Page 66 of Bargain with the Irish Devil

I hold my hand out for the keys. Cole doesn’t try to meet my eyes as he follows Ryan out of the brothel.

To Patrick. “There will be someone coming with something for me. Send them up to the apartment.”

“Yes, sir.”

Upstairs, I’m surprised by the quiet from within the apartment. Inside, I don’t find Clare anywhere. The door to the bedroom is closed. My hand is on the door when I hear it. A woman’s moan, then sob of orgasm.

Thank fuck. I step back and check my watch. It’s about twenty-five minutes since I got the call from Patrick. And what I need should arrive within the next ten to twenty minutes.

I take a seat on the sofa and hope like hell Liam doesn’t tear his stitches. Maybe ten minutes later, Clare is yelling, saying something I can’t understand through the door. Seconds later, the door opens, and Clare tries to run. Liam is two feet behind her, naked.

Liam sees me and stops. “Dec, what are you doing here?”

“Jesus, Liam. Go put on some fucking clothes.”

Shrugging, he goes into the room, closing the door behind him.

“Let me out, damn you. I hate you all, and I hope you all rot in hell.” Clare is yelling at the top of her lungs.

“Enough,” I growl as I place my gun on my knee. “Sit down.”

Her gasp is loud. Trembling, she stumbles to the chair across from me I was pointing at. She sags into the chair, her eyes big and afraid.

“Dec, are you pointing a gun at my woman?” Liam is eerily quiet.

I know what that means. Good. Liam has thrown on a pair of jeans and is zipping them up. And he still looks like shit. “I’m not pointing a gun at Clare. I am simply making a point that the discussion we’re about to have is a very serious one. And there will be no yelling or carrying on. Sit down, Liam.”

Liam walks behind Clare’s chair and leans over the back of it. “I’m fine.”

Nodding, I sigh as I study Clare. “Your father brought on his own death—the same as your sister. There are so few rules to follow in this world. Your father knew them all and broke one. One that led civilians to die, six of them.”

She shakes her head, her eyes pleading with me.

“Clare, death in this isn’t common, and it isn’t welcome. Either the ordering or the doing. I’ve known your da my whole life. It wasn’t enough to save him. And if you demand to walk out, it won’t be enough to save you.”

I don’t miss the way Liam turns to stone. “What will keep you alive is by saying yes when the judge walks through that door in less than ten minutes. He’s going to ask if you want to marry Liam. And while you are married to him, you cannot be made to testify against your husband—or me. I’ll have the lawyer painting you as a spiteful woman out to hurt her husband and his boss by any means necessary.”

Liam straightens and the grin on his face is wicked with glee.

“I’ve already told you Liam is a very deadly man. There are at least two cases that would be easy to make against him.” I shoot Liam a glare. Like the beating in public in the parking lot of the pub three weeks ago that got him benched.

His shrug makes it clear to Clare that I’m being honest. She’s chewing on her bottom lip so strongly I worry she’ll draw blood.

“You already want to fuck Liam. It’s better than fifty percent of marriages that happen every day in this country. You can walk out of this room as his wife, or you can be carried out of it in a body bag. The decision is yours.”

“I hate you all. And I hope you die choking on your own blood.” She hisses at me.

The knock at the door is firm. I get up, tucking my gun into the small of my back, and open the door. Judge O’Malley is still annoyed.

“Declan, you always call at the most inopportune times.”

“Jerry, you’ve been married forty-two years. Surely this isn’t the first time you were called away during your anniversary.” I chuckle as I step back to allow him into the room.

“Yes, but never when my wife was giving me a thank you sucking. You flash bastard.”

I laugh as he nods to Clare and Liam. “Well, girl. Declan tells me you have to be married tonight. I’m concerned it’s him who has the request, not you. Especially when he said it was to Liam. Do you really want to marry this psycho who looks half-dead?”

Clare looks from Judge O’Malley to me, then to Liam. Her jaw clenches before she nods. “Yes, please.”

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