Page 8 of Killian
“I’m not going to lie to you. I was there for work. Outside of that, well, can’t tell you about my work.”
“Can’t tell me, or won’t?” I challenged.
He didn’t flinch or even hesitate in his reply, “Both.”
Lord only knew what he did, but every television show I’d watched gave me a new suggestion. The rumors spread in so many different ways. Some on the good side of the law, while others not so much. I’d guess with the police involvement tonight, it was on the good side. Then again, there was that saying about assuming, and I was absolutely making assumptions here.
Realizing I was going to get nowhere on the work topic, I changed tactics. “Okay, why did you haul Bri and me to your car?”
“Because you needed out.”
I had to give it to the man. He may not say a lot of words, but what he did say made sense, especially with the cops showing up. He obviously knew that was going to happen. Hopefully we were going to get somewhere here. And hopefully, it meant he was on the right side of the law in all of this too.
“Where did you take Landon?”
He didn’t answer. I waited a few beats, and he still didn’t answer.
I took his lack of response as the mean it had to do with hiswork,so I moved on. “Why did you bring me here?” Maybe that would get me somewhere.
“Because you’re safe here.”
“I’m safe at my bar,” I retorted, hating that I was all fired up, and he was calm as could be.
“You’re safer with me.”
That was interesting. “Why do you think that?”
“Because I’d never let anything happen to you.”
Those words seared into my brain, making all the warm and fuzzy feelings come to life. I wasn’t a warm and fuzzy kind of a woman. I was a kickass, take names, and get the job done kind of woman. So where in the hell did these feelings come from? And why did they hit me so hard?
I wouldn’t be detoured. Feelings or not, I wanted answers. I wanted to go back to my bar, back to my life.
“I’m not staying, Killian. I need you to take me back.”
“It’s not happening. May as well come in and get comfortable.”
Smooth talker. Something I saw in my bar on a nightly basis with men and women. And they always got what they wanted at the end of the night. Too bad I was immune to it. “No. Tell me why you were there.”
“Business.”
My eyes rolled to the sky. “I got that part.” Time to change tactics again because I was getting nowhere fast with Killian right now.
“Do you own this place?” Looking around the house, I thought I knew that answer considering it looked like it cost a ton of money and appeared to have been here a while. The pieces of the puzzle were not fitting together. It was another plus on his side because I always loved a good riddle and had a hard time backing down from it. Fuck.
He shrugged. “Yep.”
“Cryptic much?”
Killian’s face softened, the lines and angles appeared to thin out. Wow. It was a beautiful look. For a handsome man with such rugged features to look beautiful was a feat, but he did it with no effort at all. “Yeah. For now.”
“Fine.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out my phone, scrolling to the number I needed. He was at work, but he’d come and pick me up, getting me out of here and away from Killian. I hit the green button, put it to my ear, and it was swiped from my hand. “Hey!” I cried out as Killian held the phone up to his ear like he knew who I was calling and wanted to have a chat.
Fuck that.
I lunged for the phone, and with practiced ease Killian wrapped his arm around my stomach and held me at arm’s length. We sort of wrestled on the swing, making it rock this way and that, giving way to a few creaks and groans from the chains. It wasn’t one of my finest moments because I lost, horribly.
“No, it’s Killian,” he said into my phone. “I’ve got Ellie here with me.”
