie.
I don’t pine over women. But I’vepinedover her. A large part of me hoped that my attraction to this twenty-four-year-old problem child was all in my head. Fantasy in the purest sense of the word, but now, I know it’s not.
The way she touches me tells the whole story.
And that’s terrible, because after I take Harper back to New York, she’ll be untouchable to me again.
No, she won’t be marrying Finn as originally planned. But her dad will arrange a marriage to someone else. And once that happens, she’ll be gone.
The fingers of my free hand ball into a fist at the thought.
I don’t want to go back to the half-life where I yearn to be a part of hers and waste too much time fantasizing about how she’d feel wrapped around my cock, but that’s my duty. This mafia gave me everything I have, saved my life, kept me off the streets and out of jail.
I can’t betray the family over a woman. And even if I could do something that stupid, why would I? For what? Even if I took Harper far away from here and ensured no one we know would ever find us again, it’s not as if she’d want to be withme.
I’m not saying I want to be with her either. She thinks she’s a damn princess. The man she marries will probably wind up painting her toenails. I’m not the type.
No, I just want to fuck her out of my system once and for all and move on.
“Any sign of the De Lucas?” When Finn asks that question, fire heats my blood. Enzo De Luca’s face materializes in my mind. I’m going to kill himextrafor bluffing. What did that motherfucker say?
I haven’t even gotten the chance to sample the goods yet.
“No.” I white-knuckle the words out. “But if I find Enzo on this island, I’m killing him.”
Finn’s tone darkens. “No, Cian.”
I hate it when Finn does that.
When he uses that tone with me, I can tell he’s practicing for the day he becomes the don. He’s reminding me that even if we’re currently equal in rank, that won’t always be the case, and I’d best get a head start on following his instructions.
After all, that will be the dynamic for the rest of our lives, right?