Page 39 of Beautiful Vengeance
He ignored her.“We’ve never been properly introduced.Sloan O’Malley, I can’t say you were part of my plan, but it’s been a fucking pleasure to meet you.”He held out a hand, the move screaming arrogance.“Jude MacNamara.”
Chapter Sixteen
Where were you?”Aiden made an effort to keep from massaging his temples, though he could damn well feel a headache starting.At this point, the pain was almost welcome.Anything to distract him from the bullshit he was currently dealing with.
His youngest sister crossed her arms over her chest and lifted her chin, the move so like Carrigan’s that his heart actually ached for a moment.Keira narrowed her eyes.“Last I checked, I was over eighteen and can do whatever I want.”
“And lastIchecked, one of our sisters is missing, and our enemies are multiplying by the second.Stop slipping your security detail or—”
“Or you’ll lock me up?”She kicked her feet up onto his desk, her combat boots looking ridiculously massive on her thin legs.Everything about her was thin these days, to the point where he suspected she had more alcohol and coke in her system than actual food or water.Keira laughed harshly.“Or are you going to shuttle me off to a nunnery?You can’t hold me.None of those places can.You might as well just deal with it.”
There was nojust dealing with it.
Aiden already had blood on his hands in his efforts to keep the power base stable and his siblings safe.He didn’t like it, but he’d do the same thing over again.A transfer of power, even to someone groomed for it, was fraught with potential difficulty.He couldn’t afford to be weak.
Letting Keira have the run of the place and disappear to God knew where was fucking weak.
He steepled his hands, and then stopped the move when he recognized it for one their father used.“Keira, this isn’t a game.”
“You think I don’t know that?Carrigan is gone, God knows who has Sloan, and Devlin isdead.”Her feet hit the floor with a heavy thud.“You don’t have to tell me a single fucking thing.Leave it alone, Aiden.We’re all dealing with this shit the only way we can, and if you lock me up, I’ll put a gun in my mouth and pull the trigger.Simple as that.”
He stared.He wanted to tell her that she was being dramatic and threateningthatsure as fuck wasn’t the way to get him to back off.But as he looked at her,reallylooked at her, he suddenly wasn’t sure if it was theatrics.Keira’s eyes were a little too wide, her hands shaking at her sides.She looked half a second away from bolting out of the room.
“Keira—” He cut himself off as the door opened.“Get out.I’m busy.”
Cillian poked his head in.“It’s important.”
Importantcould mean any number of things, none of which were good from the look on his brother’s face.He drummed his fingers on the desk.Keira didn’t look any more interested in whatever news Cillian had than she was interested in anything lately.He wanted to shake her, to yell in her face that she was still among the living and her lifestyle would put her in an early grave faster than being an O’Malley would.
He made an abrupt decision and nodded at Cillian.“Tell me.”
His brother stepped into the office and shot a look at their sister.When Aiden didn’t tell her to leave, Cillian shrugged.“A courier just delivered this.”
The envelope was the size of a greeting card, the paper thick and their address written in a bold hand across the front.The return address was just an emblem, a stylized R that wasn’t quite a family crest.Romanov.“What does that bastard want?”
Keira laughed, tilting her head back against the chair to stare at the ceiling.“What all evil bastards want—world domination with a side of death and destruction.”
He opened the envelope and examined the card.It wasn’t much to look at.Plain white, obviously expensive, but without any pictures or words on either side.Aiden cursed himself for stalling and flipped it open.It took his brain precious seconds to process the words, and when it did, he had to fight not to throw the thing in the nearest fireplace.Instead, he very carefully read it aloud.
I’ve found your darling Sloan.That old proverb demands an eye for an eye.By my count, you owe me both a wife and a sister.I’ll be content with one of yours.Keira or Sloan, Aiden.
I’ll be generous and allow you to pick.
The alternative is war.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”Cillian looked ready to drive to New York solely to throttle Dmitri.“He has to know that you won’t give up either.”
“Hedoesknow.”This wasn’t about a wife, and it wasn’t about Dmitri’s half sister, Olivia, who was currently residing in the family home with Cillian.It was a power play, plain and simple.If they bowed to this demand, they might as well kneel and offer their throats for whoever wanted their territory.
Not to mention I’ll give one of my little sisters over to him over my dead fucking body.
He’d let his father dictate Carrigan’s marriage, had stood back while her desperation drove her straight into James Halloran’s arms.He’d be damned before he let it happen again.“He wants war.”
“No.”Keira pushed to her feet, shaking her head.Her eyes looked clear for the first time since he’d had her hauled into his office.“Not that.Never that.I don’t care what it takes.I’ll do it.”
“Out of the question.”He nodded at Cillian, who instantly stepped forward to usher Keira out of the office.Only then did Aiden give in to the urge to shred the card into tiny pieces, each move controlled and contained.It didn’t help.He could still see the words imprinted there, the silk-coated threat.
They had to do something about Dmitri Romanov—and they had to do it now.
