Page 39 of The Devil We Know

I don’t bother attempting to make a move for a weapon, or even a shirt. At this point, if the man wants to kill me, he’s got me, and there’s nothing I can do about it. I’m relatively sure if he wanted to finish me off, he would have done so at any time between me entering the room and now, but you never know if someone’s just waiting to get some info before finishing the job.

I sigh, leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb as I cross my arms over my chest and ask, “And to what do I owe the honor?”

Jessica’s father, Seamus Killeen, doesn’t spare me any emotion as he replies, “Are you looking to be dead?”

I snort as I respond, “People have tried numerous times, yet here I stand.”

He raises his brows at me, the corner of his mouth twitching as he says, “Are you really trying to tell me that I couldn’t have knocked you off at least a dozen times in the last ten minutes?”

I lift a shoulder dismissively. “I’m not saying shit.”

“Why is my daughter here?”

I lift my chin, squinting in concentration as I answer, “How the hell would I know?”

The man stands so abruptly that I have to stop myself from flinching. I’m not generally intimidated by men of any size, but this Irish mobster is a formidable figure on a bad day. He’s tall and broad and has a reputation of being lethal under any circumstances, but he’s also smart, clever, and not afraid to make the hard choices. He’s probably the reason no one’s made a move on the Irish in a generation.

He steps close to me, and I don’t move. I just meet him face to face as he says, “Don’t play stupid with me. You don’t think I haven’t had eyes on her every second of her life since she went off on her own?”

“If that’s the case,” I reply stonily. “How come she ended up needing my help when she was in trouble?”

He squints at me, giving me a small nod as he says, “That issue has been dealt with. And I owe you a debt for stepping up when I was unable to, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s here in this situation because of you.”

My hands fall to my sides, and I push off the doorjamb so I’m standing in front of him, unable to deny it at this point. Because I know it’s true. If I hadn’t tried to use the path of least resistance to push her away, she wouldn’t be here right now, potentially tied to a devil man.

Seamus is still standing there staring at me, waiting for me to answer, and I know if I decide I want to play a waiting game with him, we’ll be waiting a long damn time. So, after a moment, Istep back into the bathroom, pulling a shirt off the counter and yanking it over my head.

When I walk back into the bedroom, he backs off, giving me room to move freely. I stop in the middle of the room, turn back to him, and say, “This is not what I wanted. I told her to stay away.”

He laughs and then sighs as he replies, “Sounds familiar.”

He moves back across the room, falling into the chair haphazardly. I smile at how out of character it appears to his reputation. I sit across from him on the edge of the bed, leaning forward and resting my forearms on the tops of my thighs as my eyes meet his. “I’m going to fix it.”

He snorts loudly, one of his hands coming up and waving around as he says, “And how the fuck do you expect to do that?”

“Hopefully some fancy footwork.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

I pause, not sure how best to respond, but then I say, “If that doesn’t work, then we resort to bloodshed. Isn’t that how it works?”

He quirks an eyebrow at me, and I’m briefly taken aback, but then he asks, “You’d do that?”

“Yes,” I answer without hesitation. “Wouldn’t you?” He shrugs, and it’s not lost on me that I’m seeing a side of this man that most people don’t get to see. When he remains silent, I ask, “You wouldn’t go to any lengths to save your daughter?”

“It’s not that simple. I have far too many people depending on me to throw it all away over one person, blood-related or not.”

I frown, anger bubbling up inside me, even though I know what he’s saying is valid. When you’re in charge of a widespread organization, you can’t think of things in terms of one person versus another. That’s not always how it is, given a lot of the people in charge tend to think of themselves and their ownpower and greed, so I can’t fault him for his thinking, even if that means Jessica is at risk.

Then he says, “There is no love lost between me and my daughter. We’ve basically had no relationship for the majority of her life, and I know right now, her mother, God rest her soul, is rolling over in her grave at the idea that I didn’t prevent this.”

He stops talking, staring off into space, and just when I’m about to speak, he continues, “I don’t know that I’m the type of man that knows how to love. The only person I’ve ever loved was my wife, and I loved her enough to grant her dying wish, which was to have her daughter free from the constraints of our lifestyle. I’ve bent and broken every rule there is to ensure that she would be kept far away from any of this, and then the next thing I know, I’m getting a message thanking me for the gift. I fear my initial response was not great.”

“Well, that seems reasonable. Just the fact you were taken off-guard, I can’t believe anyone would react reasonably under the circumstances.”

“It came as quite a surprise to a few people that I even had a daughter, never mind an adult daughter that I could hand off to some sadistic fucking prick. There are a few people who think it’s a great business strategy to try to merge families, as they say. But even if I had a child to use as a pawn, that is not a move I would make.”

We fall silent, both of us lost in our own thoughts, and then I say, “I won’t let them have her. That’s a promise.”

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