Page 15 of Twisted Secrets
Except the O’Malleys weren’t the ones who killed Ricky Halloran.
No, that was from an outside threat—Dmitri Romanov. He’d turned James’s right-hand man and ordered the Hallorans’ deaths. The guy had been only half-successful and, if anyone had asked Cillian which Halloran was less likely to send all the Boston families into a goddamn death spiral, it was James. So thank God for small favors.
“I can see that.” She switched out the washcloth and added a dry towel over the top. “They say jump and expect everyone to jump and be happy about it.”
Yeah, she’ddefinitelyhad interactions with a similar scenario. But who? She sure as hell wasn’t associated with any of the three families in Boston. Part of his training for taking over for Bartholomew had been reading files on every major player under the Sheridans, the Hallorans, and even the MacNamaras, for all that they were extinct thanks to Callie’s dad. There were extensive dossiers on anyone with more than a passing connection with any of the families. Even if she was using a different name, he would have recognized her from her picture. She wasn’t there. He was sure of it. “You sound like you know a thing or two about it.”
“Not in Boston.” She took his hand and used it to replace hers on the towel. “How are you feeling?”
Like he wanted to get to know her better. He’d already wanted her—how could he not?—but now he wanted to do more than roll around naked with her. He wanted to actually sit down and have a conversation. It was tempting to play up his injuries to keep her here andtouching him, but that woulddefinitelyput him in creep territory. “Nasty headache and I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck, but I’ll live to see another day.”
“You’re probably concussed.” She frowned. “But I’m hardly a doctor.”
“You seem to know your way around head wounds.” Which was another puzzle piece to add to the mystery that was Olivia. When he’d met her, he thought she was a beautiful woman with an attitude—and she was—but the more time he spent with her, the more he realized she was like the ocean—full of mysteries.
And just as likely to get him in over his head.
She shrugged. “I’ve seen a few in my day.” Concern lit her dark eyes. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”
Damn, he couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity if he’d tried. But that was his old self talking. The man who’d go to great lengths to charm a woman into bed, who’d never met a challenge concerning the opposite sex that he wasn’t willing to step up to the line with. He knew Olivia wanted him, even if she had something holding her back from going there again. A year ago that would have been like waving a red flag in front of a bull.
Now? Now he was tired and hurt, and there was a sick part of him convinced that having the shit beat out of him was nothing more than he deserved. Devlin had gotten a bullet from the Hallorans. Cillian had only gotten roughed up. If he could go back to that night…
But there was no changing history. There was no magic spell or time machine that would allow him to take his brother’s place. There was only Cillian now, trying to do his damnedest to take it one day at a time and not let the vastness of the futureoverwhelm him.
***
Olivia hesitated, torn between wanting to kick Cillian’s ass to the curb and wanting to make sure he was okay. He didn’tlookokay. Sure, she’d seen worse during the brief time she and Sergei lived together, butworsewas a relative thing. And the look that had just come into his eyes made her shiver. It was the expression of the man staring death in the face and refusing to back down. “Cillian?”
He blinked at her, seeming to come back to himself. “Sorry, what did you say?”
Yeah, he was definitely concussed if he was spacing out in the middle of a conversation. What had he even been doing in the alley to begin with? He’d walked out the front door hours ago. Why was he still hanging around? Shouldn’t he have some kind of protection detail with him? Dmitri never went anywhere without his goons. She bit her lip, looking around as if the answer would jump into being from the walls.
No such luck.
“Is there somewhere you can go?” She couldn’t bring him home. Hadley loved people too much and, even though she was supposed to be sleeping, if she woke up and saw him, she’d be all over him in a hot second. And if Sergei saw her with another man, let alone an O’Malley…
She shuddered. No, she couldn’t take him home.
If Olivia was smart, she’d wash her hands of this whole business and send him on his way.Except you’ll never forgive yourself if you see on the news tomorrow he was found dead on the sidewalk. There had to be a better option.
He’d gotten paler in the last fewminutes. “This might sound childish, but I can’t go home looking like this. I’m not willing to start a war over a few bruises.”
He was suffering from a hell of a lot more than a few bruises. If he walked through the door looking like that…Yeah, she could see how it would send an already tense situation over the edge.Damn it. “Is there someone you can call? I can stitch you up, but it won’t be pretty.”
And everything about Cillian was pretty. Well,prettywas too delicate a word. But he was perfectly put together from his hipster hair to his tattoos to his expensive clothes. Though he didn’t look particularly put together at the moment. His shirt was torn and had blood spattered over it, and his hair was totally screwed up. For the first time since they’d met, he looked almost…human. Approachable. She busied herself with folding another towel and making sure the bloody one wasn’t leaving a stain on the table.
Finally, he said, “I think my phone fell out of my pocket in the alley.”
She knew therehadto be someone he could call. Ignoring the strange disappointment at the thought of sending him off with someone else, she straightened. “Give me a second.”
“Wait.” When she paused, he started to stand. “You can’t go out there alone. What if those idiots come back? I’ll go.”
“You can’t even stand.” She gently pushed him back into the chair, slightly alarmed at how easy it was. Yeah, it was definitely time to call in reinforcements. “If I’m not back in two minutes, feel free to swoop in and save me.”
It wouldn’t be necessary. She could take care of herself. She’d been doing it since she was a child.
Olivia grabbed the shotgun and opened the back door cautiously. It was entirely likely that theHalloran men were long gone, but Cillian was right—no point in taking chances.
