Page 44 of Dublin Charmer
“You’re not going to die for it,” I assure her.
“She sure as fuck doesn’t get a pass,” Bryan snaps.
I meet Bryan’s gaze and while the fury and panic in his eyes are touching, the look has more to do with Yasmine than me. Losing her has made him hyperaggressive about threats against us. “B, shedoesget a pass. I drugged her first and set the precedent.”
“She took advantage. You were being kind to her, and she hurt you,” Bryan snaps back, glaring toward the corner. “She’ll pay for that.”
“She won’t,” I counter. “I understand what she did and why. It’s forgiven.”
I lock eyes with Nyx, and for a moment the chaos fades away. There’s a flicker of understanding, a spark of something that pulls me toward her even when I know I shouldn’t feel this way.
Brendan’s jaw is tight as he shoots another daggered glare at Nyx. “It’snotforgiven. No one gets away with hurting our family.”
“But she was trying to defend herself!” I shoot back. “She’s being blackmailed by Gravely because he has her brother! What wouldn’t we do to save one of our own?”
“That’s exactlymypoint.” Bryan steps forward, fists clenched at his sides. “She put our brother in danger.”
“Enough!” Tag interjects. “We’re not killing the woman for defending herself and trying to keep her brother alive. In fact, we’re taking this upstairs. There is news and it involves Nyx as well.”
Tag, as usual, is calm and composed amid the chaos surrounding him. He raises a hand like he’s calming a herd of wild horses.
“Miss Farina, you will come upstairs with us now. I’m inviting you into our home as our guest. If you do or say anything to harm anyone in our family—if you even think about it—I will slit your throat myself. This is your one and only chance.”
I swallow hard as Tag’s threat hangs thick in the air like smoke from an extinguished flame.
Nyx’s expression betrays nothing. Her face remains composed, even as she studies the men in the room and gauges her chance of escape.
It’s zero, beautiful. There’s nowhere for you to go.
She seems to come to the same conclusion because she dips her chin slowly. “All right. I swear not to attempt anything against your family and will cooperate as long as things remain civil.”
Tag pegs each of us with a look. “Things will remain civil, won’t they, brothers?”
Each of us nods our compliance and falls in line.
“And after we go over the recent developments, we’ll work out what needs doing about getting your brother back home to you.”
“Do we really want her here? In our home?” Sean shoots back defensively.
“Too late now.” Tag glances at me before returning his gaze to Nyx once more, softer this time but no less determined. “We have bigger problems than you right now, but I assure you, joining forces will be in both our best interests.”
Brendan narrows an icy gaze at Nyx again but stays silent this time while Bryan crosses his arms tighter against his chest.
The air crackles with tension between us, a mix of protectiveness and anger aimed at this woman who has unwittingly tangled herself into our lives.
Tag strides toward the door without looking back, clearly expecting us to follow along behind him. Nyx takes a step forward, straightens, and then, hesitantly steps out of the corner. With her shoulders back and her head held high, she follows my brothers and walks into enemy territory.
Whatever happens next is beyond my control.
Nyx
I follow the Quinn brothers up the same staircase I had tried to escape through. The irony isn’t lost on me—freedom was right there, just beyond that locked door, and now I’m hesitant to walk through it. My skin prickles with awareness as I feel Finn’s gaze on me from behind, warm and concerned, like a caress sliding down my back to my ass.
When we emerge onto the main floor, I freeze. This isn’t what I expected from Dublin’s most notorious crime family.
The Quinn home is... a home. It’s not a sterile fortress or gaudy display of wealth, but a place where people actually live. Polished wood meets ancient stone in a beautiful merging of past and present. The walls of the corridors are a soft gold color, adorned with family photographs spanning decades.
We pass a room where a massive stone fireplace dominates one wall, flames crackling inside. Cozy leather sofas, well-worn from use, are arranged around it. Books fill built-in shelves, some with spines cracked from repeated reading.
